[press release]
Royal Mail Celebrates 100 Years Of Rupert Bear
- Royal Mail today [3 September] launches a set of eight stamps to mark the 100th birthday of Rupert Bear
- Created in 1920 and first illustrated by Mary Tourtel, Rupert Bear is Britain’s longest continually published comic strip, first appearing in the Daily Express in November of that year
- Rupert is a check-trouser wearing young bear who lives with his parents in the country village of Nutwood
- The stamps feature the artwork of Alfred Bestall, who wrote and illustrated more than 270 Rupert stories after he took on the role in 1935
- The set is made up of four pairs of stamps, each pair featuring two illustrations from one of Rupert’s adventures – Rupert’s Rainy Adventure (1944), Rupert and the
Mare’s Nest (1952), Rupert And The Lost Cuckoo (1963) and Rupert’s Christmas Tree (1947) - Rupert Bear annuals have been published every year since 1936
- The Adventures of Rupert The Bear was also a children’s television series on ITV, from 1970 to 1977
- The full set of eight stamps, available in a Presentation Pack, retails at £10.00. The stamps and a range of collectible products are available now from www.royalmail.com/rupertbear
Royal Mail has announced it is issuing a set of eight stamps to mark the 100th birthday of 
Rupert Bear. The stamps feature the artwork of Alfred Bestall, who wrote and illustrated more than 270 Rupert stories after he took on the role in 1935.
The set is made up of four pairs of stamps, each pair featuring two illustrations from one of Rupert’s adventures – Rupert’s Rainy Adventure (1944), Rupert and the Mare’s Nest (1952), Rupert And The Lost Cuckoo (1963) and Rupert’s Christmas Tree (1947).
Rupert made his first appearance in the Daily Express on 8 November 1920. Herbert Tourtel, who wrote the stories, was an editor 
at the Express, and his wife, Mary, was the illustrator.
Many of the early Rupert stories were inspired by fairyland characters and sometimes featured medieval knights, ogres and witches. Soon after the stories appeared, they started being reprinted in books. The Rupert Little Bear Library Series ran to 46 issues and was published periodically between 1928 and 1936.
In total, Mary illustrated 89 stories, which were later reprinted in books. She retired in 1935 due to her failing eyesight.
Her replacement was Alfred Bestall, an established artist with Punch and other magazines, who also illustrated children’s books. In total, he wrote and illustrated 224 Rupert stories for the newspaper and provided 47 other stories, mostly for the Rupert Annuals. In 1985 he was awarded the MBE for his work. He died the following year. It is his illustrations which are reproduced on the stamps which feature Rupert in adventures with some of friends including Algy Pup, Bill Badger and Pompey the baby elephant.
When Alfred Bestall took over writing and illustrating the Rupert strip, a tradition evolved 
whereby every picture had a rhyming couplet underneath, plus a few lines of story text to accompany them. Bestall’s couplets often ended with the promise of a mystery, so that the next day’s paper was eagerly awaited by children, curious to see how the story would unfold. Bestall also introduced new characters to add variety, including Lily Duckling, Gregory Guineapig, the Old Professor, Bingo and the Imps of Spring and Autumn. Most Rupert stories commence with the bear leaving home and end with him returning after an adventure in time for tea to tell his mother of his experiences.
While books of reprinted Rupert stories appeared in the 1920s, it was decided that an annual publication would appear every Christmas. It was titled, Monster Rupert. The first volume was issued in 1931 and continued up to 1934, ceasing after Mary Tourtel retired.
In 1936, it was decided that the Rupert Annual would continue, featuring Alfred Bestall’s illustrations. From 1942 to 1949, the Annuals had card covers due to wartime, but board covers returned in 1950, when over 1.7 million copies were printed.
Such was the popularity of the annuals, that even in paper rationing during the Second 
World War, the government sanctioned sufficient paper for the annuals to be printed, to help boost the morale of the public.
Rupert Bear annuals have been published every year since 1936.
In 1970, The Adventures of Rupert Bear aired on ITV. It ran for seven years, with over 150 episodes produced over four series.
Philip Parker, Royal Mail, said: “We celebrate the 100th birthday of Rupert, one of the most-loved characters in children’s literature. He has introduced successive 
generations of children to a wonderful make-believe world of magic and adventure.”
The full set of eight stamps, available in a Presentation Pack, retails at £10.00.
