Phoenix Rising

 King George was just so awesome. The man really set the bar high for the world in the appearance of stamps, this issue(174 in my book) is absolutely no exception to that.  After Hong Kong was invaded by Japan, refugee/prisoner camps were set up and amongst the interred, Edward Wynne-Jones, Hong Kongs' Postmaster began designing this special Coat of Arms shown below the stamp image and commemorative stamp for after their liberation. Special consideration was given to the design and approved by George to allow this vs the omnibus peace and victory stamp in 1946. "Phoenix rising from the ashes of war" is just so aesthetically pleasing. I also greatly appreciate the bilingual aspect of the stamp. The banner on the left roughly says "China and Britain perpetually at peace" and the right side says "The phoenix revives: great good fortune".  The Latin "Resurgo" or "Arise" appears beneath the rising phoenix. The British lions are holding shields that bear the name of the colony. It's easy to not notice the two bat's hovering around George's head which to the Chinese symbolize god fortune and longevity.   It's just such a cool looking stamp wouldn't you agree?

JimmyB

Anarchist Target

 King Umberto I, besides having another gigantic mustache of which seems to be a potential topical stamp category, was implicated in the assassination of the U.S. President William McKinley. Apparently, if Umberto had not gotten himself whacked by the Italo-American anarchist Gaetano Bresci, McKinley's assassin, American anarchist Leon Czolgosz, would have never been inspired to kill McKinley! Even more personal to me, I went to a jr.high school actually named after McKinley and without his death, my school's name may have been something completely different!! This only goes to show how important it is to avoid growing gigantic mustaches.
 This is Italy number 54 in my stamp book and has a faint 1889 penciled in on the backside, the same year that Thomas Edison showed his first motion picture. Were motion pictures really around that far back? Actually they were around earlier than that!
  

JimmyB

1924 Huguenot-Walloon Tercentary Issue

 Now if I were a squirrel, I would have never survived my first winter away from the nest.
 This set I found in a box along with other stuff today in an old glassine envelope with my handwriting on it, yet no recollection of having seen most of what was in the box. This morning has been frustrating for me as I found several boxes of items I had no clue that I had stashed away.
 This is a 300th anniversary issued to commemorate the arrival of the Hueguenots and Walloons who were some type of Calvinistic Protestants I believe probably in danger of being killed(I'm not certain all of the Hueguenots were Walloons which were a French speaking people.) deciding to settle in America. A monument was given to the city of New York in Battery Park honoring Jesse de Forest who founded New York and had come to America hoping to found New Belgium a new colony.

JimmyB

Wedding Anniversary

 I've never really made any finds with Japan. Tonight's a winner for me. I came across several older Japan's that are a bit over minimum value in my book. I'm going to have to stretch out these few finds over the next couple days however as I don't want to kill all my joy in one post.
 This is the 1894 2 Sen carmine colored stamp #85 in my Scott - 25th Anniversary of Emperor Meiji and Empress Haru's wedding. Meiji's Wiki page gives no mention of the Empress other than pointing her out in a family portrait along with his children which are all born from concubines. Quite a few concubines I might add all with the title Lady.
 I'm pretty certain this is a mint stamp even though there is slight discoloring in the lower left bottom. Remnant of gum remain scattered across the back in spots. Unfortunately #86  which is a blue 5 Sen almost identical was not alongside it in the album.
 At first I was excited thinking I had a pair of dragons on each side here, but it turns out that they are rather ornate cranes.

JimmyB