POSTER STAMPS AND LABELS OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES

      INTRODUCTION

      STATISTICS

      UNSOLVED MYSTERIES

        SUMMER GAMES
1894 - Modern Games Founded
1896 - I Olympiad - Athens
1900 - II Olympiad - Paris
      - Vignettes of the 1900 Paris Expo
1904 - III Olympiad - St. Louis
1906 - Intercalated Games - Athens
1908 - IV Olympiad - London
1912 - V Olympiad - Stockholm
1913 - Berlin prepares for 1916 games
1914 - 20th Anniversary of Rebirth of Games
1916 - VI Olympiad - Berlin
1920 - VII Olympiad - Antwerp
1924 - VIII Olympiad - Paris
      - Post Cards
1928 - IX Olympiad - Amsterdam
1932 - X Olympiad - Los Angeles
1936 - XI Olympiad - Berlin
1940 - XII Olympiad - Tokyo
      - XII Olympiad - Helsinki
      - New Zealand Centennial Games
1944 - XIII Olympiad - London
      - German POW Games
1948 - XIV Olympiad - London
1952 - XV Olympiad - Helsinki
1956 - XVI Olympiad - Melbourne
      - XVI Olympiad - Stockholm
1960 - XVII Olympiad - Rome

1944 - XIII Olympiad - London
(Cancelled)

Poster for the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of re-birth of Olympic Games

World War II was at its height in 1944, and although London had been designated to host the Games if the War had ended by then, it had not, and the Games were cancelled. No preparations had been made, as all the UK's resources were consumed in fighting the war.

The Olympic Movement was, however, celebrated in the City of Lausanne in June and July. Sponsored by the IOC and the Swiss Olympic Committee, that program honored the 50th anniversary of the International Olympic Committee and included sports and cultural events.

The Olympic Jubilee celebrated in Switzerland was spread over 16 June through 3 July 1944 and was commemorated by three postage stamps. The widow, Baroness de Coubertin, was an honored guest at the celebration. Swiss athletes performed and competed at the various events. Interned soldiers from other countries were allowed to attend events.

(From THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT REMEMBERED IN THE POLISH PRISONER OF WAR CAMPS OF 1944 by Sherwin Podolsky)

There were no poster stamps or labels created for the intended 1944 Games - at least none has surfaced to date.

There were no postage stamps created for the 1944 Games.

HOWEVER, one of the strangest and most heartening tributes to Olympic spirit took place at two German prisoner-of-war camps in Poland. Separate page on that HERE.

      SOLVED MYSTERIES!

      STILL MISSING

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      UPDATE HISTORY

       SUMMER GAMES
1964 - XVIII Olympiad - Tokyo
1968 - XIX Olympiad - Mexico City
1972 - XX Olympiad - Munich

       WINTER GAMES
1924 - I Winter Games - Chamonix
1928 - II Winter Games - St Moritz
1932 - III Winter Games - Lake Placid
1936 - IV Winter Games - Garmisch-Partenkirchen
1940 - V Winter Games - Sapporo
      - V Winter Games - St Moritz
      - V Winter Games - Garmisch-Partenkirchen
1944 - V Winter Games - Cortina d'Ampezzo
1948 - V Winter Games - St Moritz
1952 - VI Winter Games - Oslo
1956 - VII Winter Games - Cortina d'Ampezzo
1960 - VIII Winter Games - Squaw Valley
1964 - IX Winter Games - Innsbruck
1968 - X Winter Games - Grenoble
1972 - XI Winter Games - Sapporo

       OTHER TOPICS
      - U.S. OLYMPIC SHIELD DECALS
      - Workers' Olympics

11/18/17 - NEW FIND!

The label below was certainly NOT created for the phantom Games of 1944, BUT, by my calculations, based on its Maerkat* number, it was issued in 1944, so I am placing it here.


1944-x1
Advertising label:
Olympic rings in background, in proper colors.
Text in front:

UNISPORT
ERIK FALCK HANSEN
ORDRUPVEJ 109 CHARLOTTENLUND
F E BORDING A/S KBHVN - MAERKAT NR 2971


Colors - blue, black, red, yellow, green
Size: 55x35mm

I assume UNISPORT was a sporting goods store - there is a modern Danish sporting goods company of the same name, but I was unable to determine whether it descended from this one.

The only Danish ERIK FALCK HANSEN I could find was a cyclist who competed from 1943 to 1948, so that fits. He may have owned this store, or let them use his name for publicity.

* Maerkat labels were a long-running series of Danish advertising and souvenir labels that started in 1930 and ran through about 1978. Numbers were assigned more or less chronologically, ending with number 15428! BUT, there have been imitators and other incarnations, so labels with higher numbers and later dates do exist. Maerkat expert Ray Petersen (dba maerkat on eBay) says some numbers were used multiple times, and many labels had no numbers, so there could be as many as 30,000 different maerkater out there!

4/20/18 - see the bottom of my 1968 Mexico City page for much more about Maerkater.

03/31/2019 - NEW FIND!

 

1944-x2

Swiss Soldier's stamp, 1942
6es CHAMPIONNATS d'ARMEE - FRIBOURG - 27-30 AOUT 1942

6th Army Championships (athletic competitions)

This one is in a grey area vis-à-vis this catalog, as Swiss Army stamps are a specialized area, and the "rings" are in a non-standard configuration. It's up to you.


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I am indebted to Robert J DuBois for allowing me to use images and information from his Catalog of Olympic Labels on these web pages.

All text and images are the property of the author. Any errors are his.
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All text Copyright © 2013, William M. Senkus

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Created -- 07/27/2013
Revised -- 03/31/2019