PPM revisits Manchester's Belle Vue amusement park - Picture ...

ton outside The Royal Geographical
Society, London. Information
on the reverse informs you
that Shackleton was appointed as
an unpaid agent of the Post
Polar Postal History Society
card of the statue of Captain
Robert Falcon Scott in
Portsmouth
Office for the Shackleton-Rowett
Expedition of 1920-22 and was
provided with a stock of stamps
and a canceller by the Royal
Mail. Also shown on the front of
this card are two King George 10
shilling ‘Seahorse’ stamps which
are overprinted ‘Gough Island’
and cancelled with a proof strike
of the special expedition cancel
(this was a show special postcard
produced especially for this exhibition).
The second free postcard,
and not so many of these
were given out, depicts the statue
of Captain Robert Falcon Scott
RN, CVO, situated near the Victory
Gate, in the Royal Naval
Dockyard, Portsmouth. Of
course if you asked nicely you
could have the special cachet
applied to these postcards (the
one mentioned above), and if you
were very, very lucky you could
get two with the cachet and two
without (just to be complete).
During the course of the exhibition
there were thousands upon
thousands of stamps, postcards
and other philatelic items on display
in the large two-floored display
area. You could also see one
or two special items on some of
the dealers’ stalls as well.
Rare lunar souvenir
On the ‘Buckingham Covers’
stand they had on display an
actual envelope that was carried
all the way to the moon on the
Apollo 11 moon-landing space
flight. This cover was also signed
by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin
and Michael Collins who were
the astronauts on this flight, and
who carried this cover. Now I
collect items related to the Apollo
11 space flight but £25,000
was a bit beyond my pocket
(although the envelope sold on
the first day – but was kept on
display until the final day when
the buyer was going to collect it).
Although I could not afford the
original I was pleased with a special
postcard featuring this cover
which Buckingham Covers had
produced as a free item for people
visiting their stall and showing
interest in the cover. They
were giving out 100 of these per
day. Displayed alongside this
cracking cover was a second
cover which had been carried to
the moon on Apollo 15 (one of
400). This again had been
signed by the three astronauts
for this flight. Again this was
an incredibly expensive item
but again a free postcard was
available depicting this cracking
cover.
George V theme
In all I visited the show on
three separate days and on
each occasion I visited this
stand and picked up my free
cards. As can clearly be seen this
whole exhibition had a King
George V theme and many of the
items mentioned above have a
King George V connection. The
Isle of Man Post Office had also
Many unusual things are sent to
me by readers and contacts but
recently a postcard book
popped through my letter box
which was a complete delight.
Titled ‘Glastonbury’s Original
Miss Smith’ the 22 postcards
depict paintings by Diana Milstein
who kindly sent me this
copy with which she enclosed a
fascinating newspaper article
about her work (a full colour
double-page centre spread in a
local newspaper). This article
explains that both the book,
which is published by the
award winning eco-publisher
Wooden Books (based in Glastonbury
like the artist) and the
postcards are printed with vegetable
dyes on recycled paper.
In her letter to me Diana
explained that Miss Smith is “a
character I devised who turns
out to be a familiar archetype
to many of the little old English
ladies – she is rather quirky
and has an eye for magic. She
meets an angel and has magical
adventures”. The paintings
have a child-like quality which
is really appealing and I loved
the book and the whole concept
of Miss Smith and her angel,
and having visited Glastonbury
myself I liked the local feel and
use of the nearby well-known
landmarks. If you would like to
see some of these paintings,
have a look at the website
www.misssmithart.co.uk where
many of the paintings in the
book are shown alongside others
from the series. The book
retails at £9.99 but Diana has
copies which she will kindly
sell to readers for £6. If interested
email her at diana.milstein@btinternet.com
and ask
for details - believe me the
book is well worth seeking out
and is a true delight.
Miss Smith
and the
Glastonbury
Angel
- one of 22
postcards
in Diana
Milstein’s
book of
detachable
postcards
adopted this theme for a
stamp set which was on sale on
their stall. There was also a set of
postal stationery cards issued
which each depict a separate
stamp design on the front with
the same design printed on the
reverse as the actual postage.
There are six cards in the set and
each one carries a black and
white photograph of King
George V in full military uniform
at some official event. There is
also a stamp-related item in the
bottom left corner which is taken
from the Royal Philatelic Collection
(for which George V was
famous - he was a very keen and
knowledgeable stamp collector).
Text on the reverse reads “We
are delighted to include these
examples from the Royal Philatelic
Collection which are reproduced
by the gracious permission
of Her Majesty The Queen
to whom the copyright belongs”.
These cards are fantastic but the
one complaint I would make is
that there is no descriptive information
about where and when
the photographs were taken and
what the stamp item is that is
depicted (now, as a keen stamp
collector myself - and I also collect
stamps on postcards both
used on the back and pictorially
depicted on the front – I know
what these items are but for some
people this might not be the
case). This set is still available
from the Isle of Man Post Office
and if interested I recommend
obtaining it (check their website
where a set either mint or cancelled
first day is £4.85 - interestingly,
the site does not explain
what is depicted either).
Cricket postcards
Stan Beecham, I know, is a collector
of cricket related postcards
as he has not only issued his own
cards but has also sought out
other related cards which he has
kindly sent me. A recent mailing
included an interesting advert
postcard for A4 prints of many
well-known cricketers painted by
Denise Dean. These are extra
special as each is autographed by
the player depicted and the cards
are authentictaed as a ‘Wisden
Official Product’. So if you are a
collector of cricket memorabilia
then check out the website as she
has now branched out into postcards,
featuring Wisden ‘Cricketers
of the Year’ starting with
1981. The sets are limited to just
150 and the artwork looks great.
The website is
www.dd-designs.co.uk
Next month I shall report
on my trips to Shakespeare country
and Arnhem in Holland,
which should be a mixed bag of
material. Until then by all means
contact me by email
– markrouth@hotmail.com or by
post at 165 Raphael Drive, Shoeburyness,
Southend on Sea,
Essex, SS3 9UR.
The Picture
Postcard Show
(Bipex) 2010
is at the Royal
Horticultural Hall,
Westminster, London
SW1
Thurs - Sat 2-4 Sept
with postcard exhibition
on London Life
Buckingham Covers’ souvenir of their cover carried to the moon on
Apollo XI and signed by the astronauts
Picture Postcard Monthly July 2010 47