Boyhood Collections from John Lennon & Freddy Mercury at Stampex
Courtesy of The Postal Museum and Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum, The UK’s Largest Stamp Exhibition Stampex (14th – 17th September 2016) is bringing boy hood collections by John Lennon and Freddie Mercury together for the first time.
To celebrate their 60th Anniversary, Stampex are hosting a Court of Honour to celebrate two music legends and their stamp collections – Freddie Mercury and John Lennon.
John Lennon’s childhood stamp collection portrays the music legend in a different light to the public persona we saw. He would take stamps off letters sent from New Zealand and America – dreaming of distant shores and adventure. The collection had been a gift from his older cousin Stanley Parkes who had started the collection and passed to Lennon when he was 10. It is clear to see in the book that Lennon erased the name of his cousin out and cheekily added moustaches to cover pictures of Queen Victoria and King George VI.
Alongside John Lennon’s collection sits Freddie’s Mercury’s – displayed in the Court of Honour on the year that would have marked his 70th Birthday. The collection was bought in 1993 by The National Postal Museum, predecessor of The Postal Museum, with all proceeds generously donated to The Mercury Phoenix Trust, an AIDS charity set up to remember Freddie.
Freddie collected stamps between the ages of 9 and 12, his collection focuses on stamps from Zanzibar (where he was born) and the British Empire. It is the unique way that he displayed the stamps which is in itself interesting, Freddie had ordered the stamps by colour, size or type.
About The Mercury Phoenix Trust
September 5, 2010 saw The Mercury Phoenix Trust, the HIV AIDS charity set up in Freddie’s name by the remaining members of Queen and manager Jim Beach, launch ‘Freddie For A Day’, a major annual initiative designed to celebrate Freddie’s life each year on his birthday and to support the on-going work of the Trust.
Taking it one stage further, Freddie’s 70th birthday, September 5, 2016, will be marked on Sunday September 4th with a major celebration in Montreux, the Swiss town he so loved. The event is in aid of The Mercury Phoenix Trust, and will see fans and friends gather at Montreux Casino to remember Freddie and raise a toast to him at midnight. Official tribute band, the Queen Extravaganza will fly into Montreux especially to perform for the evening marking their first performance in Freddie’s Swiss home town.
Freddie Mercury: Messenger Of The Gods – The Singles is released by Mercury/Universal on September 2 as a box set featuring 13 x 7” singles on coloured vinyl with a booklet featuring photos, some of which are previously unpublished, and text. It will be released in North America through Hollywood Records.
About Stampex
Stampex, sponsored by Stanley Gibbons, is the UK’s largest philatelic show, exhibiting a masterful presentation of collected stamps from philatelic dealers and specialists. The September show will continue to celebrate the event’s 60th Anniversary; organised by The Philatelic Traders’ Society Limited, the event will take place at The Business Design Centre (BDC) in Islington from 14th -17th September 2016.