By Dennis Sadowski
Scottish inventor’s 1925 breakthrough commemorated on postal issues worldwide
As Scottish inventor John Logie Baird (1888-1946) transmitted the first television picture in his laboratory on Oct. 2, 1925, it’s unlikely that he thought the medium would become a ubiquitous part of human life.
It took more than two decades for television to widely appear in homes with an exponential explosion occurring from 1950 through the 1970s. Today, wherever we are — at home, in restaurants, at a library, on the job or even at a live sporting event — broadcast images bombard our senses and influence how human beings interact with each other. While the technology has changed since Baird transmitted a grayscale image of the head of a ventriloquist’s dummy, the medium is more popular than ever.
While Baird, his invention, broadcast technology in general and the TV shows, newscasts and sporting events aired on television over the era have been the subject of stamps from around the world, few countries have honored the entrepreneur himself on a stamp.
One such issue is a souvenir sheet from São Tomé and Príncipe, an island country in the Gulf of Guinea off Africa’s Atlantic coast. The small nation’s postal service in 2007 issued a 40,000-dobra (U.S. $1.90) souvenir sheet with a single stamp depicting Baird. The sheet also shows images of Baird and an assistant working with a large TV camera and old-styles televisions.
TV technology was a popular topic for stamps in the 1960s and 1970s with postal agencies commemorating the invention. Baird was not always mentioned on the stamps but the development of TV fascinated the public and became a popular subject to depict on stamps, especially in Europe, European territories and the Soviet bloc.
Global television broadcasts would be difficult until there was satellite technology. Telstar, the first communications satellite used to relay television, telephone and data between ground stations in Europe and the U.S., was launched July 10, 1962, amid much excitement.
On its sixth orbit, Telstar I relayed an image of Old Glory to the amazement of earth-based viewers. Telstar didn’t last long, however, going dark Feb. 21, 1963, just seven months after launch. Radiation from a high-altitude nuclear test cut its life short. Still, Telstar led the way to ever more sophisticated communication satellites, including today’s miniature “cubesats” that connect isolated communities globally.
Stamp collectors developed a cover to commemorate Telstar on launch day postmarked at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. It features artwork showing the satellite and a small image of the live television picture of Old Glory.
More recently, television shows have been the focus of postal authorities.
Great Britain’s Royal Post released six stamps on Aug. 14 honoring the popular
television series “Monty Python and the Royal Circus.”
Britain’s Royal Post recently released a set of stamps noting the hilarious Monty Python TV series that aired on BBC from 1969 to 1974 and later around the world.
Six stamps arranged in se-tenant (side-by-side) pairs show a montage of scenes from “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.” Four other stamps on a souvenir sheet revisit scenes from the 1975 film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” All of the stamps are valued at the first-class rate (currently £1.70/U.S. $2.28).
The stamps are the most recent in a long line of stamps from Royal Post that have depicted comedy, drama and fantasy TV series.
Two stamps from the U.S. Postal Service’s Celebrate the Century series of the late
1990s recalled the popularity and show iconic scenes from the TV shows “All in the
Family” and “Cosby.”
The U.S. Postal Service has focused its television-themed stamps on popular shows. Panes of 15 stamps recalling events of the 1970s and 1980s include individual stamps for the shows “All in the Family” and “The Cosby Show.” A stamp on the 1940s pane shows people gathered around a TV set with the caption “TV entertains America.”
A nostalgic pane of 20 stamps from 2009 was titled “Early TV Memories.” Each stamp is designed to appear as if it were a television screen and depicts scenes from popular shows such as “The Honeymooners,” “Ozzie and Harriet” and “Dragnet.”
Betty White, known as “the first lady of television,” was honored on a stamp issued
March 25 by the U.S. Postal Service.
In March this year, the USPS issued a first-class “forever” stamp honoring actress and comedienne Betty White, who entertained TV viewers for more than 60 years in sitcoms and talk shows. She died Dec. 31, 2021 at 99.
Cuy-Lor Show in Rocky River
The Cuy-Lor Stamp Club hosts its free annual show Oct. 24-25 at Rocky River Memorial Hall, 21016 Hilliard Blvd. Fifteen dealers, stamp and postal history exhibits and an area for young and new collectors are part of the fun. A souvenir cover honoring President Jimmy Carter also will be available. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Sadowski can be reached at sadowski.dennis@gmail.com.