Stamps evoke an era of classic travel

7 August 2013

Stamps evoke an era of classic travel

Fancy a trip to ‘Timaru by the Sea’? Popping over to ‘Tauranga for Winter Sunshine’? These are just a couple of the suggestions featured on New Zealand’s classic travel posters. Before the internet, colour television and colour photography New Zealand relied on the charm of these iconic posters to entice travellers from near and far. A selection of these posters have been miniaturised and make up a special stamp sheet issued by New Zealand Post.

The Classic Travel Posters stamp issue features 20 stamps - each valued at 70 cents - featuring classic travel posters, many dating from the 1930s.

The stamps are available as a single sheet, or spread across four first day covers. A free poster is available when the sheet or a set of first day covers is purchased.

“The original travel posters are works of art in their own right,” New Zealand Post’s stamps spokesman Simon Allison says.

“Their original role was to entice travellers, and in that sense these posters helped to build New Zealand’s tourism industry, which is now world famous.

“That makes for very colourful and eye-catching stamps, which evoke a real sense of nostalgia for the early years of New Zealand tourism,” Simon Allison says.

The Classic Travel Posters stamp issue is available from 7 August 2013 at PostShops, REAL Aotearoa stores, and online at http://stamps.nzpost.co.nz/classictravel or by phoning 0800 782 677.

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