APPROVAL OF STAMPS

 My father, amongst many other hobbies, was a stamp collector and every now and then, would bring out a pile of albums and pore over the pages of colourful stamps, sorting them in order. I would often sneak a look at the stamps over his shoulder, as he wasn't keen on me getting my grubby mitts on them and from time to time I would notice the odd space themed stamp. Since then and as my own interest in space ephemera has broadened, I have taken more of an interest in these space thematics and picked up a few used varieties on the way. Used stamps can be bought in bulk, if they are standard issue and I have bought a few packs of mixed stamps from ebay and charity shops. The difficulty in buying blind, is that you never quite know what you might find, so duplication is often an issue. On the plus side, though, it is quite common to find some lovely examples of the stamp illustrators art from all around the world.

The artwork on the stamps varies tremendously in content and quality. with some images replicating existing art or photo reference and others being entirely original or out and out fantasy, with odd representations of spacecraft and astronauts.

These larger format stamps from Yemen, have clearly referenced some NASA source material for the images on the stamps as they show a Bendix Lunar Rover prototype and a Flying Lunar Excursion Platform (above) as well as an inflatable moon base concept.

Another from the same release show the projected LEM 'truck' - a concept which would use a secondary Lunar module, without the ascent stage, as a cargo platform. The Flying Platform shown on the lower left, seems to be based on a Major Matt Mason toy astronaut too.

Its very common for some stamp producers to simply lift existing artwork and repurpose it as the basis of a stamp, such as this illustration by Ed Valigursky from the Time Life 'Man in Space' book, of a radiation shielded spaceman.

Existing artwork or designs can also be used to represent entirely different things, such as this spirited rendition of a Project Dyna-Soar glider, made into a space ambulance!

Probably my favourite style of all are the soviet or eastern bloc era stamps, commemorating the russian successes such as the Lunik series of probes and the Sputnik and Vostok missions.

Although a lot of these stamps tend to be tiny - sometimes less than an inch long, the level of detail and workmanship is glorious.

Varying from simple line drawings to lovely etched images, the stamps have a wonderful period feel to them.

Some of the designs of the spacecraft are noticeably vague or fanciful, reflecting the communist veil of secrecy on certain missions, such as the early Vostok flights, with the craft bearing little resemblance to the actual spaceraft. 

It would only be many years later that images of the actual spacecraft would be shown openly.