tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36742766958781445652024-02-18T21:36:03.005-08:00Perfs14Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3674276695878144565.post-50414299835330217522013-09-20T13:00:00.003-07:002013-09-20T13:00:33.159-07:00The International Co-operation Year <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Poor Richard"; font-size: 18.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-default-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-greek-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hebrew-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-latin-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ligatures: none;">The General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1965 as International Co-operation Year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Poor Richard"; font-size: 18.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-default-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-greek-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hebrew-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-latin-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ligatures: none;"><span dir="ltr"></span>1965 marked the 20th anniversary of the organization, the Charter of the United Nations having been signed in June 1945.</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Poor Richard"; font-size: 14.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-armenian-font-family: "\@Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-bengali-font-family: "\@Arial Unicode MS"; mso-bopomofo-font-family: "\@Arial Unicode MS"; mso-currency-font-family: "\@Arial Unicode MS"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-default-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-devanagari-font-family: "\@Arial Unicode MS"; mso-georgian-font-family: "\@Arial Unicode MS"; mso-greek-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: "\@Arial Unicode MS"; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: "\@Arial Unicode MS"; mso-han-font-family: "\@Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hangul-font-family: "\@Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hebrew-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-kana-font-family: "\@Arial Unicode MS"; mso-kannada-font-family: "\@Arial Unicode MS"; mso-lao-font-family: "\@Arial Unicode MS"; mso-latin-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ligatures: none; mso-malayalam-font-family: "\@Arial Unicode MS"; mso-oriya-font-family: "\@Arial Unicode MS"; mso-tamil-font-family: "\@Arial Unicode MS"; mso-telugu-font-family: "\@Arial Unicode MS"; mso-thai-font-family: "\@Arial Unicode MS";"><br />
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<span lang="en-US"> <o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Poor Richard'; font-size: 18pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 125%; text-align: center;">The Graphic Presentation Unit of the United Nations Secretariat brought out a design of clasped hands within a laurel wreath .. </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Poor Richard"; font-size: 18.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; line-height: 125%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-default-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-greek-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hebrew-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-latin-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ligatures: none;">This illustration was used by many member States as the basis for their commemorative issues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQQr4dFu62SkprJYeXQrPLkXDIrWgield5KHsvKJKuwk8SvvMJzTPl-v2_AIuLTorgtcJNTwrJP-wS8oaO99JB0qFR7mQ15n5C0PXYPlgLp8eVhL1sQwFJlt6JjbLcY8fZUn4gdMzctpzX/s1600/Aus+ICY001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQQr4dFu62SkprJYeXQrPLkXDIrWgield5KHsvKJKuwk8SvvMJzTPl-v2_AIuLTorgtcJNTwrJP-wS8oaO99JB0qFR7mQ15n5C0PXYPlgLp8eVhL1sQwFJlt6JjbLcY8fZUn4gdMzctpzX/s320/Aus+ICY001.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-US"> <o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Poor Richard'; font-size: 28pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;">Symbology</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Poor Richard"; font-size: 16.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-default-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-latin-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-ligatures: none;">A </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Poor Richard"; font-size: 16.0pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-default-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-latin-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-ligatures: none;">handshake </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Poor Richard"; font-size: 16.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-default-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-latin-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-ligatures: none;">is a short ritual in which two people grasp one of each other's opposite hands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Poor Richard"; font-size: 16.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-default-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-latin-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-ligatures: none;">Archaeological ruins show that handshaking was practiced in ancient Greece as far back as the 5th century BC.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Poor Richard"; font-size: 16.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-default-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-latin-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-ligatures: none;">The handshake is commonly done upon meeting, greeting, parting, offering congratulations, expressing gratitude, or completing an agreement, as a sign of good sportsmanship. Its purpose is to convey trust, balance, friendship and equality </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Poor Richard"; font-size: 16.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-default-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-latin-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOkF2z5Kh3NIZSTwHZZHwyNhQF4uDZRXGuX7Y_OBpBiaMuBQiC0EKJQ0bCJy3LjBqs912pcDu9sAXmfwvQCR7i24V_NsBQKz4UZ04eB8cI3GDkVG-sYij_TZXZPnyBwFLrzo1-y3DIJ6Zl/s1600/HS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOkF2z5Kh3NIZSTwHZZHwyNhQF4uDZRXGuX7Y_OBpBiaMuBQiC0EKJQ0bCJy3LjBqs912pcDu9sAXmfwvQCR7i24V_NsBQKz4UZ04eB8cI3GDkVG-sYij_TZXZPnyBwFLrzo1-y3DIJ6Zl/s1600/HS.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Poor Richard'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 119%;">Hera and Athena handshaking , </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Poor Richard'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 119%;">late 5th century BC, Acropolis Museum, Athens</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Poor Richard"; font-size: 16.