Vilnius 1931

Wilno Katedra by J. Bułhak

A postcard of the Vilnius cathedral sent in 1931 from the post office Wilno 2 to Myszkowiec, Poland. The picture is a work of a famous Polish photographer Jan Bułhak (1876–1950), described in Wikipedia as a pioneer of the Polish photography. I have seen many postcard using his work, who knows how many there are. The Polish postal authority even issued a stamp of his work.

Picture of the St Casimir chapel inside the Vilnius Cathedral

The First Białystok-Vilnius Philatelic Exhibition 1977

Since I have posted the 2nd and the 3rd, why not the First? So, here we go, the First Wystawa Filatelistyczna Białystok - Wilno (Białystok-Vilnius Philatelic Exhibition) held in 1977 on the ocasion of the 60th anniversary of the Great October Revolution. It looks like they didn't intend to have the 2nd at the time, there is no mention of being the first of this series of exhibition. The coat of arms of Białystok is the Polish Eagle and the Lithuanian Vytis which was also the coat of arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It is also used for the coat of the Podlaskie Voivodeship which Białystok is the capital city of. The majority of ethnic Lithuanians living in Poland are concentrated in Podlaskie, preserving their own cultural identity in remote villages, especially in few counties in the north where Lithuanians exceed 70% of the population. That is very interesting fact because that's exactly how it was in Lithuania under the Commonwealth where majority were Polish speakers at that time and Lithuanian spoken only in remote villages. "IF", the Grand Duchy of Lithuania have survived until today like the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg now, I think it would look more like the present Podlaskie than the actual modern Lithuania itself.

Train of the Podlaskie Railway with the coat of arms running between Suwałki and Białystok
If the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was still existing, the state railway would probably look like this present Podlaskie trains.

The 3rd Białystok-Vilnius Philatelic Exhibition 1985

This is a postcard to commemorate the III Wystawa Filatelistyczna Białystok - Wilno (3rd Białystok-Vilnius Philatelic Exhibition) held in 1985. I have already posted in this blog the commemorative postcard of the 2nd Exhibition held in 1982 (please click the label "WYSTAWA FILATELISTYCZNA BIAŁYSTOK - WILNO" below this article to check it. ), this is the 3rd of its kind. The stamp used is the commemorative issue of the Wojna Obronna 1939, literally meaning "defensive war" which points out the war the Poles fought against the German invasion at the beginning of WWII in 1939, also known as "Kampania wrześniowa", the September Campaign.

's-Gravenhage Stamp Exhibition Estonia - Latvia - Lithuania 1938

This is the first time I'm posting a Dutch cover on this blog! It is a cover with a commemorative postmark of 's-Gravenhage (also known as Den Haag/The Hague) Postzegel Tentoonstelling (Stamp Exhibition) of Estland/Estonia Letland/Latvia and Litauen/Lithuania held in 1938. I can understand that people of Poland, Germany, Russia or Latvia showing interest in Lithuanian philately because these countries are closely associated with Lithuanian history but Netherlands does not have any direct connection nor significant immigration of Lithuanians like the US, Canada or Australia, and still managed to gather enough people interested in Baltic philately to held an exhibition during the prewar period. I must say I'm impressed by the Dutch people.
The author probably addressed the cover to himself but then changed his mind and wanted it immediately by rewriting the address to Tentoonstellingen (exhibition ground). According to Google Books, there is even a publication about this exhibit, titled: Tentoonstelling van postzegels van Estland, Letland en Litauen te 's-Gravenhage published in 1938, the author is credited to Jan Hendrik Peursem, Vereeninging Nederland-Balticum. The content has only 36 pages but I would definitely like to take a look if I would ever had a chance to do so one day.

1968 Opening of the Polish Airline LOT line Warszawa - Wilno - Leningrad

This is an interesting first flight card sent in 1968 from Warszawa/Warsaw, Poland to Vilnius, part of the Soviet Union back then. There is a nice commemorative cancellation with the inscription "Otwarcie Linii Lotniczej PLL LOT Warszawa Wilno Leningrad" meaning: Opening of the flight line PLL LOT Warszawa Wilno (Vilnius) Leningrad (now St. Petersburg, Russia). PLL is "Polskie Linie Lotnicze", the Polish Airline and LOT is the name of that airline.
It seems like the sender sent it from Warszawa to get this special postmark to Vilnius as "poste restante" but for some reason did not pick it up. There is a arrival cancel of Vilnius opp. Lit. SSR and sent back to Warszawa. The sender didn't fill out the returning address where it should have been but the Polish Post have noticed later (that's probably why it is handwritten in red "retour" above the inscription "retour inconnu" which means: return address unknown) and sent back to Racibórz, where the sender live. It must have been such a "trouble maker" card from the postman's view but certainly interesting for us collectors.
Racibórz is a Polish town just few kilometers from the Czech border which also has a very interesting postal history going through Austrian, German, Czech, Polish rule but unfortunately this blog is about Lithuanian philately so I won't discuss it.

