Polar mail and philately

The development of collections of polar mail and philately has the following features:

• In the polar mail, cultural and historical significance is valued.
• Polar mail has many features of airmail and ship mail .
• It can be developed by two methods: thematic collecting and research, specialized collecting.
• It combines both modern material and classic.
• Limited sending (limited list of post offices ).
• A peculiar method of acquiring the collection and studying the material due to the fact that philatelic materials are practically not procured in a centralized manner.

Sending and forwarding polar mail can be carried out:

• through stationary post offices (in the Arctic - from the settlements of the Russian coast of the Arctic Ocean or the Siberian North ; from Greenland , Svalbard , polar Scandinavia , Canada , Alaska ; in the Antarctic - from long-term scientific bases and from whaling settlements on the continent or islands);
• through communication services of the next polar expeditions (mail of expeditionary ships , drifting stations , temporary bases).

The movement of polar mail can occur along the following routes :

• from the pole to the mainland, that is, from the Arctic or Antarctic to the continent (this post delivers the main material of the polar philately , most likely falling into collections);
• from pole to pole, that is, from the Arctic to the Antarctic or vice versa: from the South Pole to the North (this is rare philatelic material);
• with circulation within the geographical boundaries of the Arctic or Antarctic (for example, flights between drifting stations or sled-tractor crossings between coastal and continental stations).

In Russia, the center for polar research is the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) in St. Petersburg .

Postage stamps forming the collection of polar mail and philately are divided into three groups:

• Stamps of countries located in the Arctic or Antarctic , regardless of the plot of the stamps. These are, in particular, brands:
  • Greenland
  • Falkland Islands ;
  • dependent territories of the Falkland Islands - Graham Land , South Georgia , South Orkney , South Shetland Islands ;
  • Ross Territory ^[7] , Edward VII Land ;
  • Victoria Land ;
  • Southern and Antarctic territories of France ;
  • Antarctic Territory of Australia ;
  • Antarctic Territory of Great Britain .

The history of the polar mail stamps began precisely with the releases of this group in 1908 , when the overprint “Land of King Edward VII” was made on the New Zealand stamp.

• Stamps of polar stories or with polar inscriptions . Most often, they are dedicated to the famous explorers of the Arctic and Antarctic, anniversaries of polar expeditions or depict the polar flora and fauna. The very first polar stamp motif in the world ( walrus image) was launched in 1866 in the second standard series of Newfoundland , then the dominion of Great Britain. In Europe, the first brand of this group was released in 1925 in Norway in the Amundsen Expedition to the North Pole series. In 1931, the USSR brand “ Airship over the North Pole” was issued, a rare version of which was called “ Aspidka ”.
• Stamps, which irrespective of the plot, can frank letters sent from the polar regions . An indispensable condition is their cancellation with a post office stamp in the polar zone. Such stamps belong to two groups of countries: those that have their territories with post offices in the Arctic ( Russia , Denmark , Norway , Finland , Sweden , the USA and Canada), and those that have polar stations in Antarctica (Russia, the USA, Norway, Belgium , Japan , New Zealand , South Africa , Argentina , Chile ). England, France and Australia are not named here, which also have their stations in Antarctica, but use special stamps (of the first group) for postal needs.

A wide variety of postal, non-postal and private stamps related to polar expeditions and stations are known:

• Post stamps of polar stations and expeditions (including calendar stamps of points in the polar regions).
• Special postmarks of the polar stations.
• Postage stamps of the polar stations.
• Non-mail accompanying stamps of polar stations and expeditions.
• Private accompanying stamps used in expeditions.
• Special postal stamps not used by expeditions.
• Private and club accompanying stamps not used by expeditions.

In Soviet times, for each northern polar station, its own special cancellation stamp was used, which was valid from the moment the station was organized until its closure. For example, according to the honorary polar explorer L.V. Musatov, the postmark of the SP-22 station was significantly different from all previous stamps: it was slightly larger in diameter and had the inscription: “Drifting research station“ North Pole-22 “” located in two rows. As usual, a transfer date was located in the center of the stamp, on top - the word “USSR” and a five-pointed star with a hammer and sickle. A stamp was used to extinguish the correspondence of the station itself and letters to the philatelists at their request ^[1] .

If at any station there were several shifts of polar explorers, the postmark was one, and letters of different shifts could be distinguished, as a rule, only by the date of cancellation ^[2] .

Each Antarctic station also had its own postmark, including at the Molodezhnaya meteorological center , Mirny Observatory , Vostok , Bellingshausen , Leningradskaya and Novolazarevskaya stations. Sometimes, letters from these stations used a souvenir stamp made by the polar explorers themselves ^[2] .

Collectors could send letters of inquiry about special stamps of the Arctic and Antarctic polar stations to the AARI at the address ^[2] :

Leningrad , Fontanka , 34, Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute.

Such letters of philatelists were delivered to the North Pole station, usually in the fall, by polar aircraft , and to the Antarctic stations in the last months of the year by ships of the next Soviet Antarctic expedition ^[2] .