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-default-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-latin-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-ligatures: none;">The origin of </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Poor Richard"; font-size: 16.0pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-default-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-latin-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-ligatures: none;">Laurel Wreath </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Poor Richard"; font-size: 16.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-default-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-latin-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-ligatures: none;">is said to have come from Apollo’ love/lust for Daphne. Daphne was not a goddess and she begged to Gaia save her from his advances. Gaia did this by turning her into a laurel tree just as Apollo reached for her. Disappointed, Apollo wove a wreath from the branches of the tree (made from the leaves of his beloved) and wore it on his head . Therefore, in honour of Apollo, the victor of Pythian Games received a crown of laurel leaves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Poor Richard"; font-size: 16.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-default-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-latin-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-ligatures: none;">It has remained a symbol of victory ever since, and as peace usually follows victory, it’s meaning has expanded to symbolize peace.</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Poor Richard"; font-size: 16.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-default-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-latin-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxRJrsSpGDNsj6PGtUEoyncik8on-qXT64tfhhxt1erbyT38xRlL_aOiNYE2jrBd3sUOwu5836VE0QlhTUs3Sbzcc45Od1vkCSdXccd0xYYgWnII3dQ9xMtY0LdprFwDLrKy0h35tRZj0X/s1600/laurel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxRJrsSpGDNsj6PGtUEoyncik8on-qXT64tfhhxt1erbyT38xRlL_aOiNYE2jrBd3sUOwu5836VE0QlhTUs3Sbzcc45Od1vkCSdXccd0xYYgWnII3dQ9xMtY0LdprFwDLrKy0h35tRZj0X/s320/laurel.jpg" width="261" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-US"> <o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Poor Richard'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 119%;">Daphne fleeing</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Poor Richard'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 119%;"> </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Poor Richard'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 119%;">from Apollo</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Poor Richard'; line-height: 119%;">Many Nations embraced the </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Poor Richard'; line-height: 119%;">spirit</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Poor Richard'; line-height: 119%;"> of the resolution by issuing stamps in many beautiful and inventive ways:</span></span><span lang="en-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkIs0R8sZ06RNJaQDXaesWJdKsjs05lpjd5HnanazAROd87Doo0V-78U8tAlb0LmBwTWve5-TftnEHRz-e7N2bWESrrb3ZnlrzXfddHg_Mdt9qGdEwifFFMisPLBVgfO4kl1TWlLnMPPXH/s1600/Mc1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkIs0R8sZ06RNJaQDXaesWJdKsjs05lpjd5HnanazAROd87Doo0V-78U8tAlb0LmBwTWve5-TftnEHRz-e7N2bWESrrb3ZnlrzXfddHg_Mdt9qGdEwifFFMisPLBVgfO4kl1TWlLnMPPXH/s400/Mc1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkH3HCvW9uam0AuTVb1lc8TN4h9lTlEICg1rEmg9NYXwArypov-7pI806qUwwl12qTN-OIBH4610iTJLpIG3bFgJh8RkppBfWf2HVVXoilYKHQ21NJInWZHyjEIU6kBPGCJvOOy4qaQhQV/s1600/Mc2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkH3HCvW9uam0AuTVb1lc8TN4h9lTlEICg1rEmg9NYXwArypov-7pI806qUwwl12qTN-OIBH4610iTJLpIG3bFgJh8RkppBfWf2HVVXoilYKHQ21NJInWZHyjEIU6kBPGCJvOOy4qaQhQV/s400/Mc2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Poor Richard"; font-size: 24.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-default-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-latin-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-ligatures: none;">So, did this little stamp and its brothers change the world? </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Poor Richard"; font-size: 24.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-default-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-latin-font-family: "Poor Richard"; mso-ligatures: none;">We will never know, but... </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"> <o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Poor Richard;"><span style="line-height: 119%;">it </span><span style="line-height: 38px;">couldn't</span><span style="line-height: 119%;"> have done any harm!</span></span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3674276695878144565.post-66596789487096169572013-08-13T02:38:00.000-07:002013-08-13T02:38:59.365-07:00F.A.Q. about Christmas<h2>
<span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 20.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; mso-default-font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; mso-greek-font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; mso-latin-font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; mso-ligatures: none;">Why is Christmas celebrated on the 25th of December?</span></h2>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: green; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">Christmas</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: green; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"> or </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: green; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">Christ's Mass</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: green; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"> is one of the most globally recognized midwinter celebrations. </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: green; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">A winter festival was the most popular festival of the year in many cultures, culminating on the</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: green; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"> Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">In 46 </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">BCE</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">, </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Julius Caesar</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">in his </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Julian calendar</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"> determined that</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"> the winter solstice occurred on December 24 (</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">for the Northern Hemisphere).