The capitals of the E.U. member states: Vilnius 2005

A very nice looking FDC and the stamp issued by Poland in 2005 as one of the series of the capital cities of the European Union member states. The design of the FDC cover is especially nice! Curiously, a stamp depicting the Wilno/Vilnius cathedral with similar angle has also been issued by Poland during the prewar occupation period as well.

Lithuanian folk dance

This is one of the Soviet postal stationery of the folk dance of each Republic consisting the Soviet Union issued in 1960. It is bilingual in Russian and the language of each ethnic group. I find the Soviet stamps and stationery during the 50's, 60's and 70's are particularly well designed.

440th Anniversary of the Union of Lublin 2009

I just love this commemorative cancel! It's commemorating the 440th Anniversary of the Union of Lublin signed by Poland and Lithuania. It was an exclusive postmark for the post office in Lublin, Poland. the coat of arms of the commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania depicting the Polish eagle and the Lithuanian Vytis is just beautiful!

The 16th Vilnius Kaziukas Fair in Poznań 2009

This is a commemorative card of the XVI Kaziuk Wileński w Poznaniu (16th Vilnius Kaziukas Fair in Poznań, Poland) held on 8 March 2009. Kaziuk is the Polish name for the traditional fair of Vilnius, Lithuania called Kaziuko mugė. Large number of Polish speaking population in Vilnius have moved to Poland as part of the Post-war population replacement orchestrated by the Soviet authority. Largest part went to Gdańsk and Poznań, which is the sites of the 2 biggest Kaziuko mugė held in Poland today by the former residents of the Vilnius region and their descendants. Besides Poland, there are several places outside of Lithuania celebrating Kaziuko mugė, Grodno, Belarus and Daugavpils, Latvia are the most known ones. However, outside of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Kaziuko mugė is not celebrated (both Grodno and Daugavpils were once an important part of the Grand Duchy).
The cancellation is commemorating the 20th anniversary of Towarzystwo Miłośników Wilna i ziemi Wileńskiej (Friendship society of Vilnius and Vilnius region) on the occasion of the 16th Vilnius Kaziuk.

Šiauliai 1975

This is a Soviet postal stationery of Шяуляй/Šiauliai issued on 8 July 1975. It depicts the Pergalės square (now Prisikėlimo square) in the center of the city. You can see the cathedral of SS Peter & Paul on the background but the Diocese of Šiauliai was established only in 1997, so technically it wasn't a "Cathedral" at the time when this postal stationery has been issued.

Šiauliai 1988

This is a Soviet postal stationery commemorating the philatelic exhibition "Прибалтюнфил 88" (Pribaltyunfil) held in Шяуляй/Šiauliai in 1988 with a commemorative cancel of it. This philatelic exhibition  took place in 2 consecutive years 1987 and 1988.  Прибалтюнфил/Pribaltyunfil 87 was held in Narva, Estonian SSR.

The 2nd Białystok-Vilnius Philatelic Exhibition 1982

This is a  postcard of the II Wystawa Filatelistyczna Białystok - Wilno (2nd Białystok-Vilnius Philatelic Exhibition) held in 1982 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the ZSRR/USSR (it is the polish abbreviation for: Związek Socjalistycznych Republik Radzieckich). It features a very nice illustration of Gediminas tower in Vilnius with a Commemorative cancel.

Jieznas 1972

This another illustrated Soviet stationery sent in 1972 from Езнас/Jieznas. A tourist facility of Бирштонас/Birštonas is illustrated on the envelope. Jieznas is a small town with a population of approximately 1500. This town has been mentioned in historical records for the magnificent palace of the Pac family but unfortunately, it has been burnt down by a fire in 19th century. Only a white baroque church remains today from that period.

Daugailiai 1970

This is one of the series of illustrated Soviet stationery sent in 1970 from Даугайляй/Daugailiai, a village in Utena county with a population of 350. The illustration depicts a sanatorium in Друскининкай/Druskininkai. I like those illustration series of the Soviet stationery, especially the ones in the 60's and 70's.

Cancellations of Lit.SSR - 04 Šiauliai

Шяуляй/Šiauliai 3 registered mail 1983

This post office was located at Tilžės g. 121 and today replaced by Šiauliai 15 located inside the newly built shopping center "Saulės miestas" (Tilžės g. 109)

Шяуляй/Šiauliai 4 (Zokniai) registered mail 1976

with a rare registration label error "Šauliai" instead of Šiauliai

It's a postal stationery commemorating 400 years of Vilnius University, at the time called V.Kapsukas University.

Šiauliai 4 was located at Zokniai, now closed down.

