Occupation Octagonals
Produced for use by an occupying army which was already in full retreat, Thessaly’s one and only issue comprised the world’s first octagonal stamps
Report by Adrian Keppel
Thessaly 1898 20pa rose, one of five values in an issue which was distinctive but short-lived
Thessaly may be close to the centre of modern Greece, but it has a chequered history, not all of it Hellenic.
Originally known as Aeolia, and mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey, it has been part of the Persian, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires.
Even after the Greeks regained their independence in 1830, they had to wait more than 50 years before they could incorporate Thessaly into the country, in 1881.
Educational Reading For Generations Of Kids
On September 14 Royal Mail will issue a set of eight stamps celebrating Ladybird books, which have had a huge influence on generations of British children.
The Loughborough-based stationery firm Wills & Hepworth registered the Ladybird name in 1915, and published the first of its small-format children’s books bearing the Ladybird logo in 1940.
With wartime paper rationing in force, it concocted a format in which a 56-page book could be printed from a single sheet of paper.
Champlain celebration
Canada 1908 Quebec Tercentenary ½c sepia, portraying the Prince and Princess of Wales
1908 was a champagne moment in Canada’s history, and the Tercentenary of Quebec was celebrated by a fine recess-printed set of portrait and pictorial stamps.
The first successful European colony in mainland Canada had been established in 1608, when the French navigator Samuel de Champlain retraced the voyages of discovery made more than 70 years earlier by his fellow countryman Jacques Cartier.
A small settlement at the confluence of the St Lawrence and St Charles rivers, initially simply named l’Habitation, would eventually grow into Quebec City.
Workshops wound by wind and water
The Windmills & Watermills set, to be issued on June 20, will salute an endearing and important part of Britain’s industrial archaeology, the mechanisms which harnessed natural energy in the days before steam, coal and petrol engines, and cheap electricity.
Water power, harnessed by a waterwheel in fast-flowing water, was initially used for grinding grain and fulling cloth, and later for driving processing machinery in metal and textile factories.
Wind power, harnessed by sails mounted high in the air flow, was primarily used for grinding corn, especially in areas where flowing water was less easily available.
The Machin Definitive
Birthday celebrations for a very familiar face
Royal Mail’s celebration of 50 years of the Machin definitive comprises two miniature sheets to be released on June 5, the precise anniversary of the first issue.
The Machin Definitive - 50 Years of a Design Icon
One, subtitled 50 Years Of A Design Icon, has six new 1st class stamps, each with the familiar Machin portrait in use since 1967 alongside a preliminary design concept dating from the development of the series during 1966.
The other, subtitled Golden Anniversary Celebration, has seven stamps, six of which are reprints of original decimal issues from between 1971 and 2013, and the other a new £1 value.
