Old Postal Routes

Postcard received from Michiel, The Netherlands. The Dutch, in traditional costume.

And a beautiful and interesting stamp depicting Old Postal Routes.

This is one of 2 different International stamps in the series. (I'd love to receive the other one somehow.) 

For hundreds of years there was only one family that held a monopoly on European mail delivery. It all started in 1489, when Maximilian 1 of Austria ordered the Lombardian courier family Tasso to set up a postal network. Under Philip the Handsome and Charles V - Maximilian's son and grandson - the network continued to expand across the Hasburg Empire. The mail was taken from A to B as fast as possible, first on horseback and then by stagecoach. Although coaches were not as fast as horses, they were able to carry a lot more post. On top of that, paying customers provided additional earnings. Von Thurn und Taxis (that was the name the Tasso acquired in the 17th century) used a relay system to deliver the mail as quickly and efficiently as possible. Along the routes there were plenty of stage stations where postillions could rest, get a fresh horse, and drop off or pick up mail. Their motto was fast, fast, fast, superfast. It was all about getting news to the farthest corners of Europe in as little time as possible. This way, the Von Thurn und Taxis family business dominated the European postal service from the 16th to the 19th century.

This stamp shows 2 postillions on a stagecoach pulled by 2 horses. The other (unshown) stamp shows a rider on horseback with a post horn in his mouth. On the right hand side of each stamp there are identical vertical cut-outs of a painting of a resting horse with its head in a feeding trough. All images have been printed in the same blue as the Priority logo. A beautiful blue indeed.

A separate layer in gold features two symbols that refer to action and rest in the relay system on the old postal routes. The symbols comprise a triangle pointing to the right that refer to action, and two narrow parallel bars that refer to rest. The typography of the stamp is printed on white above the large image of the stagecoach and then down along the narrow image with the resting horse. The PostEurop logo is printed below the horse. A line of golden dashes indicates the postal routes. They symbolise the stops on the routes that the postillions used to run.

This is a beautiful stamp, with many layers of interest. The blue is spectacular, and the gold is shimmery, although you can't see this effect in the photo.

Credit: netpha.nl/news/old-postal-routes/

Letter Writing Again

First letter I've written in goodness knows how many years, perhaps 20. Sent to a potential pan pal in the US. Letters to the US cost AU$3.20 to send. Same with postcards. (US$2.33.  1.97 euro.)

Make Somebody's Day

Most Stamps Tell A Story

Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Münchhausen was known as “the Baron of lies”. He initially served as a page to a German Prince, and later as a cornet, lieutenant and cavalry captain with a Russian regiment. In 1760 he retired to his estates as a country gentleman and probably thought he'd be leading a nice and cosy retirement.

Then a collection of outrageous tales appeared anonymously, such as the Baron flying on cannonballs in the air (shown on stamp), all of them attributed to the Baron. They were written in a small volume in London in 1785: Baron Munchhausens Narrative of His Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia by Rudolf Erice Raspe. The book was a great success and the second edition was translated into German in 1786. Twelve years later it was further extended and exaggerated with eight stories by the poet Godfried Bürger and soon became a truly popular book.

The real-life Münchhausen was deeply upset at the development of a fictional character bearing his name, and threatened legal proceedings against Bürger. However, the case was thrown out, as the judge stated that Bürger had merely translated the work of an author in England, and therefore was not at fault for any damage to Münchausen’s reputation.  

From that time on, the Baron knew no rest. He had been ridiculed and accused of lying, and had to hire servants to chase away gawkers from his estate with sticks, curious fans hoping to get a glimpse of "the Baron of lies’.

It has been reported that the Baron suffered greatly from his new reputation of being insane, dying alone and childless in his home town of Bodenwerder. 

Fascinating story! Stamp was on the very first postcard I received through Postcrossing, from Heike. 

An Update

... on the postcards my granddaughter's sent to each other.

Well, my eldest, 7yo, received her postcard a few days after it was sent and the back side of it is proudly magnetised to the fridge.

However, my younger granddaughter was still waiting for hers to arrive 2 weeks later. In an effort for her not to be too disappointed, I sent her one myself.

Finally her postcard arrived, and by the look of the amount of smudge and lines of the postmark, it seems it had passed through a couple of other post offices before it settled in her letterbox. 

All ended well though and I'm sure we'll do this wonderful holiday activity again some other time. The kids really enjoyed it 😊.

Doodling

To add a little more personality to my outgoing postcards, I draw a little doodle (or zentangle) in the white space above or below the address lines. I'm not an artist by any means but I do enjoy this little bit of creativity.  This one went to Kodzo, in Ireland.

The next one went to Miranda, in Canada.

Why The Gummed Stamp?

According to Australia Post, "Micro cuts are small security cuts that improve the adhesion of the stamp to the article surface and also prevent self-adhesive stamps from being removed easily for possible re-use."

Well I don't know about you but I never knew a stamp that didn't stick to an envelope or postcard easily. It always stuck. So I don't have an issue with the stickiness of self-adhesives, but I do have an issue with them tearing because of the micro cuts. These two tore as I was peeling them off the backing.

This was so annoying (and possibly disappointing to a receiver if they are stamp collectors) that I only purchase gummed stamps now, not self-adhesive ones. The gummies don't have micro cuts.  And besides, there's something nostalgic about licking the glue on a stamp like the good ol' days 😊.

My First Postcard

The very first thing I received in the mail was a 3D postcard from my Godmother and Aunt Janina, who lived in Sydney. I was around 8 years old and was so much in awe of this postcard which seemed to have magical properties. I remember I kept trying to slide my finger behind the little princess and wondered why it wasn't working.

My finger just kept on going in front of her. The back of the postcard says Dla Kochany Danusi. I'm of Polish descent and my birth name is Danuta, but the affectionate term for that is Danusia. So it reads To Dear Danusi.

Much love, kisses and hugs from Aunt Janina. This postcard is about 53 years old. Ancient! 😄

World Postcard Day 2020

Recently I received two postcards which were posted on World Postcard Day, 1st of October. The first one came from The Netherlands, and was actually an online Postcrossing meet-up. Those who attended put their signatures on the back of the card. I don't know how they did this, being an online meeting but they did it! Very cool 😊.

The second postcard came from the USA. Some of it read "One of my favourite things about receiving postcards from all over is seeing all of the different styles of handwriting. Some people are very unique and some styles are similar within a particular region."

I hadn't noticed that, but then I've only received 15 postcards so far :).