Australian Variations.

In Australia however there is something similar in the stamp world to the above and these are known as P-stamps. Geoff Maxwell writes that ‘…these have been issued with normal stamps and tabs of a sponsor photo or motive joined but separated by perforations.’ A Salvation Army variation of this from the Melbourne Veterans’ Band has recently been seen by Geoff where the perforation is around both designs and not between them. 
He defines as stamp as ‘…that it contained the name of the country issued, the value of the stamp marked, that it is issued by the postal Authority and is usually surrounded by perforations of various kinds’. Now though he suggests that the definition of what is and what is not a stamp may have to be changed. Do let us know your views.

Papua New Guinea – 2006

As mentioned in newsletter number 1, Papua New Guinea issued a set of stamps in 2006 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the commencement of Salvation Army work there on 31st August 1956. 

The first meeting was held on the 21st October, at the Royal Police Constabulary Barracks in Post Moresby. The first officers appointed to the work there were Major and Mrs Keith Baker and Lieutenant Ian Cutmore. On 4th July 1994, after 38 years as part of the Australian Eastern Territory, Papua New Guinea became an independent Command.

Six stamps were used in this set. All the stamp sizes were a uniform 28mmx42mm. The perforations were 13 ¼ x 13 ¼ . Other details of Postal Vale, frame colour and description are:

5t Mid Green Crest logo in large “50”
80t Black PNG flag, SA flag and “50”
K1 Dark Green Portrait of Lt. Cutmore and Major Baker
K3.20 Light Grey Portrait of Colonels Andrew and Julie Kalai
K3.25 Mid Blue Kel Geno, first soldier and “50”
K5.35 Mid Grey Lt. Dorothy Elphick, baby and “50”

Stamp Hunting

SAHPA member Bram Hughes sent us a cutting from Gibbons Stamp Monthly which reviewed Jamaican stamps worth looking for. The article stated that the set of four stamps (698/701) and the miniature sheet (MS702) issued for the S.A.’s centenary there in 1987 were ‘really outstanding’. Mint and used were moving up in price and were surprisingly hard to locate. Bram writes that ‘it is the same with our own centenary issue of which the phosphor type is becoming very expensive as and when they can be located’.
Australia 1895 Correspondence: We are delighted to feature this rare early example of SA correspondence in very good condition. That the cover logo differs from that on the letterhead can often be explained by the faster consumption of writing paper. It is my understanding that the older Flags logo on the envelope predates the Crest logo on the sheet of paper. 

Australia 1980 – proposed designs

It is well known that often various designs for proposed stamp issued are submitted but philatelists do not always see them Association member Kevin Keast produced the following and although he proposed designs were not adopted by the Post Office, they are attractive essays and are part of the development story of the 22c Centennial stamp. Our philatelic expert Alex writes that ‘the red festival tunic of the female Salvationist with the koala remind me of one of the souvenir picture postcards of the Camberwell Corps Band on their 1994 World Tour’.