Royal Mail will issue six stamps and various other postal products commemorating the First World War on 28th July 2014. Here’s the press release; you can click on the pictures for larger views:

Reason and inspiration
This is the first set in a five part landmark series that commemorates ‘the War to end all Wars’. The First World War was a defining point in world history and this series will explore stories from the individuals who served as well as key art and poetry from the years. Stamps will be issued every year until 2018 inclusive, building into a unique series that will provide an insight into the war and the contribution and sacrifice of millions. The First World War was an event without precedent in history and touched every household in Britain, either directly (with family members killed, injured or lost in action) or through the immense social changes it triggered. The centenary of this conflict is being marked by Royal Mail with a series of 30 stamps to be released over the next five years. Each year of the war will be commemorated by a set of six stamps, exploring six visual and thematic strands: poppy, poetry, portraits, war art, memorials and artefacts.

Stamps
The stamps in the 2014 set feature a specially commissioned painting of a poppy by prominent botanical artist Fiona Strickland; a fragment from Laurence Binyon’s poem ‘For the Fallen’ carved by stonemason Gary Breeze; a portrait of Private William Cecil Tickle, an underage soldier who was killed during the Battle of the Somme; Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson’s painting A Star Shell; The Response, a sculptural monument in Newcastle which commemorates the volunteers of the Northumberland Fusiliers; and images of Princess Mary’s Gift Fund box, over 420,000 of which were distributed to British service personnel as gifts in late 1914.

POPPY, FIONA STRICKLAND: The poppy quickly became symbolic of the war. It was previously associated with the powerful effects of opium and detested by farmers as a stubborn weed, but its tendency to spring up on disturbed earth made it a common sight among the broken ground of shell-torn battlefields. The poppy’s deep red colour seemed to evoke the blood of wounded men, while the flower’s delicate petals might hint at the fragility of life itself. In this specially commissioned painting, artist Fiona Strickland captures the fine texture and translucency of a poppy’s petals.

‘FOR THE FALLEN’, LAURENCE BINYON: In 1914, Laurence Binyon was a senior curator at the British Museum and an authority on East Asian art. Born in 1869, he was too old to enlist at the outbreak of war. He had been a published poet since the age of 16, and on 21 September 1914, The Times printed his seven-stanza poem ‘For the Fallen’. At this time, the British Expeditionary Force was in retreat, having suffered heavy casualties at the Battle of Mons. Binyon’s poem is very well known today, being used across the world in the ‘Ode of Remembrance’.

PRIVATE WILLIAM CECIL TICKLE: Private William Cecil Tickle enlisted during the height of the recruiting rush on 7 September 1914. Despite being underage, he managed to join the 9th Battalion, Essex Regiment. After a period of arduous training, the battalion was deployed to France and on the third day of the Battle of the Somme attacked near the village of Ovillers. The troops were hit by machine-gun fire from three sides and suffered heavy casualties. Among the dead was Private Tickle. Having no known grave, he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme in France.

A STAR SHELL, C R W NEVINSON: Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson was born in London in 1889. A leading exponent of Futurism, he went to France and Flanders as a Red Cross orderly, later joining the Royal Army Medical Corps. After being invalided out of the Army, he secured a commission as an official war artist. One of Nevinson’s official works, Paths of Glory, showing two dead British soldiers lying amid mud and barbed wire, was controversially censored. In A Star Shell, Nevinson depicts the weird, unearthly light of an illuminating artillery flare. The shell’s harsh glow reveals a strange landscape of broken ground and barbed wire and captures the disorienting alien nature of the battlefield.

THE RESPONSE, NEWCASTLE: The Response, otherwise known as the Renwick Memorial, was inaugurated in Newcastle in July 1923. A spectacular sculpture by William Goscombe John depicts the volunteers of the Northumberland Fusiliers marching to the station on their way to France. Led by drummers and heralded by the figure of Victory, the men walk resolutely as two sweethearts part for perhaps the last time. Field Marshal Lord Kitchener’s call to arms in September 1914 met with an instant and overwhelming response. While the pre-war British Army needed 30,000 recruits a year, at the peak of the recruiting rush this number enlisted in a single day. By the end of 1915, 2.5 million had volunteered.

