1999 Art Deco Buildings

        One architectural style dominated construction in the 1930s - Art Deco. Popular between 1925 and 1950, the style symbolised the early 20th century's fascination with speed, power, technology and progress. Art Deco architecture is known for its simplest design, clean shapes, apparent flat roof, often with a streamlined appearance. The material of choice was usually ferroconcrete or steel reinforced concrete. A building of this style stands out from those around it.
        The rise of Art Deco in New Zealand was in part brought about by the disastrous Napier earthquake of 1931, which reduced most of the town to rubble. Rebuilt, literally from the ground up, Napier became the home of some of the most beautiful and famous Art Deco buildings in the Southern Hemisphere. The town's reputation is now so well established that in February 1999, Napier hosted the Fifth World Congress on Art Deco.
        Art Deco style reaches well beyond Napier, of course. Classic and diverse examples of Art Deco architecture can be found all over New Zealand, four are shown in this stamp issue.

2006 Gold Rush

        In the middle and later years of the 19th century, miners in their thousands travelled to New Zealand from all over the world, drawn by excited reports of gold discovered and dreams of riches beyond their imaginations. Their arrival and the results of their toil were to have spectacular effects on this country’s social and economic fabric – effects that can still be seen today.

       For many hopeful prospectors, their dreams of wealth were fulfilled, with fields in Thames, the West Coast and Otago yielding this precious metal in abundance. Their successes led to more arrivals, with New Zealand experiencing unprecedented population growth during the gold rush years – increasing by 75% between 1861 and 1864.

       The gold rushes now rank as one of the most powerful stimuli ever for the New Zealand economy, with the South Island, in particular, reaping the benefits of its newfound wealth.

1982 Architecture

The next issue of New Zealand Architecture appeared in 1982

with a four stamp issue featuring two houses and two public buildings.

20c - Alberton, Auckland.

1980 Architecture

        The second Architecture issue featured buildings of a slightly more modern design. They include two houses, a courthouse and a grand Government building. This has been said to have been the second largest wooden structure in the world.

14c - Ewelme Cottage, Parnell.

The cottage was built in 1863-64 for the Rev Vicesimus Lush the first vicar of Howick and his family.  The kauri cottage was eventually purchased by the Auckland City Council and leased to the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.  Restored to its former glory and richly endowed by many of the Lush family possessions, the cottage is open to the public.

1979 Architecture

        This is the first of three New Zealand Architecture issues, the others appearing in 1980 and 1982. New Zealand Architecture is an interesting subject that has appeared on many stamps. At first most of the buildings were copies from styles found in England but as these styles were adapted for New Zealand conditions, new and distinctly New Zealand styles began to emerge.        

        

         Buildings from the 1800s were the subject of the first issue on early New Zealand architecture. Notice the purpose of each of these buildings, one a private house, two mission buildings and one Government building.

10c - Riverlands Cottage, Blenheim.

Built about 1865 for Charles Redwood, son of a pioneering family.  Redwood arrived in New Zealand in 1842 and purchased the land in 1865.  The present cob cottage could date earlier than this since "squatting" was still a common practice in the 1860s.  Lack of suitable timber in Wairau forced the construction of the cob style house.  The cob walls were constructed from a mud and tussock mixture while the roof was made from wooden shingles.   Administered by the Marlborough Historical Society, interest in the restoration of the cottage from its badly dilapidated state began in 1959.  It was opened to the public in 1965.

Dunedin Railway Station.

A collection of stamps featuring this iconic building.

         After parliament buildings and the beehive, Dunedin Railway Station must be one of the buildings most featured on stamps. This beautiful building with its attractive light and dark stonework looks nothing like a station from one side and was once one of the busiest stations from the other. It was built at a time when Dunedin was booming with wealth from gold rushes of inland Otago. Now it is quieter, the station only seeing a few tourist trains each day and the building turned to other uses. But it is still the iconic building, the tourist attraction it always was. And it still makes a great subject for a stamp too.

For stamps on other railway subjects see Trains of New Zealand.

1982 Architecture - 30c Dunedin Railway Station.

30c - Dunedin Railway Station.

1982 Architecture.

2016 Scenic Definitives

Definitive Tour.

Back to 2014 Scenic Definitives.                Forward to 2017 Scenic Definitives.

       New Zealand is famous for its beautiful and diverse scenery. From the wildness of rugged coastline to snow-capped mountain peaks, there is always a view to be seen and enjoyed.  This is the second issue of the new format where the details and Maori design have been moved to the left-hand side. There are 8 stamps featuring 6 different scenes (2 stamps being issued in an adhesive format as well for stamp books.)
       The purpose of this issue is, of course, definitive stamps, on sale until further notice. These stamps are an addition to the existing Scenic Definitives range and are designed to accommodate the changes in postage rates from 1 July 2016.

              

40c - Church of the Good Shepherd, Lake Tekapo
(gummed)
Built on the shores of Lake Tekapo in 1935, the Church of the Good Shepherd is an iconic New Zealand location. This interdenominational church is a popular tourist destination, with people travelling from all over New Zealand and abroad to see the stunning views from within the church and to get married against the idyllic backdrop.

