Poster Art

Poster Art

The theme of many Europa stamps is poster art, a subject that lends itself admirably to stamp reproduction. In fact, stamps and posters have a lot in common, in that they both aim to put across a message by visual means. Back in the 1920s and 1930s, before commemorative and special stamps were commonplace, there were numerous 'poster stamps' - non-postal labels which, like miniature posters, sought to advertise tourism and industry.

Not surprisingly, posters have often been depicted on stamps in recent years, from the French stamp of 1964, publicising De Gaulle's Free French appeal of 1940, right down to the present day, notably the stamp released by Monaco on 2 January to publicise the International Circus Festival in Monte Carlo.

Jersey has issued a number of these stamps. Designed by Nick Shewring, they feature some of the many different posters in the collection of the Jersey Heritage Trust. Two of them highlight the scenic beauties of Portelet Bay (23p) and 'Jersey the Sunny Island' (68p), both the work of Adrian Allinson (1890-1959), a staff artist for British Railways. The 38p reproduces a poster of about 1910 advertising the services of the French Chemins de Fer de l'Ouest to the Channel Islands, while the 29p shows a poster of 1952 with a montage of Jersey's tourist attractions.