</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: green; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">So, starting with December 25, the days get longer again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: green; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">This apex was called “</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: green; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">Dies Natalis Solis Invicti “ which</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: green; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"> means "the birthday of the unconquered Sun." Early Christians believed that Jesus Christ was equally unconquered and consequentially they wanted his birthday to occur at that time of the year. Also, like many of the biblical prophets before Him, they assumed that He was conceived during the Vernal Equinox - exactly 9 months before the Winter Solstice.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQNkDBjaBd45aNPEiiBkOXgOp83OCLHsE8yL972DFR9e-ASM2C0Zz9RVJA7SMKdjGMYoe0B2kOORuNPNZfeP3uP-Y-wFiZbk0f3WZJqXMxAJUvtBuSo4CP2Q7x8ncfCHcxUeCh9P4tgBH4/s1600/candles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQNkDBjaBd45aNPEiiBkOXgOp83OCLHsE8yL972DFR9e-ASM2C0Zz9RVJA7SMKdjGMYoe0B2kOORuNPNZfeP3uP-Y-wFiZbk0f3WZJqXMxAJUvtBuSo4CP2Q7x8ncfCHcxUeCh9P4tgBH4/s320/candles.jpg" width="227" /></a><span lang="en-US" style="color: green; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: green; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">Before Christianity, Winter Solstice was celebrated with a feast in honour of </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: green; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture and plentiful harvests. The feast was called </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: green; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">Saturnalia, and </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: green; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">it was introduced around 217 BC Saturnalia was a time of celebration, of visiting friends, and of gift-giving, particularly of wax candles (</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: green; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">cerei</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: green; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Northern Europe also</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"> celebrated a winter festival called </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Yule</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">, Scandinavians still call Christmas </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Jul</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">. In England, since 900 AD, the word </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Yule</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"> has been synonymous with Christmas.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US"> <o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Monotype Corsiva'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 119%;">2. Was Santa Claus a real person?</span></h2>
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<span lang="en-US"> <o:p></o:p></span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;">The model for </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;">Santa Claus is thought to have been </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;">Saint Nicholas </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;">(270–346 AD) or </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;">Nikolaos of Myra</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;">, a </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;">saint</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;"> and </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;">Greek</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;">Bishop</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;"> of </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;">Myra. </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;">He had a reputation for secret gift-giving; such as putting coins in the shoes (hence the Christmas sock?) of those who left them out for him.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">Good deeds and gift giving in the tradition of </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">St. Nicholas</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"> is now well entrenched in the spirit of Christmas. Including his practice of not admitting of being the gift-giver: by attributing many gifts as coming from ‘Santa’; especially when giving to children.</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #a50021; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBwyK3pJJg2UU4INK8A4U83U7jBoXlfRaVY3Y5QnpbWJis1ISaHzdOLqedKWJQBKfEj7Q_QQvz5d6450woXgftVJvak6sXqcXVmFS_v23vAjMAZKBLz5zDwEDRFMWqQ9p8kxLfhGbfNqL/s1600/FDC+2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBwyK3pJJg2UU4INK8A4U83U7jBoXlfRaVY3Y5QnpbWJis1ISaHzdOLqedKWJQBKfEj7Q_QQvz5d6450woXgftVJvak6sXqcXVmFS_v23vAjMAZKBLz5zDwEDRFMWqQ9p8kxLfhGbfNqL/s320/FDC+2010.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-US"> <o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Monotype Corsiva'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 119%;">3. What are the 12 days of Christmas?</span></h2>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #333399; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">The Twelve Days of Christmas is probably the most misunderstood part of the church year among Christians. Contrary to urban legend, these are not the twelve days </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #333399; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">before</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #333399; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"> Christmas, but are the twelve days </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #333399; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">after</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #333399; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"> Christmas ending on the January 6th; </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #333399; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">the </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #333399; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">Epiphany</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #333399; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">. This is day that </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #333399; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">is usually celebrated as the time the Wise Men or Magi arrived to present gifts to the young Jesus; hence in many cultures it is also a day of gift-giving.