James H. Grayson, Author at Korea Stamp Society

Christmas Seals from the Japanese Colonial Era

September 8, 2021March 5, 2021 James H. Grayson46Leave a Comment

The use of Christmas Seals in Korea began with the work of the Methodist medical missionaries Dr. Sherwood Hall (Korean name Ha Rak 賀樂, 1893-1991) and his wife Dr. Marian Bottomley Hall (1896-1991) who were based in the city of Haeju (海州) in South Hwanghae Province (黃海道), now in North Korea.

Missionary stamp collectors on 1964 KPS membership list

May 22, 2021May 22, 2021 James H. Grayson163Leave a Comment

In an issue of the KSS Newsletter, there was a photocopy of part of the membership list of the Korea Philatelic Society. It is interesting to note that two non-Koreans are listed as members, both missionaries. One is KSS member Dr. Lyman Hale (1922 – 2019), a physician at Severance Hospital, Seoul and a member […]

1913 SPG Postcard showing missionary residence

June 20, 2020June 12, 2020 James H. Grayson5832 Comments

On Kobay, the Korean version of Ebay, mission history-related philatelic items are often available. Here is one of many of these items – a postcard sent within Great Britain from Grimsby to Skidbrooke on 19 February 1913. Both of these places are coastal towns in north east Lincolnshire. Grimsby is a major fishing port, whereas […]

Christian Literature Society correspondence illustrates different surface mail cachets

January 28, 2020January 21, 2020 James H. Grayson687Leave a Comment

A series of covers, recently offered for sale on Ebay, show another interesting piece of Korean missionary history. The Christian Literature Society of Korea (대한 기독교 서회) was and is a major publisher and bookseller in Korea, and dates back to the earliest years of Protestant Christian missions. It is an ecumenical organisation as is […]

1963 cover from important Methodist medical missionary educator

January 10, 2020December 23, 2019 James H. Grayson494Leave a Comment

This envelope is particularly interesting from a postal history point of view. The writer, Dr. Roberta G. Rice, was writing to Dr. Charles Mayo the head of the renowned Mayo Clinic, and his wife in a personal capacity. Dr. Rice was a member of the (American) Methodist Mission who had been appointed after the Korean […]

The Semiotics of the First Korean Issues

January 2, 2020January 2, 2020 James H. Grayson1245Leave a Comment

As a philatelist, my principal interest has been in the semiotics of the stamps, the meaning of their design. The first stamps issued by a national government or stamp issuing authority are particularly intriguing. This is a government’s first opportunity to present itself graphically to the world. What do they put on their very first […]

Australian missionary postal history shows early links with Korea

December 22, 2019November 30, 2019 James H. Grayson6631 Comment

Abacus Auctions of Glen Waverley, Victoria, Australia in its auctions for 30 November to 1 December, 2019 displayed three Korean postcards for sale, two of which are pictoral cards. The pictoral postcards are of a ‘yŏt’ (Korean confection) seller and a view of a city gate in Sŏul, possibly the Great North Gate. The text […]

Fusan Customs cover Mrs. Appenzeller

December 5, 2019December 4, 2019 James H. Grayson6321 Comment

John Bull Stamp Auctions, Ltd. from Hong Kong has a cover in its “332nd Auction” (5 – 8 December 2019) which was sent in April 1891 from Mrs. Hunt in Fusan (Busan) to Mrs. Appenzeller in Seoul. The cover has a starting price of 1.000.000 HKD, which is approx. 127.500 US dollars or 115.000 EUR.

Korean New Year Greeting Cards

November 24, 2019November 20, 2019 James H. Grayson18644 Comments

Every year since 1957, the Republic of Korea Post Office has issued New Year greeting cards, and since 1975 New Year envelopes, although these special envelopes have not been issued every year. In 1974, as a ‘one-off’, Korea Post issued a special New Year letter sheet. These New Year greetings stationery are issued for the […]

Military Post in Korea in 1952

November 17, 2019November 19, 2019 James H. Grayson8172 Comments

The other day Ivo Spanjersberg shared scans of the front and back of a letter envelope which was posted from Korea to the United States at the end of 1952. Ivo asked me why a non-military person could use military post? I didn’t have an answer to this and referred the question to my colleague […]

What are we collecting? A report on the Members’ Survey

November 3, 2019October 27, 2019 James H. Grayson5871 Comment

One of my tasks as Speciality Editor for the Society is to ask old and new members what their collecting interests are. This is the first report I’ve made public and I thought that many of our members would want to know what fellows members said.

UK Forces in Korea, BFPO 376 in Kure and a ship beginning with R?

September 30, 2019September 30, 2019 James H. Grayson9901 Comment

A friend of mine in the Sheffield Philatelic Society, Ian Potter, has given me an envelope which he thought might of interest to me. It is attached below. The envelope, with no message inside, is clearly from someone who was associated with ‘UK Forces in Korea’ and is addressed to a ‘V D K Craddock’ […]

North Korea’s Interpretation in 1959 of the Korean War

July 13, 2019July 13, 2019 James H. Grayson14203 Comments

On 25 June, 1950, the DPRK invaded the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in a war for the unification of the nation. Due to immediate United Nations military action this invasion was unsuccessful. An armistice agreement was signed between the UN forces and the forces of the DPRK and the People’s Republic of China on […]

The Semiotics of Postage Stamps: Tiny Bits of Paper as Government Documents

February 3, 2019February 3, 2019 James H. Grayson1062Leave a Comment

There are many ways of collecting and studying postage stamps – for their intrinsic collectable interest, for thematic interests, as a representative of the history of the postal service in different countries, and many other aspects. One approach which I follow is to examine the semiotics of the design of stamps. That is, what is […]