Ethiopia: Covers / Postal History - Printable Version

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Ethiopia: Covers / Postal History - Hugh - 10-09-2025

I got these two covers from Mark at the recent show in Gananoque. 

The first was mailed by Michael Millar with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN. He, and the FAO, were working on Seed Improvement in Haile Selassie's Ethiopia in the aftermath of the world war, when the UN was still new and the Cold War was just beginning. In 1952, it was sent to Dr. Frank Novosad of the Division of Forage Plants, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Ontario -- a Canadian agricultural research hub.

The airmail letter, franked with 75c worth of stamps was marked postage due. There is a large T hand-stamp in red ink inside an upside down triangle on the front cover. On the borders of the cover is a repeating tri-colour pattern in the national colours of Ethiopia.

[attachment=182]

This is a security envelope with a moiré pattern.

[attachment=183]

Stamps:
Ethiopia / Emperor Haile Selassie
Series: 60th Birthday of the Emperor (7 stamps)
Issued on July 23, 1952
25c, Ultramarine
Sc. 323

Series: Commemoration of Ethiopia's Federation with Eritrea on September 11, 1952 (9 stamps)
Road and Broken Chain
Issued September 11, 1952
50c, Purple
Sc. 330

This is a total of 75c. And, as noted above the cover was marked postage due. There are, however, no other postmarking. Nor is there an arrival back-stramp. Not surprising for the time.

Cancel:
Double ring CDS with central bar
Between the rings አዲስ አበባ / ADDIS-ABEBA [The name of the city in Geʽez (script used for Amharic) and Latin letters. Addis-abeba = New Flower in Amharic]
5 12 52 [December 5, 1952 ... the order of the month and year is assumed based on the issue dates of the stamps]

The other, similar, cover is from a couple of months later.

On February 5 (or 6), 1953, another letter was sent by the FAO to the Central Experimental Farm in Canada. This one was addressed to the Senior Plant Breeder in Oilseeds. 

[attachment=184]

The franking is mixed. There are nine stamps from the Haile Selassie birthday stamps, six 10c (Sc. 321) and three 5c (Sc. 320). They add up to 75c, the same as on the first cover. However, there are also two semi-postals. They added 10c in postage (for a total of 85c) and 4c as a contribution to the local TB fund. There is not postage due mark this time which implies that the proper airmail rate to Canada was between 75 and 85 cents. I haven't found a rate table for Ethiopia but there I have found other covers on HipStamp and eBay to the UK and Denmark with a foreign airmail rate from Ethiopia, in the early 1950s, of 85c. So, that's my working assumption ... 85c.

Stamp:
Anti-TB Work
Scott describes the stamp as a Tree, Cross and Snake. I thought it might actually be a Caduceus [two serpents with wings and Hermes' Staff] but it looks more like an Ankh. After giving it some thought, I recorded it in my notes as an image of the Rod of Asclepius [Single staff with one serpent which is the classical symbol of medicine and healing.
Issued on November 25, 1951 [Series of 6 stamps]
5c + 2c, Deep blue green, Engraved
Sc. B21

Cancel: As above. As far as I can tell, the date reads 05? 2 53 [February 5, 1953. it could be the 6th]

Cheers, Hugh

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