Pictorial stationery cards of Greece 1901–1903. 그리스 그림엽서 감별

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TCNews No. 29 - September 2020 Pictorial stationery cards of Greece 1901–1903

In the early 1900s there were both pictorial postal stationery cards and pictorial stationery cards printed to private order in use in Greece. Illustrations on the picture side look similar, but from the postal stationery point of view these stationery cards are of different type. Both types of stationery cards can be displayed in thematic exhibits.

Text & images Jari Majander, AIJP \

The first postage stamps of Greece were issued in 1861 and the first postal stationery cards in 1876. Both the first stamps and the value imprints of the first postal stationery cards depict a profile of Hermes. Hermes was a natural choice for the subject, for he acts in Greek mythology as the messenger of gods. Hermes is still a symbol of the post office in modern Greece. The first definitive stamp issue of Greece in 1861 1886 is generally known as the “Large Hermes heads”. The next definitive stamp issue, depicting a slightly smaller profile of Hermes, called the “Small Hermes heads”, was in use until 1901, when it was replaced with stamps depicting the flying Mercury. Mercury was equivalent to Hermes in Roman my thology. In the same year, the first pictorial postal sta tionery cards were introduced in Greece. The value imprint of these stationery cards also depict the fly ing Mercury - based on a sculpture by Flemish-born Italian artist Giovanni da Bologna (1524–1608).

Pictorial stationery cards printed to private order

The first pictorial stationery cards were picture post cards printed to private order by the Greek Post. They came into use in 1901. Anyone could supply a batch of 1 000 postcards to the postal authori ties, and the post pressed an imprinted stamp onto the address side of the postcards. Later also smaller batches of postcards were accepted by the post. The face value was 5 lepta for stationery cards intended for domestic use and 10 lepta for stationery cards intended to be sent abroad. The colours of the im printed stamp were green for 5 lepta and red for 10 lepta. The stamp imprint is embossed and depicts

Figure 1. A pictorial stationery card printed to private order in 1901. This card belongs to the Souvenir d’Athénes series of picture postcards. Traffic on the streets of Athens was still scarce at the time.

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Figure 2. The address side of the pictorial stationery card printed to private order (the same card as in figure 1). It is clear that that an attempt has been made to align the value imprint within the space re served for the stamp on the pre-printed card.

the flying Mercury (Fig. 2). Rare double stationery cards comprise of two stamp imprints. Because of their private origins, these stationery cards printed to private order are poorly known, and they have not been catalogued. Most of the cards were originally tourist postcards, for example, the Souvenir d’Athénes series (Fig. 1) is a comprehen sive collection of attractions from Athens, whereas the Souvenir de Corfou and Un saluto da Corfú series contain sights of the island of Corfu. Illustrations on the picture sides were also extracted from Greek mythologies and gods. Some of the postcards are multicoloured.

It is allowed to display both the address side (for the flying Mercury) and the illustrations on the picture side of these stationery cards in thematic exhibits, when correctly describing them as pictorial stationery cards printed to private order.

Pictorial postal stationery cards

Already the previous year preparations were started in Greece for the publication of official pictorial sta tionery cards. It was decided by Royal Decree on June 24, 1900, that a competition will be held for collecting photographs suitable as the subjects for picture postcards. In the summer of 1900 hundreds of photographs were collected within one month during the competition. According to the terms of the competition the images, together with their negatives, had to be handed over against compensa tion. At the same time, the photographer lost the copyright to the pictures he had taken.

Stationery cards were printed in the national print ing house. The size of cards is 140 x 90 mm, the same size as in the stationery cards printed to private or der. Stationery cards intended for domestic and for eign use differ from each other.

In stationery cards intended for domestic use there are two imprinted stamps (Fig. 3, 4). On the address side of the card, in the upper left corner, is a colour less embossed imprinted stamp depicting the flying Mercury. Its face value 10 lepta corresponds to the selling price of the postcard. In the upper right corner, there is a flat imprinted stamp depicting the flying Mercury. The face value of 5 lepta is equal to the domestic postage rate. The price of a stationery card for domestic use is thus 15 lepta. Subtitles on the address side of the domestic cards are only in Greek.

In stationery cards intended to be sent abroad a decorative frame consisting of a Meander pattern was printed on the address side (Fig. 5). The sell ing price of the stationery cards, 20 lepta, consisted of the price of the postcard (10 lepta) and foreign postage (10 lepta). Thus, two stamps were printed on the cards, colourless embossed Mercury and red flat printed Mercury. The subtitles on the address side of these cards are in both French and Greek.

These pictorial postal stationery cards were printed in sets of 32 different cards. 12 sets were prepared,

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Figure 3. This pictorial postal stationery card No. 22 belongs to the first series of 32 cards issued in 1901.

The Acropolis Hill dominates the skyline of the city of Athens. An embossed colourless stamp imprint appears in the upper right corner when viewed from the picture side of the card.

Figure 4. The pictorial postal stationery cards of Greece in 1901–1903 have two imprinted stamps. In the upper left corner there is a colourless embossed stamp indicating the price of the postcard 10 lepta. In the upper right corner there is a flat stamp indicating the postage fee. This card is intended for do mestic use, therefore the postage fee is 5 lepta. The selling price of this stationery card was thus 15 lepta. so a total of 384 different cards exist, or in fact 385, because there are accidentally two completely differ ent picture sides of the card No. 353.

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The following table lists all series, their dates of pub lication and printing colours:

Identifying the postal stationery cards is easy, be cause the serial number is printed in the bottom right on the picture side. Monochrome cards were printed in black, brown, or green. There are thus three cards of different colours with the same sub ject. Sets 5-7 were printed with only one colour.

