AMERICAN COLONIAL NEWSPAPER TAX STAMP PARODY
stamps like these were added to
colonial periodicals to mock British tax stamps in the late 1700's.
The Stamp Tax was a major consideration of the
American Revolutionaries
The American colonial parody stamps were not postage stamps, but rather periodical stamps, but even so rightly may be considered the first known fantasy stamps.
A MULREADY LAMPOON
1840
British fantasy postal cover
Mulready, the postmaster general of Britain, issued a series of prepaid postal envelopes in 1840, shortly after the printing of the Penny Black.
The British public disdained Mulready's covers...and there ensued a widespread phenomenon: the Mulready Lampoons.
These humorous covers often mocked British imperial ambitions....And today we can easily see them historically as early Mail Art.
THE NEW ENGLAND WHALERS
Home Post Express
was a very early fantasy stamp
woodblock edition
1851
The New England Whalers Home Express was the private fantasy edition created by a sailor who lived in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
It is now regarded as one of the very earliest known faux postage stamps, a direct ancestor of the artistamp.
THE WINANS CITY POST
was a very popular fantasy stamp created in
1862 by Hussey
It was reproduced in many colors by many
stamp fabricators including Scott and S.A. Taylor
Hussey, a Canadian stamp fabricator, was long regarded as the first fantasy postage stamp maker, until in recent years the New England Whalers stamp, a faux postage edition, appeared in the auction catalogs. The New England Whalers stamp was created in 1851, while the Winan's City Post first appeared in 1862.
Scott, Taylor and other creators of faux postage and bogus stamps were inspired by these to create what came to be called fantasy postal carrier labels. In the US at the time postage stamps were strictly forbidden material when it came to reproductions, as these were considered forgeries....but those private postal labels called carriage or carrier labels were fair game. Wuestoff and other stamp makers were encouraged to create what became the forerunners of artistamps.
Fantasy railway carrier labels became very popular in the mid 19th century.
SAMUEL ALLEN TAYLOR
Kers City Post
woodblock edition
Samuel Allen Taylor created the first fantasy local post shortly after the Winan's City Post appeared....Taylor was from Scotland but lived for a time in Canada where he worked collaboratively with Nutter, another stamp fabricator.
There is no such place as Kers City.
SAMUEL ALLEN TAYLOR
Utah Territorial Postage
this stamp was part of a larger set.
and was forged by other stamp makers later on
SAMUEL ALLEN TAYLOR
forgery
with forged postmark
Taylor's work was copied by
bogus stamp makers
Samuel Allen Taylor created 5000 fantasy and bogus stamps during his lifetime, making him the most prolific faux stamp maker of the 19th century. He created faux charity labels, making him an innovator in the area of poster stamps as well.
Poster stamps are stamps that advertize events or commemorate people, but are never intended for postal use.
Many stamps created by Taylor are from countries which had never issued postage stamps, such as Paraguay.
TERRA OF BAFFIN
hand painted fantasy stamps
created by an unknown French stamp collector
1861
A mysterious French stamp collector began creating painted postage stamps in the 1860's. He may have been French Canadian, as many of his fantasies have Canadian labels. He created hundreds of stamps.
Stamp essays and proofs are often times hand painted, but these Canadian stamps never were intended as proofs for any known postal authority. Baffin Island is north of Canada and populated primarily by indigenous Inuit people.
In the 1960's Donald Evans became well known for his hand painted postal fantasies....but historically the French artist predated him by a hundred years.
J.C. JAY
Richwoods Dispatch fantasy local carrier stamp
tied to cover with rubber stamp
cancellation
1888
This cover is an example of early Mail Art....It shows fantasy stamp by J.C. Jay, a young stamp dealer who had been persecuted by philatelic societies for attempting to sell his own faux postage stamps.
He used to hand deliver mail in his own home town franking them with his private carrier labels.
Today this cover is a valuable rarity.
GENELLI STUDIOS
photo portrait stamp
St. Louis
Missouri
1885
PHOTO STAMP MAKER
patented by Thomas Huhn
and also Genelli
1887
Photo portrait stamps were popular in the 19th century on into the 20th century.
They were often ordered by colleges and universities, private businesses and individuals.
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
micronational stamps
1898
Micronations, with private autonomous post offices began to appear in the 19th century....Deh Sadang out of Malaya is another such micronation. Elleore in Denmark became well known in the 1940's.
Today many artistamp makers describe their stamps as micronational.
VIENNESE SECESSIONIST POSTER STAMP
1908
this stamp was created as an
advertisement for an art exhibition
Poster stamps first appeared in the mid nineteenth century. They are stamps created as advertisements...not for postal use...They were called Art Stamps in the early 20th century when they were at their heyday as popular collectibles.
Societies arose among collectors and albums for them began to appear in Germany in the late 19th century.
POSTER STAMP EXCHANGE SOCIETY
stamp depicting a British
Mulready Prepaid envelope
MALTA CAMP POST
British POW camp
a private creation of Karl Sessler
linocut
an Austrian Prisoner of War
1914
POLISH PRISONER OF WAR STAMP
early 1940's
linoleum cut
Polish prisoners of war briefly managed to create stamps for use on their mail in German internment camps. They would use shoe soles to carve cancellations.
Jewish prisoner of war
hand painted fantasty stamp
painted in selvage of stamp sheet
Karl Scheswig, like the French Canadian stamp fabricator of 1861, is known today
for his hand painted stamps. These were created in a German Nazi concentration camp. And are famous for being protest stamps.
The rest of Artistamp History is well known. Bidner, a Canadian stamp artist coined the name Artistamp in 1982.
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SEE MY UPDATED version of the History of Artistamps:
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