Snack food – Chips on stamp..

Date of Issue : 7 June 2011

Aland Post issued a stamp featuring world’s most favourite snack food – Potato chips on 7 June 2011. Potato chips are popular all over the world and available in different flavours. This might be the first stamp on chips though many stamps have been issued on a variety of food items, eaten around the world but potato chips is the universal snack food and popular among all age groups of people in every corner of the world. Originally potato chips were invented in America in the year 1853 .

Story of chips

According to a traditional story, the original potato chip recipe was created in Saratoga Springs, New York on August 24, 1853. Agitated by a patron repeatedly sending his fried potatoes back because they were too thick, soggy and bland, resort hotel chef, George Crum, decided to slice the potatoes as thin as possible, frying them until crisp and seasoning them with extra salt. Contrary to Crum's expectation, the patron (sometimes identified as Cornelius Vanderbilt) loved the new chips and they soon became a regular item on the lodge's menu under the name "Saratoga Chips".

In the 20th century, potato chips spread beyond chef-cooked restaurant fare and began to be mass produced for home consumption. The Dayton, Ohio-based Mike-sell's Potato Chip Company, founded in 1910, calls itself the "oldest potato chip company in the United States".New England-based Tri-Sum Potato Chips, originally founded in 1908 as the Leominster Potato Chip Company, in Leominster, Massachusetts claim to be America's first potato chip manufacturer.

Today, chips are packaged in plastic bags, with nitrogen gas blown in prior to sealing to lengthen shelf life, and provide protection against crushing.

Club News

News from Ludhiana Philatelic Club

School Of Philately And library

Ludhiana Philatelic Club has opened a School of Philately and Library to support education in our schools via stamps on June 12, 2011. The School was inaugurated by S. Hira Singh Gabria, Minister of Jails, Tourism, and Cultural Affairs & Printing & Stationery. Mr. Prem Mittal, Political Advisor to S. Sukhbir Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, presided over the inaugural function. The school is located near Naurian Mal Jain School in Bagh Naurian Mal, Ludhiana. S. Hira Singh Gabria, appreciated the efforts of Ludhiana Philatelic Club in promotion of educative hobby of stamp collecting. He announced a grant of Rs.One lakh to the club for strengthening of School of Philately and its Library.

Stamps are a great way to learn about our history, geography, culture, animals; you name it; about almost anything. The School will strive to promote the educational use of philately by organizing spectrum of interesting educational programmes / workshops of short duration on various topics with the support of India Post. School teachers will be imparted training in using stamps as a teaching tool. Stamps can be used to motivate students who may otherwise have little interest in particular subject. Teachers can make topics interesting to their kids by introducing the topic via stamps.

The School will launch number of innovative programmes, reaching out to different target groups. These will be helpful in developing youngsters and others who choose to join such programmes, in to better citizen and a strong nation.

Upon demand, the members of Ludhiana Philatelic club will visit local schools and help them start youth philatelic club and give talks about special topics with the help of stamps.

For more details, Dr SK Sondhi may be contacted at email : sksondhi1@gmail.com

New Club Member

Name : B D Surana

City / Country : Kolkata, India

E-mail : bdsurana@gmail.com

Collecting Interests : Stamps, Currencies and coins ( regular, Commemorative , UNC, Proof)

Postal Address : 20 J, Ballygunge Terrace Ground Floor Golpark Kolkata 700 029 India

New Stamps from Romania

Date of Issue : 2 June 2011

Romania Post issued a beautiful set of two stamps   on Circus and 6 stamps on first six Zodiac signs.Both the sets are unique and wonderful !!

Circus

In the glory period of the Roman Empire, the circus represented one of the most accessible and favourite forms of entertainment. The manner of existence and organization of the activities, united under the name of circus, bears the clear mark of the temperament of different peoples and continents.

In Ancient Rome, the word “circus” meaning a circle or ring, defined the spaces having this shape where manifestations specific to that time took place: soldiers competing to demonstrate their qualities as great fighters, animal taming etc.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, circus continued its existence in Europe due to the organized groups of actors who were present with their performances, especially in the town fairs. In the Middle Ages, in Saxony, people saw these nomads also as an important source that could supply information about what was happening in the world, since strolling artists sang, told stories and most of the times brought news about other towns. After the Normans invasion, the juggler emerged in the world of the Saxon circus decreasing initially the popularity of minstrels. Subsequently, the circus actors learned to combine the representation styles and to share their dexterity tricks.

The history of the Romanian circus started in 1874 in Bucharest when the first autochthonous circus Sidoli Circus was set up, in the location of the present Gambrinus Beerhouse founded by I. L. Caragiale.The period between 1960 and 1970 was beneficial for the development of the acrobatic art, juggling and, implicitly, the circus show. The Romanian jugglers were highly appreciated by the audience on the stages of many countries performing as skilled acrobats, tightrope walkers, and illusionists.

Stamps on Zodiac Signs

Date of Issue 5 May 2011

Romfilatelia issued a MS of 6 postage stamps issue on Zodiac signs Part I, illustrating the first six signs.

:Romfilatelia

Club News

Honor for Indian Philatelist

Mr Praful Thakkar’s book Collector's Guide to First Day Covers & Folders of India 1947-1964 Official & Private has been awarded Silver Bronze medal in NAPEX 2011 held at Washington, USA. After Portugal and South Africa, now in USA also the work has been appreciated. Award List is available at following link :

http://www.napex.org/docs/palmares/napex_palmares_2011_combined.pdf

Praful Thakkar is a renowned philatelist from Ahmedabad and retired as Indian Administrative Officer. He is a double Limca Book Record Holder in 2009 for Autographs & Canteen Tokens and indeed is a collector of autographs, stamps, First Day Covers (FDCs), coins, medals, tokens, badges , badge plates etc. and many more collectibles of India since last more than 45 years. For philatelic collectors, he has written Collector's Guide to Covers & Folders of India 1947-1964 - Official & Private. Through this book, he has tried to give a dimension to Philatelic facet of early classic period by cataloging Official FDCs, Private FDCs and Folders of this time.

