POSTER STAMPS AND LABELS OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES

SOLVED MYSTERIES!

4-15-16 - MYSTERY SOLVED

 
MYST-09
120mm x 28mm
(thanks to Steve Payne for dimensions)
I think the text at left is Japanese for "Olympic".

4/15/16 - I found several eBay listings of these labels, with definitive statements that they are "candy wrappers", and connected with the canceled 1940 Games (though they could have been issued several years earlier, since Japan cancelled its commitment in July, 1938.) Moved to the 1940 Tokyo page.

8/19/19 - Akihiko Kanda, Our new correspondent in Tokyo, supplied the following information from an auction in Japan:
"Labels of 1940 Tokyo Olympics Memorial drinks. The blue is for cider, the red is for lemonade. Because the Olympics were canceled, the labels were destroyed, but some survived." That makes much more sense than the prior description, which said they were candy labels. So these must have wrapped around the necks of soft-drink bottles. Wouldn't it be great if someone could find an example on the bottle! Thanks, Akihiko!

3-24-16 - MYSTERY SOLVED

MYST-18

Berlin 1936 Olympischesdorf
Map of Olympic village, green and red on white paper

3-24-16 - Steve Payne says these are logos on Olympic stationery - see 1936 Berlin page for examples.

3-24-16 - MYSTERY SOLVED

MYST-19

XI. / Olympia / Berlin 1936 Aug 1-16
Runner bearing torch and branch, colors unknown

3-24-16 - Steve Payne says this is a postcard - see 1936 Berlin page for example.

4-20-16 - MYSTERY SOLVED

MYST-28
OLYMPIADE INNSBRUCK - 1939

Decal, found on the www
Was Innsbruck campaigning to host the Olympics?

4/20/16 - I was looking through DuBois for something else, and found this in the section for 1964 - INNSBRUCK Winter Olympics. There's another with the date 1945 (see next item) - apparently the dates were meant to indicate that's what Innbruck looked like in those years?

4-20-16 - MYSTERY SOLVED

(This was on the 1944 page as a mystery item)

I found this image on eBay - it's clearly a decal.

Text:
Olympiastadt - INNSBRUCK TYROL - 1945
(Olympic City - Innsbruck Tyrol - 1945)
2¾" x 3¼"

Innsbruck hosted the Olympics for the first time in 1964, and in 1945 it was still under post-WWII occupation by the French, so this makes no sense.
CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN?

4/20/16 - I was looking through DuBois for something else, and found this in the section for 1964 - INNSBRUCK Winter Olympics. There's another with the date 1939 (see previous item) - apparently the dates were meant to indicate that's what Innbruck looked like in those years?

BELOW, an image of 2 more, from an eBay auction, 1809 and 1940.

MYST-30
A fund-raising label?
PRO FINNLAND - 10 Cts. / S.O.C. - C.O.S.
Vignette: Winter scene with hooded archer(?), Olympic rings

An eBay auction item - the seller thought it must originate around 1950, so it could have been issued for the 1948 St Moritz or 1952 Oslo Winter Olympics, but that was just his quess. Can anyone identify the item? "PRO FINNLAND" looks like German to me (no other language uses two n's). "10 Cts." could be 10 centimes, so perhaps it's Swiss? And what are SOC and COS? COS could be "Comité Olympique Suisse" and SOC might be Swiss Olympic Committee? But why English? Can't be German, because Committee in German is Komitee, so SOK. And why would the Swiss committee issue a label promoting the Finnish? Just for the record, the Finnish Olympic Committee is Suomen Olympiakomitea, so again, SOK, not SOC.

HELP!?

4/24/16 - I finally found the answer, via Google - it was issued by the Swiss Olympic Committee in 1939 to support Finland in her battle against the Soviet Union. Full story HERE. So I've put it on the 1940 St Moritz page.

MYST-25
OLYMPIA ZÜNDER - SOLO - U.A.I.

Matchbox label - Found on delcampe - seller says it was issued around 1936.
Can anyone confirm that?

4/24/16 - Ooops! This is in DuBois, in a section I skipped, that lists matchbox labels most of which have no Olympic connection. It is 1936-54k, and has been moved to the 1936 Berlin page. DuBois says its date of issue is uncertain, but other sources say around 1936.

