Back of the book (deel 1)
Yes, that is what most English-speaking stamp collectors call the stamps issued for special purposes. Such as special stamps for express delivery, for airmail, for express airmail, service stamps, stamps for registered mail, and so on. They are often of much less interest than ordinary postage stamps. Nevertheless, these types of stamps deserve a place in our collection. As an example, I have taken a number of stamps from my Canada collection. I have limited myself to stamps for registered mail and stamps for express delivery (Part 1). In Part 2, the airmail stamps and airmail stamps combined with express.
Stamps for registered mail
Canada was an early adopter. On November 15, 1875, three stamps appeared—one of 2 cents, one of 5 cents, and one of 8 cents—specifically for registered mail. The 2-cent and 5-cent stamps serve as examples. They look very formal, with a design resembling that of banknotes.
The stamps were produced in fairly large numbers. Almost 30 million of the 2-cent stamps and slightly less than 12 million of the 5-cent stamps. The 8-cent stamp is rare; only about 125.000 were sold. It remained limited to these three stamps.
Stamps for express mail
An extra fee was charged for express delivery. The first 10-cent express stamp appeared on June 28, 1898. On August 21, 1922, a new express stamp was issued with a value of 20 cents. These stamps were also very formally designed. The 1922 stamp clearly indicates its purpose: special delivery of first-class mail within the city limits.
On June 29, 1927, a special 20-cent express stamp appeared in a beautiful orange color, now featuring an image commemorating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Canadian Confederation. The image depicts the postal service with the old and the then-newest means of transport. For 'transport' theme collectors, it was a 'must'. They reverted to the old, formal model by issuing a new 20-cent stamp on September 2, 1930.
Apparently, there was no longer any restriction that the stamp could only be used for postal delivery within the city limits. However, it is unclear why this stamp was reissued on December 24, 1932, with the only difference being the text on the bottom line.
Once again, the rather dull, formal design was abandoned by issuing a 20-cent stamp on June 1, 1935, featuring an image. This image is derived from a painting by Alonzo Earl Foringer (1878–1948) with an allegorical subject, the symbol of progress. He also designed many banknotes featuring allegorical representations for the American Bank Note Company.
The last 20-cent express stamp appeared on June 15, 1938. The formal design used for banknotes was still maintained, but the national coat of arms was now depicted centrally. A magnificent piece of engraving! However, this stamp was not available for long. Effective April 1, 1939, the rate for express orders was reduced to 10 cents. The print run of the stamp was 200.000 copies, which was low compared to its predecessor, which reached nearly 884.000 copies.
Consequently, a new express stamp appeared on April 1, 1939, featuring the same design but now in the color green. The surplus of 500.000 20-cent stamps from 1938 was overprinted with 10 cents so that they could still be used up.
The last express stamp appeared on September 16, 1946, with a value of 10 cents. This stamp is also known as the 'peace express stamp' because of the images of a laurel branch and an olive branch alongside the national coat of arms. Laurel as a symbol of victory and olive as a symbol of peace after the Second World War. And, of course, the 'hidden' year 1946. Nearly 3 million stamps were put into circulation. But the express stamp had run its course.
The stamps were abolished, but the surpluses of the 10 cents were used as service stamps. Thus, in 1950, an overprint was applied in the form of the letters OHMS, which stands for On His Majesty's Service. The print run was only 175.000 copies. Also in that same year, an overprint with the letter G for Gouvernement (Government). The print run of this was more than 2 million copies. With that, the chapter on express stamps came to an end. The express duty could henceforth be paid with ordinary postage stamps. 
Cees, thanks. A lot of background info again.
'@Cees
What do our Dutch stamps stand for? Registered mail, Guaranteed mail, Express mail, and Parcel post???
Not even at the back of the book, but nowhere in it !!!!!!
That is modern philately.
In the past, as a collector, you received all information via Service Orders; now you have to figure everything out yourself.
It does make it more exciting.
However, if you miss the boat, you're out of luck.
Then you have to swim/search for it yourself.
True Philately.
Nice piece, Cees.
I do actually miss a nice example of a piece of mail, though. That would illustrate the usage well. Or will that be in part 2?
‘@Albert,
You are not entirely alone in having to swim/search for everything yourself:
there is a stamp blog
* there are (specialized) clubs
there are web forums
You can be part of a circle of philatelist friends who share and pass on all the latest news among themselves, via email or simply by phone.
There is the monthly magazine Filatelie. As a printed medium, it often follows the release of stamps or other postal values, but in the long run, it is a good reference work.
You often receive this info afterwards, and you can no longer respond.
Then you are too late.
With the Service Orders, you were fully and timely informed.
