Big Blue 1840-1940: Cameroun

A is for Aden and Z is for Zanzabar

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Cameroun - Bud's Big Blue

Anglo/French occupation stamps of 1915

Bud's Big Blue
Bud's Observations

The Bosnia comment, posted a few weeks ago, mentions the consequences of the two bullets that killed Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, which led to World War One and a philatelic avalanche.

Cameroon stamps provide an excellent case in point. BB’s selection runs from the Kaiser’s yacht through French occupation overprints on Middle Congo stamps to Cameroon proper stamps, but skips British overprints on German Kamerun stamps (see supplement) and the Anglo/French occupation stamps of 1915 (see above). The overprints of 1922 and inscribed stamps of 1925 are direct results of a League of Nations mandate.

Sorting out Cameroon’s philatelic labyrinth, as well as similar convolutions found in other former German colonies, requires serious expertise.

Fortunately, a professor at the University of Leiden, Ton Dietz, is undertaking part of this task. To view his work, search the internet for: Dietz "A postal history of the First World War in Africa and its aftermath". He offers, in PDF format, several very helpful working papers on individual countries.

Equally helpful is Gerben van Gelder’s concise overview of political entities operating in Cameroon: http://www.stampworldhistory.com/country-profiles-2/africa/cameroon/.

It occurs to me that, on colonial stamps, the Kaiser's Yacht, Hohenzollern, is the German equivalent of British sailing ships and the French Navigation allegory. No boats, no colonization. (I guess that’s obvious. Don’t need stamps to remind us.)

Cameroon cancels are particularly desirable; see Dietz’s work for excellent examples. I have only a few (supplement page 1, ‘Viktoria Kamerungebiet’ cancels). Viktoria is now the city of Limbe.

Following 1925, the Cameroon inscribed stamps typify French artistry -- cattle fording the Sananga, rubber harvest, Mbam water falls, rope suspension bridge. And, as might be expected of the French, an “African beauty.”

Census: 117 in BB spaces, eight tipped in, 25 on supplement pages.

Jim's Observations
Interesting philatelic history with German, British, and French (mainly) stamps issued. Very attractive French Mandate stamps. Of the 117 stamp spaces in Big Blue, 70 are quite inexpensive(<$1). If you like the country, there are an additional 45 stamps for a reasonable cost that could be picked up.

Cameroun Blog Post and Checklist

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