The stamps and markings that tell the story of postal heroism on the Marseille–Saigon route The year 1932 remains etched in airmail history as a year of trials and courage. Three CAMS 53 seaplanes operated by Air Orient suffered accidents on the prestigious Marseille–Saigon route, leaving in their wake postal items marked by seawater, impact, […]
An Exceptional Event (July 4-6, 1964) Introduction: When Philately Immortalizes a Moment in History On July 4, 1964, for the first time in its history, the prestigious Bal des Petits Lits Blancs left the Parisian salons to settle in the sumptuous setting of the Beiteddine Palace in Lebanon. This exceptional charitable event, organized for the […]
by Fadi Maassarani In the immediate aftermath of the war, certain letters sent from Beirut, Damascus, or Aleppo bound for Germany did not cross the border without passing through the hands of customs officials. Forgotten in archival, these envelopes franked in piasters and resealed with official tape today tell a philatelic story rich of economic […]
By Maassarani Fadi When an envelope tells more than its contents… At first glance, these are four simple envelopes franked in Lebanon during the 1950s. But to the trained eye of a philatelist, these paper fragments become precious witnesses to a world in transformation, to human exchange at the heart of the Cold War, and […]
When philately reveals the history of intelligence in the Middle East (1949) by Fadi Maassarani An interesting discovery.In the world of philately, some pieces transcend their simple postal value to become true witnesses of history. The postcard we are presenting today, dated 5 May 1949, and sent from Damascus, is the perfect illustration. Behind its […]
By fadi maassarani While browsing through an album of old franked postcards from Beirut, the philatelist’s eye may sometimes pause on a strange message. Not a simple greeting. Not a mundane travel description. But a series of seemingly innocuous words—sometimes a grid, sometimes a nonsensical poem—and yet, behind these apparently ordinary lines, lies a code.Postcard […]
The 1926 is the year that Lebanon adopts a constitution and officially becomes the Lebanese Republic (23 May 1926). It is also a complex year regarding the postage to pay for of a simple letter sent from the French Levant (Lebanon, Syria, Alawites) to foreign countries. To summarize and without going into details: From 25 […]
« Un hommage à Mr Abdo Ayoub, notre premier président de la Lebanese Association de Philatélie dont le mandat s’est terminé en Avril 2017 » Created at the beginning of the year, the Syria-Lebanon aero-club was officially inaugurated on October 23, 1923, under the impulse of Commander Danan (Chief in Command of the air forces […]
“The military Postal Section was a highly organized department that worked with remarkable smoothness and promptness so that the men in the fighting-line had little to complain about in the delivery of letters sent to them by their friends or delays in their own letters home.” While browsing different philatelic auction sites, my attention was […]
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin (Deutsches Luftschiff Zeppelin #127; Registration: D-LZ 127) was a German-built and -operated, passenger-carrying, hydrogen-filled, rigid airship which operated commercially from 1928 to 1937. When it entered commercial service in 1928, it became the first commercial passenger transatlantic flight service in the world. It was named after the German pioneer of airships, […]