</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #333399; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #333399; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">The popular song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is seen by many as simply a ‘nonsense’ song for children. However, some have suggested that it is a song of Christian instruction and even a song kept alive by the persecution of Catholics in England (this has been shown to be unlikely and has no historical evidence to support it). However, the idea that it might be a </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #333399; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">mnemonic</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #333399; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #333399; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">for children in their learning of the catechism has some merit; for example:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #333399; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">My TRUE love = God </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #333399; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">ONE Partridge = Jesus </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #333399; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">TWO Turtle Doves </span><span style="color: #333399; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">= The Old and New Testaments </span></div>
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<span style="color: #333399; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">THREE</span><span style="color: #333399; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="color: #333399; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">French Hens</span><span style="color: #333399; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="color: #333399; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">= Faith, Hope and Charity or the Holy Trinity itself.</span></div>
<span lang="en-US" style="color: #333399; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">FOUR Calling Birds</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">= the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUDaAUQosqID1HKHydsEHFEEqPYZuEoCKp9EtXXtD2bDG2GLQZ8-ML61E0_DphT4sfx-vHmDT93yZhma3EWnIufks1AD1hsJF5AmowtoXv0j6lNaCEf1FoxmDIMiXb5GPTgKYfXAcHsSNT/s1600/12+days.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUDaAUQosqID1HKHydsEHFEEqPYZuEoCKp9EtXXtD2bDG2GLQZ8-ML61E0_DphT4sfx-vHmDT93yZhma3EWnIufks1AD1hsJF5AmowtoXv0j6lNaCEf1FoxmDIMiXb5GPTgKYfXAcHsSNT/s400/12+days.jpg" width="332" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 18.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; mso-default-font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; mso-greek-font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; mso-latin-font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; mso-ligatures: none;">4. Which Nation released the first Christmas stamp?</span></h2>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">It is a matter of interpretation and definition as to which stamp is the first Christmas issue. The Canadian map stamp of 1898 bears the inscription: "</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">XMAS 1898</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">", but it was actually issued to mark the inauguration of the Imperial Penny Postage rate. </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">Some claim that the first Christmas stamp in the world was printed in Denmark in 1904 as it said </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">'Julen 1904' </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">(Christmas 1904). However, most collectors reckon that the 1943 issues from Hungary were the first, real Christmas stamps as they had more than just words and depicted the Message to the Shepherds, the Nativity, and the Adoration of the Magi</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"> . </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">The next Christmas stamps did not appear until 1951 (Cuba); 1954 (Haiti); 1955 (Luxembourg and Spain ), then in 1957 (Australia, Korea, and Liechtenstein ). </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: Constantia; language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUuROeH9Gr0F_0MUND_kQFCBhg8ObW18DDqSR8FHnqjUOBP73GFFl3mi5WGqmnK3t5jca10k9qQ-4sGME9U1cDPXax7_sTM3jsuqVJactxrtu0xNByT2fY90JvDoNZQVlqKrSOyiOc_82A/s1600/Image26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUuROeH9Gr0F_0MUND_kQFCBhg8ObW18DDqSR8FHnqjUOBP73GFFl3mi5WGqmnK3t5jca10k9qQ-4sGME9U1cDPXax7_sTM3jsuqVJactxrtu0xNByT2fY90JvDoNZQVlqKrSOyiOc_82A/s200/Image26.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb1S2vwY0Fiwj0dzZ4A42CNzndNoVr2KAv4QQVGLOHmjvkHE-yIBEmdGMFTEQRPyw0KNA6BgQUOjuFm5grtX0L2anNbbcPwzOEUvffCmJ5ZacLWW0T4whyphenhyphensBlIxJlxRgtHrTbBjC0ZXnDa/s1600/Image25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb1S2vwY0Fiwj0dzZ4A42CNzndNoVr2KAv4QQVGLOHmjvkHE-yIBEmdGMFTEQRPyw0KNA6BgQUOjuFm5grtX0L2anNbbcPwzOEUvffCmJ5ZacLWW0T4whyphenhyphensBlIxJlxRgtHrTbBjC0ZXnDa/s200/Image25.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">Shown above are Australia’s first Christmas stamps: a 3½d Red and a 4d Purple. They were issued on the </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"><span dir="ltr"></span>6th of November 1957</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">. Their design was</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"> adapted and engraved by Donald Cameron from the original painting </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">"The Infant Samuel at Prayer"</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"> by Sir Joshua Reynolds. </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJkJzzJEpVHY7YxhtQCHkSmnA1FjA7Oj8HPdSPAUYMz65LFWC7Dmz1YuewCwsDxjAgR4NQe6OyB6VVOc8zuG4sWuYQ_XUjIIYT8c2Y7krtKJtXzOR-GFBCuZpFqK9L3AIRbMrhKABGJ2f/s1600/Reynolds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJkJzzJEpVHY7YxhtQCHkSmnA1FjA7Oj8HPdSPAUYMz65LFWC7Dmz1YuewCwsDxjAgR4NQe6OyB6VVOc8zuG4sWuYQ_XUjIIYT8c2Y7krtKJtXzOR-GFBCuZpFqK9L3AIRbMrhKABGJ2f/s320/Reynolds.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-ligatures: none;">86,258,000 copies of the 3½d and 94,333,200 copies of the 4d were printed by W.C.G. McCracken on un-watermarked paper with perforation 14¼ x 14.</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: Constantia; language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US"> <o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: #0033cc; font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">In Australia and in many other Nations, that issuance marked the first of what became an annual tradition. The most popular theme is a nativity scene as is shown below in the last Australian pre-decimal issue in 1965, on cover.