Who Was Turdakun Usubaliev?

Kyrgyzstan: Turdakun Usubaliev, 05 November 2019. Image from GULFMANN STAMPS WORLD.

First, I have a confession to make. I do not actually own any of the philatelic items depicted in today’s article.  I discovered them on another blog dedicated to new issues in my endless quest for interesting stamps.  As I often do, I wondered, “Who is this person?”  The fact that the stamp pictured above is being released by one of the two postal operators in Kyrgyzstan on this very day — 5 November 2019 — prompted me to find out with the aim of putting together A Stamp A Day’s first article in quite some time.

My only real connection to the issuing entity itself is that my company employed a Kyrgyz national last year whom I trained to work at our various English camps.  His homeland is an intriguing place so let us begin with a bit of background before we get to the subject of today’s stamp. Continue reading “Who Was Turdakun Usubaliev?”

Welcome to the Year of the Pig 2019 / ยินดีต้อนรับสู่ปีกุน 2562 [Updated Images 2019-01-05]

A new year brings many things — new hopes, new dreams, new goals, new resolutions, and much more. I had hoped to start 2019 (or 2562 by the Buddhist calendar used in Thailand) with a new stamp but it wasn’t to be. Thailand loves to issue stamps on dates when the post offices throughout most of the nation are closed. That is, except for Bangkok … Continue reading Welcome to the Year of the Pig 2019 / ยินดีต้อนรับสู่ปีกุน 2562 [Updated Images 2019-01-05]

Новый Год / Novy God (Russian New Year Celebration)

We have reached the end of 2018 as well as A Stamp A Day’s “A Month of Christmas” series which never really strayed from the topic (Kwanzaa is a Christmas alternative and the Apollo 8 mission occurred over the holiday and is notable for its Christmas Eve message from lunar orbit). While I examined a host of traditions which focused more on modern United States … Continue reading Новый Год / Novy God (Russian New Year Celebration)