Canadian Philately - The Stamps and Postal History of Canada 1851 to Present by Brixton Chrome

Today's post will deal with the remaining aspects of this issue that were not covered in my first two detailed posts. Postal Stationery The postal stationery products available for this issue are reasonably extensive for an issue that saw less than 5 years use, and includes: Pre-stamped envelopes. Special order envelopes. Post bands. Air Letters Post Cards I will briefly discuss each of these in more detail. Pre-Stamped Envelopes During the life of this issue, both #8 and #10 sized envelopes were available that came pre-stamped with either a 3c purple, 4c red or 5c blue image of the basic stamp design. However, there were differences both in the appearance of the Queen's hair, as well as the size of the stamp design. The very first printings of these from 1963 to 1966 had the hair showing as a series of dots. There appears at the present time, to be only one size of stamp design for the 3c and 5c values, but the 4c value is found with both 24mm x 21...

Overview After World War II had ended, there was a strong desire to modernize stamp design. In the late 1940's the prevailing design trend was minimalist with sleek lines. This trend was very prevalent in the architecture of the period, and in product design. So it made sense that this design aesthetic would extend into the stamp realm as well. Indeed if one looks at the stamps of many countries issued during this time, one will see that many of them share this simplicity in common. Thus, this issue may not be for you if you like very ornate designs, with fancy scrollwork. However, without the distracting influence of all these embellishments, it stands as a showcase of engraver's skill in executing flawlessly five separate portraits of King George VI, all from photographs. The resemblance to the actual king is quite striking, and much better than what was later accomplished on the Queen Elizabeth II Karsh Issue. This issue is much more straightforward than any issue that ...