Thematic : Umbrellas On Stamps.

The beach at Rimini in Italy used to be wonderful for just strolling along and enjoying the quiet. Nowadays you need a good sense of orientation to find 'your' umbrella among the thousands. tourist stamp of 1992

(Hi Alexey, Thanks for the link! K.)

Another Italian beach which has changed over the years from being a place of relaxation to being so over-run that one scarcely sees the sand any longer. Viareggio, not too far from Florence; stamp of 1992

The Republic of Central Africa (or an agency) issued a lovely collection of Edgar Degas' (1834-1917) paintings on a souvenir sheet, 2014. The background presents the painting of folks strolling along the beach and a girl having her hair combed. The original can be seen in the National Gallery in London.

Children's Day is celebrated every year in India on the 14th of November and is a day when children engage in fun and frolic. Souvenir sheet of children having fun in the rain 2015.

Only a small segment of an umbrella can be seen on this beach full of lively cricket players of all colors, but the person under it is being sun-wise. 100 years of cricket in New Zealand. 1994 It's summer down there now, so this is probably what it looks like on New Zealand beaches.

A painting by Normal Rockwell (1894-1978), "Golden Days" done way back in the 1930s, shows an elderly gentleman relaxing in his tiny boat with his dog on a sunny afternoon. stamp of 1982 By the way, the Mailman on page one is also one of Rockwell's paintings.

Yuko Shimizu created the cute little figure of Kitty for the Sanrio company as a sort of mascot. Hello Kitty has become unbelievably popular and can be found on almost any product as well as being a comic movie character. Here it looks like an umbrella in which she and her friends are sitting. round stamp of 2015

Another popular figure in Japan is the little Hippo with a bouquet of flowers. She has an umbrella because hippos need protection from direct sun. She resembles the Finish Moomin figure. stamp of 2003

Love that Norman Rockwell, what a genius he was.
Always has some sort of tension in his work,
The dog seeing movement under the fish float...what is going to happen !
..and the moonshine jug, tethered in the water, at stern.
Lovely stuff.

The Saturday Evening Post chose many of Norman Rockwell's paintings for their covers. The paintings portrait moments in the daily lives of people who enjoyed reading the Post. The drawing on the stamp is one of Rockwell's early ones and shows Granpa greeting a "statue" of himself on his way to market.

Greetings Rod, Rockwell had an eye for folks around him; glad you are still looking at umbrellas. K

Another Norman Rockwell: "A Puppy in the Pocket". Same set of stamps as above, 1982.

In Laos the Year of the Ox is celebrated with a royal ox on a float (I wonder if he is real). 1997 The big umbrella is of the ceremonial kind, the small one just for sun protection.

The folks at Disney have picked up many fairy tales in their comics and movies. Here the Sandman by H. C. Andersen watching over a sleeping couple. 1986

In England it can rain cats and dogs!, even on the first day of winter. At least one cat has an umbrella. "Rain" from a set of 4 weather stamps, designed to form a circular barometer, 2001.

The traditional Dance of Li is one of many performed with umbrellas in China. stamp of 1963