Now you are often dependent on others.
By the way, it seems that everyone thinks it is normal for everyone to have a PC,
The whole of life/events already run on this. Look at www. etc. etc. is already firmly established.
But a large part of us do not have a PC or the Internet.
Look around you in club life: who is under 50?
PS the clock is 1 hour behind !!!!
‘@Albert,
Me! I am nowhere near 50 yet, and have been a philatelist for over 25 years. There are still a few over 50s at our club—but they are by far in the minority. New members have come to a complete standstill; we are all getting older and greyer.
And you are absolutely right that the assumption that www. is ubiquitous is made too easily.
There is something to that PC idea. Could that be solved by the association setting up a PC (an older one that someone still has in the attic) at the association evening? That way, the PC users might be able to show the non-PC users the ropes a bit. Hmmm, though it would be a lot of lugging that thing around every time.
I also sometimes wonder: if someone has one, or acquires one, is there a need among the older generation for a sort of beginner's course on philately and the PC? I’d be happy to write a website or manual sometime, if there is a need for it. Explaining in simple terms how to use the PC, the search engine, how to find the most important sites for collectors in the Netherlands, posting a comment on a blog, and the like. But it would be useful to know if there is a need for it. Hehe, and now it’s difficult to respond for those who don't have a PC, so why don't you ask about it at your club, Albert? Then you’ll be swimming ahead of the current like true fish for a change.
'@Paul, what a young association! Mind you, my association doesn't consist solely of people over 50 either, and there are many women.
That thing with the manual seems like a good idea to me,
I am willing to cooperate.
Hey, the clock is now synchronized with the posting of the comment.
‘@ Albert,
Did something about the clock right away! Thanks for your report.
@ Dolores,
Always happy to help you with this from the Postzegelbog.
'@Albert, Lia, nice that you're responding.
I have a bit of an idea. I enjoy writing the text, but of course it could also be divided if you'd like to write something, Albert.
There are a few things I haven't quite figured out yet: such as where to start. At the very very beginning, the PC, keyboard, mouse, and the like. In that case, people will need some external help in the start (even if it's just to access the site). Or assuming that people can at least get started and have some basic knowledge?
NB: This concerns older philatelists and/or people for whom the internet is a kind of jungle chaos. The aim is for these people to be able to find their way to philatelic sites.
If people could tell me a bit more about the older stamp collectors they know, what they are struggling with, and what they particularly need, that would be very helpful!
And then there is the format, which site to choose. There are nice “pre-designed” free sites to be found on the PC, I am considering those, but ideas are welcome.
Albert, Lia, shall I give you my email and can I have yours so I can perhaps discuss a sort of plan and see how/what you want/can do?
@Albert, I think it would be nice to hear from you how things used to be and what things are still available for people who can't handle a PC, or aren't good at it. If I understand correctly, only the magazine *De Philatelie*, the association they are affiliated with, and Collect remain?
Oh yes, email address: lente-bries@live.nl
email address: albert.haan@home.nl
I will start by searching for a few things. And my experience with the PC and the internet.
Beste Albert & Dolores,
If you want to start creating a site that is accessible to older people, it is important to put yourself in the shoes of the "oldies." But the problem lies not only with the oldies but also with the WWW. It is a chaotic mess of websites and information, especially the link pages. I know so many pages about philately, but as soon as you click the link, the page no longer exists, or in some cases, you end up on an 18+ page! This is also a problem for seasoned internet users. Although Google is a wonderful medium, it is also a major problem at the same time.
How do you search, which keywords do you use, etc.? As webmaster for my local stamp society, I ran into this a number of years ago. I am slowly working on displaying interesting websites on the websites. This is quite a job. It consists not only of searching for websites, but also of maintaining them. That is where most of the time goes, because no one reports when their website ceases to exist or gets a new address, resulting in chaos.
In addition, a number of members sit in the room with their laptops at certain meetings to show other collectors the possibilities of the computer and their collections. Just think of self-made album pages. I have even put a concise manual for this on the website. But if you want to do it properly, it also takes a lot of time and maintenance, because technology changes as well.
When building the website itself, you must also take a user-friendly environment into account. You will also need a clean design. There is nothing worse than displaying text in countless different colors and failing to display images or displaying them illogically.
In my experience with building websites, it is definitely not advisable to choose a free environment with pre-prepared sites. See if there is someone or an organization that can sponsor a good environment for you, or find a cheap provider where you can get good space for very little money.
Only then start designing with a website program. There are programs that require little to no experience to create a beautiful site. And maintain that site well. There is nothing as terrible as a website that is not maintained.