 
#1936-z4
DEUTSCHLAND / XI. OLYMPIADE / BERLIN / 1936
Vignette: Winged Charioteer

This one's a shocker. It looks like a mass-produced, high-quality label that should have been used everywhere, but this is the first example I've seen, and DuBois does not mention it! I have seen the image as a poster, but never as a label. Is it a cutout from some larger piece? Please send email to address at bottom of page if you own this as a label.

4/25/16 - Philippe Pavard writes
I think that is a (cutout from) a cigarette card by SALEM CIGARETTEN FABRIK GMBH DRESDEN. I also have such a coutout (see pictures below - vignette 55x35).

MYST-13

Stade Dudelange
Grand-Duché de Luxembourg
Jeux Olympiques
29 Aout 1920

Stade Dudelange was a football (soccer) club from Dudelange, in southern Luxembourg. The semi-finals of the football playoffs at the 1920 Olympics were on August 29, but Luxembourg was eliminated on the 28th. So was this just wishful thinking?

I'm sure there's an interesting story here - if you can enlighten me, please send email to the address at bottom of page. Thanks.

4/25/16 - Philippe Pavard, Frecnch collector of Olympic stamps and sleuth extraordinaire, points out that the "Official Report of the 1920 Olympic Games" published in 1957 gives the dates of the soccer playoffs as August 29 through Sept. 5. NOT August 28 through Sept. 5. (DOWNLOAD HERE - see page 152.) That would explain this stamp, but what about all the other sources that say August 28?

4/27/16 - Unable to find confirmation of the 1920 football playoff dates in US papers (we did not play the game here then, did not field a team), I emailed Karel Stokkermans, a Dutch expert on the subject, and he sent me a link to a Ducth newspaper that confirmed the dates of the football playoff as August 28 through Sept. 5 - just for the record. (Visit Karel's excellent Olympic soccer web site at http://www.rsssf.com/tableso/olympics.html)

#1928-x9
4/28/16 - This was the cachet on a Dutch postcard, but is it also really a label? Great design! Anyone?

4/29/16 - Ooops! I should have translated the postcard - here it is, from a David Fledman auction - the text reads "WAAROM GEEN OLYMPISCHE ZWEM-POSTZEGEL - OMDAT ZWEMMEN VAN ONSCHATBARE WAARDE IS!" "Why No Olympic Swimming Stamp? - Swimming Is Invaluable!"

The Netherlands had issued eight postage stamps for the 1928 Olympics, for Rowing, Fencing, Football, Yachting, Shotputting, Running, Riding, and Boxing - but NOT Swimming! It does seem an odd omission. And the suggested design is in perfect harmony with the ones issued, shown below.

6/1/16 - I saw this item on eBay - Greek seller t.ziakas81 listed it with the title "Greek paper emblem (decal) from the 1936 Berlin Olympics."

I emailed him and asked how he knew it dated from 1936, and he replied "Simply because the senior man that gave it to me said that his father had preserved it from that Olympics period."

That's good enough for me! I have added it to the 1936-Berlin page.

MYST-24

ΕΛΛΑΣ
HELLAS - GREECE
Up the right edge:
(??) J&CO - SALONIKI - GERMANY (??)

Found on the www - low-quality scan
WHAT IS IT?
Looks like a decal - has the Olympic rings, but no date.

This one really had me excited - another image from somewhere on the www. A new find! And a great variation on the poster design.

Mystery label? No, a postcard.

7/1/16 - I found the images below on delcampe.net - it's a postcard created in 1962 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1912 Games.

myst-31
BEST SAFETY MATCHES

Seven Japanese matchbox labels
Horse jumping through Olympic rings

Image courtesy of Philippe Pavard, who says he
was told they are Japanese, and date from 1940,
the cancelled Tokyo Games.

To me they looked Chinese, but a new friend who is Chinese
was able to say the text at the bottom is definitely Japanese,
from the pre-WWII period, so I have added these to the 1940 Tokyo page.

