Sent to me from San Salvador: the capital city of El Salvador. The stamps, which feature images of philatelic covers from the past, and the blue magnifying glass postmark, commemorate the 85th anniversary of the Salvadoran Philatelic Association: AFISAL.
This was sent to me from the village of Colnago in northern Italy. The stamp on the right from 2023 shows a jar of Santa Rosa fruit preserves, from a set of stamps that commemorates popular Italian food brands. And the stamp on the left from 2025 commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Loacker biscuit company. Tasty.
Sent from Gujarat's largest city Ahmedabad. The flower stamps on this cover are from a 2013 set of twelve showing wild flowers from various regions around India. The stamp commemorating Mother Teresa bottom left is a 2009 definitive.
This is a first-day cover for the latest stamp issue in an ongoing series meant to raise awareness about the negative impact residential schools have had on the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. The artwork on these stamps shows three sides of the Brentwood box that was commissioned by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2009. This box was carved from a single piece of red cedar with imagery representing the First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. It was brought to several national events where those looking to heal spiritually could leave items in the box : photographs, books, memorabilia. Thousands of items were placed in the box. It now resides at the National Center for Truth and Reconciliation in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The postmark commemorates the 10th anniversary of the reintroduction of Toyoda Beer by the Ishikawa Brewery Company. It was one of the first beers brewed in Tokyo's Tama region in the 19th century. This new iteration of Toyoda beer is made from 100% locally grown barley. The stamps are Year of the Tiger stamps from 2022.
These stamps and first-day postmark from South Korea commemorate the inauguration of Lee Jae Myung as the 21st president of South Korea. The stamps were issued on his 100th day in office on Sept 11. He's officially the 14th elected president but the 21st person to hold the office.
It hasn't even been a year since the last one. Technically, postal workers here have been on strike for several months but their actions were not having an impact on letter mail. But that changed yesterday after the Canadian government recommended changes to the way Canada Post operates in order to remain solvent. One of the changes is to permit Canada Post to phase out door-to-door delivery. Doing that would mean reducing the workforce and that's a non-starter for the union. So... back to the picket line they go.
The last strike in 2024 was never really resolved. The employees have been working without a collective agreement for nearly two years now. It's hard to imagine when this current strike action will end. The last work stoppage was closer to Christmas and they only returned to work after the government intervened.
From the Brazilian city of Caxias do Sul. The block at the top from 2001 is a WWF issue showcasing Brazil's endemic parrots. And the block below that also from 2001 features old Brazilian automobiles. The little 2005 definitive on the left depicts a showshiner.
From Germany with a nice "Wacken" postmark. Wacken Open Air (W:O:A) is a large annual heavy metal music festival held in the town of Wacken in northern Germany. It typically averages around 85,000 attendees and 2025 was another sold-out year featuring (I believe) 180 bands. The stamp from 2022 features a fire salamander. It's a semi-postal with the added value going to children's benefits.
No postmark on this one. From left to right is a 2017 stamp commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the occupation of Jerusalem, a 1991 stamp commemorating the 14th Hapoei games with karate on the top and table tennis underneath, and a 1990 Memorial Day stamp depicting the artillery corps monument in Zikhron Yaaqov. And then there's the triangle shaped stamp in the bottom corner. That is one quarter of a sheet that was issued in 1957 for TABIL: an international stamp exhibition held in Tel Aviv in September of that year.
The stamp on this cover from Antwerp is from a 2024 sheet of 5 stamps that feature things in nature that glow in the dark. On this stamp it's a firefly. The stamp has spots of glow in the dark ink applied to the back-end of the firefly, the denomination (2) and a blob in the bottom right corner which is part of the wing of an insect in the background image on the stamp sheet.
First-day postmarked in Osaka. The two stamps on this cover are from a sheet of 10 issued on 7 July and it is the 9th issue in this annual series that features sea life from the waters around Japan. This year the stamps depict spotted seals.
On this cover from Turin is a 2025 stamp depicting the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran. It is the oldest basilica in the Western world, founded in the year 324. This stamp is one from a set of four that feature the four papal basilicas in the city of Rome.
The stamp on this first-day postmarked cover depicts the multipurpose port of El Aouana in the Algerian coastal province of Jijel. It was designed to diversify the local economy by supporting the local fishing industry and boosting tourism in the region. The port can accommodate 106 fishing vessels of various sizes and 176 leisure craft.
The stamp on this cover, that was first-day postmarked in Berlin, commemorates the UN's International Day of Play. The characters in the stamp are Lego minifigures representing children. Playing.
A little cover from Pennsylvania with a pair of 2019 moon landing anniversary stamps and four of the five 2024 low-value flower stamps. The number of flowers in each stamp is equal to the stamps value.
FDC postmarked on this cover is the recent Europa issue from Germany. This year the theme is National Archaeological Discoveries and depicted on this souvenir sheet from Germany is ice age figurative artwork discovered in caves in the Achtal and Lonetal valleys of the Swabian Jura mountain range. The caves and surrounding area where these artifacts have been found were awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2017.
A pair of covers with Japan Post's Expo 2025 postmarks on them. They have two temporary post offices in operation at the Expo site with one designated East and the other West. The 2025 World Expo is being held between the 13th of April and 13th of October on an artificial island in Osaka Bay, a short distance from Universal Studios Japan.
Apparently there are laws in Germany that regulate the keeping of rabbits as pets. It's a very pro-bunny country from what I've been reading. Anyhow, I like the postmark with the little bunnies. Very cute. At first I thought this was an Easter stamp but I was wrong.