In short, if you want to do it right, you will create a kind of philately portal where the various interests within philately are covered.
Perhaps Lia from the Stamp Blog can help you arrange certain matters described above.
gr. Filajunkie
Making is one thing, maintaining is another!
Hi Fila, thanks a lot for the tips! I hadn't thought of the sponsored thing yet, that's actually a pretty good idea. I also thought about the tracking later on; there is a professional who is quite willing to help, so I will definitely ask them about that. But anyone interested in that is welcome!
My intention is to bypass that linking hassle and jungle a bit, and create a more nicely defined whole. This will therefore not cover every site that exists, but the ability to search for sites yourself will be included. With tips and exercises regarding keywords. I am thinking of a very large philatelic building/library where the librarian/hostess—it could also be a host—organizes trips to various “departments.” First to browse around those departments a bit, and afterwards the visitor gets to do some activities there as well. The hostess/tour guide is therefore always present to take the visitor along and assist them. A kind of virtual excursion, but not to a glassblowing workshop or monastery, but to various stamp websites. Some excursions also include workshops, such as searching by keyword, visiting your favorite site, participating in a forum, and buying stamps online.
Well, that’s all for now then; based on information from you, things can be adjusted.
That sponsor, that's a good idea! Pfff, but I don't know much about that, so you approach a company or something?
Thanks anyway. If I have a quick question, can I contact you, since you have a bit more experience with it?
'@Lia
Just a point of order…
Albert and Dolores's initiative is fantastic, and there are surely more suggestions…
Can that be in a separate story?
So disconnected from the tail of the catalog…
It seems to me that as a blog administrator, you could perhaps organize things a bit more 😉 🙂
*cough cough*…or a separate topic for the catalog? Hahaha no Rein, you're right, maybe quite handy.
'@Rein, you are absolutely right! Behind the scenes, we have exchanged email addresses and are also in discussions. However, it is not unusual for new responses to still be coming in.
'@Lia
What I mean is that you give comments that become off-topic at some point their own topic; you could organize that.
So in this case, split off the seniors topic and set it aside, not a private conversation “behind the scenes” between Albert, Dolores, and you….
Does the NBFV engage in sponsorship? Perhaps someone from the NBFV can tell me if that possibility exists?
But then you get another www. blah blah.
Then you once again fail to reach the people you want.
The solution is also to awaken our beautiful hobby, especially through “Philately” and the regional press.
Especially the last one. From experience: Journalists come to visit at home, you tell your little story about your hobby and club, and what happens;
The story appears in the newspaper backwards and distorted.
If you make an article yourself, it gets torn apart and you no longer see any connection in it.
Start from the ground up with the 50+ group who have no experience with the PC.
So don't start with startup programs and the like. First familiarize yourself with the PC phenomenon.
‘@Albert
How did you find the discussion by the philatelists' association in your area?
They are published in the parish newsletter, so it is preaching to the choir. Will people learn from this, or is it casting pearls before swine?
Now that I was preaching anyway and wondering what the “before” actually meant in that phrase, and in English it says “pearls before swine”, I tracked down the source :). And that clarifies a lot [and much, much more]!
Matthew 7
1 Do not judge other people, and they will not judge you either.
2 For as you treat others, you will be treated yourself.
3 Why do you worry about a splinter in your brother's eye, while you do not even notice the beam in your own eye?
4 How then can you say: 'Come, I will just take that splinter out of your eye'? After all, with that beam in your own eye, you cannot see anything?
5 How then can you help your brother? Hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye. Then you will at least see what you are doing when you remove the splinter from your brother's eye.
6 Do not give the things of God to the enemies of God. Make sure they do not get a hold of you. Do not throw pearls before swine. They will trample the pearls, turn around, and attack you.
7 Pray, and you will receive what you pray for. Seek, and you will find what you seek.
8 Knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who prays receives. Whoever seeks finds. And for whoever knocks, the door is opened.
9 If your son asks you for bread, do you give him a stone?
10 And if he asks you for a fish, will you give him a snake?
11 Of course not! Even though you are evil, you give your children what is good. How much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him.
12 Do for others what you would like to have done for yourself. That is, in short, what Moses and the prophets have said.
13 Enter through the narrow gate into the Kingdom of Heaven. The road to destruction is broad and leads to a wide gate. And how many people go through it!
14 But the gate to life is narrow. And the road to it is narrow. Few people find it.
15 Beware of false prophets. They come to you and disguise themselves as innocent sheep. But in reality, they are ravenous wolves.
16 You can tell what they are by their behavior, just as one can recognize a tree by its fruit. You need not look for grapes on thorn bushes, nor figs on thistles.
