Stamps, Badges, Labels, Ex-libris.
Humour is all-embracing. In its attempts to influence positively upon our everyday life humour has penetrated into such spheres as stamps, badges, labels, and ex-libris. "Caricature" stamps and seals usually are devoted to exhibitions of caricatures, or humour festivals. A postmark depicted an emblem of the conference devoted to humour held in Hyderabad (India) in 1962. Since 1987 a collection "Humour and satire in philately" in Gabrovo House of Humour has been growing. Stamps with portraits of great humorous writers, stamps with caricatures of P. Picasso, E. Hemingway, C. Chaplin, and other people of art are displayed. There are interesting series of stamps with Disney characters from Grenada, Antigua, and Redonda. The Bulgarians regularly issued "humorous" stamps devoted to annual festivals of humour and satire.

Sometimes satirists draw stamps without postal value, but as a piece of art. One of the first humourous stamps was created by an American cartoonist W. Farley in 1970. He replaced G. Washington's portrait in the official stamp with the back of his head picture. Later a caricaturist V. Beresnev also made a stamp with self-portrait. V. Sisoev marked forgotten dates ("Elvis Is Alive Forever!", "55th anniversary of Trotsky's assassination", "Lebed, the President of Russia".) drawing stamps.

Some satirical designs of stamps, badges, and labels were published in "Krokodil". In 1958 Y. Fedorov issued stamps devoted to the enemies of the Soviet Union; later he invented "Crocodile" matches; in 1967 designed badges for foresters ( a saw and a stub), for postmen ( a tortoise-envelope), and some others.

There are a lot of humorous badges made for festivals of humour and satire. They are designed by caricaturists themselves. It is the best way of sending smiles all over the world.

There are envelopes with printed caricatures, calendars with characters of humorous books and comedies, baseball cards, and stickers with cartoon characters. Ex-libris made by a caricaturists undoubtedly shows that a book-owner has a sense of humour.


1. P. Goldberg. Mechanism - invention.


2. E. Vedernikov. Samurai stamp."Krokodil". 1958.


3. Caricature of B. Shaw.


4. A. Yonaitis.


5. A. Grozev.


10. Khodga Nasreddin festival of humour and satire in Aksekhir.


6. V. Beresnev. The emblem of Kaunas society of humour and satire.


7. Z. Yuzvik.


8. V. Ardov. Ex-libris self-caricature.


9. Gabrovo. 1977.


By Dmitry Moskin
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