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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 1940
This Is Berlin:
If You're A Stamp Collector, Germany's The Place To Go
By CARLA EDDY
(Berlin Correspondent for the University Daily Kansan)
One of my first impressions in Berlin, back in December 1947, was that half the advertising was on behalf of stamp traders. There is a large population of philatelist, for whom I consistently cut every envelope I receive. The common airmail stamp never becomes so ordinary but what some school child trades it to a younger one, and thus encourages the new generation of enthusiasts.
Approximately 500 different postage stamps have been issued in Germany since the beginning of the occupation. One of the first steps of the liberating armies as they advanced over German territory was to prohibit the continued use of Nazi stamps. In accordance with the policy of removing all traces of Nazism from Germany, the use of anything symbolic of the Nazi regime was forbidden. All stamps then in use were invalidated, and the new issues began to appear.
Today, five different types of postage systems are in use in various parts of Germany. The Western sectors of Berlin use a post-war stamp over-printed "BERLIN." Until last week, when the currency rules changed, this was printed in black ink. This week that kind is no longer valid, and the new overprint is in red ink.
Among the diverse designs and denominations can be found some distributed under questionable authority during and immediately after the war. But post-office cancellations indicating that they were used to transmit mall make them all official from the philatelic standpoint.
In the Soviet zone and the Soviet sector of Berlin, stamps are valued in the money used there. Many of the designs glorify the farmer and the worker. The Bizonal area uses a series of "architectural" stamps, which picture five famous German architectural landmarks—the Cologne cathedral, the Brandenburg gate in Berlin, the Holsten gate at Luebeck, Frankfurt's Roemer (Coronation hall) and Munich's Frauenkirche (Cathedral of the Holy Virgin).
I got into the thick of this game trying to collect a postmark for a Kansas City lawyer, who served in a town now in the French zone after World War I. Since postmark collecting is unknown here, I wrote a careful German letter to the postmaster explaining that the postmark of his town would be treasured by a distant American, if he would be so kind as to send it to me. The response was generous, and I saw for the first time the colorful French stone stamps with buildings and the heads of famous persons born in the area, among them Beethoven and Karl Marx.
The Saar area uses an entirely different issue, based on the French franc values, rather than on German money.
Responsibility for the issuance of postage stamps in the Bizonal area was returned to German authorities in August 1948. Their first act was to issue a special stamp picturing the Cologne cathedral, in commemoration of its 700th anniversary. The design was later adopted for permanent use.
Throughout last October a special stamp cancellation marking 100 days of the "Luftbrucke" (airbridge) was used in Berlin to pay public
Lawrence Optical Co.
1025 Mass.
Baptist Students Elect O'Connell
Wilson E. O'Connell, College sophomore, has been elected president of the Reger Williams foundation, which represents 638 University Baptist students.
William T. Fuqua, engineering junior, was elected first vice-president. Other officers are as follows: Elmer L. Schultz, engineering junior, second vice-president; Betty L. Slagle, College sophomore, secretary; Ralph J. Bowman, business junior, treasurer; Alice J. Degner, fine arts sophomore, social chairman; and Dale D. Theo bald, engineering senior. Student Religious council representative.
The group voted to subscribe $25 to the Student Religious council for the coming school year.
New officers will be installed in a special meeting immediately following vespers Sunday afternoon. The installation will be held in the Baptist Student center at 1124 Mississippi street.
She Slept On Dynamite
Fort Worth, Texas—(U.P.)-Mrs. A. C. Dodson has been sleeping on dynamite for years. She found 100 dynamite blasting caps under her bed. The caps were stored in a suitcase, which Mrs. Dodson surmises must have come from a relative in whose home she visited during the war. The relative worked in a blasting crew.
tribute to the U.S. and British fliers of the airlift. A recent German addition to the collector's stamp book are the half-size 2-pfenng (4/5ths of a cent) tax stamp and the "Help Berlin" overprinted Brandenburg gate stamp. The former is affixed to every piece of mail posted in the Bizonal area. The revenue from both will be used for relief of the blocked Western sectors of Berlin.
Special service to stamp collectors is provided by the Deutsche Post through its philatelic office in Frankfurt. The address is: Postamt 2, Abt erleung Briefmarkenammlung, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
Bridge Contest Starts Tonight
New & Used Parts for All Cars
We Buy Old and Wrecked Cars
A Big Seven bridge tournament will be held in the Union ballroom at 7:30 p.m. today.
- Auto Glass
- Mirrors
- Glass Table Tops.
AUTO WRECKING
AND JUNK CO.
Phone 954 712 E. 9th
The second session is scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow. That evening, the tournament will be concluded with a banquet to present a trophy to the winning school.
Each school in the Big Seven has been asked to qualify and send a team of four. The Kansas players who were qualified are James Feitz, special student in business; Harry Lohrengrul, engineering junior; and William Edmonds, College junior. The tournament is being sponsored by the Union activities.
Three geological phenomena are among the principle tourist attractions in Kansas, according to publications distributed at the Engineering exposition.
Kansas Topography Attracts Tourists
The Kansas Sphynx, at the northern end of the Monument rocks in Gove county, is a mass of chalk beds, 30 feet high, carved by nature into a giant head with clear-cut features.
MOVING? -
Rock City, in Ottawa county, is made up of more than 200 elliptical rocks with diameters up to 27 feet. They are composed of Dakota sandstone cemented by lime.
Six miles south of Sun City is a natural bridge. It started as a cave into which surface water seeped, eventually breaking through to form a tunnel. The gypsum mound, under which the stream formed the tunnel, is 12 feet high and the surface area of the bridge is about 30 by 55 feet.
—'cross the state?
—'cross the country?
—'cross the street?
—'cross the town?
CALL ON US FOR OUR FREE ESTIMATES ON YOUR MOVING-LOWEST RATES OBTAINABLE.
PHONE 46
ETHAN A. SMITH Moving and Transfer Co.
11 East 9th St.
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