There is to be a new stamp before the end
of the month to commemorate the silver wedding of the King and Queen. We must hope the best of it, but so far as I remember (I am quite sure philatelists will correct me) this country has never produced a decent postage stamp yet. Anything more pedestrian than our representa- tions of successive sovereigns' heads and nothing else can hardly be conceived. An ounce or two of imagination might make a marvel- lous difference, though for that matter all that is needed is to go to some of our colonies and dependencies for models. Southern Rhodesia, for example, produces stamps that are a joy to look at, and really have a psychological effect when you see them on an envelope, partially defaced by postmark though they may be. To supersede the sovereign's head would be undesirable, but oblong stamps leave room for a neat medallion in one corner with the rest of the surface given up to some local view or the representation of a local industry, often in two colours or even three. Such a stamp, with the King in one quarter and the Queen in the other and a picture of, say, Windsor Castle or the Houses of Parliament occupy- ing the body of the stamp, would be a great deal more attractive than I expect this month's commemoration issue to be. Mr. Paling has a great opportunity to live in history as the man who brightened the nation's correspondence. He should make his motto " Art on the envelope."
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