jack-o-lantern

2016, USA Halloween
carved by Paul Montanari
photographed by Sally Andersen-Bruce
designed by Derry Noyes

The Forever Jack-O-Lantern stamps are the first Halloween themed stamps by the USPS.

Folklorists trace the name to a scoundrel named jack who meets up with the Devil. Jack unscrupulously tricks the Devil which prevents him from going to Heaven. The Devil is infuriated by the trickery and refuses to carry jack's soul to Hell. With nowhere to go after he dies, jack wanders the earth with a lantern made from a hollowed out pumpkin (or turnip) lit by an ember from the fires of Hell.

Sunday Stamps II - 98

2016, Australia Fair Dinkum Aussie Alphabet Series
S for South Australia
artist: Gavin Ryan

The idea is for Australians to "grab a magnifying glass" and attempt to see how many hidden names, places and treasures can be found on each stamp. This one shows (apart from the three men and a baby) a snail, shark, surf, sandcastle, starfish and a sausage. Once you know that each thing on the stamp will correspond to the designated letter, and that all can be found in that letter's state (in this case South Australia) it sort of makes sense. Except for the angry looking dad taking over the building of the 'sandcastle' that looks more like a bridge than a castle. And the little girl feeding a sausage to a shark. And would any self respecting surfer dude carry his surfboard in a shopping cart?

(I accidentally passed my postcard on before checking to see if my photo of the stamp was clear. It wasn't. So this one is from the website.)

for the bizarre or unexplainable

Sunday Stamps II - 97

1984 NABA ZURI National stamp show Jun 22 - July 1
 se-tenant stamp showing a panorama view of Zurich

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and was 'founded' by the Romans in 15BC, though there is evidence it was settled more than 6400 years ago. Each stamp shows one of the four major churches in the old town. On the far right you can see the Grossmünster, followed by the Predigerkirche, St Peter's and the Fraümunster. The Limmat river and the Münsterbrucke are front and centre.

Sunday Stamps II - 96

2005, Russia, gastronomy
designer: V Larichkin

For 2005, the Europa theme was gastronomy and Russia chose to showcase a typical feast that includes a samovar with tea, a stack of blinis (pancakes) and pots of caviar. A samovar is a metal container with a spigot at the bottom and is used to heat water usually for tea. These are usually quite ornate and the older ones are prized for their workmanship. Blinis are thin, light pancakes often served covered with butter, sour cream, honey, or caviar. Blinis are often served for celebrations.

for foods of the world

Sunday Stamps II - 95

1990, Canada for Canada Post Corporation

This is how the Canada Post delivery vans looked in the late 1980s and 1990s. The Post Office department was known as Royal Mail Canada from 1867 until the late 1960s when it was rebranded as Canada Post. The short from of the official name was known as Poste Mail in Quebec and Mail Poste in English Canada, although now it is Canada Post (English) and Postes Canada (French). Canada Post delivers to a larger area than the postal service of any other country in the world. In 2014, a controversial plan to phase out door-to-door delivery was initiated, although already any subdivisions built after 1985 were having to go to 'community mailboxes' to pick up their mail.

for postal related

Sunday Stamps II - 94

1978, Rwanda

Chrysococcyx cupreus, more commonly known as the African Emerald cuckoo. It lives across most of sub-Saharan Africa and is not in any threat of decline. It's song is a slurred whistle sounding like "hello Ju-dy"

for birds