The stamps and a range of collectible products are now available at: www.royalmail.com/rupertbear
The Allied Military Government Collectors’ Club (AMGCC) is proud to announce the initial class of inductees to the newly formed AMGCC Hall of Fame. These three individuals were instrumental in establishing post-World War II AMG philately as a challenging and respected area of collecting; creating resources that encouraged involvement in the field and further study. They are:
A new book from the American First Day Cover Society shares a collector’s love for the 1945 U.S. stamp that heralded the formation of the United Nations. The Al Raddi Collection of Scott 928 Toward United Nations Conference FDCs shows more than 170 different first day covers and related items for the issue commemorating the meeting of delegates from 50 countries toward the end of World War II.
The book starts with a brief history of the conference, and then information about the stamp.
The American First Day Cover Society is a not-for-profit educational organization, with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status granted by the IRS. Established in 1955, the AFDCS also publishes handbooks, catalogues and its award-winning bimonthly journal, First Days. It also promotes first day cover exhibiting, both at its own Americover show and at other stamp shows.
Canada Post will issue a stamp or stamps to honor Hamilton on October 28th. (press release below)
War Material, c. 1920
OTTAWA – Canada Post on October 28th released a new stamp issue featuring Mary Riter Hamilton’s Trenches on the Somme (1919) in honour of the painter, who was unofficially Canada’s first woman battlefield artist.
[en Francais]
Former APS executive director — but also a former member of the boards of the APS and American Topical Association, former Deputy Secretary of State and U.S. Ambassador — Robert E. Lamb received Ernest Kehr Award, which is bestowed annually helping to guarantee the future of the hobby.
With 6 new stamps, PostNL pays tribute to the two-wheeler, in particular to its parts.
37,000 kilometers of cycle paths. Local drivers from all over the world come to look at our cycling infrastructure, especially now that the bicycle is increasingly seen as a fast and healthy alternative to cars and public transport.
stamp. In this way, a fragment of a bicycle ends up on a bicycle stamp. “The entire stamp sheet also has the appearance of a stamp thanks to the perforation all around,” says Plug.
out. He was among those stamp collectors who, coming out of World War II, surveyed the value of U.S. new issues of the 1920s and 1930s, and thought “Hmmm…Mint U.S. commemorative stamps are popular, and the retail value seems to go up. So, I’ll buy a couple of sheets of every new issue, and when little Johnny gets to be college age, there is a little nest egg.”
he bought only what he could afford, and what he could afford to lose; because when it came time to sell in the early 1960s, the market for sheets of U.S. commemoratives had tanked.
So, when all the little Johnnies and Janies got to college age in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, the tens (if not hundreds) of thousands who had the same idea went to the well to collect on their investments, and found that there was far more supply than demand. If they could get 75% of face for routine stamps and full face for plate blocks, they were doing very well. Crank in the reduced purchasing power of the dollar, thanks to inflation, and even the realizations received were not nearly high enough to cover the initial outlay.
printings that have topical value — such as Space-related, some sports heroes, the first stamps of a continuing series (such as Black Heritage) — still bring a modest premium. Also, some booklet panes, line pairs, plate number coils, and souvenir sheets. But for the vast majority of post WWII stamps, people selling them in quantity are now able to realize a mere 50-60% of face. And even some booth-holders at stamp shows who used to offer sheets of stamps to collectors for face value, are now forced to undercut their prior pricing in order to remain competitive.
Now, don’t expect this dynamic to hold for single stamps being sold to collectors. Dealers who retail modern- era U.S. singles have to do more than buy and sell in large quantities. Even if they buy cheap, they have to break up sheets, put single stamps in glassines or make up year sets, advertise by individual Scott numbers, provide storage space for what is pending sale, and haul their wares to wherever they retail; or pay commissions if they are selling online using established websites. It all takes an investment of time and space, in addition to the investment of money. So you will pay more than face for single stamps to complete your album pages.
The holder of quantities of U.S. mint, often in my experience survivors of the original purchaser, rarely have a clue that what they have is not so much windfall as white elephant. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to explain to the new owners the facts of philatelic life; that they have only a few alternatives:
Kelsey was born September 3, 1949. He served as executive director of the AFDCS from 1991 until 2011, at which time the position was altered and named executive secretary. He also served many years on the society’s board of directors.
president of the Machine Cancel Society, executive director of the Postal History Foundation, and secretary-treasurer of the Meter Stamp Society.
In the February 2002 issue of American Philatelist, Kelsey wrote about the 1962 Project Mercury first-day and his collection, and recounted how that collection’s display at the Ohio State Fair won him a chance to meet astronaut John Glenn, an Ohio native.
The 
The 
And VSC member Joseph Goodwin is 
Postal agencies are rarely attention-getting issues in political races, but 2020 is a year like no other: The U.S. Postal Service is a lead item in the presidential election coverage.
residence.
