From the Archive:

April 2011 Review

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Once again I'll begin with a leftover from last time that didn't quite make it into the previous review, and that is another item from the 2010 Europa theme of 'children's books'. Romania's contribution to the theme was a block of four stamps of two different designs, one being Little Red Riding Hood. No cats on the stamps, but in the margin were other figures from stories, including Puss in Boots. Puss also appeared among a bevy of characters in the design of the first-day cover.

Other items from later last year include the Chinese New Year issue from Vietnam where, instead of the Year of the Rabbit celebrated elsewhere, they mark the Year of the Cat. Two very colourful stylised cats appear on separate stamps, which are available in normal and imperforate versions. There are also two attractive maxicards accompanying the issue, which dates from 1 December.

Tiny, almost invisible cat heads (see enlargement, inner right, of one of them) are to be found on Hong Kong stamps from the previous month, November 2010, where they appear on two from a set of four marking the 'redevelopment of old areas'. Quite how cat heads fit into that concept, I have no idea! — unless lots of cats were to be found in those areas.

A further 2010 set of Cats of the World followed similar sets, reviewed last time, from St Vincent and Liberia. This one comes from Antigua & Barbuda and has the same format of a sheetlet of six stamps and a miniature sheet (MS). The breeds shown are named, and we picture a chunky-looking American Curl longhair; the MS has a chubby tortie-and-white Manx Stumpie.

The last 2010 set I have seen is a Christmas one, and seems to be the only one of those to include a cat. Released on 3 December, it hails from the small Baltic republic of Latvia, which has several times before included a cat in its Christmas designs. This one shows the Christmas tree being dressed by a girl, while a long-haired cat watches the proceedings through the window. The same cat appears in the margins of a sheet of 10 stamps.

Honours for the first cat stamp of 2011 go to Monaco, which continued the fairly new tradition of producing a single stamp for its annual international cat show, which takes place in February. This year the stamp was released on 4 January and shows a handsome Egyptian Mau.

In the middle of the same month there was a set of three 'children's pets' from Malaysia, with a girl holding a kitten on the 80 sen value. The stamps come in sheets of 20 that include pawprints and another cat in the margin. The other values show children with a guinea pig and a puppy respectively, and I believe a Year of the Rabbit MS is also associated with this set.

Mrs Chippy has appeared on a stamp! The famous feline from Shackleton's Antarctic expedition of 1914/5 in Endurance features on one of a set of six stamps from South Georgia showing various animals that went to the frozen continent; he's shown sitting on his friend Perce Blackborow's shoulder in what is a well-known, and apparently the only, photo of him. You can read Mrs Chippy's full story elsewhere on our site by taking the link.

Another well-known cat, although a cartoon one, is Findus; he's a Swedish creation by author Sven Nordqvist and will be familiar to many European children. Now he's celebrated on a single self-adhesive stamp from Switzerland, together with a booklet of 10 stamps that includes the cat on both covers. Findus lives in a ramshackle old farmhouse with the old farmer Pettersson; he has appeared in a series of children's books starting in 1985. On this stamp he and some animal friends are boring the holes in a piece of wood resembling a Swiss cheese!

Two images of the ubiquitous Hello Kitty are to be found on a sheet of 10 self-adhesive stamps from Japan, and we show one of them here (left). The stamps show 'anime' or 'manga' characters and are issued to mark the 'PhilaNippon 2011 World Stamp Exhibition', held every decade and due to take place in Yokohama at the end of July. This sheet also includes two depictions of Doraemon, the robotic cat. Finally there's a 'fun' MS I came across from 2009 marked Chad (right); no doubt it's a 'cinderella', but I found it amusing. Other similar designs are available.