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

1948 - V Winter Games - St Moritz

Official Poster and Emblem for 1948 Winter Games in St. Moritz

The IOC decided NOT to increment the number on the Winter Games unless they were actually held, so 1948 was finally the V Winter Games!

The following poster stamps were issued for the 1948 Winter Games:

Click on image below to open an enlarged version in a separate window/tab
Click on the DuBois number beneath the image to display technical data about that label.


      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



#1948-W-1 to 4

DuBois listing:

"St. Moritz" in upper right corner, script printing. Vignette: a stylized sun in middle, Olympic flag above and Swiss flag below, rings on flag are multicolored and interlaced as on official flag, line-rays radiate from the sun to the edge of the vignette. A printer's imprint is below design, on right. Texts at bottom of vignette, in German, English & French, are as follows:

1. "V OLYMPISCHE WINTERSPIELE 30 JANUAR - 8 FEBRUAR 1948"
2. "Vth OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 8 1948"
3. "Vmes JEUX OLIMPIQUES D'HIVER 30 JANVIER-8 FEVRIER 1948"
26x41mm, perf 11, multicolored ... $10.00ea
Exists as a strip of 6 (3 of #2, 2 of #3 & 1 of #1)
4. Same as No.2 but without printer's imprint ... $12.00

See block of 12 at right from a pane of stamps.


#1948-W-1 to 3
Note format - all three languages:
3 of #2, 2 of #3 & 1 of #1

So was no.4 printed in full sheets?


#1948-W-5
DuBois listing:

5. "SKI JEUX OLYMPIQUES D'HIVER OLYMPISCHE WINTERSPIELE" below. Vignette: two skiers with numbers "13" & "3" on their suits, Swiss banner on left and Olympic banner on right, three mountains in background. 52x38mm, perf 11, multicolored .... $20.00

10/18/16 - Steve Greiczek sent me scans of pages from the 1980 Editions Pén "Catalogue Des Vignettes Suisses De Propagande Et Commémoratives: Katalog der Schweizer Werbe- und Erinnerungsvignetten : 1878 - 1980" showing this stamp (S.173), and attributing it to 1928. Go to the bottom of the 1928 Winter Games page to see those scans. To me the design looks more like the other 1948 issues. Note the flags on this stamp and the next one, 1948-W-6. Can anyone resolve this conflict?


#1948-W- 6
DuBois listing:

6. "POUR LE SKI SUISSE / FUR DEN SCHWEIZER SKISPORT A.S.C.S. - S.S.V." below. Vignette: a ski-jumper with Swiss & Olympic flags in background. An imprint at upper left: "L. JAGGI." 38x52mm, perforated, multicolored ... $30.00


#1948-W-7
DuBois listing:

7. "V. OLYMPIADE INVERNALE 1948 30.I. - 8.II. St. Moritz SVIZZERA" below. Vignette: Olympic rings. Imperf, red on white ... Rare

approx. size of central rectangle = 21x27mm

(Image courtesy of cinderellastamp.com,
"Heirs to the collections of Vittorio de Silva Portugal (1881-1954)")

 
#1948-W- 8

1948-W-8
DuBois listing:

8. "U.S. OLYMPIC COMMITTEE LONDON - 1948 GAMES - ST.MORITZ" above. Vignette: same as No.17 of "1940-HELSINKI" and No.3 of "1948-LONDON" (see latter for more data)

These American fund-raising stamps mention both London and St Moritz, so applied to both the Winter and Summer Games.

NOT IN DUBOIS

#1948-W-x1
JEUX OLYMPIQUES D'HIVER 1948 St. MORITZ SUISSE 30 JANVIER + 8 FEVRIER
size 139x53mm (2-1/8 x 5-1/2")
Could be the imprint cut from a piece of stationery?

(Image courtesy of cinderellastamp.com,
"Heirs to the collections of Vittorio de Silva Portugal (1881-1954)")

Here's another example from a recent Feldman auction, and the edges look irregular to me, as though it was indeed cut from something larger:

02/24/2017 - The item below was listed in a recent Heiko Volk auction, with description "Back side partially gummed - 139 x 53mm" and it appears identical to the other two, so for me that proves this is a label, not a cutout. Case closed.

11/14/18 - MYSTERY LABEL


1948-W-x3

Alvaro Tucchi of Italy displayed this label in an exhibit he published in Phila-Sport magazine, Italy's sports philately publication. He has no information about it, but we can see the design is that of Switzerland Sc. B-170, a 1948 semi-postal issued as part of a set of four to mark the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz. But the color is different. So is this an essay? In any case, I consider it a borderline entry in this collection.



#1948-W-x2
1/22/2018 - MYSTERY SOLVED
NO OLYMPIC CONNECTION

#1948-W-x2

Austria greets the world
Austrian Mädchen holding bouquet of flowers at right, national flag in shield shape at bottom left, text on each stamp up from bottom left and across top: "Austria Greets (country name)" in the national language.

The note with my set of 24 (complete?) of these says "1948 - St Moritz." That would make sense, they were clearly issued to promote tourism in Austria and a great time would have been during the Olympics next door in Switzerland in 1948. So not Olympic, per se (no rings). But is there a connection? Can anyone provide more information about them?

Next column, one used on cover - I can't make out the date in the cancel - 1947? - but the stamp (Scott 485) was issued in 1947, so probably 1947 or 1948, which fits.

Below, one with a clear 1947 cancel, and one with a 1956 overprint.

 


1/22/2018 - MYSTERY SOLVED
NO OLYMPIC CONNECTION

I just found the following image:

EXPORTMUSTERSCHAU
= Export Sample Show
in Vienna, May 1946 - case closed.


Switzerland issued four semi-postal stamps for the 1948 Winter Games.


TOP

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.
REWARD! If you have better or additional information about anything shown or discussed here, please email the author.
Email address at bottom of page. Full credit gladly given - your name, ebay ID, web site...

Home


All text Copyright © 2013, William M. Senkus

Send feedback to the author: CLICK HERE

Created -- 07/27/2013
Revised -- 06/17/2020