Curiosity Corner #31. QV "We are not amused"

Often quoted, this is perhaps the most famous of all the utterances attributed to Queen
Victoria. Because of her long mourning for her late Consort and her consequent
appearances dressed In black, she was known as "The Widow of Windsor", and such a
comment seems to be In keeping with the character that nickname suggests.

What is not so well known is the occasion which may have inspired the words; it is
told here for the first time. The Queen (so the story runs) overheard some of her
ladies-in-waiting laughing, and was curious. It transpired that they had been looking at
a letter just received from Victoria, Australia, and were fascinated by the Royal image
shown on the stamp. She asked to see it, and then followed the famous phrase.

The story fails to indicate which Victorian stamp franked the Letter, but a reference to
catalogue illustrations (if you do not have the stamps available) suggests that any one
of half a dozen designs might have been involved. Surely no country's stamps show
such a range of poor portraits as those on some of the early Victorian issues.

David Plummer 1982


(Remove gum to reply)

We are amused :-)

Victor Manta

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"Rodney" wrote in message
...

Often quoted, this is perhaps the most famous of all the utterances
attributed to Queen
Victoria. Because of her long mourning for her late Consort and her
consequent
appearances dressed In black, she was known as "The Widow of Windsor", and
such a
comment seems to be In keeping with the character that nickname suggests.

What is not so well known is the occasion which may have inspired the
words; it is
told here for the first time. The Queen (so the story runs) overheard some
of her
ladies-in-waiting laughing, and was curious. It transpired that they had
been looking at
a letter just received from Victoria, Australia, and were fascinated by
the Royal image
shown on the stamp. She asked to see it, and then followed the famous
phrase.

The story fails to indicate which Victorian stamp franked the Letter, but
a reference to
catalogue illustrations (if you do not have the stamps available) suggests
that any one
of half a dozen designs might have been involved. Surely no country's
stamps show
such a range of poor portraits as those on some of the early Victorian
issues.

David Plummer 1982

The story fails to indicate which Victorian stamp franked the Letter, but
a reference to
catalogue illustrations (if you do not have the stamps available) suggests
that any one
of half a dozen designs might have been involved. Surely no country's
stamps show
such a range of poor portraits as those on some of the early Victorian
issues.

Which is actually curious - Victorian Victoria was awash in wealth from gold
and wool, was spending up large on art for public galleries and on
architecture. Most significant Australian artists lived there. Certainly
not reflected in its stamps.

Not so curious I think. Some of our Australian friends can probably
explain better but at the time Australia was still a very young
country and with a generous supply of natural resources but very
little in the way of industrial infrastructure and developed
manufacturing and I suspect a great shortage of technical expertise.It
is one thing to have a brilliant artist to design something and
something else to have a Slania to engrave it and a technological
resource to produce it. After all the ancient Romans had brilliant
artists too!
It was not too long before that that the majority of immigrants to
Australia were at worst convicts and at best the very poorest and
worst educated membersof the lowest social classes. And before anyone
accuses me of sweeping generalisations of course there were honourable
exceptions but not in sufficient numbers to make any difference. Of
course in the course of time many of these people and particularly
their descendants were able to overcome the originally primitive
conditions and hostile environment to make the country the fine one it
is today. But the growth and the wealth of the country was up to late
Victorian times was probably outstripping its ability to easily cope
with it- hence no doubt many short cuts were taken in a lot of things
just to keep the country working. Please Australians do not take
offence I am not insulting your country but I think that many people
do not realise just how difficult things were for the early settlers
and with the distances and hostile environment that until quite
recently vast parts of the country were rather reminscent of the
American West. I well remember at school in the 60s seeing an
Australian made film of a haulier delivering supplies to a town in the
outback as part of a geography lesson and the general reaction was one
of disbelief that at that time such experiences could still be seen in
what was perceived to be a civilised and developed country.


"Garry Law" wrote in message ...
The story fails to indicate which Victorian stamp franked the Letter, but
a reference to
catalogue illustrations (if you do not have the stamps available) suggests
that any one
of half a dozen designs might have been involved. Surely no country's
stamps show
such a range of poor portraits as those on some of the early Victorian
issues.

Which is actually curious - Victorian Victoria was awash in wealth from gold
and wool, was spending up large on art for public galleries and on
architecture. Most significant Australian artists lived there. Certainly
not reflected in its stamps.

But the growth and the wealth of the country was up to late
Victorian times was probably outstripping its ability to easily cope
with it- hence no doubt many short cuts were taken in a lot of things
just to keep the country working.

What tosh - to see some of Victoria's superb architectural heritage see:
http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_display.cfm
http://www.walkingmelbourne.com/buil...ofile.php?ID=2
http://www.visitmelbourne.com/displa...0000/vvt.vhtml

No short cuts here. The second URL is a building nominated for world
heritage listing.

It was not too long before that that the majority of immigrants to
Australia were at worst convicts and at best the very poorest and
worst educated membersof the lowest social classes.

There was no convict transportation to Victoria. A few convicts were sent
there from NSW but were far outnumbered by free settlers after the discovery
of gold in the 1850's.

The National Gallery of Victoria "made do" with a collection of European art
mainly aquired in the 19th century which is arguably the best in the
Southern Hemisphere

see http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/collection..._painting.html

Other poorer states, Tasmania and Queensland did far better on their stamp
designs.

There was no lack of engraving skills - see these banknotes:
http://www.australianstamp.com/Coin-...s/colonial.htm



And before anyone
accuses me of sweeping generalisations of course there were honourable
exceptions but not in sufficient numbers to make any difference. Of
course in the course of time many of these people and particularly
their descendants were able to overcome the originally primitive
conditions and hostile environment to make the country the fine one it
is today. Please Australians do not take
offence I am not insulting your country but I think that many people
do not realise just how difficult things were for the early settlers
and with the distances and hostile environment that until quite
recently vast parts of the country were rather reminscent of the
American West.

