POSTER STAMPS AND LABELS OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES

1914 - 6th Olympic Congress
20th Anniversary of Re-establishment of Olympic Games

Poster for the 1914 Olympic Congress in Paris According to Wikipedia Olympic Congresses are not regular events in the IOC's calendar. As the Olympic Charter states, "The Olympic Congress gathers representatives of the constituents of the Olympic Movement, at intervals determined by the IOC". The IOC met frequently in its early years, since the movement was young and undeveloped, so there were Congresses in 1894(Paris), 1897(Le Havre), 1905(Brussels), 1906(Paris), and 1913 (Lausanne). Its sixth meeting, in 1914 in Paris, was significant to the Olympic movement in that it included the introduction of both the official Olympic flag, and the Olympic rings, and in that it marked the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment of the Games. Special athletic events were scheduled for Cairo (April 3-5) and Riga. The ones in Cairo were held as planned, but the ones in Riga (July 6-20) were cancelled due to the imminent outbreak of World War I. Poster stamps were issued for the scheduled events: 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.

In 1914, two labels were issued by Egypt & Czarist Russia to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Congress of 1894 where the decision to revive the Olympic Games was made. These labels advertised athletic events scheduled to be held in Cairo, Egypt, and in Riga, Latvia. The Games at Riga were never held due to the outbreak of World War I.

   
#1914-2
ВТОРАЯ РОССИЙСКАЯ ОЛИМПИАДА
ВЪ ГОРОД РИГА 6-20 ИЮЛЯ 1914r.
Riga event to Commemorate
20th Anniversary of rebirth of Olympic Games

2. "Second Russian Olympiad in the city of Riga 6-20 July 1914" as Cyrillic text, above vignette.

Vignette: a lion in front of a chariot in which a maiden and an armored man are standing; a wall and a coliseum in background. An imprint is at lower left.
32x49mm, perf 11.5, brown & orange ... $10.00

(This is an improper use of the word "Olympiad.")

GERMAN FUND LABELS

   
German Fund Labels
#1914A-1 and 2
from DEPS DB.

DuBois listing:

1914 - GERMAN FUND-LABELS

1. Ausstellungshalle am ZOO vom 12 April bis. Mai 1914: SPORTLICHE JAHRESZEITEN eine Veranstaltung z. Gunsten d. Witwen u. Waisenkasse des Vereins Berliner Journalisten E.V. und des Olympia-Fonds des Varbandes Berliner Athletik-vereine as nine lines of text, down the main right side of the label. "L. Zabel" at lower right. Vignette: a man, with a monocle in his left eye, wearing a uniform. 58x36mm, perf 11.25 Trim of man's white uniform is red & black, his hair and eye-outline are black, his face is pink & tan; the text is white, on a black background, with a gray border, on 3 sides; "L. Zabel" is gray.

(Translation of German text: Exhibition Hall, near the Zoo, from April 12th to May 3rd, 1914: ATHLETIC SEASONS, an organization for the benefit of the Widow's and Orphan's Fund of the Berlin Journalist's Club, and the Olympic Funds of the Association of the Berlin Athletic Clubs.) ... $40.00

2. Same as No.1 but man's uniform is trimned blue instead of red ... $40.00

BAVARIAN WINTERSPORT - 1914

DuBois listing:

These are non-Olympic labels listed herein for information purposes. They serve to indicate that winter sports were well-organized in Germany and such events may have been held in conjunction with the "1916 - Berlin" Games, if they had not been cancelled. Skiing competitions in Feldberg (Schwarzwald) were being contemplated for the upcoming Games of 1916.

#1914B-1a,b,c 1. BAYER. WINTERSPORT 1914 across bottom. Vignette depicts a skier putting on skis; winter landscape in background. 50x33mm, perf 11.5 a) black, pink & pale blue b) blue, yellow & pink c) gray, brown & yellow - green Nice strip of 3 below! Based on the three labels on the right, I bet there is a fourth color combination of this stamp, probably with a green background.

#1914B-2 a thru d 2. BAYER. WINTERSPORT 1914 across bottom. Vignette depicts a ski jumper shortly after take-off "R. BUCHS" at lower right of oval vignette. Trees & mountains in background. 47x61mm, perf 11.5 a) black vignette & text, pink oval and rectangular borders b) blue text, blue & pink-blue vignette, yellow oval & rectangular borders, c) green vignette & text, lilac oval & rectangular borders d) red-brown text & vignette, gray rectangular border

#1914B-3 a thru d 3. BAYER. WINTERSPORT 1914 across bottom. Vignette depicts three men in a bob-sled. Snow-covered hill in background Artist's imprint at lower right of rectangular vignette 41x61mm, perf 11.5 a)black, pink & gray, b)maroon, gray & yellow, c)green, lilac & gray, d)blue, pink-red & lilac (1st-listed color is that of texts) 10/17/17 - three new images from Heiko Volk - completing this set. 7/8/18 - GREAT FIND! All four varieties in a horizontal strip.

NOT IN DUBOIS #1914B-4 4. BAYER. WINTERSPORT 1914 across bottom. Vignette depicts people ice-skating. Trees and houses in background Artist's imprint at lower right of rectangular vignette. 43x53mm, perf 11.5 4 color combinations: ...a. black-green-red ...b. black-brown-green ...c. brown-red-grey ...d. blue-red-yellow Thanks to Steve Greiczek for image at top and stats. 7/8/18 - I found the image below, all four color combinations in a vertical strip.

NOT IN DUBOIS

Not related to the Olympics celebration, but such a beautiful image, I had to share it.