POSTER STAMPS AND LABELS OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES
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INTRODUCTION
SUMMER GAMES |
1912 - V Olympiad - StockholmMay 5-July 22
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SOLVED MYSTERIES!
SUMMER GAMES
WINTER GAMES
OTHER TOPICS |
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Official poster stamps for the 1912 Olympic Games in
Stockholm
#1912-1 to 16
Above: More Imperfs? But are the margins big enough?
This one is authentic, at least - imperf horizontally.
A major mis-perforation of the Japanese version.
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DuBois listing:
A very colorful set of labels was issued by Sweden to advertise the Stockholm
Olympic Games in sixteen different languages. We are indebted to Christer
Brunstrom, of Halmstad, Sweden, for the following facts he presented in Stamp
Collector, October 7, 1985:
Quite a lot is known about this particular label, because the Organising Committee
published a complete report after the Olympics. One chapter deals with publicity
materials.
Several Swedish artists took part in a design contest for the official poster (and
label). On June 27, 1911, the Organizing Committee decided on a design by the
well-known artist, Olle Hjortzberg. The painting shows (symbolically) the opening
ceremonies with all the participating nations marching through the stadium holding
their national flags.
Posters in 16 different languages were printed and distributed to the participating
countries. However, in many countries the poster was rejected because of the nudity
portrayed on it. In China its use was completely forbidden.
The poster design was reduced to produce the label. Each sheet was made up of 81
labels. The labels were printed by AB Central-tryckereit in Stockholm.
1 to 16: "OLYMPIC GAMES - STOCKHOLM 1912 - JUNE 29th-JULY 22nd" below;
At bottom, the following texts (plus "1912" and dates)
Design as before but imperforate:
Note imperf items at left - these are unperforated versions of the
actual stamps, NOT the items described by DuBois above (he says there
is a yellow frame), which are something entirely different, and somewhat
dubious. No one I know has ever seen them. Trory just says there
are imperforates of those four languages. Click on underlined text above for high-res version of each stamp.
CLICK HERE for more information about these stamps, including
statistics on numbers printed per language.
NOTEx - 10/3/2016 - Over the years I have seen much confusion about
the Japanese and Chinese versions of this stamp. Today I finally asked
an expert, someone who reads and speaks BOTH Chinese and Japanese,
and he says definitively that DuBois had the stamps swapped, the one he
described as Japanese is actually Chinese, and vice-versa. So I have
changed the listing, and it is now correct. I swapped the descriptions,
as this seemed to me the correct way to handle it. The descriptions
now correspond correctly to the images at left.
Of the sixteen languages used to advertise these Games, only Chinese was
not represented in the competitions - China did not send a team. Neither
did Spain, though Chile had one.
(Section below from Wikipedia)
28 nations competed in Stockholm. Japan appeared for the first time,
marking the
first appearance of an Asian country at an Olympic Games. Egypt also made their
first appearance, as did Iceland, Portugal and Serbia. Chile made its first
appearance as a national team with fourteen athletes attending the Games,
although it also had one individual entered at the 1896 Games. The first
athletes from Armenia also competed, as part of the team from the Ottoman Empire
(referred to as Turkey). Serbia's appearance was the only time it appeared at a
Games as an independent nation until the 2008 Summer Olympics.
This was the last Olympics where "private entries" were allowed (i.e. not part
of a country's officially selected team). Arnold Jackson was one such, winning
the 1500 metres by 0.1 second, ahead of an American trio, who were strong
favourites, in what was acclaimed at the time as "the greatest race ever run".
11/9/2017 - Turkish collector Bariş Karacasu wrote to offer the
following transliteration and translation of the text on the Turkish stamp
(#14):
1912 senesinde
In the year of 1912
Thanks, Bariş.
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Note: The late Joseph J. Lohr, a noted dealer in Cinderella material, wrote in Poster-Seal Bulletin* of July 1941: "This seal(referring to No.4, English text) is the colorful poster which gave publicity in 16 different languages to the Olympic Games held in Stockholm in 1912. This poster stamp was, in its first state, the cause of many heated press articles, and I remember when this poster first appeared in the billboards of Munich that certain people could not do enough in protesting and objecting; today the complete set is much sought after!" * The PSCA Bulletin (Official publication of the Poster Stamp Collectors of America) was co-published with the Christmas Seal and Charity Stamp Society for six months in 1941. The poster stamp was issued in the same 16 languages as the poster, in varying quantities, all of which DuBois lists. Over 2 million of the English version were printed, while there were only 17,300 of the Chinese version. Like the poster, the stamp's design was controversial, and saw little use on mail. CLICK HERE to see a 4x9 block of the French version of 1912-6, the French version of this stamp. I am told these were printed in sheets of 81 stamps - 9 by 9. |
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OTHER POSTER STAMPS OF THE 1912 GAMES |
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#1912-17, a, b 17. Austrian Fund Label: "ÖSTERREICH IN STOCKHOLM 1912" below, white text in a decorative, black panel; Vignette above, a runner upholding a victory palm, clouds in background; artist's imprint, below runner: VFL SEIDL; decorative margin around label and between vignette & panel. 24x42mm, perf 11.5, black design on white paper .. $4.00 17a. Same as 17 but selvage tab "4 HELLER" on one edge ...$6.00 17b. Same as 17 but selvage tab "4 HELLER" on two edges (from corner of a sheet) ........................... $8.00 7/9/18 - shown above, the two largest multiples I have seen. Based on the image on the right, my guess is that a full sheet was five by ten. |
#1912-18b thru f
18. A Swiss Label:
"OLYMP. RIEGE" (Olympic Squad) in panel at top;
VTM (Verband Turnen Mannschaft = Gymnastic Team Union) in panel at bottom.
