Lanarkshire Philatelic Society

Caledonian Philatelic Society

"100 Years Young!!"

"Caley" President, Margaret Morris, and three of her members entertained us with their displays at this, our most recent, meeting.

Margaret first introduced Colin Breddy who showed us material relating to the first Transatlantic Airmails, a display he'd started only recently. Colin gave a brief outline of the flight routes, dates & times of these flights which started in summer 1939. There were two routes the south, which flew from New York through The Azores and on to Lisbon (started May 1939) and the north which flew from New York to Southampton, via Newfoundland and Shannon (started June 1939), both routes being serviced by Pan American Airways. Imperial Airways stated flights in August 1939 using a Shorts Flying Boat which required in-flight refuelling. The onset of war decreed that Lufthansa ceased services (on the South American routes) on 3rd September 1939 with all commercial flight ceasing by the end of that month.

Robert Grey then showed us a "Philatelic A to Z" of Malta with stamps and postcards showing various aspects of these islands. Highlights included the George Cross certificate/plaque awarded to the island for it's bravery during WW2, and cards depicting the bomb damage inflicted during that conflict. he also showed material with a "Scottish Connection"; HMS Bacchante, which was built at John Brown's in Clydebank, the Gleneagles Bar on Gozo, and the Scots Kirk, St. Andrews Church in Valetta.

For the second round Ian Hamilton showed us "Railway Postal Stationery", accumulated from all four corners of the world. He displayed a variety of "pro forma" cards and labels (parcel, delivery request, etc) from countries such as Australia, Argentina, Canada, China, Guatemala, India, Switzerland, Russia and the USA. He also showed material from the very early railway companies of the UK; the North British, London and North Western Railway & the London & North Eastern Railway.

Margaret completed the evening's displays with four thematic displays. Her first board showed "The Sky" with material on the stars, planets, comets, the sun and solar eclipses. Her next board showed "Time" with material relating to clocks and watches and, in particular, John Harrison. Board three showed "The International Date Line" and "The Equator" with stamps depicting the Greenwich Meridian (adopted as the "Prime" meridian in 1882); the date line with stamps from Fiji (of particular interest to your webmaster!) and the equator with material from Ecuador. Her final board showed "Cinderella" material particularly watch and clock advertising. 

An excellent evening's entertainment was accorded an eloquent, and humorous, vote of thanks by Rev. Bill Izatt.

At the end of the evening Margaret presented our society with a copy of a book which tells the story of the first 100 years of the Caledonian Philatelic Society. We wish them well for the next 100!!