100th Anniversary Kansas Statehood

Over at Virdian’s Postcard Blog the theme for this week’s Sunday Stamps meme is “flowers” and she has posted a gorgeous Chinese stamp featuring a sunflower. Sunflowers are one of my favourite flowers too – whilst on family holidays in France as a child I remember being amazed the first time I saw fields and fields of them growing and was delighted to discover that sunflower cultivation is also widespread here in Italy too, where I now live. With that in mind I thought I would share this 4 cent Kansas Statehood Centennial commemorative stamp issued on 10 May 1961 and featuring a sunflower, with an early pioneer couple standing in front of a stockade in the background.

Kansas, for anybody who lives outside the United States, is familiar to us from popular culture. I only really know three things about Kansas: the first is what I’ve gleaned from the lyrics of the Rodgers and Hammerstein show tune (I’m in Love with) a Wonderful Guy from the musical South Pacific that famously begins with the line I’m as corny as Kansas in August; the second is that young Superman, back when he was still Clark Kent, grew up in the fictitious Kansas town of Smallville; and last, but by no means least, that Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, lived in the tornado prone state – Judy Garland’s line Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more, is a part of cinema history.

Right now on eBay!

1961 Kansas Statehood Single 4c Postage Stamp - MNH, OG - Sc# 1183 - CX892a

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1961 USA "KANSAS STATEHOOD CENTENNIAL ISSUE" [SUNFLOWER] SG1182 USED

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FDC USA Council Grove 5/10/1961 - KANSAS STATEHOOD CENTENNIAL 1861 - 1961

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End Date: Sunday Jun-22-2025 18:07:19 BST
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1961 USA "KANSAS STATEHOOD CENTENNIAL ISSUE" [SUNFLOWER] SG1182 USED

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USA: 1961 Centenary of Kansas Statehood - Council Grove, Kansas Cancel

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US 1961 - KANSAS STATEHOOD CENTENARY 1861-1961 - FINE 4c USED STAMP

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1961 Kansas Statehood Block of 4 4c Stamps, Sc# 1183, MNH, OG

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US USA 1961 MNH STATEHOOD KANSAS SUNFLOWER PIONEERS STOCKADE

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More GB Stamps

The way we were … European flags in 1979

EU Assembly 1979 – 41mm x 30mm Inaugurated in 1958 as the Common Assembly, the European Parliament originally consisted of representatives selected by the national parliaments of EU member countries. Beginning in 1979, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected by direct universal suffrage to terms of five years. Britannica.com When I saw that today’s theme over at Sunday Stamps, hosted by See it on a Postcard, was Maps/Flags my mind went right away to this set of GB commemorative stamps from 1979. Recent turbulent events in the UK over Brexit make this particular issue a poignant piece of political history. This isn’t intended as a political post, however, although as a British citizen who has lived almost her entire adult life in Italy, I have always considered myself thoroughly ‘European’! Issued on 9 May 1979 to mark the very first Direct Elections to European Assembly, this set consisted of four very similar stamps featuring subtle variations of the main design of hands – all conspicuously white – placing flags of member nations into ballot boxes. This is the 9 pence stamp, with a blue background, with the other denominations seeing different directions and colour changes of the background. I don’t own this entire set, and only have this used stamp, which I carefully steamed off an envelope as a child. The post mark seems particularly quaint, with its ‘REMEMBER to use the POSTCODE’ slogan. The flags featured include the original six member nations – Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Italy, and the Netherlands – as well as the three nations that joined later in 1973 – Denmark, Ireland, and the UK – with the UK Union Flag the very first in the top left hand corner. The four stamps were designed by Stafford Cliff, best known as the creative director of the Conran Design Group in London. Don’t forget to head on over to See it on a Postcard and visit the other Sunday Stamps bloggers today!

[…]

Speed, Regularity and Security – 200 years of the Royal Mail

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[…]

World Thematic Stamps

Still Life Painting by Eranuhi Aslamazyan on DDR Stamp

The theme over at Sunday Stamps today is “food”, so allowing myself a little wiggle room here, I have chosen a thematic stamp from my childhood album featuring a traditional still life painting depicting arrangements of food – grapes, pomegranates, a lemon, and I think, some oranges, alongside a large pitcher, and other tableware in what looks like pewter or melchior. This postage stamp would have been bought in one of those mixed thematic bags sold by weight, that were so popular with fledging philatelist when I was young. While it was a quite recent commemorative at the time, fast forward to today, and it is suddenly half a century old! Modern Masters – E.A. Aslamasjan This 20 Pfennig stamp features a still life painting by E.A. Aslamasjan and was issued as part of a two-stamp set celebrating Russian and Soviet Paintings – Modern Masters Picture Gallery. (The other 5 Pfennig stamp featured a portrait by D.K. Sweschnikow.) It was issued in 1969 by what was then the German Democratic Republic or East Germany (often abbreviated to simply the DDR from Deutsche Demokratische Republik). Vahan Kochar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons My background is in Art History so I could not leave my research there, so I dug a little deeper to see if I could find out a little more about the artist or painting featured. A rewarding half hour on Google led me to the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD) online archive of Modern Masters, and a 1967 oil on canvas by Eranuhi Aslamazyan (1910 – 1998), an Armenian and Soviet multi-genre artist, who like her equally famous sister Mariam, painted landscapes, portraits and still life paintings, as well as producing graphic works, ceramics and pottery, always including strong cultural references to Armenia in her art. Although they both mostly lived in Russia. She was both a member of the Artists’ Union of the USSR and an Honored Artist of the Armenian SSR. Do head on over to See it on a Postcard for more Sunday Food Stamps!

[…]

Cats big or small… on stamps big or small!

Most of my childhood stamps were acquired in those big, mixed country bags, divided by themes rather than country, and mostly date from the mid-1970s and earlier. Animals and birds seem to proliferate and there are a great many stamps featuring big and domestic cats. Here are a just a few […]

[…]

5 replies on “100th Anniversary Kansas Statehood”

Since I’m a Kansas girl, I think I need this stamp. Love the images on the stamp. You should visit my blog—everything is (almost) Kansas inspired on the background.

That is a very good looking stamp. The colors are great, and I love sunflowers.

I have a pne of the new KS stamps – old style windmill and newest electricty-generating windmills. thanks for participating!

It is a nicely balanced stamp. Like you the first time I saw fields of sunflowers was in France. Wonderful sight. I always imagine Kansas as being huge, didn’t bison use to roam there, so perhaps the fields it will be on an even bigger scale.

A lovely stamp! Sunflowers always bring Van Gogh to mind. There really isn’t anything quite like a field of sunflowers, all facing the sun.

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