440. Sub-aqua Philately.

  Bahamas will issue a fascinating set of 4 stamps on 16 August 2014 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the world's first undersea post office. The post office, situated in an underwater tube which could extend to depths of 200 feet below the water surface, operated from 1939 to 1940. The device was invented by Charles Williamson of Norfolk, Virginia and called the "Photosphere" and used by his photographer son, John Ernest Williamson, to take photographs of undersea life.

  When the Bahamas Post Office agreed to the opening of the undersea post office it was named "Sea Floor Bahamas" and its rather limited number of customers were able to send items from there which received a Sea Floor cancellation.

  The set was designed by Derek Miller and lithographed by Lowe Martin. Derek Miller's artistic style fits in rather well with this issue as it seems to evoke the era when this novel post office was in existence. 

  Previous Blogs (including Blog 436) have detailed recent Bahamas issues and what emerges from them is that this territory, particularly since it took on Pobjoy Stamps/Creative Direction as its agents and advisers on stamp preparation and production, takes its stamp issues seriously and has, in recent times, released issues which tell its citizens and foreigners alike about the country and notable developments and institutions there. Unlike so many territories the issues often do not just depict a theme picked out of the air but rather are linked to something about Bahamas that the country wants to tell the world about. The Pobjoy Stamps website gives very detailed information about these issues, more than I can recount here, and is very well worth visiting to read in-depth accounts of each individual issue of Bahamas and the agency's other client territories.

  Bahamas' Seafloor post office has previously appeared on stamps. It was featured on the 5/- value of the definitive set released on 7 January 1965 which was reissued on 25 May 1966 with surcharges applied in decimal currency. The design was then used as the $1 value of the definitive series issued on 25 May 1967 and the value was later reprinted on whiter paper with a release date of April 1971:-

  Less spectacular than an underwater post office, but still fun for tourists and stamp collectors, was an underwater post box I discovered at Coral World, an aquarium and tourist attraction in Bahamas which I visited in 1992. Pleasingly, posting mail in this box did not involve diving underwater but merely walking into a section of the aquarium built under water but despite the lack of effort the tourist was still rewarded with a bright red cachet applied to their postcards, "CORAL WORLD (BAHAMAS)  UNDERWATER OBSERVATORY" with "MAILED UNDERWATER" at the centre of the double ring. There was an ornamental bright red post box in which to post one's mail. After posting at Coral World the mail items were entered into the Bahamas postal system and, as shown, my souvenir, dated 10 March 1992,  received a slogan postmark:- "SAVE OUR PARROT' with a profile of a parrot's head to the left of the slogan:-

  I have no idea whether the Coral World post box is still in place.

  As mentioned in Blog 340 , Vanuatu Post issued a miniature sheet on 11 December 2013 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the underwater post office located at Hideaway Island, a tourist resort. The post office is situated a few metres under the sea and those diving down to it can send waterproof postcards from there:-

  In the same blog, I depicted Vanuatu's 2013 Christmas stamps, issued on 6 November 2013, one of which depicted a comic Father Christmas diving down to post a letter at the underwater post office. He is accompanied by a perplexed-looking, diving reindeer:-

  A single stamp was issued on 24 September 2003 to commemorate the opening of the underwater post office 

  and a set of 4 stamps and accompanying miniature sheet were issued on 30 January 2004 as a follow-up to the first issue:-

  A further set of 4 free-form, self-adhesive stamps which marked the underwater post office's 5th anniversary was issued on 30 July 2008:-

  On the subject of the sea, or beaches at least, Norfolk Island issued a second set of 6 stamps on 7 May 2014 on the subject of local shorelines. This set was designed by Mary Pavicich and lithographed by Southern Colour Print:-

  Five stamps were issued on 26 May 2014 on the subject of "Artwear" - clothing made locally from recyclable materials, natural fibres and various forms of cloth. Again the stamps were designed by Mary Pavicich and lithographed by Southern Colour Print.