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS37CQFp1TiQcgd4CEsKcwH4HwFVPWOG9yZIbQSg7wTBHLTG7kjNCJdgvcBXegdBZz92LOoDh4iq4W54u9U9UHzM-3ODlEF5FdMKDv4eGoCn9phieY680sJfZ2M4qk28_aA7LgJAPCNM7g/s1600/FDC+1965.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS37CQFp1TiQcgd4CEsKcwH4HwFVPWOG9yZIbQSg7wTBHLTG7kjNCJdgvcBXegdBZz92LOoDh4iq4W54u9U9UHzM-3ODlEF5FdMKDv4eGoCn9phieY680sJfZ2M4qk28_aA7LgJAPCNM7g/s400/FDC+1965.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Monotype Corsiva'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 119%;">Cheers!</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3674276695878144565.post-83655656937961745122013-07-22T23:52:00.001-07:002013-07-22T23:52:52.492-07:00Decimal Covers.I like to collect Australian pre-decimal and decimal covers. Some of the latter can be quite interesting as long as the postmarks correspond with the period of issue of the stamps. Recent covers with old stamps are not as attractive to me. Also it is more to my licking if the covers are not obviously philatelically inspired.<br />
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Here are some from my collection that I find particularly nice:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikfBSu5-Rz9WRF3iNIXrudUncD_SZJWvAzDficG9p4JjpAQeiLyqa3jswyVxnZ4bi964PK1pOh4PbGrTw7fBiIVeSF14uJ1uzdtms9VTze8MIFocuzxOZDTVdpuS6FwooddkxB41128IjS/s1600/Dec+Covers001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikfBSu5-Rz9WRF3iNIXrudUncD_SZJWvAzDficG9p4JjpAQeiLyqa3jswyVxnZ4bi964PK1pOh4PbGrTw7fBiIVeSF14uJ1uzdtms9VTze8MIFocuzxOZDTVdpuS6FwooddkxB41128IjS/s400/Dec+Covers001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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There are many copies of the 1981 $2 Australian Paintings definitive (On the wallaby track) but on cover they are a lot scarcer. The security post label is a bonus<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP3CcjkKb6jPNuC1N2KjpyBBWHnj5podsSDFTWCvaogo_kFdDjEiwei3OBULZ2Aeb5jq7s1O-WCBQkoaW6Z6DPQoT5YCCOGmdPbfbasPjVnzQBeZrj-mNxBS5ljlbMzu53HeRvKu0FDGvi/s1600/Dec+Covers002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP3CcjkKb6jPNuC1N2KjpyBBWHnj5podsSDFTWCvaogo_kFdDjEiwei3OBULZ2Aeb5jq7s1O-WCBQkoaW6Z6DPQoT5YCCOGmdPbfbasPjVnzQBeZrj-mNxBS5ljlbMzu53HeRvKu0FDGvi/s400/Dec+Covers002.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The 1972 Pioneer Life in Australia definitives are also very common used and can be found in quantity in most kiloware. On cover they are also a bit scarcer. The small note in brackets reads " for Fred". Fred was/is probably a stamp collector so whether you class this cover as a postal use or not is debatable.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxQsBEz0dgQ6cg6hJqDMHAWB-ussYitngnJ-ZEx75NwlE2W_h7N40r-zi4Udzb51PkjHD9uEvbLGyQwP2U4wOn7ctiKF0DpdrzKvq8JIx7Dw-lZxBkh4xJWD3907W4Qb7RCzBFPUO2L56E/s1600/Dec+Covers003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxQsBEz0dgQ6cg6hJqDMHAWB-ussYitngnJ-ZEx75NwlE2W_h7N40r-zi4Udzb51PkjHD9uEvbLGyQwP2U4wOn7ctiKF0DpdrzKvq8JIx7Dw-lZxBkh4xJWD3907W4Qb7RCzBFPUO2L56E/s400/Dec+Covers003.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Again to find one of the Navigator series still on cover is not common. Besides that, I think this is such a pretty cover.<br />
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see you next time!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3674276695878144565.post-19192780534323922632013-07-06T18:28:00.001-07:002013-07-06T18:28:12.013-07:00Foxing – is it a health hazard?<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Introduction</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For
many years philatelists the world over have ‘felt’ that foxed
stamps should be kept away from the rest of their collections. Many
suspected that foxing and toning could spread just like an
infectious disease, from one stamp to another.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Almost
all stamp dealers and a lot of collectors regularly find themselves
sorting and coming into close contact with old collections, which may
be riddled with foxed/toned stamps and albums. The mouldy smell that
these emanate is a sure sign that a fungal infection is rife. But is
it just a bad smell or is it something much more sinister?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A preliminary investigation using a Scanning Electron
Microscope by Dr. Patrick Trimby (</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">SEM
section manager at the Australian Centre for Microscopy &
Microanalysis (ACMM) at the University of Sydney</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">)
on two samples provided by the author has confirmed previous studies,
carried out on foxing of archived paper, that one of the main
culprits of foxing in paper and paper-like items, like stamps, is a
fungal infection. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">SEM
results</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis (ACMM) at the
University of Sydney is the largest and most comprehensive facility
of its type in Australia and is the headquarters of the Australian
Microscopy & Microanalysis Research Facility (AMMRF), a national
grid of equipment, instrumentation and expertise in microscopy,
microanalysis, electron and X-ray diffraction. Researchers at the
ACMM have access to an outstanding array of imaging and analysis
equipment, supported by over 40 dedicated research, administrative
and technical staff. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr
Trimby performed a preliminary analysis of the two samples supplied
by the author. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sections
were taken from the edges of the 2 stamps (red arrows), away from
the printed region, so as to ensure that like was being compared with
like. (see fig. 1)</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiszLlHkL_9QvxTcLfg2wcBOui2KPQlPYzj8dMbxChmae6p9kwZcxHHS99iACd67aVC-jMZcfymc0zDDYUKHiqPGzR9gliWmim9KLehxyMEb_Z8r5t_JjsGHtw_A3jsJX1-JF7V97LkLeII/s1600/fig1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiszLlHkL_9QvxTcLfg2wcBOui2KPQlPYzj8dMbxChmae6p9kwZcxHHS99iACd67aVC-jMZcfymc0zDDYUKHiqPGzR9gliWmim9KLehxyMEb_Z8r5t_JjsGHtw_A3jsJX1-JF7V97LkLeII/s640/fig1.jpg" width="547" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Each
sectioned sample was coated with a thin layer of metallic gold (this
is a necessary step for the reflection/refraction of the electron
beam) and then were imaged, using a standard SEM. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr
Trimby reported that the results showed 2 clear differences between
the foxed and not-foxed areas on the stamps (see fig. 2).<br /><br />1.