A lot - most of it - still is pretty hostile and there are a lot of rugged
individualists still challenging that. But it is a large and very varied
country and there is no simple generalisation about its settlement history
that applies everywhere.

I well remember at school in the 60s seeing an
Australian made film of a haulier delivering supplies to a town in the
outback as part of a geography lesson and the general reaction was one
of disbelief that at that time such experiences could still be seen in
what was perceived to be a civilised and developed country.


"Garry Law" wrote in message
...
The story fails to indicate which Victorian stamp franked the Letter,
but
a reference to
catalogue illustrations (if you do not have the stamps available)
suggests
that any one
of half a dozen designs might have been involved. Surely no country's
stamps show
such a range of poor portraits as those on some of the early Victorian
issues.

Which is actually curious - Victorian Victoria was awash in wealth from
gold
and wool, was spending up large on art for public galleries and on
architecture. Most significant Australian artists lived there.
Certainly
not reflected in its stamps.

I well remember at school in the 60s seeing an
Australian made film of a haulier delivering supplies to a town in the
outback as part of a geography lesson and the general reaction was one
of disbelief that at that time such experiences could still be seen in
what was perceived to be a civilised and developed country.

In 1971, when my family moved from Los Angeles to Johannesburg, you
could still see beef delivered to butcher shops downtown by horsedrawn
wagons -- never mind the outback.

--

Kaleb S. KEITHLEY

Kaleb KEITHLEY wrote in message
...

I well remember at school in the 60s seeing an
Australian made film of a haulier delivering supplies to a town in the
outback as part of a geography lesson and the general reaction was one
of disbelief that at that time such experiences could still be seen in
what was perceived to be a civilised and developed country.

In 1971, when my family moved from Los Angeles to Johannesburg, you
could still see beef delivered to butcher shops downtown by horsedrawn
wagons -- never mind the outback.

This is still the norm in no-longer-so-remote corners of
Eastern Europe. Without mentioning country-names I've
been there within the latest 5 years, and have my own
photographs -- they do not display touristic settings, but
depict everyday life ...

Mette

Hello Garry

I am sorry that you chose to take my mail as a personal attack on your
country - I thought I made it plain that it was not meant that way,but
if you read it that way then please accept my unreserved apology.
Believe it or not I do have Australian friends! I accept all the
points you make about the quality of the items you mention,but I still
believe that when you look at the total picture ot the country ( and I
was not referring to Victoria in particular ) there were insufficient
resources to do everything to the standards that you would have wished
and resources then as now were prioritised into the areas that were
inportant to people at the time,and the other items of lesser
importance received less attention. It was not even intended at
criticism - I think the way Australia has outstripped the old world in
many things since the early days is admirable and all the more
admirable because of starting so late,and from scratch ( whatever
scratch may be!). As I say I am sorry if I touched a raw nerve - but
please do not see insults where none are intended.

Regards to all in Australia

Malcolm



"Garry Law" wrote in messa
...
But the growth and the wealth of the country was up to late
Victorian times was probably outstripping its ability to easily cope
with it- hence no doubt many short cuts were taken in a lot of things
just to keep the country working.

What tosh - to see some of Victoria's superb architectural heritage see:
http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_display.cfm
http://www.walkingmelbourne.com/buil...ofile.php?ID=2
http://www.visitmelbourne.com/displa...0000/vvt.vhtml

No short cuts here. The second URL is a building nominated for world
heritage listing.

It was not too long before that that the majority of immigrants to
Australia were at worst convicts and at best the very poorest and
worst educated membersof the lowest social classes.

There was no convict transportation to Victoria. A few convicts were sent
there from NSW but were far outnumbered by free settlers after the discovery
of gold in the 1850's.

The National Gallery of Victoria "made do" with a collection of European art
mainly aquired in the 19th century which is arguably the best in the
Southern Hemisphere

see http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/collection..._painting.html

Other poorer states, Tasmania and Queensland did far better on their stamp
designs.

There was no lack of engraving skills - see these banknotes:
http://www.australianstamp.com/Coin-...s/colonial.htm



And before anyone
accuses me of sweeping generalisations of course there were honourable
exceptions but not in sufficient numbers to make any difference. Of
course in the course of time many of these people and particularly
their descendants were able to overcome the originally primitive
conditions and hostile environment to make the country the fine one it
is today. Please Australians do not take
offence I am not insulting your country but I think that many people
do not realise just how difficult things were for the early settlers
and with the distances and hostile environment that until quite
recently vast parts of the country were rather reminscent of the
American West.

A lot - most of it - still is pretty hostile and there are a lot of rugged
individualists still challenging that. But it is a large and very varied
country and there is no simple generalisation about its settlement history
that applies everywhere.

I well remember at school in the 60s seeing an
Australian made film of a haulier delivering supplies to a town in the
outback as part of a geography lesson and the general reaction was one
of disbelief that at that time such experiences could still be seen in
what was perceived to be a civilised and developed country.


"Garry Law" wrote in message
...
The story fails to indicate which Victorian stamp franked the Letter,
but
a reference to
catalogue illustrations (if you do not have the stamps available)
suggests
that any one
of half a dozen designs might have been involved. Surely no country's
stamps show
such a range of poor portraits as those on some of the early Victorian
issues.

Which is actually curious - Victorian Victoria was awash in wealth from
gold
and wool, was spending up large on art for public galleries and on
architecture. Most significant Australian artists lived there.
Certainly
not reflected in its stamps.