#united nations postage

[sohannabarberaesque]

As The Banana Splits begin the second part of their concert with the fan mail segment

BINGO, rather stunned at the fan mail in hand: Does it seem rather surprising, fans, that we've received fan mail this go-round with United Nations postage stamps? FLEEGLE, somewhat bewildered at the revelation: How did we know that the United Nations actually issued postage stamps in the first place, to begin with, let alone know such stamps would wind up on fan mail for us? DROOPER: I was about to ask that same question Fleegle had only asked just now....

[susiestamps]

UNO New York 1993 15¢ Ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)

[howsublime]

Got these matching dragon stamps to go with UN dragon postcards.

[stone-cold-groove]

Commissioned by the United Nations in 1957 - first day of issue cover artwork and stamp of a TWA Boeing 707 in flight.

[stamp-it-to-me]

a 1967 Iranian stamp depicting fireworks

[id: a postage stamp with a stylized illustration of several colorful fireworks against a dark blue sky. below and to the right of the fireworks is the United Nations symbol. end id]

[sacramentohistorymuseum]

July 1st is National Postage Stamp Day! This day commemorates when the first US stamp was issued on this day in 1847. Up until then, people would send a mailed item and the receiver would pay when it arrived. By 1855, the postage stamp became required for all mail.

In honor of today, Howard letterpress printed two cuts that to relate to postage stamps, and that would be in cases where postage isn’t required. In the print, the one on the right states, “NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID SACRAMENTO, CA PERMIT NO. 393.” The one on the left comes from Donna from Kentucky and states, “No Postage Stamp Necessary If Mailed in the United States.” This was a common tag on old hotel keys. This was printed with black rubber base ink using our Washington hand press.

[girlactionfigure]

THURSDAY HERO: Selahattin Ulkumen

For much of history, Turks and Jews have gotten along well. During the Holocaust, Turkey did more to save Jewish lives than the United States or Great Britain. One of these heroic Turks was Selahattin Ülkümen, a diplomat serving on the Greek island of Rhodes.

Previously controlled by Italy, Rhodes was occupied by the German army in 1943. Approximately 2000 Jews lived on the island, many of them from Turkey, Greece and Italy. In 1944, the Gestapo ordered all the Jews of Rhodes to report for “temporary relocation” – in fact, they were headed for Auschwitz. Upon hearing the news, Selahattin immediately rushed to the German commanding officer, and informed him that since Turkey was officially neutral, the Jews who were Turkish citizens must be released.

The Nazi officer refused, insisting that under Nazi law all Jews were Jews and had to be sent to concentration camps. Selahattin retorted that under Turkish law, all citizens were equal and Jews were not treated differently than Christians or Muslims. Selahattin threatened the German officer that if he didn’t release the Jewish Turks, and their extended families, Turkey would cause an international incident. After much tension, 50 Jewish Turks were finally released. Despite continuing harassment from the Nazi authorities, all 50 of them survived the war, due entirely to the bold efforts of Selahattin.

Selahattin paid a high price for his bravery. In retaliation for his refusal to cooperate with the Nazi authorities, the Germans bombed the Turkish consulate on Rhodes. Selahattin’s pregnant wife Mihrinissa was killed in the blast, along with two other consular employees.

After the war, Selahattin returned to Turkey. In 1989, he was honored as “Righteous Among the Nations” by Israeli Holocaust Museum Yad Vashem, and in 1990 Israel issued a postage stamp in his honor. Selahattin died in Istanbul in 2003, at age 89.

For risking his life to save endangered Jews, and paying a tremendous personal price, we honor Selahattin Ülkümen as this week’s Thursday Hero.

[barricadescon]

You are invited to join Barricades: A Les Mis Convention in showing support for our 2024 charity partner Black and Pink by participating in their holiday letter-writing campaign. The goal of their campaign is simple: to send holiday love to all the incarcerated people who are members of Black and Pink! Let’s do our part! When: Drop in with us on zoom on December 3rd between 1pm – 3pm EST (5pm – 7pm UTC) where we will go over the card writing guidelines and will write together. The zoom link will be available on our Barricades discord server on the day of the event.

Can’t make it to our event? You can still participate in Black and Pink’s Holiday Card Campaign by visiting https://www.blackandpink.org/. What you’ll need: Because of restrictions on mail, all cards must be sent on plain white copy paper. If you have access to a printer, you can print the 2023 holiday card design in color or in black and white. You can participate no matter where you are in the world by simply using the address of Black & Pink headquarters as the return address. Just place your letter in an envelope with a postage stamp and drop it in the mail! 