PRINCESS MARY’S GIFT FUND BOX: On 15 October 1914, Princess Mary launched her Christmas Gift Fund. In a public letter, she wrote, “I want you now to help me send a Christmas present from the whole nation to every sailor afloat and every soldier at the front.” Her appeal was met with an enthusiastic response, eventually raising over £162,000. On Christmas Day 1914 alone, 426,724 gifts were distributed to British service personnel. Each included writing materials, a Christmas card and a photograph of the Princess, and most contained tobacco and cigarettes, all enclosed in an embossed brass box. Many boxes survived, becoming distinctive mementoes of the war’s first Christmas.

Stamps – Technical Details:
Stamp Set Price: £6.27
Stamp Set Code: AS27A
Number of stamps: 6: 2 x 1st class, 3 x £1.47
Design: Hat-trick Design
Acknowledgements: Poppy by Fiona Strickland, 2014 © Royal Mail Group Ltd
2014; ‘For the Fallen’ by Laurence Binyon, September 1914, lettering and
stone carving by Gary Breeze © Royal Mail Group Ltd 2014; Private William
Cecil Tickle, 9th Battalion, Essex Regiment © Imperial War Museums (HU
93549); A Star Shell by Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson, 1916 © Tate, London 2011; The Response, Newcastle, sculpted by Sir William Goscombe
John RA and photographed by Paul Grundy; Princess Mary’s Gift Fund box,
courtesy Imperial War Museums, photographed by John Ross © Royal Mail Group Ltd 2014 All stamps © Royal Mail Group Ltd 2014
Printer: International Security Printers
Print Process: Lithography
Format / Size: Square / 35mm x 35mm
Perforations: 14.5 x 14.5
Sheet Format: 6 sheets, 25/50
Phosphor: ‘For the Fallen’ and A Star Shell – all over; all others – bars as appropriate
Price: £6.80 Code: AP392

[press release]
Jack André Denys to Receive Highest ATA Award

Jack André Denys has been selected to receive the American Topical Association’s highest award, at its 65th annual show in St. Louis, June 27-29.  The Distinguished Topical Philatelist award will be presented to Denys, who has served as president since 2008, the longest of any president.

Jack is a life-long philatelist, who has shown leadership and vision in his role as ATA president.  The ATA has enjoyed a membership increase the last three years.  The TopicalsOnLine website for buying and selling topical stamps, electronic and archive versions of Topical Time and a comprehensive checklist database of topical stamps are among the major accomplishments  during his tenure.

Among topical collectors and exhibitors, Jack is known as a champion of the hobby and mentor to countless new philatelists over many years.  His casual demeanor and wit add to the collegial atmosphere ATA members enjoy.

His exhibit on the Bayeux Tapestry has earned 10 gold awards, qualifying him for the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors’ prestigious Diamond Award.  It has also received the AAPE Creativity Award, the APS Award of Excellence, and the American Philatelic Congress Award for Excellence in Written Text. It received the Reserve Grand (2007) and the Grand (2008) at the National Topical Stamp Show. Internationally, the exhibit has merited a large vermeil with special prize at Washington 2006, and a vermeil at London 2010.  Albrecht Dürer is another of his collecting and exhibiting interests.

A member of APS, AAPE, and founder of the ATA Dürer study unit, Denys is a prolific philatelic writer who contributes to numerous journals.  In 2011, he received the Randy L. Neil Award for the best article in The Philatelic Exhibitor, “Myth-Busting Thematic Rules.”

The National Topical Stamp Show will be held June 27-29 at the Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel.  The Distinguished Topical Philatelist award will be presented to Denys at the show’s banquet on June 28. For show information see www.americantopicalassn.org.

