punk philatelist

Stamp blogging: it’s the new Punk!

| The Punk Philatelist

Philippines P5 Marikina Shoe Capital stampSo, um… hi…

Just a follow-up to the previous post, you know, that one where the founder of the website up and left.

I’m Gerard (a name?! This website is going to the dogs already). I’ll be your Punk for the foreseeable future, and as she mentioned in her farewell speech, I’ve been a little bit of Punk in the past. I want to add my voice to those on this website and on Punk’s social media channels who bade Punk #1 a loving farewell. She wanted no serenade on her way out, but she undoubtedly blazed a unique trail in the philatelic world. She’s spending some time wandering off trails now, so I wish her all the very best. My involvement in this blog began as a delighted reader and avid follower, so I’ll aim to be as surprising and entertaining as she was, but hey… let’s not count our chickens. Continue reading →

A new year, a new Punk. Get drinking.

| The Punk Philatelist

France 1938 300th Anniversary of the Birth of Dom Pierre Pérignon - Traditional Costume of Champagne 1.75F stamp

It’s not very often I get meta about blogging this blog, but indulge me for one New Year’s Eve post.

A naughty little secret has been hiding in plain sight for a while now, alluded to in the ‘Punk Philatelist Manifesto’ page. If you haven’t spotted it, prepare to have your MIND BLOWN. Continue reading →

Hello, new friends!

UK 2017 Classic Toys 1st Spacehopper stamp
| The Punk Philatelist

Just a quick note to say thank you to the pals who have shared some of my older posts around the internet this week, and a warm hello to any new eyeballs. I’m a bit quiet right now due to day job commitments, but I’m taking the opportunity to tweak a few things in the back end to make this a bigger and better site.

We’ve re-established in the last few days that I’m not everyone’s cup of tea, but please, poke around, have your say, swear at me, pass things on to collectors who you think might enjoy something a bit different, or non-collectors under whose noses you think you could sneak some philately without them noticing…

PP x

© Philatelic product images remain the copyright of issuing postal administrations and successor authorities.

A thousand thankyous!

1923 Germany 1000 mark Punk Philatelist special
| The Punk Philatelist

1923 Germany 1000 mark Punk Philatelist specialMy website gained its 1000th follower this week! How fabulous! I know, at least half of you are spammers, but it’s still a nice round number to attain.

I’d just like to thank my actual human people readers for your support. This site has already gone larger and more global than I could have hoped in such a short time, and your appreciation and comments inspire me to carry on (even if the output isn’t quite as frequent as I’d like sometimes).

Also, thanks to the Weimar Republic of Germany for issuing a stamp back in 1923 to celebrate my blog reaching the 1000 mark. What amazing foresight.

As you were.

Punk x

Busy Punk!

China Revolutionary Ballet Company
| The Punk Philatelist

Whoa, where have I been? One moment I’m slapping stamp posts up on the internet like a ’60s actor slapping arses on a bus full of French nurses, and the next, I’ve gone AWOL.

The truth, dear readers, is that I work in a freelance world, and sometimes, a punk’s just gotta drop everything to hit a deadline. It’ll be rough for the next few months, but I’ll still be loitering around, even if I’m not always posting.

Despite that, I’ve been so excited to see people still find and enjoy this site, and a big welcome to those who have followed my Facebook page!

China Revolutionary Ballet CompanyOne of them was Stampboards (the Facebook arm of the chat board), who kindly said they enjoyed my post on China’s revolutionary ballet, and supplied a stamp of the full company. Not to be messed with! Not only are they armed, but they’re ballerinas, so they’re probably hungry.

As for me, I’m cooking up a few new posts, so stay tuned. They’ll cross your feed soon enough.

Love, Punk x

If you like this blog, please like, link, share, and help me get the word out! I’m on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr. x

© Philatelic product images remain the copyright of issuing postal administrations and successor authorities

Thank You Stamp of the Day

| The Punk Philatelist

1970 France Edgar Degas balletJust a quick word to say thank you to WordPress for featuring one of my blog posts (this one) on their Freshly Pressed page a few weeks back, and thanks to everyone who has stopped by and followed my site since! I’ll be endeavoring to follow back everyone who’s not a spammer.

Thanks especially to those who have commented. I was afraid that only boring people would be interested in my efforts, but I’ve been lurking on many of your blogs and it seems that, as I suspected, there are other closet, latent and vicarious philatelists who are not boring at all.

I’ve been a bit snowed under at work lately, but I’ll keep the posts coming. Feel free to ask questions. This Punk don’t bite. You might inspire a post!

In the meantime, here is a Stamp of the Day, France’s 1970 release honoring Edgar Degas’s La Danseuse Au Bouquet (The Dancer with Bouquet). It’s a little bit how I felt last week, though I was wearing less girly clothes and my lighting was far more professional. x

 

© Philatelic product images remain the copyright of issuing postal administrations and successor authorities

My header: stamps that rock, and what graphic designers did to fashion designers

| The Punk Philatelist

The header of this blog comprises two images that I felt were thematically and philosophically apt.

The colourful stamps in the background come from Australia’s 2006 ‘Rock Posters’ release, showcasing the talents of Australian designers as demonstrated in posters for various festivals, tours and gigs. I loved this issue. It was a kick in the balls compared to our usual diet of cute furry animals and dreary royals. Nice to see Australia Post acknowledge the possible existence of Australians who might not be as obsessed with sport and wildflowers as it seems to think most of its market is.

Australia, 2006, Australian Rock Posters(Nerd note: if you’re wondering where I got these stamps in a se-tenant sheet format as seen in my background, I made it myself. It doesn’t exist.)

The image I’m using as my avatar is that of a stamp released by the UK in 2012 as part of a Great British Fashion issue. This particular stamp features a harlequin dress designed by Vivienne Westwood in 1993 – not exactly punk in itself, but the Dame was instrumental in popularising punk fashion back when it was a thing, working with Malcolm McLaren to outfit the Sex Pistols and all that. Her ethos of using shock to stick a spoke in the system might be something to which this blog can aspire. Here’s the full set:

UK 2012 Great British FashionWhat a coincidence, Punk is wearing that little black Alexander McQueen number at her desk as she types.

Continue reading →