Story of 1948 Olympic Stamps

Today I have some thing interesting story of 1948 Olympic stamps. I have received this nice used cover from India, Thanks you very very much to Mr. Jagganath Mani, (Bangalore,India).These stamps are very popular Olympic Stamps for 1948 Olympic Games. This is not difficult to find these stamps in market but even not so essay also.

4 special commemorative postage stamps were issued on 29. July 1948. These stamps were designed by Percy Metcalfe, Abram Games, Stanley D. Scott und Edmund Dulac.


Stamp Values and color :
2 1/2 P : Ultramarine Globe and Laurel Wreath
3 P : Violet "Speed"
6 P : Bright purple Olympic Symbol
1 sh : Brown Winged Victory
The Olympic Games special postage stamps also issued from Great British Colonial States, with overprint.
Overprinted Stamps were issued from
Bahrain
Kuwait
Tangier
Morocco
Muscut

Special Postmark: Olympic Games Wembley. GT. Brit.



History of 1948 Olympic Games:
Despite the fact that the Olympic Games had not been held in either 1940 or 1944 due to World War II, interest in the Games had survived. On short notice, the city of London rose to the challenge and played host to the Games of the XIV Olympiad in 1948. The London Games were the first to be shown on home television, although very few people in Great Britain actually owned sets. A women’s canoeing event was held for the first time - and won by Karen Hoff of Denmark. 17-year-old American Bob Mathias won the decathlon only four months after taking up the sport. He is the youngest athlete in Olympic history to win a men’s athletics event. Two athletes who were Olympic champions in 1936 managed to defend their titles twelve years later. They were Ilona Elek of Hungary in women’s foil fencing and Jan Brzak of Czechoslovakia in the canoeing Canadian pairs 1,000m. Fanny Blankers-Koen of the Netherlands entered four athletics events and won all four. Concert pianist Micheline Ostermeyer of France won both the shot put and the discus throw. Karoly Takacs was a member of the Hungarian world champion pistol shooting team in 1938 when a grenade shattered his right hand - his pistol hand. Takacs taught himself to shoot with his left hand and, ten years later, he won an Olympic gold medal in the rapid-fire pistol event.59 NOCs (Nations) 4,104 athletes (390 women, 3,714 men) 136 events

Postal Facilities
The main Olympic Post Office at Wembley was well sited in the Stadium grounds on one of the main approaches to the Stadium. It comprised a public office of about 670 square feet, with a counter 29 feet long to accommodate six clerks, a public telephone hall of about 520 square feet, a telegraph instrument room of about 950 square feet, and several small rooms for clerical work, messengers and cloaks amounting to about 530 square feet. The busiest periods were the three hours before the afternoon session at the Stadium and the hour or so after the last event. Little business was done between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. on most days. Temporary Post Office facilities were provided at Torquay. A counter 18 feet long was installed and a posting box was erected near by. Poste Restante facilities were provided at all Games Post Offices and used extensively. Business started soon after 8 a.m., reaching its peak between 9 and 9.30 a.m. Business was then quiet throughout the day.
The special issues of 2½d., 3d., 6d. and 1/- commemorative stamps were on sale at all Post Offices in the country. Those affixed to letters posted in the posting boxes in the Stadium grounds at Wembley were cancelled with a special Olympic Games commemorative cancellation stamp. Consequently, the Olympic Post Office was thronged with people buying stamps and completing letters for the post and much more public office space than that provided was necessary at times, particularly on the first day. On the whole, however, the provision made for counter service was reasonably satisfactory. About 40 per cent. of persons using the Office were from abroad and the services of an interpreter provided by the Post Office in the public office were much appreciated.
A small public office was also provided in the Stadium itself, alongside the positions allotted to the several cable companies. This office was primarily for the convenience of press correspondents wishing to send messages to places in Europe served by Post Office telegraphs, but little use was made of the facility. The office was open only when events were in progress and for one hour before and after.
The Organising Committee kept the Post Office informed of the location of the various teams for the re-direction of mail and cables. About 3,000 letters per day were dealt with in this way ; there were about 150 parcels in all. Mail and telegrams were delivered to the Camp Commandant at the appropriate housing centre and he assumed responsibility for delivery to the individual competitor or team official. This arrangement worked well. 5. There is no philatelic department in the British Post Office and no special arrange ments were made for the benefit of philatelists in connection with the issue of the Commemorative 2½d., 3d., 6d. and 1/- stamps and 6d. air letter forms except that posting boxes in the Wembley Stadium grounds were specially marked in French, Spanish and English to indicate that items posted therein would be stamped with a special Olympic Games postmark. Only unregistered items, which were suitable in size and make up for passing through an ordinary stamp cancelling machine and which were posted in these boxes or handed over the counter at the Olympic Games Post Office at Wembley, bore this special postmark. The Olympic Games stamps were on sale at all Post Offices in the United Kingdom from July 29, 1948 ; they were withdrawn from sale on December 31,1948.