2008 Hungarian stamp issues: Philavillage series

By Eurostamper — June 23, 2008
See more about: 2008 issues | Hungary | Hungary 2008

Philavillage is a series of twelve stamps, issued in six batches of two each, issued in Hungary throughout 2008. The twelve stamps and a supplemental playing board (HUF 450) comprise a children’s board game, with cartoon anthropomorphic animals and a village scene, intended to teach Hungarian children about stamp collecting.

Each time a set of two stamps are issued, a piece of the game board will also be issued. These are attached to a larger purple board (the “village”) with two flaps. (Click the image to enlarge.)

The issue dates of the entire series are:
Part 1: Jun 6 2008
Part 2: Jun 20 2008
Part 3: Jul 4 2008
Part 4: September 2008
Part 5: (autumn)
Part 6: (autumn)

Part one, issued on June 6, 2008, features two HUF 100 stamps, one each for the village hairdresser (a goat) and the baker (a pig). The board issued with these covers the lower left of the village scene.

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2008 Hungarian stamp issues: Let’s Help Each Other (May 20 2008)

By Eurostamper — June 23, 2008
See more about: 2008 issues | Hungary | Hungary 2008

The design of this stamp was chosen from among four thousand children’s drawings submitted in 2007. The “Let’s Help Each Other” stamp has a face value of HUF 100, with a surcharge of HUF 50 per stamp. This surcharge is not available for paying postage; it is donated to the Hungarian Ambulance Service to supplement the purchase of medical equipment for children.

The winning drawing is called “Ajándékozás” (”Present Giving”), and was submitted by Lili Póta. It shows two people bringing gifts to a sick friend in bed. The legend on the bottom of the stamp says “Segítsük egymást gyerekek!” (”Let’s help each other!”).

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2008 Hungarian stamp issues: Holiday Vouchers Anniversary (May 20 2008)

By Eurostamper — June 21, 2008
See more about: 2008 issues | Hungary | Hungary 2008

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Hungarian National Recreational Foundation’s holiday vouchers, this HUF 70 stamp was issued on May 20, 2008. Its stylized graphical design in meant to invoke the carefree feeling of being on holiday.

Holiday vouchers are given out to Foundation members and their families, and are accepted at a wide range of places such as hotels, restaurants, parks, zoos, etc.

The stamp bears the legend “tízéves az ődőlési csekk”, Hungarian for “ten years of holiday vouchers”.

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2008 Hungarian stamp issues: Euro 2008 Soccer (Football) (May 16 2008)

By Eurostamper — June 21, 2008
See more about: 2008 issues | Euro 2008 soccer | Hungary | Hungary 2008

Hungary is one of many countries issuing stamps in honor of UEFA’s Euro 2008 soccer tournament. It was decided that its hosts would be both Austria and Switzerland, which beat out Hungary for the privelege.

Still, no hard feelings on the part of Hungary: their Euro 2008 stamp shows a closeup of the corner of the field, with grass and painted lines, and three flags stuck in the ground: Switzerland’s, Austria’s, and a yellow corner flag. The flags stand in vibrant contrast to the rather uniform green of the grass behind them.

The HUF 250 stamp says “Labdarúgó Európa-bajnokság - Auzstria-Svájc 2008″, Hungarian for “European football championship - Austria-Switzerland 2008″.

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2008 Hungarian stamp issues: Őrség National Park (May 16 2008)

By Eurostamper — June 21, 2008
See more about: 2008 issues | Birds | Flowers | Hungary | Hungary 2008

This stamp is a tribute to Őrség, a National Park located in far western Hungary known for its mysterious natural beauty. Magyar Posta, Hungary’s postal authority, has been issuing stamps honoring Hungarian National Parks since 1998.

This stamp, issued May 16, 2008, shows a typical Őrség scene. In the foreground is a crossbill bird and a yellow lemon lilly flower. A very small portrait on the bottom of the stamp shows István Chernel (1865-1922), a noted Hungarian ornithologist who wrote a key book in 1899 and has a museum named after him in his native Kőszeg.

The stamp bears the words “Keresztcsőrű” (”crossbill”), “Sárgaliliom” (”lemon lilly”) and the name of the National Park in Hungarian.

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2008 Hungarian stamp issues: Tokaj wine region (May 16 2008)

By Eurostamper — June 20, 2008
See more about: 2008 issues | Hungary | Hungary 2008

The Tokaj area in northeastern Hungary has been a world-famous wine-producing region for centuries. It has been designated a World Heritage Site, and now Hungary has honored that development with another in its long-term series of Hungarian World Heritage Sites.

This stamp is a mix of two photographs — at the top, a view across the vineyards of Tarcal’s Terézia Hill, and at the bottom a look at a row of wine cellars in Tolcsva. A legend at the top of the stamp says “Tokaji történelmi borvidék”, Hungarian for “historic Tokaj wine region”. The face value of the issue is HUF 290.

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2008 Hungarian stamp issues: Letter-writing (Europa 2008) (May 9 2008)

By Eurostamper — June 20, 2008
See more about: 2008 issues | Europa 2008 | Hungary | Hungary 2008 | PostEurope

This is a tribute to, somewhat obscurely, the practice of writing letters. This theme was chosen by PostEurop, a body based in Brussels, Belgium that comprises (at the time of this writing) 48 countries and promotes cooperation and improved relationships between various postal authorities.

