The theatrical group Stage Commandos was born during World War II within the dockyards in Malta’s Cottonera locality. This theatrical group was formed purely to entertain the dock workers, keeping their morale high and positive. The workers themselves built a stage out of wooden boxes and soon the performances attracted audiences from the areas around the docks.
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1981 was proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations to be the International Year of Disabled Persons.
Although many countries issued stamps featuring various disabilities that year, they were by no means the first stamps issued regarding the subject.
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The 43rd International Circus Festival, held annually in Monaco, was celebrated in 2019 with acts from all over the world taking part. The Festival International du Cirque de Monte-Carlo (International Circus Festival de Monte-Carlo) was created in 1974 by H.S.H. Prince Rainier III of Monaco (1923-2005) to promote circus arts – for which he had a lifelong passion.
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This article features four Norwegian rock music performers well known in Scandinavia but possibly not so well known in other parts of the world. In 2009 Norway issued a set of four stamps honouring their musical achievements. On the stamp above is rock singer and musician Jan Rohde, who was born on July 4 (US Independence Day), 1942 in New York, to Norwegian parents. At the age of 13, Rohde moved with his parents to Norway. From the age of 16 he performed with various bands, such as The Cool Cats. He toured Europe with the girl group The Melody Sisters. Later the group The Adventurers was formed – they were later renamed The Wild Ones. The group consisted mainly of Norwegian and Swedish musicians, but also made it big in Finland. Rohde died on October 9, 2005 in Hägersten, Stockholm.
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In the late 1970s a fascinating series of articles written by Mr. K. Kouwenberg about the history of Stamp Collecting, appeared in the Dutch magazine Philatelie. This series has been the source of inspiration for PostBeeld owner Rob Smit to rewrite the history of stamp collecting in instalments. This is Part 35, England in 1866.
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What do we see when we look at the drawing on the stamp from Austria (1981) above? Several artists, notably the Dutch ‘master of optical illusion’ Maurits Escher, have incorporated into their designs certain impossible features that cannot exist in three-dimensional space. These include the ‘impossible cube’ on the stamp above, inspired by his designs and the ‘impossible triangle’ by the Swedish artist Oscar Reutersvärd, shown on the first of the three stamps from Sweden (1982) in the continuation of this article.
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PostBeeld has recently acquired a large amount of Europa stamps and we feature here a selection with the theme History, all from the year 1982. The first is from Portugal, showing King Emanuel I (1469-1521) on his way to meet Pope Leo X in the year 1514.
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The American Apollo 11 lunar mission took place in July 1969. It is remembered as one of the world’s most significant historical events, the impact of which has affected the lives of the world’s population, and continues as a source of inspiration to this day. 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of what was the first moon landing.
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In the late 1970s a fascinating series of articles written by Mr. K. Kouwenberg about the history of Stamp Collecting, appeared in the Dutch magazine Philatelie. This series has been the source of inspiration for PostBeeld owner Rob Smit to rewrite the history of stamp collecting in instalments. This is Part 34.
Stamp collecting is often considered to be a man’s thing, but that’s not totally true. PostBeeld has a good number of female customers but, admittedly, many more male. That was no different in the 1860s. Certainly not on the traders’ side, but there were some exceptions. One of them was Madame E. Nicolas in Paris.
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The city of Appeldoorn in Holland has, aside from other interesting attractions, a fine museum which currently has an exhibition called Paper Art. One of the exhibitors whose work is featured is Dutch artist Erik van Maarschalkerwaard. He has on display many creations featuring postage stamps, some of which are shown here.
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