The First Olympics Stamps

After adding a question earlier today to the thread titled Greece - Athens First Impressions started by jhlovell, I sat down and took a close look at my Greece issues for the first time in a long while. That's one of the drawbacks of being a dedicated general collector; the other big one being a complete lack of specific knowledge.

I was struck again by the beauty of the country's postage and commemoratives but one topic set me to wondering. The illustrated stamps are from what must be the first Olympic Topical Issue since it references the first modern Olympic games in 1896. I am aware of another Greek set in 1906 as I have a few from it but don't know if this was another Olympic Games (10 years after the first?) Correct me please if I am wrong on any of this.

However, the question I have is this. What was the second Olympic commemorative, one issued by another country? I am aware of the German issues for the 1936 Olympics but were any issued by another country either for that one or for any of the intervening Olympiads between 1896 and 1936?

The 1906 Greek set celebrated the Olympic Games staged in Athens in 1906. This was an extra competition scheduled half way between the 1904 St Louis games and the 1908 London games. They're no longer recognised by the International Olympic Committee but they were official at the time:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_I...alated_Games

The next Olympic stamps that I've seen are the Belgian set issued for the 1920 Antwerp games.

In 1924 stamps were issued for the Olympic games in Paris and also for the games in Amsterdam in 1928. In 1932 for the winter and summer games in Lake Placid and Los Angeles stamps were issued.

This site shows all the stamps put out by the host nations for the Summer Olympics from 1896 to 1964. Stamps from Lebanon and Syria are included in the 1924 issues as they were French mandated territories at the time.

http://olympic-museum.de/stamps/stamps1896.htm

Most of the Olympic Games stamps are listed in the Freestampcatalogue under the topics: Olympic Games and Olympic Winter Games. Only the US stamp of 1932 and set from Germany (1935) relate to the Winter Olympics up to Berlin in 1936. For the Summer Olympics Page 1 covers 1920 to 1948 (with a couple of issues not related to a particular Games).

http://www.postbeeld.com/en/fsc/search&category=o1

Great links and just the info I am looking for. I figure that the first 50 years which, in reality, only goes to 1936 with the next two being cancelled, are quite doable as a display. Only have to go through and see what I have and what I need. Thanks all.