The foxed areas have a relatively high abundance of fungi. In the
attached images the fungal hyphae (thin tendrils) are clearly
visible, as well as a number of conidiospores (fungal spores).
However, he did not find any evidence for fungi in the not-foxed
sample, just some small crystalline fragments on the surface.<br /><br />2.
The foxed sample had a much more porous paper structure with the
cellulose fibres clearly exposed much more so than in the not-toned
sample. This would suggest that either the stamps have been
manufactured from different paper batches with different quality
(unlikely for this issue), or more likely, that a filler or some
fibres have been etched </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">away
over time (maybe as a result of paper acidity or as a result of
fungal activity or both), leaving lower fibres exposed to continued
attack.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEC8dh-uTunhvQ_g7GmRqOCy1DskvovDLyk1b7fKTrOKCaA3Z3w0PDktzZ8YfciRKzK_zN6hudSrC_IIgnFzp3F62eDEp-MLB58Wt0EDVW0hpiGw9WlmvaKe_xkT6V1p0845R0NUe_tdjU/s1600/fig2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEC8dh-uTunhvQ_g7GmRqOCy1DskvovDLyk1b7fKTrOKCaA3Z3w0PDktzZ8YfciRKzK_zN6hudSrC_IIgnFzp3F62eDEp-MLB58Wt0EDVW0hpiGw9WlmvaKe_xkT6V1p0845R0NUe_tdjU/s400/fig2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Brief
History</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
first instance of foxing was reported 1848, it is believed that it
was named after the rusty colour of ‘Reynard the Fox’.
Surprisingly, research into the causes and the prevention of foxing
has been scarce, especially in relation to philatelic material. This
is surprising for two reasons: first; stamp </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">collecting
has for many years been the most popular of hobbies and second;
stamps are among the most valuable (in terms of prices at auctions)
items on the planet.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
problem of foxing in archived paper has been investigated off and on
for about sixty years, most researches seem to agree that, although
the onset of foxing maybe caused by a number of factors, either
acting singly or in concert, all will eventually involve some form of
fungal infection.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Fungi</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It
has been estimated that there are around 1.5 million species of
fungi, with about 5% of these having been formally classified. About
100 species have been recognised as having the ability and/or the
inclination to ‘digest’ cellulose and cellulose containing
materials like paper.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A
number of researches have been successful in producing fungal
cultures from swabs of foxed areas and have identified a number of
species of the fungi involved, some of these are shown in Table 1</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0A-dhNTk9MAPw-Yd5xnilPDTorItSqJAxwiwj3m4pqGjTEzeW5-kiW-tEaZwnqm5S5-JLmYEIe4wg-1X45WOI_wt19zw2M2RiD1hyGStzAjb8Kl9MMi8L0OBG_0WfWi5OghDRHDs9Ng7z/s1600/fig3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0A-dhNTk9MAPw-Yd5xnilPDTorItSqJAxwiwj3m4pqGjTEzeW5-kiW-tEaZwnqm5S5-JLmYEIe4wg-1X45WOI_wt19zw2M2RiD1hyGStzAjb8Kl9MMi8L0OBG_0WfWi5OghDRHDs9Ng7z/s400/fig3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Aflatoxins</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Aflatoxins</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
are among the most carcinogenic substances known. Aflatoxins belong
to a class of compounds known as mycotoxins. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Over
300 mycotoxins are known and all they are produced by several species
of fungi. Most of the mycotoxins of concern are produced by three
genera: </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Aspergillus</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">,
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Penicillium</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">,
and </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Fusarium</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">.
