1932 British Philatelic Congress

This is the 'cinderalla' that was issued at the time of this congress in Britain in June 1932.



I'm wondering whether any forum members know anything about the Congress. The reason is that I'm writing a short story tentatively set during this congress - although, for story-related reasons, I'd probably prefer a congress in Paris. However, I don't know yet whether any such congresses were held in Paris, or anywhere in France for that matter, that particular year.

Anyway, if you know anything about the Brighton conference I'd be most interested in hearing about it.

Jimjamtwo,

For ease of future searching, perhaps you should change the 'Brighton' in the title header to 'British'.

The ABPS [Association of British Philatelic Societies] organizes the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain each year for like-minded philatelists to get together for two or three days and enjoy talks,displays,exchanges of material etc.
The first Congress was held in Manchester in 1909 and has been held every year since, excepting the War Years. The 100th Anniversary Congress was [again] held in Manchester in 2009.

Brighton has been the host for Congress on a number of occasions. The first was the one shown on JJ's label [above] in 1932. Further Congresses were held in Brighton in 1946,1956,1966 and 1989. Other Congress venues are spread far and wide all over the UK.

Congress labels and other Philatelic Souvenirs are produced most years and given,sold or auctioned to Congress participants. They are mainly limited in number and just a quick look at ebay or other auction sites will tell you how scarce they are. Most are very attractive and of high quality. The quality has declined somewhat in recent years although the scarcity remains !

A number of items were issued for the 1932 Congress in question here.
Sheets of the Blue label both with and without marginal Imprints; An Olive Green label of the same design [Brighton's Royal Pavilion] and Imperf labels in other colours.There were also Meter Stamps and Mulready designed Postcards. A Congress Postmark has always beeb specially produced for each event and covers can often command a premium with the Congress cancel.

I have shown below the two sheets I have in case you wish to use the scans for your write-up.The Blue sheet is the scarcer Imprinted version while the Olive-Green is not.
Designed by L.J. Gilbert-Lodge and Printed in Photogravure by Harrison & Sons, Ltd.

Good luck and let us see the finished article.





Congressbus1

A quick bit of research on the designer of the items shown in the two previous posts, will tell you about a very eminent Philatelist of his day.
L.J. Gilbert-Lodge was a very serious British West Indies Collector and Specialist whose items went up for sale at some of the top auction houses. He was also a member and Secretary of the Royal Philatelic Society,London.

And as we now know, also a pretty useful Stamp designer !
Gilbert-Lodge signed a few of the sheets shown in the previous post, both colours. I wonder how much they might be worth !?

Londonbus1

Man of a thousand faces...

Thanks for the info and the beautiful scans, Londonbus1.

I'm hoping someone might have a copy of the agenda or the conference proceedings.

jimjamtwo,

I have some good news for you. In fact more than one piece.

I don't know how far you live from Sydney, but even if it's a long way it is still possible.

What is possible?
Well, at one of the biggest open Philatelic libraries in the world, Philas Library, Philas House,Sydney a copy of the 1932 British Philatelic Congress Yearbook is stored. In fact, most Yearbooks from 1928-75 are kept in the library.

So go get in touch !

You can visit the Library on any day that it is open or you can phone Philas (02) 9264-8301 or (02) 9264-8406 (Answerphone), send a fax to (02) 926704741, or write to the Philas Library at P.O. Box 220, Darlinghurst NSW 1300.

In the meantime, I will be writing to the Brighton and Hove Philatelic Society and see what they can come up with !

You can go to the Philas House website and take a looky !

http://www.philas.org.au/index.html

Good luck and let me know if you have any luck, sure you will have, libraries are great.

Londonbus1

Londonbus1, that's astonishing information. I'm actually in Sydney, so I must get in touch. I had no idea!!

Thanks so much for the info.

Yes, that is excellent work.
well done, Londonbus.

Sounds like a great Library too.
I have put it on my list should I ever get to Oz !

Let us know how you get on jimjam.

Londonbus1

Another fascinating thread! I too would be very interested in reading your work when it is finished. Will you be publishing?

alexarne, thanks for the interest, but I wouldn't expect to be finished anytime soon.

So far, I've just come up with the idea of the character, who's going to be called Rex O'Connor, and he's an Australian authority on German stamps, who is recruited by a London philatelic firm as part of its bid to take on Stanley Gibbons. This scene will probably be set against the background of the Brighton congress.

The story around this character is evolving in my mind and may already be too big for a short story, so, who knows, it may develop into a novel.

If I do that, I suppose I should try and read a few novels that have philatelists as central characters. It would probably be instructive to see what previous writers have already done with the theme.

Good luck with all that. I am after a new book to read and always need good themes to take me away from the usual topics. You have given me some ideas...thanks.

If I think I have found something appropriate, or that might be of use, I'll post it here.

Try www.themysterybox.com/store/phil1.html You may have seen this already but as it cropped up I thought I'd post.

That's a very interesting list of books there, alexarne. I'd probably read all of them, if I could get hold of them.

Thanks for posting!