Letters to icebreakers operating in the Arctic Ocean could be sent by airmail to ^[2] :

Krasnoyarsk Territory , Dixon Island . Headquarters of maritime operations. Captain of the appropriate icebreaker .

or

Magadan region , the village of Pevek . Headquarters of maritime operations. Captain of the appropriate icebreaker.

Polar mail letters are often forwarded in special envelopes . So, for example, letters from station SP-22 were sent in company envelopes, commissioned by AARI, which were usually two or three colors: white, light green and light blue. On the envelopes there was an image of a triangular pennant with the inscription: “USSR. Scientific drifting station "North Pole" ”on the background of the aurora. In the center of the pennant, a diagram of the circumpolar region was drawn, on which the drift of the station was marked with a red line. The color of the picture was red or gray, depending on the color of the envelope. Below were given the station number and the words "AANII GUGMS ^[8] at the Council of Ministers of the USSR " ^[1] . Also known envelopes of a different design ^[≡] , which were later used at the station SP-22.

At the request of philatelists of the Soviet Union and other countries, tens of thousands of letters were sent from the North Pole drifting stations. There are envelopes on which there are simultaneously postmarks stamped in Antarctica at the North Pole stations and research vessels . Some of them were on the road for several years before reaching their destination ^[1] .

Polar mail was organized in Russia to service the expedition of W. Bering back in 1733.

The beginning of the polar mail of drifting research stations was laid by the organization of a post office at the SP-4 station. The first correspondence was canceled by the station's calendar postmark in October 1955.

The first Soviet postmark in Antarctica was delivered on February 13, 1956 in the village of Mirny. Over time, post offices appeared at the stations " Pionerskaya ", " Oasis ", " Lazareva ", "East", etc.

Postal communication with the Arctic drifting stations is carried out by aircraft, and with scientific stations in Antarctica - mainly by ships ( Ob , Cooperation, Yenisei, Professor Zubov).

• Balashov B. Dedicated to E. T. Krenkel // Philately of the USSR. - No. 9. - 1973. - S. 5.
• Milovidov E. Mail Island Kotelny // Philately USSR. - 1975. - No. 11. - P. 10. - (Topic: to you, topics). (Retrieved August 30, 2015) Archived August 30, 2015.
• Milovidov E.V. Antarctic Letters. - M .: Communication, 1980 .-- 80 p. - (Library of the Young Philatelist; Issue 6). (Retrieved November 12, 2017) Archived July 10, 2017.
• Polar mail // Philatelic Dictionary / Comp. O. Ya. Basin. - M .: Communication, 1968 .-- 164 p. (Retrieved November 12, 2017) Archived on September 4, 2017.
• Polar mail // Philatelic Dictionary / V. Gralert, V. Grushke; Abbr. per. with him. Yu. M. Sokolova and E.P. Sashenkova. - M .: Communication, 1977 .-- S. 154. - 271 p. - 63,000 copies.
• Sashenkov E.P. Polar mail . - M .: Communication, 1975 .-- 296 p. - 40,000 copies. (Retrieved November 12, 2017)
• Sashenkov E.P. Arctic North - in the ocean of philately. - M .: Communication, 1976. - 80 p. - (Library of the Young Philatelist; Issue 1). (Retrieved November 12, 2017) Archived July 10, 2017.
• Sashenkov E. Russian Arctic Post. To the International Polar Year 2007-2008: A Handbook. - M .: ITC "Marka" , 2008. - 80 p. - (Addendum to the journal. Philately, No. 4, 2008). (Retrieved April 22, 2011)
• Safonov L. The Polar History of Russia. “Golden collections”: reference book / Ed. V.I. Pishchenko, G. Frolova. - M .: ITC "Marka", 2010. - 80 p. - (Appendix to the journal. Philately, No. 12, 2010). (Retrieved May 5, 2011)
• Yavorsky V. Across the Pole to Immortality // Philately of the USSR. - 1967. - No. 8.
• Levitas J. Ya., Basyuk V.M. - K .: Advertising, 1975 .-- S. 59. - 238 p. - 30,000 copies. (Ukrainian)
• Giardini F., Garrou E., Masnari F. Fisole di Ghiaccio alla Deriva. Drifting Ice Islands. - Associazione Grande Nord, 1998 .-- 313 p. (Ital.) (Eng.) [Drifting ice islands. Postal history and life of Soviet drifting stations in the Arctic Ocean.]

• “Arctic Antarctic philately” - site of I. V. Kapustin
• Site of the Russian State Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic
• "Polar mail today" - site of Ivan Kukushkin
• Polar Postal History Resources (inaccessible link) . Country and Topical Resources . Worldwide postal history website - Postalhistory.org. Date of treatment February 2, 2010. Archived on February 13, 2012.
• Arctica & Antarctica . PostBeeld ( Netherlands ). - A site with a catalog of world stamps on the theme "Arctic and Antarctic." Date of appeal February 17, 2009. (unavailable link)
• Klug Janet. Enjoy polar philately on a cold winter's evening (inaccessible link) . Refresher . Linn's Stamp News (December 15, 2003). Date of treatment April 13, 2009. Archived January 29, 2012.