Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Kimble's December Postmark Calendar

Kimble's December Calendar
Into the Deep Blue
As a collaborative project, Dan and I are presenting a postmark calendar for all 366 possible days of the year, represented by interesting appropriate date cancellation stamps from the Kimble collection.

We are publishing, during 2017, a monthly blog post with the date postmarks for that month for everyone's enjoyment.

With this December post, there is a date stamp for every day of the year!

The introduction, dedication, and links to the other months that have been published, is included with the January post.

December Postmark Calendar

December 1
USA 1864 Scott R15c 2c orange "Washington"
Internal Revenue
New York

December 2
China 1898 Scott 100 2c scarlet
Chinese Imperial Post
Canton

December 3
Great Britain 1902 Scott 127 1/2p gray green "Edward VII"
Postmark?

December 4
Great Britain 1902 Scott 127 1/2p gray green "Edward VII"
Chiddingfold, District of Surrey  Thanks Catalin!

December 5
USA 1933 Scott 728 1c yellow green
"Restoration of Fort Dearborn"
Seattle

December 6
Belgium 1923 Scott 151a 25c dull violet
"King Albert"
Liege

December 7
USA 1936 Scott 790 1c green
"John Paul Jones and John Barry"
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

December 8
Great Britain 1881 Scott 89 1p lilac "Victoria"
"48" is the post office number for Barnard Castle (Durham). Thanks to Bud

December 9
Sweden 1896 Scott 59 15o red brown
"King Oscar II"
Ljusne, Sweden

December 10
Sweden 1920 Scott 150 80o deep green
"Crown and Post Horn"
Eskilstuna in Sodermanland county  Thanks Catalin & Steamboat!

December 11
Great Britain 1911 Scott 152 1p carmine
"George V"
Haywards Heath Thanks Bud!

December 12
Japan 1930 Scott 135 7s red orange

December 13
Great Britain 1887 Scott 111 1/2p vermilion
"Victoria"
Newcastle

December 14
Great Britain 1881 Scott 89 1p lilac "Victoria"
Woolwich is a district in south-east London.

December 15
Japan 1888 Scott 79 10s brown orange
"Imperial Crest, Star and Kiri Branches"
Shanghai..a Japanese Office there? Thanks Bud!

December 16
USA 1864 Scott R15c 2c orange "Washington"
Internal Revenue
Boston

December 17


Netherlands 1894 Scott 36 2c olive yellow
"Numeral of Value"
's Herogenbosch  Thanks Axel

December 18

Belgium 1907 Scott 84 5c green
Schaerbeek, a municipality of Brussels  Thanks Catalin!

December 19

USA 1916 Scott 463 2c carmine "Washington"
Dubuque, Iowa

December 20
Great Britain 1902 Scott 127 1/2p gray green "Edward VII"
Lugan, a city in Northern Ireland Thanks Catalin

December 21
Great Britain 1902 Scott 127 1/2p gray green "Edward VII"
Wolverton

December 22
Great Britain 1912 Scott 160 1p scarlet "George V"

December 23
Denmark 1940 Scott 227A 8o yellow green
Holbaek, Denmark

December 24
Bavaria 1911 Scott 78 5pf dark green/green
"Prince Regent Luitpold"
(hafen am Rhein)..Ludwigshafen? Thanks Axel

December 25
Great Britain 1902 Scott 127 1/2p gray green "Edward VII"

December 26
Canada 1899 Scott 77 2c carmine "Victoria"
RPO cancellation from the Kingston & Sharbot Lake railway. The M.C. at the bottom stands for "mail car".  Thanks Ryan!

December 27
 
Belgium 1900 Scott 66 10c bright rose "Leopold"
Brussels

December 28
Belgium 1905 Scott 85 10c dull rose
"King Leopold"
Antwerp

December 29
Great Britain 1887 Scott 111 1/2p vermilion
"Victoria"
Loughborough?  Thanks Bud!

December 30
Sweden 1891 Scott 56 5o yellow green
"King Oscar II"
Baggetorp, Sweden  Thanks Catalin

December 31
Great Britain 1887 Scott 111 1/2p vermilion
"Victoria"
Jersey?

Canada 1927 Scott 142 2c green
"The Fathers of the Confederation"
Out of the Blue
Some of the postmarks are identified, others are not. Help from readers is appreciated. ;-)

Note: all of the stamps featured for the post are part of the Kimble collection. 

Comments appreciated!

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Dutch Indies - Bud's Big Blue

The Kali Mas, Soerabaja, late 19th century
Bud's Big Blue
Bud's Observations
Diary entry, 21 July, 1881, our 187th day in Java

Since Dineka and Hieke arrived a week ago, life has been hectic. It is good to have our daughter and granddaughter helping us furnish the house. The furniture and supplies arrived on the same boat they came on, 42 days at sea via the Suez. Already it has been offloaded onto river barges and poled up the Kali Mas. We weren’t ready. So the Javanese workers are stacking it outside the front door. At least it won’t rain.

I needed to mail some letters, so I took Hieke with me to the post office. I found my favorite jitney driver, Sujita, for the ride. He told Hieke, in his broken Dutch, to watch out for big crocodiles. She looked frightened until I winked. I only recently learned that Soerabaja is named for fierce sharks and crocodiles. Sujita took me aside to say he was worried about his grandson, Jaya, who recently became a “Mahomedan”. Jaya and several other youths, he said, are obsessed by reports of recent uprisings in Hejaz against Christians. It’s a long way away, I told him. Not to worry. It won’t happen here. (Actually, it does worry me some. I’ll keep a watchful eye.)

The Kali Mas reminds me of canals back home. Water level is currently very low. Sujita says it will go lower before the rains come.

Census: 174 in BB spaces, 36 tip-ins, 35 on supplement pages.

The diary entry, inspired by the second stamp on page one, is fictive, although laced with historical and geographical facts.

Jim's Observations
I really enjoy Bud's inventive posts. Who says stamp blog narratives have to be stuffy? ;-)

The Dutch Indies stamps themselves have a classic elegant design with the three Numeral issues, and the many variations of the Queen Wihelmina issues. There are many overprints/surcharges which I find fascinating. The prices are quite inexpensive, with the exception of the 1883-90 Numeral Scott 21 5c green valued north of $25. But no "Most Expensive" candidates for the list.

Dutch Indies Blog Post and Checklist

Page 1

1a

1b

1c

Page 2

2a

2b

2c

2d

Page 3

3a

3b

3c

Page 4

4a


Page 5

5a

5b

5c

Page 6

6a

6b

6c

Supplements
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4

Page 5
Page 6

Page 7

Note: Photo: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23325247.  Source: A. Cabaton. Java, Sumatra and Other Islands of The Dutch East Indies,1911. P. 64a.

Comments appreciated!