Art by Tom Lovell

Faux Timbres: Vraie Actualité

From 1989 to 2003, France’s Jean Bachès, alias King Graffiti, created ‘false stamps’ illustrating significant news events or subjects typical of a country. One writer noted, “If the 12 o’clock news inspires him, he crunches the news, giving birth to his stamp. The height of mischief for this son of the main post office controller, he sends his creation to himself the same day… as evidenced by the postmark! Today, these “false stamps” allow you to leaf through, without nostalgia and with humour, the album of France and the world of the 20th century.”

The stamps were collected in 2004, in Faux Timbres, Vraie Actualité (“False Stamps, Real News”).

Posting a Letter in Devon

Art by Frank Patterson (1871-1952), an English illustrator best remembered for his pen & ink drawings of cycling in the first half of the 20th century.

Whatever Happened to Cigarettes in Cans?

Moonlight Ride

Such a cool postcard. The Prison du Temple was a medieval fortress built by the Knights Templar. Parts of the fortress were later used as a prison; during the French Revolution, it held the royal family before they were guillotined. It was demolished in the mid-19th century because it had become a place of pilgrimage for royalists. The heavy doors of the tower still exist, kept at Château de Vincennes.