Vignette, in between panels: a shot-putter in knee-length pants; a lined margin
around label. 22x44mm, imperforate, design is black & on the following colored
papers:
a)white,
I still need an image of a, the one on white paper. Anyone? |
#1912-19
19.Swedish Matchbox Label:
Upper part - image: Same vignette as on No. 1912-01 (see above);
Lower part - text: OLYMPISKA SPELEN STOCKHOLM 1912 Ensämratt för
distribution
Carl Westerberg; 35x50mm, imperforate, multicolored
Translation of text: Pardon the useless image, that's what DuBois provided, probably a second or third generation copy from earlier sources. |
#1912-20
20. A Large Swedish Label: ( luggage / baggage label )
"OLYMPISKA SPELEN" across top;
"STOCKHOLM 1912" across bottom; imprint, at lower right corner:
"A. BORTZELLS TR.A.B., STHLM."
Vignette, centrally located between texts: Swedish flag.
158x115mm(roughly 5,5 x 4 inches), imperforate, red, blue & yellow ..... Rare
Note: The above-listed, oversized label is from Dick Green's "Catalog of Poster
Stamps of the Olympic Games."
5/13/19 - SEE NOTE AT TOP OF PAGE - ARE THERE 26 OTHER VARIETIES OF THIS LABEL?
From an eBay auction, 10/30/18:
The label is categorized as number 45 in the
catalogue from the Exhibition 2004 in Stockholm Olympic
Memorabilia 1912 1956.
2/27/19 - from another eBay sale: |
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MISASSIGNED IN DUBOIS
9. A Swedish Matchbox Label:
"OLYMPIAN MATCH" at upper left;
"MADE IN SWEDEN" at lower left.
Vignette: an athlete about to throw a Javelin, a stadium
in the background with the flag of Sweden flying and other
flags below.
55.5x32mm, multicolored, texts & athlete's suit are red
..... Rare
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5/11/16 -
DuBois lists this item with the 1908 labels,
but as French collector Philippe Pavard just pointed out,
the stadium pictured is clearly the Stockholm Olympic Stadium,
built specifically for the 1912 Games, and opened in 1912.
Why DuBois listed this as a 1908 label I cannot say -
perhaps he was relying on an older catalog, and did not think to question it,
though he did identify the flag as Swedish, so that should have tipped him off.
Then again, DuBois didn't have the www and Google to help him, did he?
But we do, so first, here's a photo taken at the Opening Ceremonies of the
1908 Games in London, showing the stadium built for those Olympics.
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Second, here is a photo of the Opening Ceremonies of the 1912 Games in
Stockholm.
Note the distinctive towers, visible both in the photo and on the matchbox label. And below is a postcard of the stadium, showing the same spectator stands.
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And, just for good measure, here is an image (provided by Philippe Pavard)
of a 2012 Swedish stamp commemorating the centenary of the 1912 Games.
So I think it is clear that this matchbox label was issued to commemorate the 1912 Games. |
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NOT IN DUBOIS
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Reproduction (FAKE) of French version of official poster stamp:
The French version of the 1912 stamp is not particularly scarce (over 600,000 printed), but someone took the trouble to create this counterfeit version:
This one has been marked as a fake, and was sold to me (on eBay) as such, AND it's much smaller than the real stamp, so only a total idiot would be fooled. What's the story? ESCH sur ALZETTE 1912 FÊTE OLYMPIQUE 4/11/16 - French collector Philippe Pavard sent these images of 1912 poster stamps from Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg. They are inscribed Fête Olympique - Olympic festival (not Jeux Olympique)
Esch-sur-Alzette held a festival from September 1 to 3 in 1912, including "Olympic" events, and other celebrations. Below is the stamp with five others of the same series or set, showing other events of the festival.
7/2/16 - Philippe sent this LINK to Sept. 5, 1912 newspaper article about the festival, including a report on the athletic events. "Unfavorable weather" but a good time was had by all! |
A Mystery?
Hungarian Matchbox labels - History of the Modern Olympics 1894 - 1960 And what's going on here? I found this image somewhere on the www, (I should keep better records, I know), and it puzzled me at first.