Why: The holiday season can be a difficult and isolating time for folks inside, especially for the Black & Pink National family, who might not have loved ones to connect with on the outside. Holiday cards help bring moments of joy, connection, and community, and send a clear message to correctional staff that people on the outside are watching out, and care for folks on the inside.

We hope you’ll join us in sending some holiday love and care to incarcerated LGBTQIA2S+ members across the United States.

[radiojamming]

This is another Hartnell question.

I soo want to know the relationship between the Hartnell brothers, they seemed very close.

Oh gosh, so I think it's a really good time to say that there's unfortunately a huge dearth between what I know and what I think about the Hartnell brothers. Currently, as of July 2024, there is a very small handful of primary sources from their family or themselves. I've consulted every written document currently available between SPRI, the National Archives, and church records.

Beyond that, I have only oral history from the family which can't be confirmed or denied as truth, and forensic evidence from John's grave. The stories I've heard are almost two hundred years removed from their original sources, which makes it very hard to put a stamp on them and pass them as authentic. John's grave content can tell part of a story, but it's like solving a puzzle with no corner pieces. We don't know for sure what was going on around him when he was buried.

All that to say is that I don't know. I hate saying that, and I hate having to default to imagination to fill in the blanks. Right now, we have no letters exchanged between the brothers, or any letters from family members either mentioning how they behaved toward one another (so nothing like "take care of your brother" or "you know how Thomas/John is") or referring to them in the abstract (i.e. "John and Thomas are doing this"). I can't even tell you for sure if Thomas was called Tom or if John had a nickname. It's a bummer, I tell you what.

So, what I think is that they had a good relationship. They were close in age, and they apparently tolerated one another well enough to agree to go on a multi-year journey to the ends of the known earth in isolation together. We know John was buried in Thomas' shirt, but we don't know if Thomas kept something of John's because his body's never been found. We know John's body was cared for in advance of burial, but we don't know if Thomas was the one responsible for this. Sarah and Charles Hartnell addressed their letters to both brothers as a unit and never specifically addressed one or the other. This may have been to save paper and postage, and maybe it suggests that they knew the brothers wouldn't mind being lumped together. I can't say for sure.

And the thing is, humans are complicated. Even humans in their early- and mid- twenties had just as many confusing and frustrating twists and turns in their lives during the Victorian era as they do today. So, maybe the Hartnell brothers were the best of friends. Maybe they tolerated one another. Maybe they'd had disagreements before and being on Erebus was a way for them to get along in close quarters. Or maybe it was worse between them. Or it was the best it had ever been. I wish I knew.

[leonsliga]

How to get football autographs: a crash course

Fair warning: this will be a long post.

We’ve all heard it by now: the best way to get footballer autographs is to attend open trainings or wait outside their hotels and stadiums on match days. But what if you live far away or can’t afford to fly to training or games? Not to worry! Whether you’re a collector, a fan, or a little bit of both like me, quite a few clubs are still willing to send out autograph cards, as long as you send them a stamped addressed envelope.

You’ll find helpful how-to videos on how to do just that, along with links to some country stamp websites, below. These videos actually inspired this post:

Postal service links:

United Kingdom

https://shop.royalmail.com/postage-and-packaging/first-and-second-class-stamps - You can’t print UK stamps, but you can buy them off the Royal Mail website (see above link) or off Amazon in most cases

Germany

https://shop.deutschepost.de/shop/internetmarke/selectPostageIM.jsp?invalidAccess=true#porto-international (you’ll want to buy the printable compact letter—Kompaktbrief in German—stamps for 1,70€)

Spain

https://www.correos.es/es/en/companies/send/stamps - Unfortunately, I’m completely useless at navigating the Spanish postal service (AKA Correos), but here’s the link regardless. Maybe you’ll have better luck than me 😅

France

You can buy printable stamps using the link above

Postage Questions:

What materials will I need to send a request?

You’ll need a letter containing your autograph request, 2 envelopes (one bigger and one smaller), a stamp/stamps (depending on size and weight) from your country and the stamp/stamps of the destination country.

I’ve bought my stamps. What size envelopes should I get?

