07 October 2018

Sunday Stamps | H for Hamlet & Herda


The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre, located in Lambeth, London, England. It celebrates its bicentenary this year.

On 30 August, Royal Mail has issued a series of stamps to celebrate legendary performances and productions from 1960 to the present day. I have received two of them:

  • Hamlet, 1975 by William Shakespeare starring Albert Finney
  • Hedda Gabler, 1970 by Henrik Ibsen starring Maggie Smith

By the way, I received the first one two days before they were officially sold. Just because the post office where a friend of mine buys the stamps had run out of any other stamp!

See the complete set and read more about this issue, here.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, letter H.

19 comments:

  1. Nice stamps, and great to see the 'H'-words largely printed on the stamps.

    And so special to have receives the stamps before the date of issue! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hadn't realised until I read the letter. I don't know why you love H-stamps... ;-)

      Delete
  2. Great stamps, and story about their early usage. Those postmarked stamps will have some (small) value to collectors.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought so. I hope I remember these when I decide to enter in the philatelists business... ;-)

      Delete
  3. I have to say I am a big fan of both actors depicted. i never knew you could get stamps before they were officially sold, I like that bit of a story :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think the employee who sold me those stamps had not undergone the full training... :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've heard of other stamps being sold before the release date. The post offices receive the stamps well before the release date, one post office sent back the current issue stamps and started selling the stamps that just came in (a few years back, Wallace & Gromit Christmas issue).
      The post offices should already have next week's issue - Harry Potter.

      Delete
    2. Mistake of not... I'm happy because I love these stamps!

      Delete
  5. Maggie Smith - the legendary Professor Minerva McGonagall! My flatmates and I were just talking about Harry Potter films & books last night.

    ReplyDelete
  6. My local small post office seems to have very few new stamps. I have never seen these.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These are very recent. Maybe they have them now.

      Delete
    2. Not all post offices in the UK get the special issue stamps (except for the Christmas issue, perhaps), especially ones now part of another shop and sharing the same counter. My local one round the corner doesn't have the nice stamps, but the main post office in town does. However, when I started Postcrossing, they didn't let me have all the stamps I wanted, but eventually told me about a lovely little post office a few miles out of town. Unfortunately a couple of years ago, that post office moved (due to retirement) and I had to go in search of more lovely post offices (two more nice ones also shut due to retirements). Luckily, my town's main post office has improved.

      The stamps can be ordered direct from Royal Mail (telephone ordering offers more choice than the webshop).

      Delete
    3. Your wandering in order to find a "good" post office is quite a mail adventure, too :)

      Delete
  7. My first Shakespearean play - actually, my first play - featured Maggie Smith. I went to then Stratford Festival (Ontario) just because she was the leading actress. That was in the late 1970's.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for coming. All your comments make me extremely happy.