Friday, March 30, 2018

Belgian Congo Stamps Part II - A closer look

1932 Scott 140 15c gray "Kivu Kraal"
Into the Deep Blue
The engraved stamps of the Belgian Congo during the classical era are too nice for just one blog post - so here is a second one. !!

The 1931-1937 eighteen stamp issue is especially interesting.

CV for the issue ranges from <$1-$1+ - obviously quite inexpensive.

There are sixteen pictorial designs.

I've picked out twelve of them to highlight here.

I recommend enlarging the scan image to really enjoy these stamps.

The header stamp above, "Kivu Kraal", shows an African village hut scene.

For a Belgian Congo historical overview (other than mine), take a look at Gerben's Stamp World History entry.

A closer look at the stamps and issues
100 Centimes = 1 Franc
1932 Scott 142 25c deep blue "Uele Hut"
Exquisite design!

This stamp shows off the traditional African hut - a beehive dwelling made out of a wooden framework or mud, with thatched grass layers for roofing.

Uele River
The "Uele" natives here are defined by their location: namely the Uele River in the north-east section of the Belgian Congo. The Uele merges with the Mbomou, to form the Ubangi River, which in turn empties into the Congo.

1932 Scott 143 40c deep green
"Flute Players"
One has to listen, rather than just look....

YouTube: Music of Congo, Flute and Mbira (Thumb Piano)

1932 Scott 144 50c violet
"Musicians of Lake Leopold"
YouTube: African Congo Drum Music

Belgian Congo 1908-1960
Note Lake Leopold
Lake Leopold (until 1972, now Lake Mai-Ndombe) is a large freshwater lake. It drains via the Fimi River into the Congo. Of course the lake was named for Leopold II, King of the Belgians. He was also known, less affectionately but more accurately, as the "Butcher of Congo".

1932 Scott 145 60c violet brown
"Batetelas Drummers"


Native band at Lusambo, 1903, in the Congo Free State
The Batelelas (plural) or the Tetela people (singular) are an ethnic group between Lusambo and the Upper Congo River.. Today, they are engaged in fishing, farming, and cultivating cassava, banana, and kola nuts.

1932 Scott 146 75c rose
"Mangbetu Woman"
The Mangbetu live in the north-eastern Congo area, and are well known for their art and music (Mangbetu harp).

Mangbetu Homeland
The Mangbetu speak their own dialect, which is a Central Sudanic language. They became ascendant over their neighboring Bantu speaking tribes in the late 18th century, probably because of their knowledge of iron and copper forgery.

The Mangbetu (1930 photo)
The practice of developing elongated heads
For European explorers, the Mangbetu stood out because of their practice of elongating heads. Babies' heads were tightly wrapped with cloth or giraffe hide or bark (Lipombo). The elongation tradition diminished in the 1950s with increasing westernization.

1932 Scott 147 1fr rsoe red
"Domesticated Elephant of Api"
Of interest, the Api Elephant Domestication Center in the northeastern Belgian Congo was a project to tame wild elephants.

Api Elephant Domestication Center
Tamed wild-born Elephant plowing a field for farming
The Api Center functioned from 1925 to 1932. The Elephants were tsetse resistant, and were considered ten to twenty times as strong as oxen.

1931 Scott 148 1.25fr red brown
"Mangbetu Chief"
The Mangbetu, traditionally, had a belief system with strong elements of witchcraft and sorcery. When a person died, it was felt to have been done so "in the hands of" the father's family group. The father's group, then,  had to compensate the mother's group.

1937 Scott 151 2.50fr deep blue "Okapi"
One of the stranger appearing ungulate mammals, native to north-east Congo, is the Okapi.

Okapi
Although, with the striping, it resembles a Zebra, actually it is in the Giraffe family.

1932 Scott 154 4fr dull violet
"Canoes of Stanleyville"
The canoes were dugout canoes from tree trunks (Teak preferred) in the Belgian Congo.

1932 Scott 154 5fr deep violet 
"Woman preparing Cassava"
Cassava, from South America, was introduced into the Congo basin in 1558 by the Portuguese from Brazil. The cassava can be grown on poor soils, and is a reliable crop during droughts, when millet, banana, and yam production is decreased. Cassava is still a huge crop in West Africa, and it is mostly consumed domestically, with very little exported.

Women peeling Cassava
The edible starchy tuberous root of the cassava is peeled, and can be pounded into flour as the stamp illustrates. They are a major source of carbohydrates, but poor in protein or other nutrients.

