Firsts And Little Known Facts About Stamps

Good timing - I just received a nice copy of Newfoundland Princess Elizabeth stamp today. Wonder if she remembers that, given the thousands of times she's appeared on stamps since.

Gmot

That's probably the best question of all time.

How many stamps have been printed worldwide portraying the likeness of Queen Elizabeth II. The number would be staggering.

First audio/talking stamps. Issued April 15, 1973 Bhutan.



10 CH : yellow text on red record (69 mm) and plays Bhutan history

25 CH: gold on green (69 mm) and plays the National anthem

Nu. 1.25 : silver on blue (69 mm) and plays the Bhutan history (in
English)

Nu. 3 : silver on purple (100 mm) Airmail stamp and plays the Bhutan history (in Bhutanese) and folk song #1

Nu.7 :silver on black (69 mm) and plays Folk song #1

Nu. 8 : red on white (69 mm) and plays Folk song #2

Nu. 9 : black on yellow (100 mm) Airmail stamp and plays Bhutan history (in English), folk song #1, and folk song #2

What about stamps NOT made from paper .....

First stamp made of glass from Austria 2016

First woman/women on a United States postage stamp- Columbian issue 1893. Many women were engraved on the series, usually from various artist renditions, most notably Queen Isabella. US 230 & 237





Tho the first day of issue for the Columbians was officially Jan 1, 1893, 2 covers of the 1 cent and a single cover of the 10 cent slipped thru the cracks and were postmarked Dec 31, 1892. One of the one cent covers is postmarked Salem Mass 6:30 pm while the 10 cent crossed thru Arlington Heights Mass on 12/31/92 w/o a time stamp.

So, was the native woman first, or Queen Isabella?

Interestingly, as of last year, Richard Frajola notes the pair of 230's with an EDC of 12/31 but not the 237.

Not sure if that is true; was there a woman on the 118/119 images of the Columbus group? I can't tell from the power search images.

First Kisses!

It is tough to tell. The 118/19 were based on a 1847 painting by Vanderlyn titled 'Landing of Columbus'. But whereas the canvas shows native people on the right side by the tree it appears that they were removed or censored for the stamp. Hard to tell tho. It looks like the painting was used for the 2c Columbian 231 (but that stamp does have a local peeking out from behind the tree).

First depiction of baseball on a stamp

Wouldn't the Philippines stamp from 1934 beat that one? SG456

First Chocolate scented stamp was Switzerland in 2001 SG1478 the centenary of Chocosuisse. Like all the mint stamps I can't detect any smell.
SG2198 of 13 March 2001 used Thermochromic ink. SG2527 and SG2529 also used thermochromic ink, in the Centenary of the magic circle set of 15 march 2005. Swiss stamps of 1867 were the first adhesive postage stamps to use a metallic finish ink. They looked Gold. Holland was the first country to use an ink containing Gold on a postage stamp, also in 1867.

Hey Don, I believe that was an Aeroplane...

BTW, little known fact, stamps are delicious. No wait that was Scratch and sniff stickers in the 70s. Some of those you could lick the ink off.... such a terrible idea, but it barely shows now.....RnC

Two firsts from New South Wales.

The first commemorative set in the world, issued for the 1888 centenary.



The first multi-coloured stamp in the world, issued for the benefit of Consumptive Homes in 1897. I think this (and its 1sh companion) might be the first charity stamps in the world but I'm not 100% sure.

Somebody should check me on this, but -

The first officially issued perforated stamp in the world - the 1854 GB Penny Red.



edit: I don't have a reference handy but in thinking about it, I thought the Archer perforator was a little earlier than this....

edit2: Answering my own question, Archer's stuff was experimental only and not on regular issues, which is the criteria I want here.

I saw some reference to a possibly perforated GB revenue stamp in late 1853, but for a normal issue, I think the Penny Red is correct.