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Aspergillus
flavus</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
and </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Aspergillus
parasiticus</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
have received most of the attention as they infect our main food
sources: cereal grains, potatoes, fruits and nuts.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
The term aflatoxin is actually derived from the abbreviation for
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Aspergillus
flavus: A. flav.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
the 1960 more than 100,000 young turkeys on poultry farms in England
died in the course of a few months from an apparently new disease
that was termed </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Turkey
X disease"</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
Research showed that the disease was associated with the animals’
feed: a mouldy peanut meal imported from Brazil.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At
the time, little was known about Aflatoxins, but some scientists
suspected that they would be linked to liver cancer in humans. Soon
after the U.K. outbreak, a young MIT toxicologist named Gerald Wogan
launched a thorough, decades-long investigation into the toxins,
eventually exposing them <b>as the most potent carcinogens</b> humans can
encounter.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Epidemiological
studies carried out in Thailand in the late 1960’s during a period
of 5 years showed that there is a high correlation between the
ingestion of mouldy food and the occurrence of lever cancers.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Burg
et. al. after an extensive study of airborne Aflatoxins produced
during the handling of contaminated corn, concluded that the
concentration of Aflatoxins in the lungs may actually be higher and
more potentially dangerous when breathing contaminated air than the
concentration of the same toxins in the stomach after eating mouldy
food e.g. peanuts.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Researches
at Cornwell University’s Dept of Animal Science have warned that:
“Safety is a key issue for scientists working in the aflatoxin
area. Steps must be taken to minimize exposure to the toxins as well
as to the producing microorganisms, </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Aspergillus
flavus</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
and </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Aspergillus
parasiticus</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">.”
</span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">Chronic, or continued
exposure may lead to a high risk of developing liver cancer, as
aflatoxin metabolites can cause mutations known to cause liver
tumors.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">Children, are particularly affected by aflatoxin exposure
which leads to stunted growth and delayed development. The
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has designated
aflatoxin as a human liver carcinogen.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Conclusion</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You
will have no doubt noticed from Table 1 that </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Aspergillus
flavus, </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">the
organism that produces the most toxic aflatoxin known, Aflatoxin B1,
was identified in connection with foxing of paper.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
SEM pictures shown above are not sufficient evidence to identify the
actual species of the fungus, but an expert mycologist wrote, after viewing the SEM photos above, in an email to Dr Trimby that </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">from
the appearance of the spores the fungus in the electron micrographs
could possibly be an Aspergillus.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Are
these organisms associated with foxing in stamps? Do they pose a
threat to the long term health of collectors and dealers? Can toning
be prevented, cured, stopped? Should toned stamps and other toned
philatelic items be permanently sealed or even burned? </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">All
these are important question to our hobby and further work is not
only vital to the health of our little printed friends but also to
our own health.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Consider
how many collectors and dealers are world-wide and how many of these
live in tropical and semitropical environments – conditions ideal
for fungal growth. Consider how many times you have de-papered stamps
that may have been infected (just like in food stuffs, browning
occurs in the later stages of fungal attack, perfect- looking items
may in fact be riddled with the fungus). Consider how many times you
have handled and inhaled the fetid air from old collections. Consider
the two major up-and-coming stamp regions: China and India; both
densely populated; both with tropical and sub-tropical regions and
both with increasing numbers of enthusiastic collectors.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This
preliminary study, described at the beginning of this article, was
done with no funding and was completely due to the author’s
interest and the generosity of Dr. Trimby and of his Department.
Essential further work will require funding from interested
parties…and that could include you, if you are reading this
article.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
End</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span>
</div>
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<h2>
</h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The World's most valuable Cinderella?</span></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">Billy Hughes </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923. In 1919, Hughes and former Prime Minister Joseph Cook travelled to Paris to attend the Versailles peace conference. He remained away for 16 months, and signed the Treaty of Versailles on behalf of Australia – the first time Australia had signed an international treaty. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 119%;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After meeting the Australian Flying Corps pilots (from World War 1), the idea of an Air Race took hold in Billy Hughes’ mind as he was keen to promote air travel and air mail delivery to Australia.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">The Air Race </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">was announced in March 1919. The rules were simple: British aircraft; Australian pilots; Departure after September 8th and trip to take no longer than 30 days.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">Prize money </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">: </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">£</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">10 000 ( Equivalent to about 1.5 to 4.5 million dollars in today’ money; depending how it was spent)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">The competitors: </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">Despite the obvious dangers, this air race appealed to some airmen, not yet discharged, who were awaiting repatriation home. There were plenty of war surplus aircraft available and six crews eventually took part. However, only two crews finished. One within the stipulated 30 days and the other in 206 days ( they were awarded a consolation prize of </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">£</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">1000 )<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">* NOTE: a full account of this race can be found in</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;"> a great book: </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 119%;">Australia's Greatest Air Race</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;"> by Nelson Eustis. </span></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19px;">Blue 7c W M Hughes</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #783f04;">Australian Prime Ministers Booklet Stamps</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-weight: normal;"><span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 13.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;">Issued 8th march 1972.</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-weight: normal;"><span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 13.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;">Recess Printed on paper lithographed off-white</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-weight: normal;"><span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 13.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;">Issued as booklets.</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-weight: normal;"><span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 13.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;">Each pane of 5 stamps and 1 descriptive tab.</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 13.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;">Designed by J. Santry</span></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<h3>
