Adanaland miniature sheet inspired by Night Mail

I’ve mentioned Adanaland stamps here in the past, but not, apparently, in over four years, my last write-up being on Adanaland’s souvenir sheet produced for the British Printing Society’s 2016 annual convention. It is therefore with great pleasure that I’m able to share scans of Adanaland originator Alan B.’s latest creations.

The first of these is a miniature sheet that Alan reports is based on Night Mail, a 1936 documentary about the postal train that then ran between London, England, and Glasgow, Scotland, on a nightly basis, as well as the postal staff who worked aboard the train. The sheet contains four stamps picturing a mail carrier, a pair of 2-pence stamps and a pair of 3-pence stamps, with each value appearing in two different colors.

The 2-pence stamps bear the text, “Letters of thanks / Letters from banks / Letters of joy / From the girl / and the boy”; the 3-pence stamps, “And none will hear the postman’s knock / Without a quickening of the heart.”

The design “was set completely with [6-point] moveable type,” writes Alan. “The color scheme was evolved rather than planned but I like the effect.”

The second of Alan’s new creations is a label picturing a postboy on horseback with the numeral “3.” This label bears no indication of its place of origin, but Alan confirms that it is one of his productions.

Adanaland stamps are very interesting in that Alan prints them on a letterpress, whereas most modern stamps are created using a computer. (I use my computer to design my own Philosateleian Post stamps.) An argument might be made that they’re fantasy stamps rather than local post stamps since Alan does not generally use them on his outgoing mail, but I prefer to think of them as locals, and am always pleased to add such high-quality work to my collection.

Published 2020-07-26