The Republic of Srpska (also known as the Bosnian Serb Republic, one of two political entities in Bosnia & Herzegovina) is issuing (April 25th) two stamps featuring musical instruments: The fiddle and the dvojnice. A booklet (whose pane is shown on the right) includes both designs.

Here are the details provided by the Philately Department:

Europa CEPT – National music instruments – on 25. April 2014. There are 2 stamps in set (face values 1,00 KM or 0,51€ and 2,00 KM or 1,02€), booklet which consists of 3 sets (face value 9 KM or 4,60€).

Fiddle
Traditional string stringed instrument that is commonly used to accompany epic poems. It is an instrument Dinara area (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia), Serbia appears at Kosovo Serbs and to some extent the Albanians.

Dvojnice
Dvojnice are popular brass instrument from the group labial played with an edge. These are actually made up of two tubes of the same length drilled in parallel. Each pipe has a hole of vocal cords and mouthpiece. The holes were drilled to have a pipe with four holes and on the other three.

A better explanation of what a dvojnice is can be found at Stjepan Večković’s Hrvatska Tradicijska Glasbala website. Basically, it’s one mouthpiece, connected to two different recorder-like pipes. One is made from wood, the other from brass.

[press release]

National Postal Museum to Display Rare Philatelic Gem
“Genesis of Philately” Arrives in the U.S. for the First Time

The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum will display an extremely rare philatelic item, referred to by stamp experts as the “genesis of philately.” On temporary loan to the museum, the extraordinary and historic postal document will be on display—for nine days only—in the museum’s new William H. Gross Stamp Gallery May 3–11. The May 2, 1840, cover shows the earliest known use of two different philatelic elements: the Penny Black, the world’s first adhesive postage stamp, and the Mulready One Penny letter sheet.

On May 1, 1840, Great Britain issued the world’s first postage stamp: the Penny Black. It revolutionized postal services worldwide. Mulready postal stationery lettersheets were also officially issued on that day. Neither the stamps nor the stationery were valid to prepay postage before that date; however, a few Penny Blacks and Mulready “covers” are known to have passed through the post office before the official date of issuance. The May 2, 1840, cover being displayed at the museum is the only known item carrying both the Penny Black and Mulready One Penny letter sheet.

“The May 2, 1840, cover connects us to the very beginnings of philately and the modern postal system,” said Allen Kane, director of the museum. “We are excited to bring this rare item to the United States for the very first time.”

The National Postal Museum is devoted to presenting the colorful and engaging history of the nation’s mail service and showcasing one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of stamps and philatelic material in the world. It is located at 2 Massachusetts Avenue N.E., Washington, D.C., across from Union Station. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (closed Dec. 25). For more information about the Smithsonian, call (202) 633-1000 or visit the museum website at www.postalmuseum.si.edu.

[press release]
The Great British Film stamps celebrate six key British movies produced since the Second World War, with the accompanying Miniature Sheet focusing on the work of the General Post Office (GPO) Film Unit, which produced ground-breaking documentaries for the General Post Office in the 1930s. As a whole, this stamp issue takes in landmark films, epics and influential movies that evoke the distinctiveness and quality of British film and story-telling across key genres.

Royal Mail consulted experts, polls by experts, the public and the British Film Institute to arrive at films from the 1940s to the 2000s.

Films featured in the set are:

A Matter of Life and Death (1946) has undergone major reassessment in last 20 years. It is genre defying and is a part fantasy and part romance. Starring David Niven in one of his greatest roles, the film tells the story of an RAF pilot who should have died but is caught between two worlds – the real and a kind of afterlife.

Created by Powell and Pressburger, it is technologically very innovative, filmed in both black and white and colour, and was selected as the first Royal Command Film in 1946 attended by the King and Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. It regularly appears in the top 20 lists of greatest British films of all time. Danny Boyle used an excerpt from the film in his opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympics.

