It was 5 October 1984 that Kevvy Koala first made his appearance for Australia at Stuttgart. Very simple, unpretentious, rather cute; a simple tree-hugging koala that most of us have seen in the wild at least once.
Prior to this, the Postmaster General often acknowledged international philatelic exhibitions, and the very first one in Australia occurred in 1928 when this very modest postmark with a moveable date was used:
Why do I emphasise 'moveable date'? Well, since 1928 on all the 'international' postmarks I've seen, there's a date range which effectively makes them a cachet by any other name. The fact that they are used to cancel stamps means they are in fact postmarks!
As an aside, if you wanted to present proof of the signing of a contract for instance, would you date it 21-29 May 1983? It would be the 21st, or the 22nd, or the 23rd or the 24th or the 25th or the 26th or the 27th or the 28th or the 29th. Not all of them. But that's a whole 'nuther argument!
By the 1980s, Australia Post often had postmarks at international exhibitions:
Many were used at exhibitions in Germany, and the Sydney Opera House was subject of one such event from 26-31 May 1985. A very rare kookaburra appeared at Hamburg in Germany that same year (kookaburras have only ever been featured in postmarks around 10 times since 1879!):
At another German exhibition in 1985, a kangaroo and a penguin got a run:
And so it went. Koalas and penguins often featured along with the odd kangaroo. Consider 1986:
It was very rare for notifications of upcoming international postmarks to be given in the Stamp Bulletin, but this changed by the mid 1990s. In the early 1990s however, Australia Post settled pretty much on Kevvy and his mates to represent us, although there were a number of interesting variations:
Then Australia Post hit upon a single graphic that required only a change of words:
So no matter where it was in the world, we could rely on Kevvy, Keith, Karl, Ken, Kyle or whoever, to represent us:
You get the idea. Whenever a notice of an international exhibition appeared in a Stamp Bulletin, Australia Post usually overprinted a current miniature sheet with details of the event and an appropriately worded variation of the postmarks above was put to good use. Even if the postmark wasn't mentioned specifically in the notice, regular collectors knew that the postmark would be available through the 'Bureau' and automatically asked for it on the cover of their choice, and indeed, the stamp of their choice.
I once asked Amber McDougall, at the time Manager, Philatelic Group, why other uniquely Australian animal icons weren't used, and the reply was to the effect that long queues formed for the koala postmarks, which were "much loved" and considered highly collectable. Apparently, there was no good reason to change.
So what happened in November 2011?
The advertisement for the MSs appeared on p.14 of Stamp Bulletin No. 313. "27th China Stamp Exhibition minisheet set". There was no mention of a postmark, but as I said, regular collectors would have seen that, presumed Kevvy or one of his mates would make an appearance and request it. I certainly did, and duly received two covers showing Kevvy.
Unbeknown to nearly everyone else it seems (except those who attended the event in China!), a further three postmarks were made and used:
Why after more than 20 years of exclusivity, have Australia Post departed from what has become "the norm" and produced different postmark/cachets (all have a date range)? Mind you, I'm not complaining ... I'm absolutely delighted that more graphic designs are being used. I've been moaning and groaning for years about boring Kevvy and his mates, as regular users of Australian PictorMarks will know. I've often wondered why it was so difficult to come up with something new and fresh. And they have! Woo hoo!
But why weren't we told?
Well, now we know what they look like. All we're waiting on is Australia Post to tell us how we can get them. I've been told they "will place information online for collectors".
Meanwhile we'll wait. Hopefully, this will be the start of a new era of interesting postmarks featuring more collectable Aussie icons that lend themselves to this wonderful hobby of ours.
As a matter of interest, over and above those covers with two of the four postmarks offered for sale on eBay recently (and presumably, that seller may have been present in China to know about them?!), has anyone else got these? I'd love to see what covers you have them on and how well they've come up.
In the meantime, keep an eye on the Australia Post website for more information.
