World Post Day – 9th of October
World Postal Day is celebrated every year on 9 October, the date of the founding of the UPU (Universal Postal Union). The 22 founding countries, including Hungary, set themselves the goal of coordinating international postal activities and improving postal services.
The name of the post office and its services have become almost synonymous with the concept of stamps. Stamps have been in use since 1840, but the life of Hungarian stamps only began after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. The idea of an independent Hungarian Post Office gave rise to the need for an independent Hungarian stamp. The first series of Hungarian postage stamps were produced in Vienna, but in May 1871, the first stamps in Hungary were also issued, produced by lithography in the State Printing Company in Buda.
The stamp had lost its old function of proving that the postal service had been paid, and there would probably be no stamps today if there would not be a hobby that involves collecting them: philately. Stamp design is also an art, just think of the tiny space available to design graphics that are in harmony with the occasion, aesthetically pleasing and even special to collectors. This makes creativity in this area even more important, with philatelists often at the heart of stamp design. Many stamps have been released in ANY too, so let us see which have been the most unique of the last 10-15 years!
Kalocsa is one of the most important places of Hungarian folk art. Both the paprika and the embroidery made there are immortalised in a very special stamp set, the “Kalocsa Collection“. On one of the stamps, the Kalocsa rose was realised with real embroidery, while the one with the paprika motif was lacquered with paprika scented varnish.
In 2013, several copies of the “Treasures of Hungarian Museums” series were released in a set of 3D stamps. Their uniqueness is that the images of the stamps show a spatial effect to the viewer by using the three-dimensional glasses that are packaged with them. They were the first three-dimensional stamps in Hungary.
In 2016, Magyar Posta issued the stamp block “Five Years of the Fundamental Law of Hungary“. It was also awarded the title of “The World’s Best Luxury Stamp” in 2017, thanks to the fact that it is the first stamp in the world to use Swarovski crystals of different sizes and colours, in this case to decorate the crown jewels.
Of course, we have also produced stamps with Braille, special perforations, inks, foils, QR code sound stamps, stamps for special occasions such as the XXXth Summer Olympic Games, the VIth World Finno-Ugric Congress, or special days in science, medicine, history and art, but let us not forget our “fairy tale” or festive themed stamp blocks. Thanks to our innovations, we have won numerous awards both in Hungary and abroad.
Obviously, the Printing Company has to keep up with this constantly evolving field, so there are no boundaries to the production of unique, even small editions of collector’s stamps, which can even be given a special decoration after printing. We are proud that these special pieces are also made on ANY’s production lines!