I recommend getting c4 envelopes, as they’ll be big enough to hold your autograph request letter. These will be the envelopes you’ll mail out. If you go with a c4 envelope, I’d recommend purchasing c5 envelopes as your smaller envelope. These will be the envelopes the clubs return to you with the autograph cards inside, and you’ll slide them into your c4 envelope when you’re ready to mail them.

Be sure to include the club’s mailing address and your country’s stamp on the large envelope and your address + their country’s stamp on the smaller one

Where can I find a club’s mailing address?

You can usually find a club’s mailing address, along with their attitude towards fanmail, on the “contact us” tab on their webpage. If you can’t find it there, search the name of the club on fanmail.biz; they have the mailing address of just about every football club you can imagine.

What should I put in my autograph request letter?

The main thing here is to include which footballers’ autographs you want (if you don’t have a preference, you don’t have to do this; you can always say you’d be happy to add whatever player cards they’re willing to send to your collection, or something like that lol). Apart from that, what you include is entirely up to you! I wouldn’t recommend sending a super long letter, but if you want to add a personal touch, you can always mention one of your favorite memories of that club and their achievements. It doesn’t hurt to throw in a thank you at the end either :) one last note: you can address your letter to the club or the player whose autograph you’re requesting; it’s entirely up to you!

Do I have to send a stamped addressed envelope to every club?

Not necessarily. If you want to save money on stamps and envelopes, try emailing the clubs first. If you’re lucky, they’ll send the autograph cards directly to you and pay for the postage :)

Now onto the most important question: does it work? The answer is that it depends on the club you’re sending the request to and sometimes even the league they play in. I’ll break it down by league below, detailing either my own experiences writing to the club (if I’ve written to the club and heard back, I’ll state it outright) or that of YouTubers who have reached out to them. If you don’t see your club here, assume they either don’t reply to fanmail, or I haven’t heard of any success stories yet.

Premier League

Some Prem clubs still send out autographs, but not all. Here’s the ones that do:

Manchester United - pre-covid I’m pretty sure they sent out only hand-signed autographs upon request. Unfortunately, they seem to have cut back a bit on this in recent years; nowadays they tend to send a mix of hand-signed and pre-printed, facsimile signatures (this was the case for me when I wrote to them a few months ago and a few YouTubers that wrote to them as well). Still, pretty amazing given the size of the club that they’re willing to do this. As a United fan, I can’t help but feel a little proud :)

Liverpool - they definitely take the “you’ll never walk alone” motto literally, because they also still answer autograph requests with squad photos and signatures, at least as of 2021. To add a personal touch, they usually include a certificate with your name on it. Even though they’re United’s biggest rivals, I can’t help but respect them for this.

Arsenal - another big club that’s not too big for their fans; to my knowledge, they still send out hand-signed autographs. In doing research for this post, I even stumbled upon a video of someone who got an Arsenal match program, 2 squad photos, and autographs on the back of one of them. Talk about a big haul!

Tottenham - usually send pre-signed, photocopied autograph cards

Chelsea - sent out pre-signed, facsimile autograph prints as of 2021

Manchester City - sends out facsimile signatures only, according to several YouTubers (I’ve never contacted the club personally, so I’m not sure if this is still the case). If you do reach out to them, let me know what you hear back!

Crystal Palace - hit-or-miss. They tend to reply with pre-signed squad photos. They usually include a “south london and proud” bracelet from what I understand though, which is a fun perk!

West Ham - you might hear back from them, you might not (I didn’t when I tried a few months ago, but I know several other people did). If they do reply, you’ll likely receive hand-signed photos.

Aston Villa - sent out mostly pre-signed cards as of 2021

Everton - sent out predominantly hand-signed cards as of 2020

Leicester - send out a mix of photocopied and hand-signed cards, as of 2020 - they generally include player cards from the entire squad

Bournemouth - sent out pre-printed cards as of 2021

Newcastle - still sent out hand-signed photographs as of 2020

Bundesliga

If you want hand-signed autographs, look no further than the Bundesliga. In my experience, they send out the most hand-signed cards of any football league, and it’s not even close. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find a club that doesn’t send out hand-signed cards. I’m assuming it’s the same story for the 2. Bundesliga (I know Schalke sends out hand-signed cards at the very least).