8/16/19 - Akihiko Kanda supplied translations of the text on all of these. They are all the names of the manufacturers - Tottori/Nichirin/Japan/Kobe Match Co. - and Akihiko points out that none of these companies existed before 1946. I think the use of the Olympic rings was just a gimmick, and they had no connection to the Games, per se. Still, they make a nice display. :-)

 
MYST-01
HOTEL OLYMPIA, OLYMPIA, GREECE

This is obviously a hotel luggage label, and the hotel just chose to call itself the Olympia. The use of the Olympic rings is probably illegal, but they are not in the standard configuration, so perhaps that makes it acceptable. I could not find the hotel on the www, so presume it no longer exists.
OR?

12/29/16 - Mystery solved!

Nick Dandoulakis wrote:

OLYMPIA was a pretty common name for hotels in Greece. This one was in the area of ancient Olympia, as it says. "Pr. Vasilios Karameros" was the name of the owner. Today there is a hotel in that area named "KSENONAS KARAMEROS", probably a descendant owns it.

Thanks, Nick!

Booklet cover

#1936-z3
DIE / XI.OLYMPISCHEN / SPIELE / ZU BERLIN / 1-16 AUGUST 1936
Image of runner with torch, light brown and black on tan stock.

Probably a postcard, but the online Olympic Games Museum calls it a vignette, so...???

11/02/16 - The latest Heiko Volk auction shows this design as the cover of a 48-page souvenir booklet of photos of these Games.

12/30/16 - I found another copy of that booklet for sale on AbeBooks.

I consider this mystery solved. Not a stamp.

 
myst-34

This dates back to June of 2016.

I found these in a Feldman auction, asked Philippe Pavard if he knew what they were, he replied "stubs of lottery tickets, because 1/10e ... French Nationale Lottery: 10 tickets with the same number, each ticket is 1/10e"

I decided to add them here now in case someone else finds them and wonders what they are.

11/25/17 - Here's a complete ticket:

myst-37
CHEONG MING SAFETY MATCHES

Size: the usual small matchbox label size
Five rings in a horizontal row, all with diamonds inside

2/17/2017 - An eBay seller offered this recently, describing it as "Olympic" - I say it is not, those are NOT Olympic rings.

2/23/2017 - I tracked down a Chinese friend who had been out of town, and showed him this image. He says the Chinese text at the top says "Coin Brand Matches" and the text at the bottom says "Made at Cheong Ming Factory." The five rings represent old Chinese coins. The number five has no special significance.

So I can say conclusively, these have no connection with the Olympic Games. Case closed.

MYST-17
JEUX OLYMPIQUES D'HIVER 1948
St. MORITZ SUISSE
30 JANVIER + 8 FEVRIER
size 139x53mm (2-1/8 x 5-1/2")

But is it really a label?
Could be the imprint cut from a piece of stationery? 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.

NOT AN OLYMPIC MATCHBOX LABEL

MYST-38

An eBay seller offered this recently with "OLYMPIC" in the description. Sorry, those are NOT Olympic rings - there are only 2 (maybe 3), not 5. Not Olympic. And what does a tiger have to do with the Olympics, anyway? I'll get someone to translate the text and add that here eventually.

8/19/19 - Akihiko Kanda supplied the following:
九州唯一のパチンコホール
長崎ゲームセンター
本石灰町　宝塚映劇際

Kyushu's only pachinko hall
Nagasaki Game Center.
Honsekkai-cho beside the theater

Pachinko is an arcade game
The image is of the circus, not the Olympics

1964-x36

1964-x36. Large rectangular label
Olympic rings and Japanese flag at top, "XVIII. OLYMPISCHE SPIELE - TOKIO 1964" ("18th Olympic Games" in German) beneath, Color photo image of two Judo wrestlers.

8/11/17 - I found the First Day Cover above on eBay! The image is exactly the same, and the cover is postmarked October 10, 1964, the Opening Day of the 1964 Games. So the stamp belongs on the 1964 Tokyo page.

12/03/2017 - MYSTERY SOLVED (sort of)

The item below was on the 1956 page, but I just realized it is from the same set as 1960-220, so I have moved it to the 1960 page, and renumbered it 1960-220a.