  On 22 August 2014, Norfolk Island will release 2 stamps as a joint issue with Australia.

  Pakistan issued a single stamp on 11 July 2014 to commemorate the Centenary of the Frontier Constabulary. The design was supplied by the Frontier Constabulary and lithographed by Pakistan Security Printing Corporation of Karachi:-

  Among Stamperija's latest products are 9 sheetlets (each of 4 different "stamps") and 9 accompanying miniature sheets which are inscribed "Solomon Islands". The date of issue is said to have been 10 March 2014. This time the subjects of the subsets are Mick Jagger, Birds of Great Britain (why? - doesn't Solomon Islands have enough birds of its own to depict?) Fire engines, Yuri Gargarin, Marine art, Moscow 2013 Athletics Championships, Sebastian Vetel, Garry Kasparov and the French artist Eugene Delacroix:-

439. Isle Of Man Plays Its Cards Right; Magnificent Lions From Botswana.

  I frequently moan about new issues from The Isle Of Man but for once I have to confess to very much liking a set which will be issued by the territory on 8 August 2014. It is highly original, relevant to The Isle Of Man, interesting and attractive though the face value, £6.20, is rather higher than I like. The set of 6 depicts old Manx playing cards, all of which have island scenes on them. The stamps were designed by EJC Design and lithographed by Lowe Martin and will certainly find a place in my collection.

  The Isle Of Man will also release a miniature sheet on the same day, 8 August 2014, to commemorate the centenary of the Panama Canal which on the face of it has nothing to do with the island. However, the item is made relevant to the territory by depicting William Kennish, a Manxman, who carried out early surveys to determine the route of the canal and I can just about accept that this issue therefore is justifiable though again I wish the face value (£3.50) were a little more modest. The sheet was designed by Isle Of Man Advertising and lithographed by BDT.

  One of the 2 latest issues from Singapore is a set of 8 stamps and self-adhesive booklets on the subject of Festivals which was released on 25 June 2014. The stamps were designed by Leo Teck Chang and lithographed by Lowe Martin:-

  The second new issue from Singapore will be a set of 4 stamps to be released on 18 June 2014 which is on the subject of "Islands of Singapore". The stamps were designed by Eric Kong and lithographed by Lowe Martin:-

  The latest issue from Botswana is a magnificent set of 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on the subject of the lions of the Chobe River area. The stamps were issued on 20 June 2014 and designed by Tim Murphy from paintings by Ngoni Wilson. This wonderful set is the sort of issue that makes the collection of new issues a very worthwhile and enjoyable hobby even in these times of exploitative philatelic agencies and greedy postal administrations. Well done, Botswana!:-

  Botswana's neighbour, Namibia, has also recently released some excellent stamps which greatly enhance a collection of modern Commonwealth stamps. Four stamps were issued on 27 May 2014 which depict medium sized antelopes. They were designed by one of Namibia's brilliant designers, Helge Denker:-

  The same designer was also responsible for another set of 4 stamps issued on 4 June 2014 which depicted the unlikely subject of poisonous snakes (tourists beware!). Again, these are excellent stamps and are very interesting even if the subject matter is a little unsettling:-

Zambia:- All 18 values of the 2013 definitive set which had to be surcharged because of the introduction of a new currency have been reissued with the new currency printed on them. I do not yet know the date of issue. Each stamp has a "2014" imprint at the centre of the lower edge. Eight of the new values are depicted below:-

  Finally, after all the controversy surrounding the launch of the Royal Mail Commonwealth Games stamps (see Blog 431) perhaps now that the stamps have been issued it will be reasonable (for the sake of completion) to depict the designs of the stamps not previously shown here. Details about the stamps are given in Blog 397.

  They are worthy commemorations of this major Commonwealth event and like the rest of the issues featured above are attractive additions to my collection. How wonderful it is to write all of the above  and to have had no real reason to complain except to wish that one or two face values might have been a little lower than they are. As I said above, new issue collecting can still be very pleasurable.