Sunday Stamps | Wright Brothers (and More)

USA, 2003

The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, Wright, were American aviation pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flying the world's first successful motor-operated airplane. The Wright Flyer made the first flight on 17 December 1903.

Cyprus, 2021

Today's Sunday Stamps is dedicated to Planes, trains, automobiles. Automobiles are far from being a favourite topic of mine. However, from some reason, every then and now I get a postcard featuring them. Like this one, sent by Eckhard (Germany), through the Postcrossing site:

It is a bit contradictory that it arrived with a railway station stamp on the back, isn't it?

Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz Station, Leipzig (2023)

The stamp belongs to the series Underground Station Architecture, initiated three years ago. I have got two more stamps from it:

Marienplatz Station, Munich (2020)

Überseequartier Station, Hamburg (2021)

World Toilet Day

World Toilet Day is held annually every 19th of November since 2013. The 2022 campaign Making the invisible visible explored how inadequate sanitation systems spread human waste into rivers, lakes and soil, polluting underground water resources. 

As part of the campaign, three stamps were issued. Bryon sent me one of those.

Wood Postcard

I am not sure you can appreciate it on the picture, but this postcard is made of wood. And quite thin, so I was surprised that it arrived safe and sound after a 4-week travel from the USA (sent by Phillip).

Two of the stamps of the back belong to the Thinking of You sheet, issued in August this year.

It is a curious design, don't you think? According with the USPS site, these are not random illustrations:

The pane of 20 Thinking of You stamps features five unique designs filled with a variety of whimsical images, including flowers, balloons cute animals, sweet treats, and symbols of good luck. Capturing the excitement and delight of receiving a card in the mail meant just for you.

I guess you can fins something you like in every stamp. And I agree: it is a real delight to receive a piece of mail meant just for you!

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Great A'Tuin

Great A'Tuin is a vast star turtle (of the fictional species Chelys galactica) who travels through the universe, carrying four giant elephants who in turn carry the spinning disc of Discworld. That is... the fictional setting for Terry Pratchett's fantasy novels.

I have recently got this postcard from John (the UK), with matching stamps on its back (from this series). I am adding it to Thursday Postcard Hunt because, honestly... Can you imagine a harder work than carrying the world on your back? 

(Have you read the sentence "Interpret the theme any way you wish", by the way?)

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
November theme: Animals

• Week 1 - In the Wild
• Week 2 - On the Farm
• Week 3 - Working
• Week 4 - Pets
• Week 5 - Cartoon, funny

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Food Packaging Turned Into Mail

Front and back of a postcard/letter sent to Bryon (the USA), made of tea packaging.

Back and front of an envelope made for Laura (the UK), made of the wrapping paper of a chocolate bar.

Madame de La Fayette

Envelope sent by Fabienne (France), made out of a magazine page (dealing with postcards). 

Among some old but interesting stamps, a recent one. It was issued on 19 May 2023, and dedicated to Madame de La Fayette, who holds in her hands her novel La Princesse de Clèves.

Pink Mail

Front and back of a letter by Laura (the UK) and a postcard sent by Carolina (Switzerland)

Sunday Stamps | Men and Their Ships

Today's topic in Sunday Stamps is Boats/Ships. Browsing my received stamps, I have realised that Men with Ships is a widespread philatelic subject!

Egypt, 1948

Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt (1789 – 1848) was an Ottoman general in the Egyptian army. The stamp was issued to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his death.

France, 2016

Claude-François-Dorothée, marquis de Jouffroy d'Abbans (1751 - 1832) was a French naval architect and engineer. He was the inventor of the first steamboat, leading to the first industrial revolution by launching a new dynamic on the waters of the globe.

United Kingdom, 1982

HMS Dreadnought was a Royal Navy battleship the design of which revolutionised naval power. The ship's entry into service in 1906 represented such an advance in naval technology that her name came to be associated with an entire generation of battleships, the dreadnoughts, as well as the class of ships named after her. Lord Fisher and HMS Dreadnought is one of the stamps belonging to the set Maritime Heritage. 

United States of America, 1965

Robert Fulton (1765 – 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the North River Steamboat (also known as Clermont).

Armistice

Barış

I did not expect a new envelope for the Peace Stamp Project, but this wonderful one arrived from Turkey, sent by Nadime. 

I have got some wonderful envelopes from different countries. And I still hope to get some more! These are the missing countries in my collection:

Åland | Andorra (French Post) | Andorra (Spanish Post) | Armenian Post Of Nagorno-Karabakh | Azerbaijan | Azores | Belgium | Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serb Post) | Bosnia And Herzegovina | Bosnia And Herzegovina (Croat Post) | Bulgaria | Cyprus (Turkish Post) | Denmark | Estonia | Faroe Islands | Gibraltar | Greece | Greenland | Guernsey | Hungary | Isle of Man | Jersey | Kazakhstan | Kosovo | Liechtenstein | Luxembourg | Madeira | Malta | Moldova | Monaco | Montenegro | North-Macedonia | Norway | Portugal | San Marino | Serbia | Slovakia | Sweden | Vatican

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Amblers

Today's Postcard Hunt theme is Animals: On the Farm. But the sheep on my postcards seem to be enjoying relaxed country walks. And maybe visiting lighthouses?

Pilsum (Germany)

Pellworm (Germany)

Ireland

Harde (the Netherlands)

Drenthe (the Netherlands)

Sent from Annika and Marcel (Germany), Laura (Ireland) and Heleen (the Netherlands). 

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
November theme: Animals

• Week 1 - In the Wild
• Week 2 - On the Farm
• Week 3 - Working
• Week 4 - Pets
• Week 5 - Cartoon, funny

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Postcrossing Meet-ups

Meet-up in Girona, on 22 April 2023.

Meetup Mondo Verde - Landgraaf (Netherlands)
16 September 2023

4th September 2023
Barcelona Meetup

Postcards sent by Imma (PC), Heleen (the Netherlands)... and some other postcrossers!

Geometry of Nature

These stamps belongs to the fascinating series Geometry of Nature: Circles, issued by Belgian post in 2021.

But the series had started in 2018, each year dedicated to a different shape: Spirals (2018), Stars (2019), Pentagon (2020), Circles (2021), Hexagon (2022)... (I do not know if it is to continue this year).

Mysterious Illustration

I got this postcard from a Russian postcrosser. I guess she chose it because of the sheep. But there is no clue about the illustrator or the meaning. Maybe it belongs to a book? I find it very intrigung!

Sunday Stamps | Moustachioed Men

Some moustachioed men from different countries, for today's Sunday Stamps' topic: Moustaches. Most of them unknown to me until I looked up for moustaches among my received and not-uploaded-to-the-blog folder of stamps.

Sándor Szurmay
Hungary, 2018

Bal Gangadhar Tilak
India, 2016

Abai Qunanbaiūly
Poland, 2020

Tikhon of Moscow
Russia, 2015

John Archer
United Kingdom, 2013

Joseph Rowntree
United Kingdom, 2016

Joseph Wharton
United States, 1981

Robert Robinson Taylor
United States, 2015