Bayern Munich - generally, they prefer you purchase cards on their website. Unfortunately, you have to be a member to buy signed cards on there; otherwise, you have to settle for pre-signed prints. That said, I’m pretty sure that if you purchase the player cards on the website and send a few back to the club to be signed, they will return them with official autographs. I sent in a request for Manuel Neuer’s autograph earlier this year and enclosed his player card, and they sent it back hand-signed. I included my membership number in my request just in case, but I know they’ve sent hand-signed autographs to non-members in the past (i.e. the YouTuber mentioned towards the beginning of this post). If you do reach out to Bayern, let me know how it goes. My fingers are crossed for you regardless 🤞

Borussia Dortmund - probably the most reliable of the Bundesliga clubs when it comes to autograph requests. They now limit you to 4 footballers per request, so you’ll have to be selective. That said, they usually reply quickly and send out hand-signed autographs every time. I have yet to hear of anyone who hasn’t received something back when they sent an autograph request to BVB.

Bayer Leverkusen - when I requested autographs from them, they sent me some back. I requested 3 players’ autographs, along with Xabi Alonso’s, and received all 4 cards back hand-signed. Quite a few YouTubers have had success hearing from them as well. Even though they’re having a fantastic season, they clearly haven’t neglected their fanmail, which is cool to see :)

Eintracht Frankfurt - sends out hand-signed autograph cards, even as of this season (they sent hand-signed cards when I reached out to them two months ago). If they’re your club, you’re in luck.

VfB Stuttgart - hand-signed cards

RB Leipzig - hand-signed cards

FC Union Berlin - hand-signed cards (I haven’t heard back from them yet, but it’s only been a week and a half at this point)

SC Freiburg - hand-signed cards

Borussia Mönchengladbach - hand-signed cards (I just heard back from them a week ago, and I think I got a mix of hand-signed cards and pre-signed prints)

FC Augsburg - hand-signed cards

SV Werder Bremen - hand-signed cards

VfL Wolfsburg - hand-signed cards

VfL Bochum - hand-signed cards, sometimes of the entire team (I received 4 cards in response to my request)

TSG Hoffenheim - hand-signed cards, often of the entire team

FC Köln - hand-signed cards

FSV Mainz - hand-signed cards, often of majority of the squad

La Liga

If you’re a fan of a Spanish club, you might be a lot less lucky, sadly. Only one club still sends out hand-signed autographs to my knowledge, and only one other club sends anything back in response to fanmail.

Real Madrid - occasionally sends out posters with pre-printed, facsimile signatures.

Sevilla - this is the club to ask for hand-signed autographs. That said, you probably won’t get more than one or two. I’d recommend being specific about which player(s)’ autographs you want in order to avoid being disappointed.

Ligue 1

Maybe the French league is more your speed. It’s a mixed bag here; while few answer fanmail, the ones that do are more often than not the most generous of any football clubs on this list.

PSG - the Parisians do still respond to autograph requests, but pretty much exclusively send out facsimile signatures.

Olympique de Marseille - have sent out pre-signed cards of their entire team in the past, along with a poster

FC Metz - sent out a mix of hand-signed autographs and pre-signed prints as of 2021

LOSC Lille - sent out autograph cards as of 2021

OGC Nice - sent out autograph cards as of 2021

RC Strasbourg - sends out autographed postcards, and if you’re lucky, they might include a squad photo and some stickers along with it :)

AS Saint-Étienne - send out hand-signed cards, although I’ve also seen them send squad photos addressed to the recipient, along with 2 issues of their club’s magazine

Eredivisie

PSV Eindhoven - sometimes send out autograph cards with facsimile signatures (pre-prints)

Swiss Super League

FC Basel - sent out hand-signed cards as of 2021

BSC Young Boys - sent out hand-signed cards as of 2021

Austrian Football Bundesliga

SK Rapid Wien - sent out hand-signed cards as of 2021

LASK - hand-signed cards (as of 2021)

Scottish Premiership

Glasgow Rangers - occasionally sends pre-signed prints (at least, as of 2021)

Ekstraklasa

All clubs listed below have sent out hand-signed autograph cards in the past:

Śląsk Wrocław

Legia Warszawa

Lech Poznań

A-League

Western Sydney Wanderers - signed squad photo

MLS

Whether you’ve got a particular club in mind or you’re just a fan of one of the big stars (i.e. Messi), you’re probably in for disappointment. Autograph collecting isn’t super big in the U.S., and MLS treats autograph requests accordingly.

