Sunday Stamps II - 41

France
1981 EUROPA stamp for folklore and feasts
designed and engraved by Jean Delpech

for folk costumes

Sunday Stamps II - 40

issued August, 1959

Designed by artist Robert Foster with a modern oil derrick to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first commercial oil well drilled in the US (the Drake's Well). Despite intense lobbying by oil historians and the petroleum industry, this is the only commemorative oil stamp USPS has produced. In 1959, at the stamp's unveiling, the Postmaster General, Arthur Summerfield declared "The American people have great reason to be indebted to this industry. It has supplied most of the power that has made the American standard of living possible." Attitudes to the oil industry have changed greatly since those heady days.

for technology and industry

Fistral Beach

Published by the Proprietors, headland Hotel Co., Ltd.
Newquay, Cornwall

Headland Hotel was built in 1900 to the highest standards to be the finest hotel in South West England. Every floor had two washrooms for the gentlemen and two for the ladies. Every bedroom had a fireplace, hot and cold running water, electric light, and an electric service bell

Sunday Stamps II - 39

1977, joint issue Canada USA

The Peace Bridge crosses over Lake Erie at the mouth of the Niagara River and connects Fort Erie (Ontario) to Buffalo (NY). This is about 20km from Niagara Falls, and the fast moving current of the Niagara River posed a challenge to the building of the bridge. When it opened, it was the only road bridge on the Great Lakes from Niagara to Minnesota. 

Unusually for joint issues, these stamps are very different in design.

bridges

Elizabeth II

2012

cat circus

unsent, 1940s
Alfred Mainzer Cats

meet me at the tower

circa 1955

There's a new landmark at the "Ex". It's the Shell Oil Tower, whose gleaming glass walls and giant clock add a new feature to the skyline. An elevator is waiting to whisk you to the observation platform, far above the ground, where you can look down on the breathtaking spectacle of the greatest show on earth, the Canadian National Exhibition...look out over Metropolitan Toronto. here is a unique bird's eye view which makes a trip up the Shell Tower a must for every visitor to the Exhibition. You'll find the Shell tower straight through the Princes' Gates. make it a meeting place - get into the habit of saying to our friends "meet me at the Shell Oil Tower".

source: promotional flyer

After it was demolished in 1985 to make way for a car race, many people were lost as they left instructions to meet at a no longer standing tower. It is still missed.

Sunday Stamps II - 38

1976 surcharge

in 1976 the pula replaced the South African rand at par as official currency. This stamp for 1c (cent) has a 1t (thebe) overprint surcharge.
Amethyst is a purple variety of quartz and found in many parts of eastern Botswana.

a popular gemstone for rocks, gems, minerals

Grand Island

unused, date unknown

Both of these bridges were opened in 1935 and are operated by the New York State thruway. The bridges extend I-90 over the Niagara River to Grand Island from Niagara Falls to the north and from Tonawanda (a suburb of Buffalo) to the south. Grand Island is the largest island along the Niagara River. The North Bridge is 4,000' in length with the South Bridge slightly shorter, at 3,400'. The South Bridge is undeniably much prettier. In 1963 a nearly identical bridge was built alongside as a northbound span with the older bridge becoming a two lane southbound span.

a pair of bridges for Sepia Saturday