John Fitzgerald Kennedy – The Eternal Flame

John F Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States was assassinated on this day – 22 November – in 1963. He was shot dead in Dallas, Texas, while riding in an open car, in a killing that sent shock waves across the entire world. Less than a year later on 29 May, 1964 the US Postal Service issued this stamp which featured both a portrait of the slain leader and also the John F Kennedy Eternal Flame, the presidential memorial found at the grave-site in Arlington National Cemetery. JFK’s widow Jacqueline Kennedy lit the flame on 25 November, 1963, and it has never been extinguished since (barring one accidental dampening of the flame by school children).

The stamp quotes from Kennedy’s inaugural address using words that fit the stamp perfectly:

And the glow from that fire can truly light the world

John Fitzgerald Kennedy 1964 US Commemorative Stamp

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USPS FDC Ceremony Program #1246 C1 President John Fitzgerald Kennedy JFK 1964

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John Fitzgerald Kennedy First Day Issue 35th Pres & Library Dedication 1964

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First Day Cover -- John Fitzgerald Kennedy JFK Flame -- 5¢ -- 1964 Boston, MA

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US FDC , IN MEMORIAM JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY 1964 BOSTON , MASS SEVERAL 5 CEN

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1964 In Memoriam John Fitzgerald Kennedy First Day of Issue Stamped Envelope

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1964 5c John Fitzgerald Kennedy Light the World Memorial Scott 1246 On Paper

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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 […]

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