Lawrence of Arabia (1962) is in most lists of greatest films of all time, by all countries and usually in the top ten. It won seven Academy Awards, four BAFTAs and five Golden Globes. It is regarded as David Lean’s masterpiece and features an impressively powerful performance by the late Peter O’Toole. Sony Pictures marked its 50th anniversary in 2012 with a digitally re-mastered version that has had a theatrical release, again to great reviews. The film has an international following and was selected as the best epic movie ever by the American Film Institute. American director, Steven Spielberg is on record as saying it inspired him to become a filmmaker.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is the other British film that appears close to the top in the greatest movies lists. Categorised as science fiction it has multiple interpretations and has won generations of fans. It regularly tops lists of the greatest science fiction films of all time and is also the only science fiction film to make the British Film Institute (BFI) poll for ten best movies of all time. It was selected as the best science fiction movie ever by the American Film Institute.

Although American director Stanley Kubrick was a committed anglophile. He moved to the UK in the early 1960s and then made every film in the UK using British crew and studios.

The innovative and hugely influential visual effects, sets and cinematography of 2001 are the work of British technicians and cameramen at Surrey’s Shepperton Studio, with the script co-written by British author Arthur C Clarke (whose short story was the basis for the film). Most observers will say that the images of future space travel have never been bettered and was achieved without the benefits of computer technology. It is widely regarded as a British film.

Chariots of Fire (1981) was the multiple Oscar and BAFTA winning story of two athletes who competed in the 1924 Olympics. It is regarded as one of the greatest sports films of all time, and highly rated by critics and the BFI, who especially believe this to be a key work of Post War British film.

Secrets & Lies (1996) this Mike Leigh film is very highly regarded and a fine example of social realism which is a key UK genre. It is Leigh’s most commercially successful film and arguably his most seen, and its performances are regarded as among the best in any film in recent years. Secrets & Lies went on to win two BAFTAs and the coveted Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, among many other international awards.

Bend It Like Beckham (2002) although too recent for a fair inclusion in ‘Best of’ lists, Bend it Like Beckham is a well-received British comedy that is immensely popular internationally.

It topped the UK box office on release and broke box-office records in India for a foreign film and became the highest grossing Indian themed film at the US box office. In 2010 it became the first Western made film ever to be screened on North Korean TV!

The film made stars of its lead actors Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightly. Gurinder Chadra’s Bend It Like Beckham is also arguably the best known film by any British woman director.

Miniature Sheet
A Miniature of four additional stamps celebrates the rich heritage of the GPO (General Post Office) Film Unit.

In the 1930s the GPO Film Unit produced what are internationally regarded as key works in the documentary genre.

The unit was established initially to explain postal and telephone services, and heighten the reputation of the Post Office, in an era when it was leading the world in technological innovation. Its remit grew as it experimented with new ways of communicating with the public, and it created ground-breaking films by experimenting with sound, animation and images, as well as landmark documentaries using an impressive array of film makers. The films were screened throughout the country and had huge popular appeal. It has been said that the public affection for the modern Post Office began with these films.

The immortal Night Mail film is marked with a stamp for the first time, and a stamp for Love on the Wing, a film by director Norman McLaren also marks his centenary in 2014.

Technical details:
Issue date: 13 May 2014
Number of stamps: 3 x 1st Class, 3 x £1.28
Design: Johnson Banks
Stamp format: Landscape
Stamp size: 60mm x 30mm
Printer: International Security Printers
Print process: Lithography
Perforations: 14.5 x 14.5
Number per sheet: 18/36
Phosphor: All over
Gum: PVA

Values:
1st Class A Matter of Life and Death
1st Class Lawrence of Arabia
1st Class 2001: A Space Odyssey
£1.28 Chariots of Fire
£1.28 Secrets & Lies
£1.28 Bend It Like Beckham

Minisheet Values:
1st Class Night Mail
1st Class Love on the Wing
1st Class Spare Time
1st Class A Colour Box

[press release]
U.S. Specialized Yahoo Group celebrates 10th anniversary
On-line stamp collector group thrives on the internet

U.S. Specialized Yahoo Group is celebrating its 10th anniversary in the virtual world all this year.

