The Winton M. Blount Postal History Symposia - Smithsonian ...

Philatelic Propaganda: A Case Study—BorderChanges in Eastern Europe, 1938–1941Robin Gates ElliottThe purpose of postage stamps, first introduced in Great Britain in 1840,is to pay to send an item, usually a letter or package, through the mail.Since then, governments have realized that postage stamps could serveadditional functions. This awareness, in turn, has influenced stamp design sincethe early twentieth century, when philately became a well- established hobby.Once governments realized that collectors were prepared to spend considerablesums of money on stamps which would never be used as postage—and thereforeconstituted pure profit—stamp design began to evolve beyond the simple monochromaticportraits of reigning monarchs, founding fathers, allegorical figures,and coats of arms typical of the nineteenth century. The purpose, of course, wasto appeal to collectors and, by so doing, generate income. During the inter- warperiod many governments developed another additional use for postage stamps:the dissemination of propaganda.Propaganda is material produced and circulated to influence public opinion,to persuade people to think, and sometimes to act, in a certain way. It has takenvarious forms over time, such as posters and pamphlets, and has been utilized bygovernments over time to promote attitudes, values, and behaviors which theywish their citizens (and, in some cases, foreign governments and foreign nationals)to adopt. Government propaganda, therefore, is nothing new; but the use ofpostage stamps to disseminate it is a twentieth- century phenomenon. A postagestamp lends itself to propaganda surprisingly well for something so small andseemingly innocuous, for several reasons. First, the issuing government has completecontrol over stamp design; it can use postage stamps to send any kind ofmessage it wants. Furthermore, that message will be widely disseminated, sincestamps are produced in large quantities, are inexpensive, and pass through manyhands (including those of collectors) as they travel domestically and abroad. 1Stamp design consists of three component parts: format, textual message,and iconic content. The format is the size and shape of the stamp, traditionallya small square or rectangle, which sets the parameters for the textual messageand iconic content. The textual message consists of linguistic or numericalelements—numbers, letters, names, or acronyms—that identify the country oforigin and the amount of postage paid. Iconic content consists of graphic pictorialrepresentations (icons) such as pictures and designs (drawings, engravings,photographs, or other graphics). Iconic content is of paramount importance