All Around the World

My dad was a big fan of the American "crooner" Bing Crosby. I can remember my childhood sunday mornings being filled with the resonance of his warbling, forced through the speakers of our "Dansette" record player. An element of "Bing" trivia that is etched in my memory is that his song Around the World was top of the charts on the day that I was born. So what has this got to do with stamp collecting, you ask. Well.. it links to a cover that I received a few days ago as a result of my ventures into the Postcrossing Forum.

Round the World Cover UK > Canada > Hong Kong > UK

There is a thread on the forum that links together three members from different countries into a group. Each member sends a cover to another member of the group who then applies stamps over the address, readdresses the cover to the next member and posts it on. The same process is applied by the next member and it is returned to the original sender. This makes for an interesting cover with stamps from three different countries. If the members are strategically placed, the cover effectively travels a complete circumnavigation of the globe, or ...Around the World!

Another recent addition to my postcard collection is a super reproduction of a patriotic poster from 1920's Poland. I think that this period of art history is particularly exciting. Many European countries, inspired from their liberation from the chains of imperialism, needed to demonstrate their new identity using the contemporary styles of art nouveau and art deco. It has given birth to some of my favourite stamp designs emanating from the studio's of artists such as the Czech, Alfons Mucha, and the enigmatic Ivan Vavpotic in Yugoslavia. All contain huge amounts of nationalist and patriotic symbolism together with images and details of landscapes and landmarks. Very powerful designs, but still presenting a degree of homage to the cultural dominance of their former Austrian masters. Sadly the crude and limited printing processes, often resulting from wartime damage and destruction, do little to enhance the superb quality of these designs.