About the U.S. Specialized Yahoo Group
The group was founded in April 2004 by long-time philatelist Steve B. Davis of Calgary,
Alberta. He founded it after trying to start a local real-world study group for collectors of the
stamps and postal history of the United States. From 3 or 4 members it has grown to over 400 members. In 2007 the group was approved as Affiliate #257 (specialized society) of the
American Philatelic Society, the largest and most respected philatelic society in the world.

Group Description
It is a forum to discuss and network with other collectors. Members are encouraged to engage in the friendly discussion and exchange of information related to U.S. philately. Membership consists of beginners all the way to advanced collectors from all walks of life, and many different countries.

Commercial content, spam or the self-promotion of blogs/websites is not allowed. This is strictly enforced.Those wishing to join need simply sign up on the site and are asked to provide,

• their areas of interest.
• names of clubs or societies they are members of
• their APS membership number if applicable

Requests for membership require moderator approval. This is to screen for spammers.

Contact
To learn more about the group, please contact
Steve B. Davis, Founder & Moderator
stamperdad@yahoo.ca
US_specialized-owner@yahoogroups.com

Group Home Page http://group.yahoo.com/neo/groups/us_specialized

American Philatelic Society (APS) http://stamps.org

From the USPS:

Legendary Hollywood icon and humanitarian Charlton Heston was honored as the 18th inductee into the U.S. Postal Service’s Legends of Hollywood stamp series Friday, April 11, 2014.
(Above, left to right: Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Executive Vice President Gabrielle Carteris; former Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Executive Vice President Ned Vaughn; American Film Institute President Emerita and former U.S. Postal Service Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee Chair Jean Picker-Firstenberg; Charlton Heston’s son Fraser Clarke Heston; and Mickey Barnett, Chairman, Board of Governors, USPS.)

The event took place during a first-day-of-issue stamp dedication ceremony at the The Creative Life Chinese Theatre as part of the TCM Classic Film Festival.

“Acting was not Charlton Heston’s whole life,” said U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors Chairman Mickey Barnett in dedicating the stamp (shown at right). “He was never afraid to stand up for his beliefs. In the 1960s, he believed so strongly in civil rights that he marched on Washington with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whom he called ‘a 20th century Moses.’ Later, he became a strong supporter of rights for gun owners and served as president of the National Rifle Association. No matter what kind of stand he took, you always knew his beliefs came from a place of true conviction. Beyond winning an Oscar for ‘Ben-Hur,’ he also received the Motion Picture Academy’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, as well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.”

(Ben Mankiewicz, host of Turner Classic Movies, served as Master of Ceremonies. He’s shown on the right here.)

Throughout his seven decade career of more than 70 films, Heston played larger than life roles from U.S. presidents to Ben Hur and Moses. He worked with the Screen Actors Guild to help others in his profession, serving as a board member and later as president from 1965-71. A civil rights advocate, Heston marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and led the arts contingent to the 1963 March on Washington.

Heston received the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 1971. He helped found the American Film Institute and received the prestigious Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1978 for his philanthropic efforts. In 1997, Heston was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors, and in 2003, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

“On behalf of my mother, Lydia, my sister, Holly Rochell, and the entire Heston family, I can say enthusiastically how deeply grateful we all are that my father, Charlton, has been honored with a ‘Legends of Hollywood’ postage stamp,” said Fraser Clarke Heston (shown at left with his mother). “In many ways, a nation’s stamps are a cross section of a culture, its ideals and icons, in microcosm.

The Stamp Image
Designed by art director Greg Breeding of Charlottesville, VA, the stamp features a color portrait of the actor by noted movie artist Drew Struzan of Pasadena, CA. The portrait is based on a photograph taken by Heston’s wife, Lydia Clarke Heston. The area outside of the stamps is decorated with an image of the actor from the 1959 movie Ben-Hur. Originally shot in black and white, the photo was later hand-colorized. Heston is shown wearing his costume from the film’s monumental chariot racing scene.

