Author Archives: mwalsh

Canada Post has unveiled the images for its next series on Canadian photography. The fourth set in a five-year series culminating in 2017, this issue continues to showcase the best Canadian photographers and photography of the past 150 years – as chosen by leading curators and gallery owners. The domestic-rate stamps are a photographic feast, unfettered by time or technique. Continue reading →

On March 8 Canada Post released a new stamp that pays tribute to the women who fought and won the right to vote 100 years ago in this country. While the suffrage movement began to form nearly four decades earlier, the struggle to secure the vote did not significantly advance until the First World War, when women worked in hospitals, factories and offices, and often raised families alone, spurring demands for equality. In 1916, the women of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta became the first in Canada to win the right to cast provincial ballots. Designed by Winnipeg-based Tétro, the commemorative stamp is illustrated in the black and gold colours that symbolized the North American movement and incorporates the Venus symbol of femininity as the letters ‘O’ and ‘T’ in the word Vote. Vertical text in English and French at the right highlights the women’s suffrage theme and indicates the dates of its centennial. The official first-day cover features one of the most important figures of the women’s suffrage movement, Nellie McClung. Her portrait is set over an image of the 1915 petition to the Government of Manitoba that helped secure full political rights for women in that province. At the bottom is a black and gold banner reading ‘Votes for Women,’ one of several artifacts currently on display in a women’s suffrage exhibit at Winnipeg’s Manitoba Museum. Continue reading →

Philatelic exhibitors and anyone thinking about becoming involved in the fascinating world of exhibiting now have full access to a treasure of helpful columns written by well-known philatelist, exhibitor and judge David Piercy. Thanks to the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada (RPSC), a series of columns written by Piercy is now available for free on the society’s website. The columns, which were only available exclusively to RPSC members through The Canadian Philatelist, are written under the header, “Let’s Talk Exhibiting.” “Personally, I believe the columns will be of great assistance to exhibitors, experienced or not, looking to better their exhibits,” says the RPSC’s executive manager, Robert Timberg. “Our hope is that they will also show collectors who have never exhibited that preparing an exhibit is not complicated, and can be a lot of fun to boot.” Continue reading →

Canada Post is off to a busy start in 2016 with the launch of stamps celebrating the Year of the Monkey, five definitive stamps featuring Canadian UNESCO World Heritage Sites and a new black and white stamp of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth taken by a legendary fashion photographer. Continue reading →

Another two-part catalogue of the Brigham Collection of Canada will feature the Edward VII (1903-11) and Queen Elizabeth II (1953-95) collections. “Probably the greatest Edward VII collection ever assembled, it is replete with unique items such as the 1901 Composite Essay Presentation Panel which debunks the long-held belief that the post office had no intention of issuing new stamps until the contract ran out with the printer in 1902,” says Charles Verge, chief executive officer of Brigham Auctions, Ltd. The seventh sale of what is considered one of the finest collections ever assembled, Ron Brigham’s philatelic material has garnered numerous national and international awards and recognitions. The sale will be held Saturday, Jan. 16 at the Brampton Golf Club in Brampton, Ont. The 396-lot auction kicks off at 1 p.m. Continue reading →