Chinese postal ephmera pick-a-mix

[ejva:nsva]

musty old bookstores, with all their glories, are common in China. something extraordinary, however, is a marvellous stash of postal ephemera which i found hiding amidst the books today!

first is a packet of some 200+ documents; the backs of which are covered with (cancelled?) stamps from the 1980s. the fronts bear what looks like inventory lists from 'Shanghai Da Jiang Co'. i am entirely unsure of why the stamps were applied to each page.....

 

next, a plain brown book (with China Post tape-borders), the pages covered in what i (hazily) understand to be stamp cancellations of Songjiang district. about half the pages are blank - suggests an artistamp project?

 

last, envelopes sundry -  i love the curiously shaped postmark on the second one.

 

i will return tomorrow with my trusty translation device to ply the kind shopowner for more details about the assorted postal debris he has tucked in odd corners of the shelves. i think he is something of a collector - he seemed bemused by my exclamations, offering me tea in what i imagine was a gesture of solidarity. a pleasanter place to pass the time and paw about has rarely been found.

 

note (!) i've an immense surplus of the stamped documents, which will likely find their way to those whom i know are postal enthusiasts. if additional stamplovers are hovering about, do tell me if you'd like a page of these for your projects, collections, et al; i will be glad to share the bounty.

 

[Jen Staggs]

The offer of tea is the best part!  What a find, both of ephemera and a sweet shop owner to drink tea with!

[Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat)]

You found a treasure, of stamps, rubber stamps, and papers! As in Greece in the by-gone days, official papers used to have to have, on every page, a "grammatosima"...like a postage stamp but not for mailing, for claiming the "originality" of the document. Maybe these are the stamps that are on the pages. I would Looove to have a few pleazzzzz! Hope you find many more treasures in that little shop and have nice tea-times (shop owners ALWAYS offer tea in the covered Bazaar in Istanbul, too!)

[Ruud Janssen]

An original Chinese rubberstamp, now that is what would be fun for the TAM Rubberstamp Archive (see: http://tamrubberstamparchive.blogspot.com/)

[Bifidus Jones]

Lucky you. I would very much like to have anything you can spare. Thank you! Is it possible to photograph the shop so we can see it?

[Lesley Magwood Fraser]

These are amazing! What a treasure trove you have found. Too beautiful. I would love one if you wouldn't mind sending me one! Thanks.