06/17/17 - NEW MYSTERY

1956-x28

#1956-x28
Yugoslavia matchbox label

OLYMPIC STADIUM in Melbourne, Australia

6/17/17 - From an eBay lot of four labels, described as follows:

Yugoslavia FOOTBALL STADIUMS set of 4 matchbox labels from 1950's / SIBICE DOLAC factory in Travnik, Bosnia / Set of 4 matchbox labels issued in Yugoslavia in 1950's show 4 Football Stadiums; / NEP stadium in Budapest, Hungary - opened 1953 / LENIN stadium in Moscow, Russia - opened 1956 / MARACANA stadium in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil - opened 1950 / OLYMPIC STADIUM in Melbourne, Australia - opened 1956

There could be more labels in this set, and the date could be later - stay tuned.

IMAGE OF ALL FOUR LABELS HERE

MYST-22

AUSTRIA GREETS THE WORLD
Austrian peasant girl with flowers, text in different languages with national flags.

The note with my set of 23 (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 be during the Olympics right next door in Switzerland that year. But not Olympic labels, per se (no rings).

Can anyone provide more information about them?

I just found the following image:

EXPORTMUSTERSCHAU
= Export Sample Show
and the date is 1946 - case closed.

08/09/17 - NEW MYSTERY

myst-41

Matchbox label, "SAFETY MATCHES", plus Chinese/Japanese text, Olympic rings (?)

This was listed on eBay with the description "OLD CHINA MACAU MATCHBOX LABELS OLYMPIC PASTED ON WOOD"

I think it is more likely to be Japanese, and dating from the late 1930's, the runup to the (canceled) 1940 Tokyo Games.

It is also worth noting that the rings are INVERTED, I.e. the official configuration is three rings above two, NOT two above three (look at all the other items on this page.)

CAN ANYONE PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION?

8/19/19 - Akihiko Kanda supplied the following:

CHINESE TEXT
五環火柴
港澳火柴公司監製

Five Rings match
Made by Macao Match Company.

12/12/17 - NEW MYSTERY

 
myst-47

Ferrero Chocolate Trading card, 1936 Olympics
Modern German flag in background, Brandenburg Gate below.
Number 96

This doesn't really belong here, it's not a label or seal or sticker or stamp - it's a card.
And there's not really a mystery, I just want to know more about the set of (presumably) 100 cards to which this one belongs.
But I do have questions:
- Are the cards all related to the Olympic Games?
- Do they all have that odd 4-ring symbol in place of the proper 5-ring one?
- Why is the flag shown NOT the one (with swastika) that was official at the time of the 1936 Games?

Here is a link to a page showing another set of trading cards from this same chocolate company.

CAN ANYONE PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION?

Thanks to Ray Petersen, dba maerkat on eBay, for the images.

10/09/17 - NEW MYSTERY

myst-42

Hotel luggage label
11.5x7.5 cm, glue
Hotel Olympic
EGNATIAS 25 THESSALONIKI
PHONES 76.254 76.315

I do not think this is connected with a specific Olympiad, but it does have the Olympic rings, and the discus thrower, so a nice item.
The hotel is still in business at that same location, but looks modern, 1970 or later - Google streetview snapshot below. That phone number looks like a very old one (current number = 056.6871) so I think it's much earlier than the 2004 Games in Athens.

5/119/201 - Nick Dandoulakis of Athens wrote to tell us the following:

This label was printed sometime between 1949 and October 1969, because on 23 October 1949 Hellenic Telecommunication Org. was founded. Thessaloniki, a big city in northern Greece, went to six digits telephone numbers on 11 October 1969, as I found in a local newspaper records. They keep records way back to 1953 and until then telephone numbers were 5 digits.

Thanks, Nick - I have added this label to the 1968 page, as 1968-x37. It could be earlier, but I think that is where it belongs.

01/18/2019 - NEW MYSTERY

 
myst-62

From an eBay auction, title= 1950's Olympics Uncut Panel of Decals / Neat Item

The description was as follows:
A neat item, It looks to be from the 1950's but possibly a little older than that . I don't know much about this uncut panel but it is unique and would be a great addition for any Olympics collector. Measures approximately 9.5 X 7 inches.

I note that the sheet is NOT "uncut" - there are broken tabs on the left, so there was more to this originally. Given the measurments, my guess is there were two more columns of images, and this is half its original size. The only clue to its origin is the logo "EAS" twice on the connecting circles. I could find nothing about any EAS that seemed appropriate. Oddly, none of the athletes have national symbols on their costumes, so no hints there.

