Celebrating the Mail Service ....

450 years of the Polish Post (1558 - 2008)

Hi! Today's Post is related with the Mail Service. The stamp shown here is the beautiful stamp issued by Poland on 19 December 2008, to celebrate 450 years of the Polish Post 1558-2008 . This unique issue in the form of a stamp block printed on silk is the culmination of the celebrations of the 450th jubilee of the Polish Post. The stamp presents a horse messenger on the background of a Renaissance panorama of Krakow city (the end of the 16th century). The First Day Cover features an illustration of a woman holding a letter addressed to Krakow in front of some Renaissance architecture with a mail box, known as the "buca delle lettere", or "letter mouth", in the shape of a lion's muzzle. The image placed on the cover illustrates the exchange of mail between Venice and Krakow - a symbolic representation of the first postal connection established by king Zygmunt August. For the same reason both the cover and the date stamp feature the royal monogram. As the Polish Post is my most favourite Postal Administration which issues the most beautiful stamps in the world, I join with their 450th anniversary celebrations and, hope to get more beautiful issues from Poland in the years to come. In the second part a souvenir sheet related with mail history on 1750 Vienna-Brno Express Mail issued by Czech republic on 12 september 2008. This is all about the mails history of three countries Poland, Austria and Czech Republic......Till Next Post ....Have a Great Time !......

The Unique feature of this stamp - Printed on silk

It's the second time in the history of Polish philately that they are presenting a postage stamp printed on silk. The first one was issued on account of the 400th jubilee of the Polish Post in December 1958 - a non-serrated anniversary issue in a stamp block, denominated at PLN 50, featuring a reproduction of the painting "Na kieleckim szlaku" (eng. On the Kielce Route) by Apoloniusz Kędzierski, composed with deep blue lines on a light purple background. The original painting, missing during the years of World War II, belongs to the Museum of the Post and Telecommunications. An identical image has been printed on a PLN 2.50 postage stamp issued in October the same year on account of the "400 years of the Polish Post" philatelic exhibition. The above stamps were printed with black ink on an off-white background. A certain number of these postage stamps were printed on sheets with an additional perforated margin as an insertion to the 1st volume of the book entitled "The Polish postage stamps". Part of the jubilee issue contained defects which involved printing on the rubber coated side. Those defective stamps are now some of the most sought after by collectors.

Courtesy- Polish Post

1750 Vienna-Brno Express Mail

The common Czech and Austrian issue commemorates two significant philatelic events - the World Stamp Exhibition PRAGA 2008 which was held on September 12-14, 2008 under the auspices of the International Philatelic Federation FIP and the subsequent International Stamp Exhibition WIPA 2008 which was held on September 18-21, 2008 in Vienna. The theme of the common issue is the 1750 Vienna-Brno Express Mail. The miniature sheet features a free motif of a picture card published by the Association of Postal Officers in Vienna in the early 20th century; the card was used and mailed from Vienna to Prague on 23.12.1914. Presently it is part of the collections of the Postal Museum in Prague. The picture on the card features a reproduction of a painting signed by K. Schnorpfeil with an express mail carriage drawn by a team of four horses. In 1750 the ordinary mail carriages, or diligences, travelled between Vienna and Brno according to regular time schedules. The first test journey on this route was made in 1749 by the author of the project, Baron Lillien. If necessary, the travellers could pay also for an extraordinary express journey of the mail carriage according to their own demand. The price for the journey was set according to the distance, number of horses, relay stations, etc.; the service was therefore very expensive and used only in extraordinary events by rich travellers. In most cases the carriages were drawn by a team of four, but if necessary also six or eight, horses. The prescribed postilion uniform consisted of a red coat with blue facing, horn and top boots.