Photographs redeemed in the competition have thus been printed on the picture side of the sta tionery cards. Some pictures are

horizontal, some vertical. Most subjects associate with well-known attractions, such as archaeological sites, through out Greece. In addition to the serial number, the name of the city and the attraction or monument in question is printed on the picture side in both Greek and French. Text in the bottom margin of the picture side in Greek and French Edition du service des Postes Helléniques indicates that the card has been published by the Greek Post. From pri vate postcards printed to private order, that were in use at the same time, this text and serial number are missing. Therefore official postal stationery cards and stationery cards printed to private order can be easily distinguished from each other.

Pictorial stationery cards were not huge success

The Greek Post began selling stationery cards on July 1, 1901. Initially, the post offices sold them in sets of 32 different cards. Later, 32 similar cards were sold in installments. Post offices were asked to indicate which of the pictures were best selling in that area and sales stocks were supplemented on the basis of sales data received.

Figure 5. Pictorial postal stationery card intended for foreign use, serial no. 50. In the upper left corner there is a colourless embossed stamp indicating the price of the postcard 10 lepta. In the upper right corner there is a flat stamp indicating the postage fee. This card is intended for domestic use, therefore the postage fee is 10 lepta. The selling price of the stationery card was thus 20 lepta. Sent from Athens to the Danish West Indies, a rare destination.

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All but one series were published within one year from July 1901 to August 1902. No later than by 1902 it had become clear that the stationery cards did not sell very well. Their selling prices, 15 and 20 lepta, were too high, which limited the interest of the general public to buy cards. So the post office decid ed to start selling cards at a discount of 5 leptas. For sale it had little effect, so preparing new series was terminated. The last The 32-card series was released on March 1903.

During the first two years, a total of more than 160 000 cards for domestic use and slightly more than 224 000 cards for foreign use were sold. The indi vidual sales volumes of each different card are not known.

The problem arose what to do with the unsold cards. In 1910 it was decided that the cards had to be ei ther sold to the general public or disposed by burn ing. However, the ultimate fate of the stocks remain unclear. In 1918, some cards in stock were used as postage-free field post items. This is indicated with additional printing on the address side: ΣΤΡΑΤΙΩΤΙΚΟΝ ΔΕΛΤΑΡΙΟΝ ΑΤΕΛΕΣ (= postage-free field post stationery)

During manufacturing of the pictorial stationery cards of Greece, quite many printing errors occurred. Variations, such as missing impressions, double printing, shifted serial numbers, cutting errors, etc. are know to exist. These differences, however, do not affect pictures themselves, so in thematic exhibits they can hardly be utilized in the development of the theme. From the postal stationery point of view they are interesting, though.

Subjects from Greek mythology and famous attractions in Greece

About half of the subjects are from Athens. Almost all the main attractions and archeological monu ments in Athens have been covered. There are also many pictorial subjects in the cities of Corfu, Ai gio, Larissa, Patras, Nafplion and Volos. Meteora, where monasteries were built by nature on top of the rock towers, is the subject of as many as 17 different cards. There are many other interesting pictorial topics in other cards as well.

Various topics can be found in the Greek pictorial postal stationery cards of 1901–1903 as follows:

• Sports, including five cards from Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Olympics.

• Archeology, history and sculptures.

• Ancient mythologies, including Achilles, Apollo, Dionysus, Epidaurus, Hercules, Hermes, Jupiter, Medusa, Minerva, Neptune,                  Themis, Venus and Zeus.

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• Architecture, including the summer palace of the Austrian Empress Elizabeth or Sissi, in Achilleion, Corfu, is depicted on at                least ten different cards.

• Byzantine architecture, including churches and monasteries, and the Meteora monastery area.

• Churches (Orthodox, Anglican and Islamic).

• Religious celebrations.

• Folk costumes and dances.

• Villages and castles.

• Traffic, including donkey-drawn carts.

• Rivers and bridges.

• Ports, ships and the sea, for example Piraeus, Corfu, Patras and Volos.

• Water and windmills.

• Music and theater, incl. Epidaurus theater.

• Literature and poetry, incl. Byron and Mel pomene.

• Medicine, incl. Epidaurus.

• Astronomy, incl. observatory.

• Armed forces, incl. the guard of the royal palace in Syntagma Square of Athens.

• Animals, especially donkeys; including sculptures, such as horse and lion.

• Plants incl. olive trees and palm trees.

• Harvest, incl. wine.

Figure 7. Neptune, the Roman sea god, is the equivalent of Poseidon for Greeks. Pictorial postal stationery card no. 33 issued in 1901.

Figure 8. Nike, the goddess who personified victory. Pictorial postal stationery card no. 100 issued in 1901.

The Greek pictorial postal stationery cards are, of course, proper postal-philatelic items for thematic exhibits. In terms of

their subjects, these items are particularly suited to exhibits dealing with Greek and Byzantine history. Myths and god

figures familiar from ancient Greek mythology are con nected to philosophy and are popular topics in art, plays, and literature. You can draw something from them also in stories on contemporary topics. Greek pictorial postal stationery cards can be

found from international auctions, for example A. Karamitsos auction (www.karamitsos.com). There are also some stationeries for sale in online auc tions, such as eBay. The prices are typically a few dozen euros per card, but you have to pay significantly more for any specialties.

Sources:

• Leoussis, Pantelis, The Illustrated Postal Stationery of the Hellenic Postal Service Issued Between 1901 1903.

                  Hellenic Philatelic Society, 2008. Issued in Greek language.

• Constantinis, Moïse C., Cartes Postales Illustrées Émises en 1901-1903 par la Direction des Postes Helléni ques.

                   Hellenic Philatelic Society, 1970. Issued in Greek language

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