Can anyone tell me more?

>>> CONTINUED IN NEXT COLUMN - SOLVED! <<<

I had to patch together the image, as he would not send a complete scan. :-(

That got me interested again, so I looked further, and this time I persisted and found that this is a "German EAS diecut chromo-lithographed scrap" from the 1950s. Ta-da! "Scrap" is the official english term. The Germans call them "Glanzbilder Oblaten" or "gleaming images." According to German Wikipedia:

Gleaming pictures are colored pictures printed on paper using the chromolithography process for decorative purposes. Scraps are used, among other things, for decorating articles in poetry albums, you decorate letters with them or hang them on the Christmas tree. They are exchange and collectibles. Even today you can still find them occasionally on gingerbread biscuits, which are offered at fairs. Unlike stickers , glossy pictures are not self-adhesive. The paper is also embossed.

Look around and you will find scores of web pages about them, offering them for sale and cataloging them.

EAS was EA Schwerdtfeger company, one of the major producers of scraps. Established in Berlin, Germany in the 1880's, E.A. Schwerdtfeger published picture postcards and calendars in addition to their popular line of Glanzbilder or scrap reliefs. In business for more than 100 years, this German firm closed its doors in the 1980's.

SO, I feel safe in saying that this was just a generic product, created for none of the official Games. Still a nice collectible, though!

MYST-11

Two booklets containing strips of vignettes depicting different sporting events in a cartoon style, covers inscribed "Olympische Spiele" with one showing boxing and the other showing swimming, possibly produced ca.1920s, very fine and attractive.

Found in a David Feldman auction catalog. Must date from 1913 or so. Can anyone provide more info, or images of the stamps they contained?

06/17/2020 - eBay seller newby101 offered a wonderful assortment of Olympic labels, including examples of these two! Scans at right, with all the contents - each has twelve labels. I think it is safe to say these pre-date the 1936 Games - they look more like the 1920's to me. But still treasures for any Olympic labels collection!

CONTENTS OF BOXING BOOKLET:

CONTENTS OF DIVING BOOKLET:

REAR COVERS

TaDA!

TWO MYSTERIES SOLVED - BICYCLE DECALS - NO OLYMPIC GAMES CONNECTION

11/21/2018 - NEW MYSTERY

myst-59
Australian(?) decal/transfer

From an eBay auction

The description was as follows:

OLYMPIC BICYCLE MELBOURNE 1950-60s DECAL TRANSFER

No further information was provided, but based on the known size of the 50c coin, the size of the vignette is 30x47mm (1.18x1.85").

I emailed the seller (but two mnonths after the auction - oops) to find out how she derived that description - BICYCLE? MELBOURNE? 1950-60s? and she replied:
All I can remember is I think it was a decal from an old bicycle company in Australia.

I see nothing to say anything except it's an Olympic label.

Can anyone tell me more?

01/18/2019 - NEW MYSTERY

myst-61

From an eBay auction, title = RARE OLD UNUSUAL SHEET OF UNUSED OLYMPIC DECALS SET OF 4 ( DATE UNKNOWN)

The description was as follows:
TWO OF THE DECALS HAVE A BICYCLE THEME. THE SHEET IS ODD SHAPED AND HAS BEEN CUT FROM SOMETHING ELSE? IT MEASURES APPX 4 1/4 INCHES BY 5 1/4 INCHES. IT IS DISCOLORED FROM AGE WITH MANY WRINKLES BUT THE GRAPHICS ARE AMAZING. I PURCHASED IT MANY YEARS AGO IN EUROPE.

I note that none of the rings are in the Olympic configuration, so this was not an "approved" creation. To me the graphics look similar to those on decals from the 1968 Mexico City Games, but there are no elements to link this to 1968 specifically.

Can anyone tell me more?

That metal thing is a bicycle mirror - see how the round thing would slip over the handle bars? The seller described the set as bicycle decals. The long ones would go on the columns of the bicycle.

And once I saw that I noticed the bicycles on the long triangular ones at left! Duh.

End of mysteries, end of story.