Each Stamps Has Its Own Story. I Join Today And Maybe I Will Tell Some Stories I Learned.

Hello
I am processing a horde of stamps I inherited a few years ago and I find that they can be quite interesting. The collection was in a relatives house we inherited. Items are filed in letter envelopes. Sometimes there appeared to be order and other times not. Even after 5 years I have not completed this exploration but I enjoy continuing the process whenever I need a break from other things in my life.
Thank you for having this site and I am happy to join. I will contribute with postings if that is okay
So this stamp from Mauritius shows the coats of arms of that Indian Ocean country such as is was in the early 1900s. But for me, it captures a point in time (August 21, 1911) and a specific location on the Island of Mauritius (Curepipe Road). It is like an insect caught in amber, preserved forever.
This keeps me interested in processing my horde of stamps. Thank you for reading my introduction to the group.

I have rarely seen as interesting an introduction. I look forward to your stamps, and the probable story behind each. As some will comment, a cancelled stamp always has a more interesting tale than a mint one -- it was purchased, used, sent by someone from somewhere, and sent to someone somewhere else. Welcome to the forum.

I love postmarks. I had to Google August 21, 1911. Of course it had nothing to do with Maurtius but that's the date that some fella stole the Mona Lisa out of the Louver in Paris. I must have spent 30 minutes reading all the different articles about it. Welcome to the forum.

I had to Google Curepipe Road- it leads to the town of Curepipe. Sada Reddi ("seasoned historian and astute political analyst and social observer"-Mauritius Times) assures us that the town, when a village, was a place where "The men would take the opportunity to wash, have a bite to eat, clean their often blocked pipes, and for the horses to rest". Hence "curer sa pipe" became Curepipe.

All very interesting. Sounds like a collection with many tales to tell.

@rascal The Louver?

Typos are very common on this forum. No big deal. The correct spelling is Louvre.

Never pretended they weren't, Mr. Partlime, but that one in particular amused me.

I haven't been there since the late 1960s when I was in the United States Air Force. I was eighteen then and now I'm pushing 80 so you have to give me a break.

Thank you for your welcome messages. I will surely snip the moderator's message and send it to my teacher suggesting it could be worth some extra marks.
I would guess that if the horde had been unused, those stamps would all be stuck together now as the climate here is so humid.
As RASCAL indicated there are many tangents to be explored when admiring a used stamp with a readable date stamp.
Further, FLIGHTIE_BEE points out the origin of the town name. Such an unusual name for the English language (because its based in the French language).
Thanks for the info Sada.
Hopefully, CENTERSTAGE98, as I find time, I will tell more tales.
Nice avatar ELLIE88.

I cannot leave without posting another image. This is a lovely stamp from a former colony. I focus on the time stamp of the NEW AMSTERDAM postmark for 23 September 1899. The customer must have been first in line to get such an early time of day postmark. I can understand why someone would do their mailing so early in the day (at 6:30) because like here in the southern Philippines, it is the coolest time of day to walk outdoors.

rainrainbow- I think the story behind the name Curepipe is maybe somewhat different to that proposed by Sada, but I'm sure someone with knowledge of French slang will elucidate matters. I shall refrain

That's a very nice stamp. Mount Roraima looks like it could be Conan Doyle's "Lost World".

[edit] It is the Lost World!

Should you discover an alternate origin of the Curepipe name, please provide it. Sada's offering is similar to the one I discovered using a search engine. That engraving of Mount Roraima evokes a beckoning which forces one to chose between going on an expedition or staying safe at home. In closing I am providing more Curepipe postmarks I have found:

Welcome to the Forum, rain rainbow, and thanks for posting the pictures. I spent a week on Mauritius in 2001 and visited Curepipe on a local bus. I remember it was raining heavily that day! Of course for an English collector, the country is most famous for the 'Post Office Mauritius' stamps!

Thanks for the welcome NUMISROB. Sorry that it was raining that day. Usually here in the Philippines the rain holds of until the evening. That must have been some vacation visiting an island so different from England.