A Christmas letter

Dear Australia Post,

Re: Boring-slash-ugly Christmas 2012 Stamps

So, the thing is, I like stamps. 'Like' is a little bit of an understatement. I get pretty excited about beautiful stamps. I am sure I don't have to tell you why I find stamps so wonderful, but basically stamps encompass three delightful elements in miniature:

• Design: check; 
• History: Check; 
• Functionality: Check.

You will notice that the first reason I like stamps is to do with the design. Stamps are aesthetically pleasing little items. And therein is the reason for this letter, and the crux of my beef with you:
                 What is with the ugly Christmas stamps?
                 Seriously.

To be fair, two of the five stamps are gorgeous. The other three are dreadful. These are the stamps I like:

Hot

They are beautiful. Images from a wool and silk tapestry at the Art Gallery of South Australia depicting the adoration of the Magi. Traditional, yes, but also elegant, rich and beautiful.

I understand that we live in a secular society and that there probably needs to be some "non-religious" offerings on the philatelic front.  I don't have a problem with that. What I have a problem with is the fact that they are ugly stamps.

Not*

The naive style is supposed to reflect a child's excitement and wonder at Christmas time. So how come the stamps look like some cheap banner decorating a tacky shopping centre? Puke.

Naive style at Christmas can be done well. Unsuprisingly, those clever Scandinavian's have accomplished a sophisticated design, aesthetically appealing and containing a similar subject matter to our current stamps:

Aren't the Swedish parcels cute and interesting compared to the awful pressies depicted on our stamp? And check out the depiction of a parcel on this stamp from the Netherlands - simple but sweet:

Now I think these are Christmas stamps worth getting excited about. To be fair, my favourite of all are the tapestry stamps from our issue. But in terms of naive style, the Europeans have it. Perhaps something to aim for next year, Australia Post?

With sincere hopes that you enjoy constructive criticism,

Helen.

PS. I am totally available should you wish to hire me. I am a historian, so could research your stamp issues. And as a bonus I could give you design advice: Helen's 'hot or not?' for stamps. You know, if you want.

*Images stolen from the Australia Post shop.  Should you wish to purchase the ugly stamps (although I would highly recommend the beautiful ones), check out this link.

Year of the Blog

Hello friends and welcome to the 50th edition of I heart post!! Can you believe it? Thank you all so much for your continued support and readership - I have so much fun putting this little blog of mine together.

For this milestone edition of I heart post, I am showcasing some of my all-time, number-one, absolute-favourite stamps. Yes, I know strictly speaking I am not allowed to have multiple all-time, number-one absolute favourite stamps... but you know how it is - how could I possibly restrict myself to just one favourite?

This stunning set of stamps represent the twelve year cycle of the Chinese zodiac, with two stamps issued each year between 1992 and 2003. I purchased from a market stall in Beijing in 2004 and I love them. I have always wanted to somehow frame or display them, but I haven't worked out how yet. And I love looking at them as a whole collection so here they all are, together:

Aren't they beautiful? All reds and greens and blacks, with striking calligraphy and stylised creatures? I love how individually they are all very different, yet together they all work in harmony. Each year one stamp featured the Chinese character for the relevant zodiac sign, and the other stamp featured a graphic depiction of the relevant zodiac animal.  Unfortunately my scanner does not do them justice.

So, it may take me a decade to get these beautiful stamps into a frame and onto my wall... but at least I have now shared them all with you, so that they can be properly appreciated! And after all, that is what I set out to do with this blog in the first place - share my collection.

Thanks so much for tuning into another edition of I heart post. I didn't know how best to celebrate notching up 50 blog-entries, but I hope that these Chinese zodiac stamps have done the trick.

I would love to hear any feedback that casual readers and avid observers (Hi Mum and Dad!) may have about how I could make this blog better. I am planning a redesign soon, but would love to hear any suggestions relating to content that you, my lovely readers, may have (Too much archaeology? Not enough pretty pictures? Too many FDCs? Not enough history?).

I am also posting this blog entry as part of Viridian's Sunday Stamps, which I always enjoy participating in: thanks Viridian!  Happy Sunday everyone!

Happy Melbourne Cup Day!

Happy Melbourne Cup, everyone. I hope your horse won.

It was a public holiday here in Melbourne today, in honour of "the race that stops the nation". I don't have a tv (that is actually connected to an antenna) so I did not in fact watch the race - for perhaps the first time ever. I did have a lovely Tuesday (that felt like a Sunday) pottering about the house though. But just so the day doesn't entirely escape me... and to participate somewhat in the spirit of the Spring Racing Carnival, here are some horse stamps for your enjoyment (and mine):

The thing I especially like about this set of stamps issued in 2010 on the 150th anniversary of the Melbourne Cup, is that the crowd shots in the background reflect the era of the respective champion horse. I think they are a very nice set of stamps.

Compare the above issue of 2010 to this 1978 release - which do you prefer?

I often prefer the retro-appeal of stamps from the 70s, but in this instance, I think  the more recent 2010 stamps win out for me. By a nose. (Boom boom).

And just to demonstrate that this country is completely nutso when it comes to horse racing (if you weren't already convinced) here is a third set of stamps dedicated to the "Champions of the Turf". It is my least favourite of the three issues and is from 2002. What do you think?

I have mixed feelings about horseracing, but boy do I love a public holiday! I also love horse names, and once lost $5 on "May the Horse be With You" because I thought it was possibly the best name EVER.

