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It is not often I have to use stamps nowadays. For a while now, I have been putting two stamps on letters, figuring the price to have gone up. Probably. But I ran out of my dwindling supply earlier this week. I was a smidge nonplussed to find that I had missed the last two price hoicks and that a standard stamp was now 60c.
So, thinking to future-proof myself, I bought ten of the blighters, and they came in this little booklet thing, with the title 'Long Weekend'. What sort of a country has a stamp series dedicated to the long weekend?
Bloody brainwashing, I think it is. In the City Circle (metro, tube, subway) there are billboards spruiking the value of taking holidays. All work and no play ... that sort of fiddling with the neurones. This new stamp issue is along those broad lines.
There seems to be 5 stamps in the series: Long Weekend 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Tweaking the old grey matter to the very end, they don't have a stamp for the Long Weekend 2000s ... 'cause too many people don't take them. Geddit?
I am at least grateful that they didn't include the ubiquitous apostrophe in their stamp subtitles.
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12 comments:
Canada has issued stamps with no price on them, so they can be used even after the price hikes, without the indignity (and messy envelopes) of adding two or three 1-cent stamps, or having letters returned.
We have 11 or 12 long weekends a year but, so far, we only celebrate the particular occasions, not the fact of having long weekends.
What amazed me about Australia was the concept of a long-service leave. A 9-month sabbatical after, what was it? ten years at the same job?
Yes, there is a concept of Long Service Leave here, although with the change in mindset of employees in GenY, I should think it is claimed less and less. The more common form of LSL is 3 months after ten years service.
Here in my state of NSW, we don't have anything like 12 LWEs per year, and indeed, more and more of our Public Holidays are being scheduled on the day they fall rather than on the closest Monday, as the reason for the LWE was being lost and not observed. The two main PHs that are no longer necessarily a LWE are Australia Day (26th January) and Anzac Day (25th April). We have two LWEs in reality: Queens Birthday (1st MOnday in June) and Labour Day (1st Monday in October). We also have Public HOlidays for Christmas, New Year and Easter.
As for no-denomination stamps, we have not taken that step into Orwell's BMW as yet ... but thanks for the heads-up!
just to clarify my own typo ... Orwell's BNW ...
I thought for a moment there Orwell drove a very cool car.
I'm fussy about the stamps I use. These would suit me very well.
Even though I can see no reason for adding an apostrophe to a year, everyone seems to do it and I thought I was wrong not doing it. The stamps remind me of a photo exhibition at the Melbourne Library about Australians on holiday.
I suspect George would find my typo totally unacceptable, BC, him being such a fervent admirer of Russia during his lifetime.
Andrew, I agree that many peope seem to add the apostrophe. My guess is that it seems unwieldy without one. However, there is nothing missing, nor is there any possessive. I suspect, over time, it will be the 'correct' way to write, ie 1950's rather than 1950s.
I love this post. Stamps are almost a lost thing aren't they. About the only time I use them is to send the quarterly statements to the Tax office (they are too mean to do postage paid envelopes).
As for long service leave. It is becoming a thing of the past because companies retrench their people so much. It is no longer considered to be a good thing to be in the same company for too long. However, if you are retrenched after 5 years you get to collect the equivalent in cash which I rather liked when it was my turn to be kindly dumped by my company.
I'll fight hard to hang on to my LSL, its my retirement trip, which is getting further and further away. Apparently we now work the longest hours in the western world. I spend far longer than I should need to, removing apostrophes from other people's work, drives me up the wall. Those stamps are just plain tacky.
They're colourful. I've noticed Australia Post has many more issues than did in the past even though many less letters are posted these days. They must need the collectors to boost their profits. I like your clock in the background.
Oh goodie ... I was hoping someone would notice the clock. Working out a background for the photos was a challenge.
Fascinating. Only in Australia... :)
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