The Stamps of Uganda were made on a typewriter.
The story of the Ugandan ones is given in SG Commonwealth: They were
produced by the Revd E Millar at Mengo. The width of the stamps
changed when he got a new typewriter with a narrower typeface.
Different values can be found se-tenant, as he only "printed" what was
needed. The last pair of rows was tête-bêche, as the paper, doubtless
in short supply, was turned upside down to use the final inch. There
is an error variety which has G...U instead of U...G -- anyone who has
ever tried doing repetitive work like this will know how easy it is to
get out of sync. There were stamps surcharged in ink and signed by
Revd G R Blackledge at Ngogwe. Finally, there are unissued 35 and 45
cowrie values which did not meet any postage rate, but were produced
"to oblige a local official".
All this reads as a wonderful tale of the exigencies of early days of
Empire, and one of the many and various tasks which fell to
missionaries. One day I must find out more about those two reverend
gentlemen and Revd F Rowling who produced typeset stamps a year later.
I know rather more of a missionary in India who, though not actually
producing the stamps, had to act as postmaster, being the only person
in the region to met the requirement of speaking English.
Posted 09/10/2012 1:13 pm