And with that (stamps - tick; topical subject matter relevant to the day- tick; borrowed Star Wars pun - tick) I am done. Night folks and thanks for stopping by!

Pretty things in the gutter

2008 Megafauna Stamp Issue

I haven't done a regular Wednesday post for two whole weeks due to life kinda getting in the way. I wasn't sure what to write about today, so I was flicking through my stamp album and decided to share these megafauna stamps. I thought I would share them because, basically, they are totally awesome.

The stamps were released in 2008 for 'stamp collecting month' and as such these stamps are clearly designed to appeal to the primary-school-aged demographic... so I am not sure what it says about me, that I think they are so cool!

My favourite megafauna stamp is the one with the giant goose-like thing; the genyornis. According to Melbourne Museum the Genyornis Newtoni lived between 1.8 million and 40,000 years ago (in the Pleistocene) and stood a decent two metres tall (now I feel like a primary school kid doing a school project, standing at the front of the class... "It was a very big bird, bigger than an emu, and was sometimes called a 'thunder bird'. The end.")

Perhaps the most famous of the animals included on the stamp set is the Thylacine, better known as the Tasmanian Tiger. I didn't know that the Tasmanian Tiger counted as a megafauna, but maybe it had bigger relatives that were megafauna? The poor old Tasmanian Tiger became officially extinct in 1936. It was extinct on the mainland prior to European contact, but had survived in Tasmania. However, growing up in Gippsland, in south-eastern Victoria, there were  rumours circulating about Thylacine sightings. I am not sure of the likelihood of the rumours proving true, but I certainly enjoy the idea of the Tasmanian Tiger surviving.

The thing that you will have noticed about these stamps is that they have bonus illustrations in the gutter! I love it when Australia Post has special "gutter strip" releases. I have two other gutter strips that are pretty cool... nothing at all to do with megafauna, and everything to do with just being pretty.

2010 Stamp Issue commemorating the Bicentenary of Governor Macquarie

2004 Issue featuring Landmark Bridges

I am not going to rabbit on too much about these last two sets - I will just let you admire how pretty they are!

I just love the images chosen for the gutters of all three sets... I love the fossils drawn on graph paper for the mega-fauna series; I love the panorama of Sydney Cove for the release about Governor Macquarie; and I love the design drawings for the bridges stamps.

How about that... there is just so much fun to be had in the gutter!

Austrian adventures in post

A souvenir stamp from the Republik Osterreich 

When I travel I like to pick up stamps as nice little souvenirs. Stamps can reflect so much of the place that you have just visited, and as a bonus, they don't take up any space in your backpack. Perfecto. A perfecto memento, you could say!

Mozart in Salzburg in 2006!

So when I was in Austria in 2006 I hunted down a little cavernous stamp shop, down a little cobbled street, (at least that's how I remember it). I had to buy the above Mozart first day cover, because my sister Emily and I had not been able to escape the presence of the great maestro during our stay in Salzburg. He was everywhere. On chocolate wrappers. In museums. On banners in the street. On post.

I also bought the above beautiful set of stamps from 1977 which depict St Stephen's Cathedral. The cathedral, which is a striking landmark in Vienna was unfortunately being restored while we were there, which meant it was partially obscured by scaffolding. You can't tell from the scans, but the stamps are quite large - appropriately imposing for such a grand cathedral. And the stamps let me appreciate the icon which I didn't quite get to appreciate while I was there, due to all the pesky scaffolding.

Pariser Postkonferenz 1863-1963. Paris Post Conference - my type of event, I should think.

Admittedly, some stamps I just bought because they appealed purely and simply for their aesthetic value. The Pariser Postkonferenz 1863-1963 doesn't represent anything of my stay in Austria, but it is one damn cool stamp. Check out the hats, for starters! And the mustard background. What a great image. The same goes for the commemorative stamps celebrating 50 years of the Republic. I like the crests that feature in the design, but more than that, the stamps are textured due to the printing process, so they look and FEEL pretty.

I also bought two stamps that feature the art work of Gustav Klimt. These stamps represent something of my holiday, because we visited art galleries in Vienna and saw some of Klimt's work (which I love love love) - but being miniature works of art themselves, they also tick the aesthetic box.

'Hygieia' from Klimt's 'Medicine' ceiling painting for the University of Vienna 

Detail from 'The Kiss' by Gustav Klimt

My favourite Austrian stamp, though, is not actually in my collection. I sourced it on ebay, but then gave it away as a gift (post makes brilliant gifts, I think). The stamp depicts the sculptor Anton Hanak, who was a contemporary of Klimt. I used the stamp as an illustration in a research project for my Masters, which was last year published into a lovely little book by the Duldig Studio.

Hanak was the teacher and mentor to two young sculptors in Vienna, Karl and Slawa Duldig, whose home in Melbourne is now a house museum. Hanak is not very well known in Australia, but this stamp shows that he was acclaimed enough to warrant a stamp from his homeland, and thus the stamp made it into the book.

So how about that... without even being totally conscious of it, I managed to wrangle some post into my first book!* That is how much I love stamps and post!

And if I ever get the chance to return to Austria, now that I have read so much about Hanak, I will certainly be seeking out his sculptures. And right after I do that, I will be seeking out a little stamp shop down a little cobbled street, just to see what other treasures I might find...

(*And if anyone is interested in the book... it's a super great read about art and history and Melbourne and Vienna and so much more, and it is available for $25 from the Duldig Studio, or email me at helenheartspost (at) gmail.com and I will organise a copy for you!)