17 If you want to know whether a tree is good or bad, look at its fruit.
18 A good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree bears good fruit.
19 All trees that do not bear good fruit are cut down and burned.
20 I mean this: You can tell what someone is like by their behavior.
21 Not everyone who says 'Lord' to Me will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. For you will only enter if you do what my Father in heaven wants.
22 On the day of the great judgment many will say to Me: 'Lord, we spoke in Your name. Lord, we used Your name to cast out demons and to perform miracles.'
23 But I will answer them: 'You have never belonged to Me. Depart! You are wicked and have only done your own will.'
24 Whoever listens to Me and does what I say is wise. He is like a man who builds his house on a rock.
25 It may rain, there may be a flood, and there may storm. But the house remains standing, because it has a good foundation.
26 But whoever hears what I say and pays no attention to it is foolish. He is like a man who builds his house on sand.
27 When that house suffers from rain, flood, and storm, it collapses with a thunderous noise.”
28 Jesus was silent. Everyone who had heard Him was perplexed. For He spoke so very differently from the religious teachers.
29 He knew what He was talking about and did not need to quote what others had said.
‘@Dolores
In Association Newsletter 76, the courses “building a website”, “utilizing the internet for philately”, and “creating a PowerPoint presentation” were announced. To date, the number of interested parties has been insufficient to organize these courses. If there is sufficient interest, these courses will be scheduled for the autumn of 2008. Interested parties can still register at the Association Office.
For further information, please contact the Federation Office (PO Box 4034, 3502 HA Utrecht, telephone 030 2894290, e-mail bondsbureau@nbfv.nl).
Federation management,
Fred van den Brink, Secretary.
June 2008.”
@Thank you Rein. I had already been warned about that a little, the interest.
@Albert, you get a www, namely link to that site anyway. That is indeed true. And on the site, you are guided past a number of sites, so it involves clicking links regardless, but the participant/visitor doesn't have to do that entirely alone, but is assisted by a charming hostess or host—I still have to come up with a name for him/her—and they ensure that the participant always returns to them.
There are very good PC courses for seniors! Should it turn out that that is the major stumbling block, I can certainly write a piece on how to at least get onto that site. Dealing with the PC is one thing; dealing with all the philatelic sites, start pages, blogs and forums, surfing, Googling, and finding the sites that match your interests is another subject altogether. But it is on the PC that I create that, after all, and solely to be able to get onto the Wolkenkrabber. However, a few workshops will be held there in the future on how to find a site yourself. So those first steps… something handy would have to be made of that and distributed outside of the PC… Perhaps an association could do that, or our umbrella organization?… Yet another course doesn't seem smart to me, and I don't have the faintest clue about PowerPoint presentations either. And walking around hyperventilating later on is not for me, hehe.
I've actually already started a bit, by the way, meaning the appearance has been chosen. Nothing is there yet. http://mdgsr.webs.com/
I don't know if the exterior is visible yet. (The name and such can all still be changed; I mean mdgsr, the skyscraper will remain standing.) For now, it's on a free site. Because there is so much in the field of philately, it is going to be a skyscraper. But not all philatelic sites are going to be mentioned, mind you! Before too long, a floor might be finished, and perhaps the canteen, but that is more for checking if people have understood it, which could otherwise be done during the tour and such. So, questions and comments. Meeting places and putting what you've learned into practice can be found on forums and blogs like this one that already exists.
@Lia, would it be an idea for me to send you a writing kit or for the stamp blog to write a piece about whether something like that has a chance of success and what the bottlenecks are regarding seniors and the like? Then everyone can respond freely and share their views or experiences with seniors. And then perhaps we could also chat about things like sponsorship and publicity, which I don't know much about either. Let's just see if it works out first. I think something like that needs to grow a bit too. It also prevents hyperventilation….
I think help with using the PC will always remain desirable for many seniors, but a tour might also be fun to do with two people, or together with someone who is knowledgeable about computers?
So now I end up writing under Rein's topic after all. Rein, my sincere apologies for that!
@Lia, is it possible to make this a separate topic, or a piece about seniors? Would you like to receive some writing from me, or could the blog perhaps create a seniors topic itself that this fits under?
@Rein, you have now cited one of the most beautiful passages of the Bible.
The skyscraper isn't built on quicksand, you know.;-) It's more of a personal initiative that could perhaps be expanded nationwide for all seniors. Definitely worth a look, I think?
‘@dolores
So now I end up writing under Rein's topic after all, Rein, my sincere apologies for that!
This wasn't my topic!
It still remains “back of the book”; although I did bring out the book of books with a section that deserves to be moved forward quite a bit 🙂