And a few more pictures, most courtesy the USPS and taken by Daniel Afzal of the United States Postal Service:

The autograph line after the ceremony.

Michael Litvak, stamp collector and president of the Claude C. Ries Chapter of the American First Day Cover Society, servicing FDCs at the event.

The postmarking part of the event was put together by Ries Chapter member Kathy Clements and Alvetia Smith of the USPS, who also organized the rest of the ceremony. (That’s them on the left.)

Ten different postmarks were available (and are shown below; photo courtesy Clements). “The two of us work together to make the events a success for everybody, especially the collectors who buy most of the stamps per capita,” Clements told The VSC.

Our main story on the stamp can be found here. You can click on any of these pictures to see a larger version.

AFDCS OFFERS NEW EDITION OF MOON LANDING FIRST DAY COVER CATALOG

The Moon Landing cachet catalog has landed.

First issued in 1975, the newly-revised edition of this first day cover catalog for Sc. C76 Moon Landing is now available from the American First Day Cover Society. It may be downloaded in the Marketplace section of the AFDCS website, www.afdcs.org, at $10 for AFDCS members and $12 for non-members. Printed copies are $14 and $16, respectively, and may be ordered online or from AFDCS Sales, Post Office Box 44, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701-0044.

The original edition, by Monte Eiserman and Harry L. Anderson, contained illustrations of 205 FDCs, history of the designing and production of the stamp, the first day activities, plate number information, postmarks, and descriptions of the three first day ceremonies. Over the years, some of that material was cut from subsequent editions, while more illustrations were added.

It has been out of print for at least five years.

The 2014 edition, revised by David S. Zubatsky, restores all the introductory material and adds more information. It also includes all the original black and white illustrations.

“The 1969 First Man on the Moon stamp  is the most iconic space related stamp ever issued,” says stamp designer Chris Calle, whose father Paul designed what became Sc. C76. “As a collector of the C76 issue this is a most welcome catalogue for space collectors worldwide.”

The American First Day Cover Society is the world’s largest not-for-profit organization dedicated to the collecting of FDCs. Each issue of First Days is published in full color and includes articles, columns, Society business, a non-commercial Cover Exchange, and the best collection of FDC advertisements anywhere.

For more information on the AFDCS, visit www.afdcs.org or write to the AFDCS, P.O. Box 16277 Tucson, Arizona 85732-6277, or e-mail afdcs@afdcs.org.

From the APS:

On or about March 19th, New Hampshire stamp dealer Robert Dion and his wife, Connie, were murdered in their home in Manchester, NH. Their bodies were discovered on March 24th when local authorities responded to a fire at their house. At this time, Manchester police have identified the Dions’ adopted son, Matthew Dion, as a person of interest. It is believed that Matthew took one of the family cars and most or all of Robert’s stamp stock. There is not a current inventory of what the stock contained other than a collection of Manchester, CT postal history. Additional information will be sent as it is received.

Matthew Dion is a 38 year old white male, 5’8″ tall, 200 lbs., with brown eyes, brown hair and facial hair. He is believed to be driving a 2009 white Nissan Altima with NH plate 341-0587. Attached to this email [and shown here] are several photos of Matthew, the car and the plate.

The investigation is being headed by:
Michael Lavallee
Detective Division
Manchester Police Department
405 Valley StreetManchester, NH 03103
Phone: (603) 792-5514 Fax: (603) 668-8711
Email: mlavalle@manchesternh.gov

If you should encounter Matthew, immediately notify your local police and tell them that there is a person of interest wanted by the Manchester, NH police department in connection with a double homicide at your store, booth, show, etc. You can refer them to Det. Lavallee.

Additional information will be sent as it is received and thank you for your help.

Nick Lombardi
APS Stamp Theft Committee