The design of this set of four stamps (two stamps printed twice each) reflects the spirit of international cooperation implicit in the issue: in very stylized, graphics, one stamp (the HUF 100) shows an envelope and a hand-written letter, over which is superimposed a fancy capital “A”. The “A” is being written by a giant ink pen shown on the adjacent HUF 230 stamp, the tip of the pen ending right at the edge of the two stamps. Behind the pen is a calligraphic “L”.

The “L” refers to the phrase “Levél-írás” (”letter writing”) written on each stamp, and to the multilingual faint writing visible on both the letter in the HUF 100 stamp and on the background of the miniature sheet: in French and English (the official languages of PostEurop) and Hungarian, various phrases are repeated: “Levél, levél-írás, letter, letter-writing, lettre, écrire une lettre”. (See the enhanced image of the miniature sheet background at left.)

The two stamps appear in the same layout again, under the first two and rotated 180º.

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2008 Hungarian stamp issues: Ethnic Minorities — Germans (May 9 2008)

By Eurostamper — June 20, 2008
See more about: 2008 issues | Hungary | Hungary 2008

This is the second in a series (the first being the Roma stamp of April 8). This time, the Hungarian minority being celebrated is the German people, who have established a significant presence in the country through several instances of migration throughout history.

The stamp’s basic design is closely related to the Romany issue: it features a full-color woman dancing in the left foreground, and a musical instrument (more faded colors) on the right. In this case, the instrument is an accordion. The more distant background image is a German-Hungarian village, which celebrates the architecture of the group.

In the upper left corner is the emblem of the “Magyarországi Németek Országos Önkormányzatának” (National Self-Government of Germans in Hungary), an elected body dedicated to preserving the German language and culture in German-Hungarian areas.

The stamp bears the phrase “Magyarországi kisebbségek - Németek”, which means “Hungarian minority - German” in Hungarian. The stamp’s value is HUF 275.

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2008 Hungarian stamp issues: Our Living Heritage IV (May 9 2008)

By Eurostamper — June 19, 2008
See more about: 2008 issues | Hungary | Hungary 2008

Part four of this multi-year series is a set of 5 stamps showing 5 different animals seen in Hungary.

The first (most expensive — HUF 600) is one of the finest designs of the year. A herd of water buffalo make their way through some water, light glinting dazzlingly behind one particular beast — the star of the set — who has been isolated and highlighted by the perforations that surround his space in the image. The entire picture is a beautiful balance of vibrant navy blues and Van Gogh-like golden shadows.

The other four animal stamps in this installment of this series are, in descending order of value:
HUF 310 - Hungarian donkey
HUF 170 - cikta sheep
HUF 150 - goat
HUF 145 - rabbit

All four of these stamps feature a light blue border with a drawing of the animal in the middle in its natural setting. All of them have blue/yellowish gold colors giving all five issues both a thematic and graphic unity.

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2008 Hungarian stamp issues: Ethnic Minorities — Roma (Apr 8 2008)

By Eurostamper — June 19, 2008
See more about: 2008 issues | Hungary | Hungary 2008

This is the first in a new series for Hungary’s stamps: a recognition of the ethnic minorities found in the country.

This first one honors the Roma people, a group that has been traced back to Indian origins and which exists in a wide area of eastern and southern Europe. Emphasizing Romany music and dance, the design features a kind of montage: a colorful Roma dancer dominates the stamp; beside her, two hands play a cimbalom in a closeup shot. (The cimbalom is a type of dulcimer known throughout eastern Europe, which incidentally featured as Gollum’s theme music in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.)

Behind these two foreground images is a black and white picture of a group of musicians. The value of the stamp is HUF 260. The legend in Hungarian is “Magyarországi kisebbségek - Romák” (”Hungarian minorities - Roma”).

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2008 Hungarian stamp issues: Means of Transport (Mar 14 2008)

By Eurostamper — June 19, 2008
See more about: 2008 issues | Hungary | Hungary 2008

This strip of four stamps, titled “Közlekedési Eszközök” (”Means of Transport”) is part of a drive by the Hungarian postal authority to promote stamp collecting among youth. These stamps feature stylized, cartoonish drawings of a car, a train, a plane, and a boat. The value of each stamp is HUF 150 — the middle two stamps feature a surcharge of HUF 30 each, which cannot be used to pay postage. The extra money instead goes to help fund the youth drive.

The official Hungarian postal website refers to the art on these as “youthful”, though we can’t help noticing that a bird is in serious danger of being hit by the oncoming train. Surely this was unintentional, but I don’t see a way out for the poor fella. And even if he tries to fly up out of the way, the plane will probably get him instead.

Hey, maybe we’ll get lucky and see the aftermath of this accident on a future stamp. A Halloween issue maybe. Or as a special “coming of age” series — sorry kids, but all life must eventually die!

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2008 Hungarian stamp issues: Two hundredth anniversary of Károly Knezich’s birth (Mar 14 2008)

By Eurostamper — June 19, 2008
See more about: 2008 issues | Hungary | Hungary 2008

Famous army leader and martyr Károly Knezich lived from 1808-1849. This stamp, part of an ongoing series honoring legendary figures in Hungarian history, depicts the striking three-quarter profile of Knezich over a background of the Battle of Komárom, which took place in April of 1849. The stamp’s face value is HUF 380.

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