Thematic Gallery of Indian/World Autographs-Limca Record Holder 2009
http://www.indianautographs.com

Classic Gallery of Indian Numismatics
http://www.indiannumismatics.com

Rainbow of Philatelic Articles…

My Rainbow of Philatelic Articles by Dr Satyendra Kumar Agarwal is a collection of specialized and comprehensive articles on a variety of subjects published in Rainbow Stamp News during last three years . These articles have enthralled the readers all over the world which is proved by a number of e mails received by me regularly from the readers in appreciation of Dr Agarwal’s articles . Dr. Agarwal needs no more introduction to my readers, a man of Roses who won several awards at National and International exhibitions for his specialized exhibit on Roses ( recently won Large Vermeil in INDIPEX 2011) . This book of his specialized articles brought out by Dr Agarwal is another beautiful rose in his collection which also won a Silver Bronze Medal in INDIPEX 2011 in the Literature Class.

Its a great pleasure for me to present here the Book Review of this wonderful book by Dr Agarwal for the lovers of Thematic Philately. It has also been reviewed by Topical Time of ATA .

Book Review

The book ‘My Rainbow of Philatelic Articles’ by Dr Satyendra Kumar Agarwal contains about 20 articles on different themes including technical articles on thematic Philately with more than 400 color illustrations in 150 pages.The book is a complete guide for thematic collectors. The specific feature of this book is its high quality of printing which gives crystal clear image of the illustrations. It would not only help collectors to select an interesting theme for their exhibit but would also guide them about availability of specific philatelic material available on that particular subject. It is a complete reference book for the lovers of Thematic Philately. The technical articles “Way to Gold” and “Stamp booklet as a Philatelic element” deals with the finer points of Thematic Philately and explains how an exhibitor can reach a higher medal level by arranging and selecting material prudently. This book is highly useful for all thematic collectors and general philatelists and for the libraries of schools, colleges and Philatelic societies..

The 150 page hardbound book published by Philagold Publications is priced at Rs 1200 ( US $ 25). Dr Satyendra Kumar Agarwal may be contacted for this book at email : rosephila@hotmail.com

Book Review by Topical Time of American Topical Association

Royal Wedding …

Date of Issue : 15 April 2011

The Isle of Man Post will issue a special Miniature sheet on 15 April to celebrate forthcoming wedding of Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton on 29 April 2011. A miniature sheet of two stamps, features Prince William and his bride .

It will be an exciting day for Britain, which is currently in the middle of a recession. Billions of people around the world are expected to watch the ceremony on television and thousands will line the streets of London. Prince William follows in the footsteps of his grandparents by getting married to Catherine at Westminster Abbey. It was there that the Queen married the Duke of Edinburgh and it was the venue for Princess Diana’s funeral.

Royal Wedding Ceremony

Kate will travel to the Abbey by a limousine from the Queen’s fleet of cars. Prince William will follow with the rest of the royal family. It is one of the few times that a future princess has not arrived in a fairytale horse-driven coach. The last royal to travel by car was Sophie Rhys-Jones when she married Prince Edward at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, in 1999. The service will take place at the church at 11am on April 29 and will be conducted by The Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall. But, in line with tradition, The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, will perform the marriage ceremony and The Bishop of London Richard Chartres, who counselled the prince in the wake of his mother’s death and presided over his confirmation, will give a ‘very personal’ sermon.

Reception

Up to 2,200 guests, including heads of state, members of European royal families and celebrities, are expected to attend. One hundred golden tickets have been reserved for the public, being drawn at random. After the ceremony, the couple will emerge to a spectacle of marching soldiers, military bands and mounted regiments. They will return to Buckingham Palace in a horse-drawn State Landau coach along the traditional route for the State Opening of Parliament taking in London landmarks such as The Mall, the Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall and Parliament Square. However, in a break with tradition, the Queen will host a buffet reception at Buckingham Palace rather than a ten-course wedding breakfast. It will be a marked difference to her own wedding reception in 1947 when she had a banquet of sole followed by braised partridge and Bombe Glacée.

Great Party by Prince of Wales

After official photographs the newlyweds are expected to appear on the balcony for an embrace. Their appearance will coincide with a flypast from William’s RAF colleagues. After retiring for a rest, the couple will attend a private dinner and dancing at Buckingham Palace, hosted by the Prince of Wales. He is inviting 350 guests to the party, including William and Catherine’s school friends from Eton and Marlborough, contemporaries from St Andrew’s University, and military colleagues. Kate will be the first commoner to marry an expected future king for 350 years, since Anne Hyde married the future King James II, in 1660.

Club News

From our Readers….

Mr Boben J E of Trivandrum has prepared a Maxim Card on Krishnadevaraya. The stamp on Krishnadevaraya was issued on 27 January 2011. Blog : http://www.philalover.blogspot.com/

ZEPPELIN POST JOURNAL - 100th issue
The Spring2011 issue of the ZEPPELIN POST JOURNAL is the 100th issue of this publication. And the topic of this jubilee issue is "100" with interesting and fascinating articles about Count Zeppelin's 100th birthday, LZ-100, flight number 100, 100 dropped pieces, registration number 100, R100 and 100 years Bordstempel . For a sneak preview see here: http://www.ezep.de/zpj/2011sp.html