Bells On Stamps: Need Help.

Thanks again everyone. Let us move from 1980 onward. Thanks, BlankPage

SCF forum email will not work until you and the recipient have 50 posts each.

Thank you all for your help. I will look at the Lutine Bell mentioned by 22Crows. You see, an exhibit on bells can go in the direction of their being the voice of a people as our Liberty Bell was, or in the direction of bells for the sake of bells, just like bell collectors collect bells. And in that direction, one might want to establish some limits as to the type of bell---such as not every bell, even though it can be rung, that comes along that is meant to be sewn onto clothing. It would have to be understood that the bell would have to be of appreciable size, like the old townsmen's hear ye hear ye bells, and not smaller than that. Since the idea is to study different bells, we also want to avoid any bell that has been exploited by Sand Dune countries and stamp farms. BlankPage

Sorry to burst your bubble, but you are standing on
swampy ground there.
Could have an elitist bent, and would require you to add that
US have never exploited collectors, and any other country
to boot.
You may decide not to collect Dune stamps, that is your choice,
but bringing "exploitation" into the equation brings on an entirely
new perspective.
You will end up with a collection of very few stamps.

Here are a few -
Poland 1985 25 Zloty - 3 cow bells
USA 1975 Christmas NVI Early card with bell and angel
Netherlands 1988 Christmas 50 c 2 bells ringing
Jersey Christmas 2001 SG 1016 carol singers with hand bells; SG 1021 paper bell; SG 1022 church bells ringing
GB 2000 Millennium stamp #45 2nd class bells ringing

Wow Rod that's some database. I've scanned only about 2000 including stamps,covers and postcards and that took some time. Not that I'm complaining since one notices so much more detail when you blow them up.

Yes, like your scans LG,
very detailed and clear,
and not always mint, which is good.
Good clear deep res scans can last forever,
and can be easily passed on.

Here are a few more post 1980 issues:
Albania 2000 Bell of Peace 40L (SG 2765), 90L (SG 2766)
Russia 1991 Soviet Culture Fund 20k + 10k (SG 6278)
United Nations Japanese Peace Bell (following a couple issued in 1970):
UN Vienna 1998 6s50 (SG V247)
UN NY 2004 80c (Sc 865, SG 928)
UN Geneva 2004 1f30 (Sc 425, SG G483)
UN Vienna 2004 euro2.10 (Sc 349, SG V405)

To form a good collection on this topic takes courage, or at least a lot of bells....

Hey 64idgaf - Don't knock(er) it.

The only one that rings any bells with me is this one from Italy.

This Austrian stamp from 1999 shows the famous bell in Vienna's St Stephens Cathedral which always rings in the New Year and as written on the stamp the new millennium.

RE: Rod22 10/22/2010 6:53PM: StampFarm countries exploiting bells ( or any other topical postal issue).

When the idea was first entertained of collecting and then exhibiting Bells because they were not a known topic in 1977/1978 when there were only about 25 issues/sets up to that time, my aim was to keep the collection focused on bells native to the country of issue. There might be a rare exception. The Mexican Independence issue is one exception, it is a co-issue with the United States.

Now if that Mexican bell had not been issued by Mexico but by some other country or two, or three, for some historically or culturally justified reason other than Mexico's independence, those would have been acceptable. The wide use by other nations of the United States Liberty Bell in the Bicentennial Era would not be justified unless it was an exhibit basically themed on the US Bicentennial, with the development of a special interest. Neither would any continuuing US postal issue of the Liberty Bell design with an adjusted postal rate, or the repeated use of the Liberty Bell in an adaptation on US designs over the years. Where there is such a selection, the collector only needs one postal issue design of the bell that has national signficance. Choose the postal issue of the design that is appropriate for the exhibit and write the narration accordingly. On the other hand, if some clocks, some cars (using these objects as examples) that are not presented postally by their native country but are shown on StampDune-type countries that would be acceptable. And then the collector would be obliged to obtain only one presentation (of let us say a 1934 Bugati) from the several available as a type of that car. An exception could be made if another country issued a stamp of the same car from a different angle. Then the collector could add that stamp in the interest of showing detail of the car not otherwise available. If at some point in the future, a nation issued that clock or car stamp, the clock or car being native to that coutnry, then that issue would be accepted and the other one would be removed. And I believe this selectivity should apply to any topic.

At the time what had been learned about collecting, addressing the topical area, exhibits, judging (both as judge and being judged)brought me to the conclusion that it was necessary to establish a criteria of remaining focused on relevancy and to proceed with reasonable and selective restraint. Zen-immersion in the indiscriminate accumulation of quantity with wild abandon of all bell stamp issues of a certain type (e.g., real and historical) ignoring the bell's relevancy to the country of issue would not be justified. It makes no sense. And to just accumulate such a quantity of postally usable singles says nothing of how the size of an accumulation can exponentially increase if FDCs, paper, gum, perf, color varieties, proofs, essays, maxicards are to be included for all. That makes even less sense.

It is only a short step from that to collecting bells of any type---bells on wedding ribbons, non-existent decorative and fantasy bells---just for the sake of bells, which is okay if one likes general bell shapes and their usage. I did not believe then and still do not believe that a good topical exhibit relies on unfocused quantity or diversity. Such quantity and diversity detracts from the main direction of the collection and opens up too many other divergent paths.

Lastly, I didn't eventually exhibit because I was not initially aware that a good exhibit would have to contain perf, paper, gum, color, plate varities, FDCs, sheet margin inscripitons, proofs, essays. When this was discovered, it slowed me down considerably as I was committed not to abandon those perspectives. Time did not permit this development. However, it has since been learned that any exhibitable collection, topical or postal history or engraving/printing history <like US Bureau Issues>, can be an ongoing, always improving, always building-upon endeavour with the adding of new material. Further, that not only having a dearth of material beyond that which was postally usable, or if I had but one FDC and one perf error that would have been fine as well as having no such varieties/perspectives but being complete just on MNH single examples of all the bell isssues up to that time. A bare bones MNH single presentation of all the postal issues available to that time discussing the significance of bells in human culture and history, in the history and culture of nations that issued bells, the manufacture of bells and how cultural significance is materially embedded in a bell during its manufacture in order to give it life, to give it a spirit would have made an acceptable exhibit. It would have opened the field, it would have addressed a topic which to that time had not been explored. The implication of any exhibit, especially one that addresses previously uncharted territory as bare bones as it might be, the promise it projects to the viewer should be, and the judges would be correct and proper in suggesting/advising the exhibitor, that it is something to be further developed.
Blank Page.

shameful failure of the Italian Post Office in 1999, Jubileum instead of Jubilaeum on the bell.

Tartamimmi: great image. That fits my concept of a good "bell" stamp.