But then I recognized those letters "MSZ" and remembered seeing them on
Hungarian matchbox labels. A helpful website told me
HUNGARY - On post-WW2 labels, look for MSZ
(Magyar Szabvany = Hungarian Standard) and 30 or 40f
(= forint or filler, their currency).
showing the label in company with some others of the 120 (!) members of the set. They depict the history of the modern Olympic Games, with posters, athletes, and events from 1894 to 1960, so they must have been issued between 1960 and 1964. I HAVE ADDED THIS SET TO MY 1960 PAGE AS 1960-xmb4. |
Swedish postcard - 50th Anniversary of 1912 Olympics
This one really had me excited - another image from somewhere on the www.
A new find! And a great variation on the poster design. Was it a label?
7/1/16 - I found the images below on delcampe.net - it's
a postcard created in 1962 to commemorate the 50th anniversary
of the 1912 Games.
PETER OEHLER
Found on the www
ATHLETEN-VEREIN "FRANKFURT" PETER OEHLER
According to Wikipedia,
Peter Oehler was a German wrestler, who "competed in the light heavyweight
event at
the 1912 Games."
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Grösste Illustrierte Sport-Zeitung Tosolini's Sport-Magazin |
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1912-x5 Image above found in a David Feldman auction catalog. The stamps must date from 1913 or earlier, based on the athletes shown. I have images of 14 so far with an Olympic connection, and another 15 that are not Olympic-related, or do not depict named athletes. At right are the Olympic items. CLICK HERE for images of some others. List of the athletes and their accomplishments HERE. NOTE: All these stamps were published by Tosolini's Sport-Magazin as well - image of some of them HERE.
There could be many more. |
Das Deutsche Auto - Grösste Illustrierte Sport-Zeitung The German Auto - Largest Illustrated Sports Newspaper
Thanks to Philippe Pavard, |
1912-x6 Luggage / Baggage Label 187mm x 125mm Black text on orange paper
OLYMPIC GAMES OF STOCKHOLM 1912
Göta
Source:
Sports Philatelists International website.
I was dubious about this one at first, but then compared the image with
this postcard image of the stadium,
and was convinced of the connection to the 1912 Games.
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12/02/2017
These are not Olympic labels, but certainly they are
related, by the image, and the date - the 1912
Olympic Games were taking place in Stockholm at the same time
as this Exposition in Warsaw. So I consider these nice peripheral items.
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04/09/2018
eBay auction, described as follows:
This is a label on a shipped box from the 1912 Summer Olympic Games, held in
Stockholm, Sweden. Box delivered to a Dr. Fries in Stockholm. Box measures 6"
x 9" and is in excellent condition. Label is about 5" x 6.2"
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05/22/2018
Philippe Pavard acquired this recently, and sent me this
image, plus the information that the item's size is 34x47mm
(1.34" x 1.85" - about the size of the average
matchbox label), and it is gummed.
A great find, but I have some doubts about it. The
corners on the right side are odd, especially that notch
on the bottom right. Could this have been cut from
something larger? Or is it part of a set, one for
each of the Olympics through some later date?
12/29/2019 - Two more labels from this set have turned up,
one with the 1920 poster image, and one with the summer 1936
poster image. See the 1936 Berlin page for all three
and a discussion.
06/17/2020 - still more of these turned up, and they are part of a
set dating from 1976 - full story on the 1936 page -
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12/29/2019
Actually it is inscribed
Alcohol-free Sports Noise[sic!]
Size 107 x 75mm (originally 110mm wide probably)
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05/10/2022
No Olympic rings or Games reference, but the name of the beverage is
OLYMPIA, and it shows a shot-putter in the foreground, with an
image of the Stockholm Olympic Stadium, with sports
competitions in progress, in the background.
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1964-05 V 1912 Estocolmo Estocolmo = Spanish for Stockholm 10/16/16 - Steven Greiczek sent this image, of a stamp owned by Conrad Graham, with this comment: An unlisted Spanish issue. If I remember correctly the consensus was this may have been issued after the fact so we hadn't included it in the catalog. 22x30. (The catalog he refers to is the "General Illustrated Catalogue of Exhibition & Event Poster Stamps to 1914," Gardiner & Greiczek) |
The design looked familiar, so I set the image aside for a few days, and when I returned to it, was sure I had run across it before, and that Steve's suspicion was correct, it was part of a later issue, a set commemorating previous Games. I leafed through the post-1960 section of my DuBois catalog (1960 is as far as I had gone with these pages at that date), and found what I was looking for on the first page of the 1964-Tokyo Games section. Image at right. Full text description from the DuBois catalog HERE |
1964-01-25 |
Summary from DuBois: A Spanish sheet of 25 labels lists the 18 Olympiads which occurred from 1896 to 1964. Winter Games of that era are also listed. 18 of the vignettes consist of circular Aztec symbols and Olympic rings. I plan to add a page for 1964 soon, and will replace this section with a link there, but for now, this will serve to guide anyone else who runs across the item, and perhaps its siblings as well. |
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There were no postage stamps issued for the 1912 Games.
There were no winter games in 1912.
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TOP
I am indebted to Robert J DuBois for allowing me to use images and information
from
his Catalog of Olympic Labels
on these web pages.
All text and images are the property of the author. Any errors are his.
REWARD! If you have better or additional information about anything shown or
discussed here, please email the author.
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Created -- 07/27/2013
Revised -- 05/10/2022