1932 Scott 156 20fr black brown
"Young Woman of Irumu"
The portraits of natives on Belgian Congo stamps are some of the best representations done. Certainly, the British Commonwealth stamps of the era pale by comparison in this regard.

Congo Free State 1906
Irumu is on the eastern edge close to Lake Albert
Irumu is located on the Ituri river (downstream the river is named Arunmi), close to the eastern border of the Belgian Congo.

1930 Scott B12 10c + 5c vermilion
"Nurse Weighing Child"
In 1930, a nine stamp semi-postal issue was released to aid welfare work with the natives, especially the children.

CV is $1-$10+ for the nine stamps.

1930 Scott B13 20c + 10c deep brown
'Missionary & Child"
Conversion to Catholicism, public health campaigns, and education in the western tradition were and are considered good things by the Belgian authorities and public.

White Nurses of  Katanga, April, 1916
These "civilizing missions", of course, are also used as justification for colonialism.

1920 Scott C1 50c orange & black
"Wharf on Congo River"
In 1920. a four stamp engraved air mail issue, all four designs in bi-color, was released.

CV is <$1 for each stamp, quite inexpensive.

1920 Scott C3 2fr blue & black
"View of Congo River"
The issue was used for air mail operating between Kinshasa and Stanleyville, which began on April 1, 1920.

Deep Blue
1925-26 "Watusi Cattle" Issue in Deep Blue
The contents of Deep Blue (Steiner) for the classic era Belgian Congo was discussed in the Part I blog post.

Watusi cattle, named for the Tutsi tribes of Rwanda and Burundi, have horns that can measure eight feet from tip to tip, and have been domesticated in Africa for 6000 years.

They are not necessarily raised for meat, but are milked and bled to make a yogurt high protein drink.

1930 Scott C6 30fr brown violet & black
"Porters on Safari"
Out of the Blue
Although the sordid history of colonial oppression loomed large for the Belgian Congo, stamp collectors are left with a lovely legacy. Go figure.

Note: Maps and pics appear to be in the public domain.

Comments appreciated!

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

France - Bud's Big Blue

Exposition Coloniale
Paris, 1931
Bud's Big Blue
Bud's Observations
Enormously popular, rigorously studied, and profusely chronicled, classic era French stamps get royal treatment in BB. 

Except for the very most expensive and the sinking fund semis (Caisse d'Amortissement), BB leaves out almost nothing. The scans show some examples of the omissions.

French postmarks have become a specialization of their own (see http://marcophilie.org/ and especially http://marcophilie.org/x/x-for-i.html). I’ve spent enjoyable hours visiting virtual Auneau, Charleville, and the like. Cancels show on page one and throughout. Such postmarks impart a wealth of information.

The relationship between French and French colonial stamps also provides fascination. Allegories of peace, navigation, commerce and “the rights of man” predominate, mostly for reasons of political expedience. They represent what the French wanted, ideally, their colonial enterprise to become. 

Even the early Ceres effigy (goddess of growing plants) carries the same subliminal message. The Exposition Coloniale (1931), philatelically commemorated by France and most colonies, opened as colonialism was being increasing questioned and falling into disrepute. The Exposition and its stamps aimed to prolong the fading dream.


Census: 409 in BB space, 35 tipped-in, 90 on supplement pages.

Jim's Observations
The French stamps and French history are quite intertwined.

Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, the nephew and heir of Napoleon I, was elected President in 1848. And so began the (short lived) era of the French Second Republic.

The Second Republic printed the first French stamps in 1849-50: an imperforate seven stamp series featuring the  effigy of Ceres, goddess of growing plants in Roman mythology. She wore a garland of wheat and a cluster of grapes in her hair. The head of Ceres, appropriate for a new republic, had been also associated with liberty.

But after the coup in December,1851, Prince President Louis Napoléon Bonaparte had his effigy on French stamps. Two stamps with the likeness of President Louis Napoléon were issued in 1852. Then, as Emperor Napoleon III, his effigy appeared progressively on stamps issued throughout the Second French Empire era.

And so it goes. The stamps of France are unique and special.

Enjoy Bud's French Big Blue collection, and the wonderfully designed stamps (and ideas!) they entail!

France 1849-1900 and BB Checklist
France 1900-1940 and BB Checklist
France BOB, Semi-Postals, and BB Checklist

Note: Scan coverage presented here does not include "Offices in Morocco" or "Offices Abroad (China, Egypt, Turkey etc)". These will be presented at a later date.

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Comments appreciated!