Шяуляй/Šiauliai 9 registered mail 1975

Шяуляй/Šiauliai 14 registered mail 1988

This post office was located at Medelyno g. 7, now closed down.

from left to right Шяуляй/Šiauliai 3, 4, 9 and 14

Many people think that small town's postmarks are somehow harder to collect than bigger city's ones. It is partly true. If you are looking for Soviet Lithuania's covers outside of Lithuania, most of what you would get is likely to be the ones of Vilnius. Indeed, I probably do have thousands of Vilnius postmarks in my collection. But.. unlike small towns, bigger cities tend to have branch post offices which makes the postal history of the city interesting but also complicated. Vilnius could turn into your nightmare if you are trying to complete all postmarks. Many branch post offices have been closed down, relocated, renamed or simply newly created (and recreated). Some existed only few months. Towards the end of the rule of Tsarist Russia, branch post offices had their location included in their postmarks such as: Вильна - Лукишки(Lukiškės) or Вильна - Снипишки(Šnipiškės). Unfortunately, during the Soviet rule those post offices were just numbered. This makes it extremely complicated because the post office with a same number can be located in a different place depending on which period of time you are looking for. Soviet time "Panevėžys 11" was not necessary located at the place where the modern Panevėžys 11 stands nowdays.

Anyway, here are some of the registered covers of the branch post offices of Шяуляй/Šiauliai during the Soviet time. Some of them are extremely difficult to get. According to post.lt, Šiauliai central (1), 2, 5, 8, 10, 13, 15 and 16 are officially open for operation today in Šiauliai.

P.S. Postmark of modern Lithuania, Šiauliai 15 and 16 wanted! Both located inside a shopping center, 15 in Saulės Miestas, 16 in Akropolis. If anyone can help, please write me, I would truly appreciate!

Cancellations of Lit.SSR - 03 Meter franking

 Науйойи-Акмяне/Naujoji Akmenė 1984

 Каунас/Kaunas 1987

The convenience of meter stamps is that it doesn't necessary have to be posted at the post office itself and can deal with large amount of mails in short amount of time. Meter franking machines were often purchased by companies and other big institutions on both side of the Iron-curtain. When I was still a student, I had a part-time job at a mail section of a big company using a Dodwell Pitney-Bowes postage meter machine. Those meter franking usually includes company's logo or advertisement. In Soviet Lithuania, it appears to be the same. The top cover is a registered mail from Naujoji Akmenė, with a meter stamp of the company "Akmenės cementas" which is still existing nowdays. It is a bit unsual to cancel a stationery with a meter stamp. The stationery commemorates the communist activist Kazys Giedrys. The second cover is from Kaunas and it originates from the Fizikinių-techninių energetikos problemų institutas, also existing today but renamed Lietuvos energetikos institutas (LEI).

They are various of types of meter stamps, some of them are obviously different but some can be tricky to identify.

 The above covers seem to have the same type meter stamp, but if you look closely, you can tell the differences. 

Another registered mail from Venta in Akmenė district municipality, a small town with a population of 3000.

Vilnius 1938

This is a Polish postal stationery issued in 1938 during the Polish occupation, depicting the Kościół św. Jana (Šv. Jono bažnyčia/Church of St. John) in Uniwersytet Stefana Batorego (Stepono Batoro universitetas/Stephen Báthory university) in Wilno (now Vilnius) which is the present Vilnius university. The imprinted value is 15 gr. , with the portrait of Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk (Kazimieras IV Jogailaitis/Casimir IV Jagiellon) who was the king of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania.

Šilutė 1974

A cover with an illustration of Kaunas castle with a 1973 Soviet stamp of the Trakai castle. There is a commemorative cancellation of the philatelic exhibition held in Šilutė/Шилуте in 1974, with an image of Gediminas tower in Vilnius. Both castles and the tower are excellent example of the Lithuanian gothic architecture.

Joniškis 1965

This is a commemorative stationery of the 25th anniversary of Lithuania Soviet Socialist Republic, sent in 1965 from Йонишкис/Joniškis to Bruxelles/Brussels, Belgium. The regular international mail rate was 6 kopecks at that time so this letter must have been overfranked.

Marijampolė 1979

A commemorative cover of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mikalojus Akelaitis, cancelled in Kapsukas/Капсукас (now Marijampolė, Lithuania) in 1979. The stamp is also a commemorative stamp of 400th anniversary of Vilnius university issued in 1979. Marijampolė was named Kapsukas/Капсукас between 1955 and 1989 in honor of Vincas Kapsukas. The cancellation is the one of Kapsukas/Капсукас post office #3 which was closed down soon after the restauration of independence of Lithuania. Presently, only the central post office (Marijampolės centrinis paštas/Marijampolė-C), #2(2-asis paštas) and #4 are in service in Marijampolė.