Tired of politics? Come on down to the Friday night Stamp Nook for some of my favorite stamp issues (images shamelessly lifted from Ebay).
Image 1: Chef’s Hat issue, Kelantan, 1937
Image 1, shows most of the values of the so-called "Chef's Hat" issue of Kelantan, one of the Malay States.
Issued in 1937, the Chef's Hat set has always been popular with collectors. As with many sets of stamps, the lower values are more common and sell for much less than the higher denominations.
I personally own only the lowest four values of this series. What can I say, I like the exotic look and colors.
Image 2, Bridge at Larissa issue, Turkey, 1898
Image 2 is the Bridge of Larissa issue, by Turkey, then known also is the Ottoman empire. These stamps are unusual for being eight-sided. If you look closely, you can see what looks a bridge in the middle of the design.
These stamps were supposedly issued for the Turkish army operating in Thessaly during the Greco-Turkish war of 1897.
I suspect however that these stamps were intended primarily for sale to collectors, based on the fact that they are not rare and generally seen unused. Image 2 does depict cancelled stamps, but I think these may have been "favor cancels" that is to say, done for stamp collecting rather than postal reasons.
Image 3, Peace issue, New Zealand, 1946.
Image 3 shows one of my favorite sets, the New Zealand Peace issue of 1946. Many countries issued peace commemoratives after the Second World War, but IMHO this set, printed by the now defunct Bradbury Wilkinson firm, is really the best.
The stamps were distributed free to Kiwi servicemen coming back from the war fronts, along with a booklet describing the stamps and what they depict.
Image 4, Trail of the Caribou issue, Newfoundland, 1919.
Continuing with the theme of peace commemoratives, in 1919, Newfoundland, then an independent dominion, issued the Trail of the Caribou set, which honored the service of Newfoundland troops by naming the battles they fought in, and, in the case of the Royal Newfoundland Naval Reserve, saying "ubiqué", meaning "everywhere". I like the bold design showing the caribou. It's hard to see in this image, but there is a bit of heraldry in the design, with intertwining oak leaves signifying victory and strength.
National Parks issue, United States, 1934.
For many years, U.S. stamp designs were IMHO boring and unimaginative. All that started to change in the 1930s when a certain well-known stamp collector took over the presidency, and started getting involved in the stamp designs.
One of the happy results of this was the very dramatic National Parks issue of 1934, shown in Image 5.
You'll notice that each design has a different sort of frame and typeface, so that there is a subtle variety among the stamps in the series, which contributes to the overall visual interest.
Well, that's all for this stamp nook. Let me know if you will in the comments what stamp-y topics you might want covered. I've been thinking of propaganda stamps -- what do you think?