Seattle Sounders - one of the only two clubs in MLS that actually sends a response to autograph requests - one lucky collector was even able to get a hat signed by the entire squad! (see here)

NYCFC - sends out hand-signed autograph cards occasionally, usually only one or two

*side note: unfortunately, it seems like most people have only reached out to European clubs, (with the exception of the A-League and MLS), so I can’t speak to whether clubs on other continents fulfill autograph requests. If you reach out to any clubs in leagues not mentioned here, let me know and I’ll update the list :)

Lingering questions:

How long does it take to hear back from clubs?

In my experience as someone living in the UK, I’ve heard back from every club I reached out to within 2-3 weeks (closer to the 2 week mark in most cases). It depends on how far away you live from the club though. I heard back from Manchester United within a week of mailing my request, but they were the exception, not the rule.

Tldr: expect to hear back within a month (maybe a month and a half in extreme cases)

Do clubs answer autograph requests during the off-season?

In my experience, no. I tried this a few years back with no success.

Can I send a shirt to be signed by a player?

I wouldn’t recommend it, as you may not get it back. If you do, the club will probably just return it to you unsigned. You’re better off just requesting an autograph card imo.

Do national teams send autograph cards?

Some do! Last I’ve heard, the German national team still answers requests with authentic signatures and the Croatian national team has sent out signed cards previously as well. The Czech Republic sends out unsigned squad cards. Last but not least, the Dutch national team has sent out fan posters in the past.

Apart from David MC’s autograph series, here’s some of the other videos that helped form this list:

[lickmystamp]

US postage stamp, 1989 “Washington Statehood” Scott #2404

Issued: February 22, 1989 - Olympia, Washington Quantity: 264,625,000 Designer: Howard Rogers Printed By: American Bank Note Company (Photogravure)

Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington state to distinguish it from the national capital, both named for George Washington.

[tomorrowusa]

Postcards from Ukraine to members of Congress – a suggestion 💡 🇺🇦 🇺🇸 📮

It's clear that House Speaker Mike Johnson is acting on orders from Donald Trump to prevent a Senate bill which includes aid to Ukraine from getting a vote in the House of Representatives. Johnson is a craven careerist who would sell his mother into slavery to please Trump.

The Senate bill ("Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act") could still be taken up – and would almost certainly pass – if just a handful of Republicans from moderate districts decided to support a parliamentary procedure called a "discharge petition" in order to bypass Speaker Johnson.

There are 17 Republicans in the House of Representatives in 2022 who won in congressional districts where Joe Biden had beaten Donald Trump in 2020. These Republicans from moderate districts would be a good grouping to entreat to support the discharge petition. A number of them have already expressed support for Ukraine in the past. It's a matter of getting them to put conscience ahead of their fear of Trump.

Below is a list of addresses of the district offices of those 17 Republican Representatives. If you are in Ukraine, buy a postcard and clearly write a short message which tells how you love freedom and how Putin's illegal war has affected you. It can be in English or Ukrainian. Use a Ukrainian stamp for postage and mail it as soon as possible.

Individuals need pick just 1 of the 17. But schools, businesses, clubs, and military units with at least 17 people can arrange to send one to each of the listed Representatives.

Be polite but urgent. Perhaps remind them that Ronald Reagan understood the dangers of Russian imperialism.

Rep. David Schweikert 14500 N. Northsight Blvd., Suite 221 Scottsdale, AZ 85260 USA

Rep. Juan Ciscomani 1636 N. Swan Road, Suite 200 Tucson, AZ 85712 USA

Rep. John Duarte 90 S. First Street Turlock, CA 95380 USA

Rep. David Valadeo 2700 M Street, Suite 250B Bakersfield, CA 93301 USA

Rep. Mike Garcia 27200 Tourney Rd., Suite 300 Santa Clarita, CA 91355 USA

Rep. Young Kim 180 N. Riverview Dr., Suite 150 Anaheim, CA 92808 USA

Rep. Michelle Steel 10805 Holder St., Suite 225 Cypress, CA 90630 USA

Rep. Don Bacon 13906 Gold Circle, Suite 101 Omaha, NE 68144 USA

Rep. Tom Kean Hopatcong Borough Municipal Building 111 River Styx Road Hopatcong, NJ 07843 USA

Rep. Nick Lalota 515 Hauppauge Road, Suite 3B Hauppauge, NY 11788 USA

Rep. Anthony D'Esposito 229 7th Street, Suite 102 Garden City, NY 11530 USA

Rep. Mike Lawler 60 McAlpin Ave Mahopac, NY 10541 USA

Rep. Marc Molinaro 49 Court Street, Suite 210 Binghamton, NY 13901 USA

Rep. Brandon Williams 421 Broad Street, Suite 7 Utica, NY 13501 USA

Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer 621 High Street Oregon City, OR 97045 USA

