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It is estimated
that the Soviet Union and the Federation of Russia issued more than 17,000
items of postal stationery covering over the years every topic one can
imagine. The following illustrations of
some of the most colorful of these SOS envelopes and postal cards are but a
very small sample of the SOS items.
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Issued
October 28, 1977 for the 50th anniversary of Soviet postal stationery, this
4k envelope is the first stamp on stamp of Russian postal stationery and
shows in the printed indicium behind the 4k definitive stamp Russia #283
without value and a stamp frame. The cachet is made up of the first postal
stationery envelope (1927) and before it a more recent air letter. A
brownish frame with a big red “50” completes the cachet. A beautiful SOS
specimen.
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Issued
March 11, 1981, this 4k postal card for the 15th anniversary of the
All-Union Philatelic Society has the stamp design made of a row of stamp
frames of various colors with a blue inscription meaning “15th Year VOF”, the
last word being the Society’s acronym. The cachet shows five Russian stamps
before an open stamp album with the Society logo at the bottom center.
Philately has always been a popular hobby in Russia and the majority of
postal stationery items with stamps or pseudo stamps have been issued for
stamp exhibitions.
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The
first postal card with a reproduced stamp in the design was issued June 25,
1985. It was in honor of Cd. Pavel I. Belayev, cosmonaut, for his 60th birthday. The reproduced stamp is Russia #3043 and the
cosmonaut portrait is shown on the cachet.
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This
5k envelope illustrates one of the numerous stamp exhibitions held each
year in Russia. It was issued June 20, 1988 for an exhibition held in Kiev under
the theme “Nature and Us.” The cachet shows in a triangular stamp a forest
landscape with birds and a deer.
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As
with many other countries, Russia issued in addition to a set of adhesive stamps
(Russia #5874-79) for the 150th anniversary of the Penny Black, a postal
card for the Stamp World Exhibition held in London in 1990. This 4k card
dated March 3, 1990 shows in the indicium the Penny Black flanked by two
stylized heraldic lions. The exhibition logo appears on the cachet with the
British Parliament in the background and the London Arms on the foreground.
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The
5k envelope issued March 20, 1990 is interesting in that it commemorates
the 125th anniversary of the stemvo (local) stamps showing specimens of
different Russian localities. One has to consult specialized catalogues in
Russian language for locality identification, but I think these old stamps
are worth showing.
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The
last item is an example of the kind of issues with stamps produced by the
new Russia since 1994. The imprinted indicium shows a capital “A” in a
square frame indicating the rate to
pay and the stamps on the cachet are reproductions of current stamps. This
envelope issued December 4, 2001 shows Russia #6695-99, one of a series of
issues on the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg in 2003.
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