France 1949 - Franco-American Alliance

It all started in 1776 when a young colony rebelled against its motherland in an attempt to smash the shackles of bondage. This colony called upon the aid of France to assist in their struggles for independence. In 1778, France and the new United States signed a treaty of alliance. With foreign aid this colony eventually won their war for independence in 1783. You may have heard the name of this colony once or twice. It now goes by the name: United States of America. This alliance solidified relations between the two nations, and except for two occasions in 1798 and 1942 they managed to maintain fairly peaceful relations. Indeed, in 1884 France gifted America with the stunningly beautiful Statue of Liberty as a symbol of friendship.

For the sake of brevity, we can skip forward to a little over one hundred years later. It is 1949. World War II is thankfully over. And after some rocky relations since the end of the war, the two nations of France and the USA have became formal allies as part of the North Atlantic Treaty. From this treaty was formed the NATO military alliance. But it was not all smooth sailing between the two nations. The Suez Crisis in 1956, for instance, caused a substantial amount of friction between the two countries. In the end, however, the two countries have maintained a reasonable relationship. Indeed, over the years the young people of France have embraced many cultural aspects of the US. Whether the bombardment of US culture on other nations is a good thing or a bad thing is not really for me to say - at least not here! 

This is, of course, an astoundingly brief summary of historical events from 1766 to the present. To go further would require a ridiculously long blog. To read more on the history of the relationship between France and the USA click HERE. 

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On 14 May 1949 France issued a stamp to celebrate the formal alliance between France and USA. The stamp was engraved by Pierre Gandon.

This elegant design represents the allied nations as shields bearing their respective flags. Between the shield is worked a cross-hatch pattern to represent the weaving together of two countries via trade and travel. This concept is furthered by the illustration of a plane, top centre, and a transatlantic ship, lower centre. Altogether this is a solid design with a dramatic visual punch.

Until next time...

France 1949 - CITT in Paris

On 15 June 1949 the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) met in Paris for a major telecommunications conference called the CITT (Conference International Télégraphique et Téléphonique). This conference focused on things like the normalisation of international telegrams, radio-telegrams, and transport tariffs. The conference lasted nineteen days, concluding on 3 July 1949.

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On 13 June 1949 France issued a set of five stamps for the occasion of the CITT in Paris. The highest value in this set, the 100f value, was designed and engraved by Pierre Gandon. This amazing stamp features the Pont Alexandre III with the Petit Palais in the background.

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The main focus of this truly stunning stamp, as mentioned above, is Pont Alexandre III. Work began on this bridge in 1897 under the guidance of the engineers Jean Resal and Amédée Alby. Designed by Cassien-Bernard and Gaston Cousin, was a symbol of Franco - Russian friendship, which was established by the alliance between Emperor Alexander III of Russia and the President of the French Republic, Sadi Carnot, in 1891. This alliance was solidified when Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, Empress Alexandra Fedorovna, and President Felix Faure laid the first stone of the bridge on 7 October 1896. When completed, the bridge was inaugurated for the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1900.

The detail Gandon has incorporated into the engraving of the bridge is incredible. Here's a close-up.

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In the background we can the Petit Palais, which was purpose built for the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1900. The building was designed by Charles Girault, who won the competition for the privilege of undertaking the design. Construction began on 10 October 1897 and the building was completed in April 1900. The total cost of the Petit Palais at the time of the construction was £400,000.

Only one side of the Petit Palais is fully visible in the stamp, the rest being mostly covered by trees, but what can be seen, its domed roofs, its stunning facade, are spectacular. Here's a look...

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I think what captures my imagination most, however, is the details of the tiny door found to the left of the bridge. I love it. The exquisite detail. The mystery of what may be behind that door...

Until next time...

France 1944 - Travelling Post Office Van

I once heard that a city without a rail network is like a body with no arteries. Perhaps a slight exaggeration there, but nevertheless since the early to mid nineteenth century, trains have played an integral role in the industrial development of many, many countries.

The first railway lines appeared in France in 1823. These lines were generally quite short and used for mining. After seeing the success of larger rail networks in Britain, France decided it was time to develop their own railway system. This decision was, in part, to link with the existing system in Britain to boost trade.

One of the most important early French rail lines was the Paris-Le Havre line. The first section of this line to be built was the Paris-Rouen. In order to facilitate the construction of the line, the Paris and Rouen Railway Company was established. They appointed a man by the name of Joseph Locke as the head engineer. It is worth pointing out that this scheme had its fair share of opposition. Many believed it was detrimental to the landscape, primarily agriculture. France already had an established system of water-borne transport, which utilised the country's numerous natural waterways. It was argued that a rail system would create dangerous opposition to this established economy. But, in the end, industrial progress - good or bad - won the day. And on 9 May 1843 the Paris-Rouen line (the first section of the Paris-Le Havre line) was opened. The remainder of the line was opened om 22 March 1847. In total, this rail line stretched for 228 km.

Opening of the Paris-Rouen Rail line, 1843.

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On 10 June 1944 France issued a stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of the creation of mobile postal services. The first use of the rail mail coach - from the tiny bit I've been able to discover - began with the Paris-Rouen line in 1844. The stamp was designed by M. Pelletan.

And the engraver... Well, that's where things seem to get interesting! There is no engraver name on the stamp. According to Stanley Gibbons, the engraver was Pellean. But... but everywhere I have looked on the internet, the engraving has been attributed to Pierre Gandon. Is this another case of Gandon's name not being allowed to appear on the stamp? Or is this simply a case of the name of the engraver being omitted for no good reason, other than that it just is? I don't know! If anyone can shed some light on this issue I'd be very grateful.

Until next time...