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Bulgarian Bugs

Feeling guilty for not posting a stamp last week, so this week I’m posting a whole series. From left to right, top to bottom: the owlfly, threadwinged antlion, Rosalia longicorn, cricket, Mammoth wasp, wheat grain beetle.

Country: Bulgaria
Issued: 1964
Designers: M. Peykova, V. Vasileva

Michigan DoA

Michigan Department of Agriculture Feed Inspection Revenue Stamp

Issued: circa 1939

Jûtdle

This is a Christmas Seal from Denmark, but the words are Greenlandic (a language that only about 50,000 people speak) so it was incredibly difficult to learn anything about this stamp. “Kalatdlit-nunat” refers to Greenland, but I still don’t know what “jûtdle” means. At any rate, it’s an image of two cute seals and a kayaker, brought to you by the crazy amounts of snow and slush we’ve been dealing with in Philadelphia recently.

20 Filler

As far as I can tell, this is a charity stamp for the Hungarian Red Cross from WWII, when semi-postal stamps were sold at a premium over the postal value to raise money. Seems surprising to go the extra length for such incredible embossing during wartime, but maybe people were willing to pay even extra for it.

Hopfen

hopfen_MM

“Under the protectorate of his Royal Highness the Prince Ludwig of Bavaria: GERMAN BREWERY EXHIBITION with special exhibitions Bavarian barley and hops.”

Designer: Franz Paul Glass (based on a poster design)

I bought this at a recent stamp show simply because I like the way it looks (Egyptian-revival maybe?), so I got a real kick out of finding out this was an advertisement for a beer expo (thanks to Google translate). The designer also seems to have an interesting history as part of a German graphic design collective called “Die 6” although there isn’t too much information on them online.

Inspected / Approved

Pennsylvania Vehicle Inspection sticker

Issued: 1956

Telegraph

“Telegraph stamps were used by private companies for use on their own telegrams.  The stamps showed payment for the telegraph service fee had been collected.  Customers filled out a form, submitted it with payment, and the clerk applied the stamp and cancelled it to show payment had been received.” – Mystic Stamp Company

Issued: 1883

Cigarette Tubes

For the tax on hollow tubes of paper.

Fast Express

Pan-American Exposition Issue: 2c Train

Issued: 1901

Christmas Collection

American Indian

14c American Indian

Issued: May 1, 1923

Designer: Clair Aubrey Huston

Engravers: Louis Schofield, Frank Lamasure, Edward M. Hall, Joachim C. Benzing

Trivia: Image based on De Lancey Gill’s photograph of Hollow Horn Bear (1850-1913), a Brule Sioux.

Snuff

Gotta love the yellow-on-blue cancellation, note the way it accentuates his schnozz. Snuff indeed.

Mature Tax, Fruit Paid

Totally into this large black & white fruit stamp, but I’ll admit that I got stamp envy when I looked this up and found that each year came in a different color.

Indiana Case Stamp

State of Indiana Case Stamp
Fermented Malt Beverage
Circa 1955-1959