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;"><u>The Flight</u></span></span></h3>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 119%;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In a Vickers Vimy bomber; Captain Ross Smith, his brother Lieutenant Keith Smith (as assistant pilot and navigator) and two mechanics Sergeants W. H. Shiers and J. M. Bennett, took off from Hounslow, England, on 12 November 1919 bound for Australia. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 119%;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Flying conditions were extremely poor and most hazardous from the start! They were caught up in a blizzard and almost froze to death just flying from England to France; from then on things seemed to get worse!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 119%;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">They were hounded by bad weather, poor visibility, poor landing and taking off conditions at almost every stop. They almost had head on crashes with mountains hidden in mist or rain on at least two occasions. A poor landing-area at Singora and torrential rain almost brought disaster. Disaster again almost came at Sourabaya where the aircraft was bogged and had to take off from an improvised airstrip made of 350 yards bamboo mats, laid down by 200 natives! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 119%;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In Singapore, the only place that they could land was in a race course, which was much too short. Sergeant Bennett had to climb out of the cockpit and slide down to the tail so that it would sink in on landing and act as a brake!</span></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 119%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span lang="en-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 119%;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Nevertheless on 10 December they landed in Darwin, Australia. The distance they had covered was 11 340 miles It took just under 28 days with an actual flying time of 135 hours at an average speed of 85 m/h Both Ross and Keith were knighted; Sergeants W. H. Shiers and J. M. Bennett, were commissioned and awarded Bars to their Air Force Medals,.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">The £10 000 prize money was divided into four equal shares</span><span lang="en-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%; text-align: center;">Aviation Feats.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="direction: ltr; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 13.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">Set of 4: 45c x2; $1.35 and $ 1.80<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><u>The wrong 'stamp' & the Cinderella</u></span></h3>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now come the series of events and misunderstanding that led to the issuance of the “ most valuable Cinderella in the world”:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;"><span dir="ltr"></span>10th December 1919</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 119%;"> </span></u><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">- Ross Smith speaks to Prime Minister Billy Hughes and tells him that they had flown in special mail for the occasion and would it be possible to issue a special stamp?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;"><u><span dir="ltr"></span>13th December 1919</u></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;"> - sends a special telegram to his office: </span><span lang="en-US">“ CAPTAIN ROSS SMITH BEARING LETTERS STOP DESIRES ARRANGE FOR SPECIAL STAMP STOP COMMUNICATE WITH RIGHT AUTHORITIES AND ARRANGE STOP”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;"><u><span dir="ltr"></span>17th December 1919</u></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 119%;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">- The Secretary of the Post Master’s General wrote to the Prime Minister Department: “ I am to inform you that a suitable date stamp… herewith is a specimen ...please inform me when the stamp is ready”</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><span lang="en-US"> <o:p></o:p></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">31st December</span></u><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 119%;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">- Prime Minister Dept. was advised date Stamp was ready (they worked right through the holidays!!)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;"><u><span dir="ltr"></span>12th January 1920</u></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 119%;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">- Cpt. Ross Smith sent a telegram to Billy Hughes:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US">“SHALL I FORWARD YOU ALL THE LETTERS I HOLD OR HOLD THEM PENDING THE ISSUE OF SPECIAL STAMP?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">This caused the ‘penny to drop ‘in Hughes mind: Ross wanted a postage stamp not a date stamp! He was reluctant to refuse his hero anything. He immediately telegrammed back that Ross was to hold the letter till his arrival in Melbourne. He also asked how many letters were involved (to know how many stamps to print). Ross answered that he had 200 letters.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;"><u><span dir="ltr"></span>15th January 1920</u></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 119%;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">- Steps were taken to issue a Cinderella for the occasion (at the time UPU rules prohibited the use of commemorative stamps of limited postal validity.) The design of the stamp was prepared by Lt. George Benson an official war artist at Gallipoli. It was printed by lithography in deep blue from a copper half-tone block onto watermarked paper as a miniature sheet format.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;"><u><span dir="ltr"></span>27th January 1920</u></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 119%;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">- eight proofs were submitted to Prime Minister department for approval.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;"><u><span dir="ltr"></span>20th February 1920</u></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 119%;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">- 576 stamps were delivered to the Prime Minister’s department.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><u>Just how valuable*?</u></span></span></h3>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">The </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 119%;">Australian Air Mail Catalogue </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">lists the Cinderella with a CV of up to </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 119%;">$20 000 </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">as</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 119%;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">MNH and from </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 119%;">$9 000 </span></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">on cover.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>*</b> - Beware: </span><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">Many cheap reprints of this ‘stamp’ </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 119%;">are available on auction sites</span></span></div>
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