1965 Parliamentary Conference.

 1965 11th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference

 in Wellington.



The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association was established to promote the ideals of parliamentary democracy and the rule of law. The Association has held conferences annually since 1961. In 1965 the conference was held in Wellington and to mark the occasion a set of three commemorative stamps was issued.  On each stamp the emblem of the Association, a Mace and Black Rod crossed, was incorporated into the design. 

            

4d - Arms and Queen Elizabeth II.                                 9d - Parliament Buildings, Wellington.

1965 Commemorative Issues.

It was my original intention to make this a small post featuring the four stamps from the Commemorative Issues of 1965 but other members of our blog team kept sending me interesting items which I wanted to include. Now it has grown to become quite a large post. But isn't that what the blog is about, finding something new or interesting in these often overlooked and unloved stamps.     ( Anne)

1965 International Telecommunications Union Centenary.

 New Zealand, in common with other members of the International Telecommunication Union, issued a special stamp in 1965 to commemorate the centenary of the organisation. The Union, which has its headquarters in Geneva, was formed in 1865 and is the oldest of the international organisations which are now specialised agencies under the United Nations. The purpose of the Union is to maintain and extend international co-operation in the use of telecommunications of all kinds.

9d - International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
The design shows a telegraph wire held by a post from 1865 on the left-hand side, while modern telecommunications from 1965 is shown on the right-hand side. In the centre is a globe show ITU as a global organisation.

Parliament Buildings

        This post can be looked at, as a thematic collection of Parliament Building stamps, or as a history of Parliament in New Zealand. Below is the miniature sheet of the 2004 - 150 Years of Parliament issue. Rather than grouping the stamps by their issue date, I'm going to arrange them according to the time period of the buildings they show. The 2004 issue will be our guide through this interesting subject, with the five stamps acting as headings to the various sections/time periods.

 2004 - 150 Years of Parliament.
Stamps were issued 3rd March, 2004. 45c issued 5th May, 2004.

Singapore 2015 World Stamp Exhibition

Singapore 2015 was the third World Stamp Exhibition to be held in Singapore. It was held in conjunction with Singapore's 50th year of independence, with the full support and patronage of the Federation lnternationale de Philatelie (FIP) and under the auspices of the Federation of Inter-Asian Philately.

To mark this exhibition, New Zealand Post issued one stamp of a joint issue between Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. This stamp shows a great view of the New Zealand Houses of Parliament in Wellington. The other two stamps also included the Houses of Parliament in their respective countries. (See the miniature sheet below.)

1950 Canterbury Centennial

        On 17 August 1840 French settlers landed at Akaroa and founded the first town.  A few years later farms at Purau, Riccarton, and Pigeon Bay were established and it was from here the establishment and extension of the province grew. The first settlers chosen by the Canterbury Association (formed in England) disembarked from the first four immigrant ships - 'Charlotte Jane', 'Sir John Seymour', 'Cressy' and 'Randolph', at Lyttelton in December 1850 and this date is recognised as that of the official founding of Canterbury.  John Robert Godley had been placed in charge of the first colonists.  These pioneers who chose to settle at Christchurch had to make a laborious trek over the hills separating Lyttelton and Christchurch by way of a rough track, which became known as the Bridle Path.
         This five value stamp issue by three well-known stamp designers sets out to remember those early times and the people who made Canterbury and Christchurch what they are today. 

Christchurch Cathedral - 1d.

1948 Otago Centennial

          In 1948, the settlement of the Otago Province and the founding of the city of Dunedin on 23 March 1848 were commemorated by four stamps depicting the arrival of the immigrant ships, the town of Cromwell, the First Dunedin Church and the University of Otago. The stamps are classic James Berry designs, being full of fine detail. The 1d is famous for its colour shifts of the blue centre, examples of which can been seen below.

Trains of New Zealand.

      

   Another of my interests besides Stamps is Trains. I like any trains anywhere but since this blog is about New Zealand stamps I suppose, I should display New Zealand trains.

Over the years New Zealand has issued four sets of train stamps plus quite a few others depicting trains or train related subjects. Let's have a look at them.

2014 Construction of a Nation

       On the 5th of March, NZ Post will issue this set of five values depicting early New Zealand residential architectural beginnings. I am unsure if this will be a one off issue or part of a series. The NZ Post we site doesn't mention much about the reason why these houses were chosen or if it will be the beginning of a series on New Zealand architecture.

70c - Colonial Cottage.

1920 Victory & 1946 Peace

        I have been interested in the two sets of stamps issued at the end of the first and second World Wars. The first one in 1920 is called the Victory Issue while the second one in 1946 is known as the Peace Issue. Why the difference? This post is going to compare these two issues and try to find why they are so different considering they both mark the end a major war.

1920  Victory

For more see military /ANZAC - Part One.
First, the Victory Issue which marked the end of World War I, a war which was said to have been the war to end all wars. No one would have believed that 20 years later an even bigger war would be raging.

       
             Green - ½d                                                                                              Red - 1d
Both of these stamps carry a similar theme of the British Lion representing the British Empire, with the allegorical figure of Peace.