[Aroid-l] Aroid stamp

From: criswick at spiceisle.com (criswick) on 2007.09.30 at 11:57:03(16366) I have designed stamps for the government of Guyana in the late 1960s and in those days the business was handled by the Crown Agents, a relic of the then recent colonial period, and they employed the firm Bradbury, Wilkinson of England, who in turn employed printers such as John Waddington and Harrison and Sons, who did a quality printing job. I don't know anything about the lucrative aspects of stamp production, but it would seem to be obvious that philatelists would more eagerly seek depictions of national cultural subjects, fauna and locally grown plants, whether indigenous or not (the potato for Ireland, for example) than trashy stuff based on foreign movies and cartoon characters. In the 1970s the Grenada government went for the New York firm of Levi, which apparently made them a seemingly attractive offer, and took over the choice of subjects; the whole thing. By the way, the "other ways" are also used! John Criswick. +More _____ From: aroid-l-bounces at gizmoworks.com [mailto:aroid-l-bounces at gizmoworks.com] On Behalf Of Jonathan Ertelt Sent: Friday, September 28, 2007 4:17 PM To: Discussion of aroids Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Aroid stamp There is no country of which I am aware that does not have some strangeness among its collection of stamps issued. I have been intrigued and entertained in recent years to see so many movie and movie images issued by countries where my inclination would be to suspect that the majority of the populas have likely not even seen the movie, but that may be showing up my own stereotypes over places I have not been. Never the less, I suspect that the flowers and fruits shown on this collection of stamps from Micronesia represent plants grown there and often seen, whether native or not. The botanical accuracy may be frustrating for some of us that like to look for botanical accuracy, however the fact that one or more of our favorite plants or plant families is represented is hopefully a cause for joy rather than disappointment over details missed. Making money from stamp companies is not such a bad way for a country to make money, after all, given some of the other ways more often used. Okay, I'll step down now. Enjoy the aroids where they can be found. Have a good weekend. Jonathan Unfortunately some third world countries like my own are only interested in making money out of stamp companies who make them tempting offers, and all sorts of inappropriate images are used. We have had Mickey Mouse stamps and all kind of rubbish. It is silly, because the collectibility of stamps should increase when authenticity of illustrations and origin of plants are involved, but I understand that there is a big schoolboy philatelic market. In the case of these Micronesian stamps the government apparently thought they should employ a local artist who knows the plants, but who in this case falls short of international standards in his/her art work. John Criswick Grenada. _____ From: aroid-l-bounces at gizmoworks.com [mailto:aroid-l-bounces at gizmoworks.com] On Behalf Of Denis Rotolante Sent: Friday, September 28, 2007 9:55 AM To: 'Discussion of aroids' Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Aroid stamp Anybody can pick out a bunch of pretty flowers or fruits to put on stamps, but Some of these plants are not even native to Micronesia.This is obviously not meant to be a botanical drawing but an artist's rendition of something cute to put on stamps. A stamp collector would apreciate a little accuracy in the stamps a country produces what else makes them collectible. Native flowers and fruits on a country's stamps should be a given, I guess Micronesia doesn't care. Denis -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/private/aroid-l/attachments/20070930/963b4e51/attachment-0001.htm

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