Sunday Stamps | I Is for Isabella II

The first Spanish stamps reproduce the image of Isabella II, queen o Spain from 1833 until 1868. The same stamp was issued in different colours and face values. 

Spain was the tenth country to adopt the innovative system ot the stamps, and the first Spanish stamps were issued on 1st January 1850. Until 1865, stamps were presented without perforation, with a separation between stamps of one mil·límetre, and had to be separated by scissors. 

6.227.090 of these black stamps were sold during 1850. However, only five envelopes bearing it have survived.

On 7 January 2025, this self-adhesive stamp was issued to commemorate the 175th anniversary.

(This is the I-post for A-Z Sunday Stamps.)

Reading in Pink

Letter sent by Laura (the UK).

Recent Post Labels

Croatia

Hungary

Italy

Portugal

United Kingdom

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Traditional Dresses

Urk (Netherlands)

Ohcejohka/Utsjoki (Lapland, Finland)

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
September theme: LEARNING

• Week 1 - Legends, Children's Stories
• Week 2 - Famous People
• Week 3 - National Parks
• Week 4 - History (Could Be Historical Buildings)

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Orange Letter

Letter sent by Laura (the UK).

What Do You Futz Around With?

«"You like futzing around with postage stamps?"

She gave me a blank, frowning look. "What do you futz around with, huh? Hitting an innocent little white ball with a long stick? Soldering wires together and playing four-track-stereo? Slamming some dumb little car around corners, upshifting and downshifting? Are you a gun futz or a muscle futs?"

"I think I know where you're going with that"

"Where I'm going is that there's no list to tell you where you rate on some kind of scale of permanent values and find out how unimportant you are. But I can tell you what nobody ought to be doing."

"What's that?"

"Nobody ought to be sneering at anybody else way of life."»

John D. Macdonald, The Scarlet Ruse

Autumn Is Here

Today is the first day of Autumn in this hemisphere. I hope the Autumn mail will arrive safe and sound!

Sunday Stamps | H Is for Height & Horne

Dorothy Height (1912 – 2010) was an African-American civil rights and women's rights activist. She is credited as the first leader in the civil rights movement to recognize inequality for women and African Americans as problems that should be considered as a whole. She was the president of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years. Height's role in the Big Six civil rights movement was frequently ignored by the press due to sexism. 

Lena Horne (1917 – 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. A groundbreaking African-American performer, Horne advocated for civil rights and took part in the March on Washington in August 1963.

More H-stamps on Sunday Stamps!

Ink Project Update

How many postcards do you think you can write with the same pen?

Do you remember the The Ink Project? Well, I can inform you that finally my only postcards BIC pen run out of ink... After having written 451,5 postcards.

What do  you think?

Mail Makes Everything Better

Postcard sent by Bryon from the USA.

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Rhön Biosphere Reserve & Appalachian Trail

Abtsrodaer Hilltop in the Rhön Biosphere Reserve, Hesse (Germany).

A century after its creation, the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) continues to whisk hikers away on therapeutic adventures in ever-increasing numbers, either for the entire almost 2,200-mile hike from Georgia to Maine or to enjoy a single out-and-back trek. Photo by Nico Schueler.

Postcards sent by Ines (Germany) and Phillip (the USA).

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
September theme: LEARNING

• Week 1 - Legends, Children's Stories
• Week 2 - Famous People
• Week 3 - National Parks
• Week 4 - History (Could Be Historical Buildings)

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Postcards on Postcards

Two postcards sent by Bryon (the USA).

Stationery Girl

Collage on envelope sent by Laura (the UK).

Wise Words (III): Answer the Letter

«Sec. 3. How to go on with a Letter
[...]

My second Rule is, don't fill more than a page and a half with apologies for not having written sooner!

The best subject, to begin with, is your friend's last letter. Write with the letter open before you. Answer his questions, and make any remarks his letter suggests. Then go on to what you want to say yourself.»

Lewis Carrol, Eight or Nine Wise Words about Letter-Writing

Sunday Stamps | G Is for Gender Violence

Every year, Correos (the Spanish postal service) issues a stamp dedicated to Civic Values -a set of behaviours that is considered positive for the development of society. The theme in 2020 was No to Gender Based Violence.

This is my G-stamp for this round of A-Z Sunday Stamps (dedicated to women in Mail Adventures).