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick 1717 Langhorne Newtown Rd., Suite 225 Langhorne, PA 19047 USA

Rep. Jen Kiggans 283 Constitution Drive Virginia Beach, VA 23462 USA

FAQ

Why physical mail instead of email or phone calls? There's an enormous chance that your email would end up in a spam folder. Also, the Congressional email system tends to prioritize email originating from the districts of each individual House member. Phone calls from outside the US are likely to be filtered out. Unlike email or phone calls, a physical piece of mail has a real world presence. The recipient has to do something with it. You can't simply press DELETE to get rid of it.

Why postcards and not letters? For security reasons. It takes less time and effort to inspect a postcard than a letter or parcel. Your mail will arrive sooner.

Why use postage stamps instead of a postage meter? You want the recipient to know that you are REALLY from Ukraine. Using official Ukrainian stamps is a simple way to do that. When people see Україна or Ukraina on the stamp then they will know it originated in Free Ukraine. FYI: the letter Ї does not exist in Russian, recipients should look for this on the stamp. Also, your stamp automatically turns the postcard into a collector's item. It is more likely to be saved and to serve as a continuing reminder of your urgent request.

Why send the postcards to district offices instead of offices in Washington? Postcards from Ukraine will get more attention locally by local staff; if a sizable number arrive, it might even get mentioned in local media. In Washington, people tend to be more blasé about such things.

What is the proper form of address for House members? Rep. or Representative before the surname – no distinction based on gender.

FOR REFERENCE: Here are electoral stats for the districts. The column marked R margin indicates the size of each Representative's winning margin in 2022. Rep. Duarte, for example, beat his Democratic opponent by a very narrow 0.4%

[susiestamps]

UNO New York 1972 95¢ Letter Changing Hands

[krispyweiss]

Allen Toussaint Postage on Tap

- Stamp is 48th in USPS’ Black Heritage series

Coming soon to a cool mailbox near you: Allen Toussaint.

Toussaint’s image will grace the 48th stamp in the United States Postage Service’s Black Heritage series. The first-day-of-issue ceremony is scheduled for Jan. 30 in Toussaint’s hometown of New Orleans.

The composer of “Southern Nights,” “Fortune Teller,” “Sneaking Sally through the Alley” and other numbers, Toussaint “left an enduring mark on American music” as a pianist, singer, songwriter, producer and arranger, USPS said in unveiling the stamp.

An inductee of the Blues, Songwriters, Louisiana Music and Rock and Roll halls of fame, Toussaint was a 2013 recipient of the National Medal of Arts and his name now graces New Orleans’ former Robert E. Lee Boulevard.

He died in 2015 after performing a concert in Spain.

“Toussaint’s influence continues to resonate globally,” USPS said.

1-8-25

[tanadrin]

Internationalization of the Ruhr area and separation of the Saarland followed WW1 not WW2

Saarland was first established as a distinct political entity in 1920 after World War I as the Territory of the Saar Basin, which was occupied and governed by France under a League of Nations mandate. Saarland was returned to Nazi Germany in the 1935 Saar status referendum. Following World War II in Europe, the territory was occupied by France then became the Saar Protectorate on 17 December 1947. After the 1955 Saar Statute referendum, it joined the Federal Republic of Germany as a state on 1 January 1957. Saarland used its own currency, the Saar franc, and postage stamps issued specially for the territory until 1959.

The International Authority for the Ruhr (IAR) was an international body established in 1949 by the Western Allies to regulate the coal and steel industries of the Ruhr area in West Germany. Its seat was in Düsseldorf. The Ruhr Authority was set out in the communiqué issued on 7 June 1948, after the London Six-Power Conference between the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France and the Benelux countries. It was abolished following the 1951 Treaty of Paris, and its activities were given to the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). An Agreement to terminate the IAR was signed at Paris on 19 October 1951, and agreement on termination of the functions of the IAR came in to force on 25 June 1952.

[stamp-it-to-me]

this blog just hit 22k followers!! thank y'all very much!!

here's a 1967 Iranian fireworks stamp to celebrate! (will be posting it as a regular post soon if you'd prefer to reblog it like that)

[id: a postage stamp with a stylized illustration of several colorful fireworks against a dark blue sky. below and to the right of the fireworks is the United Nations symbol. end id]