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It was the idea of the German collector, Hans Von Rudoiphi, to hold a "Stamp Day" which would take place every year on a specific date. The idea was first used by Austrian philatelists on 1 December 1935 at a special stamp exhibition dedicated to the Stamp Day. A month later, German philatelists also met to celebrate a Stamp Day, and thereafter a Stamp Day was organised every year in both these countries. Later, the idea of a "Stamp Day" was adopted by other countries and today Stamp Days take place, in one form or another, in about 50 countries.
Stamp collecting developed and grew in the years following the Second World War and became a popular hobby with thousands of enthusiasts. At the same time, the production of stamps took giant strides because of the immense technological advances in printing and the increasing interest of painters and graphic artists in stamp design.
However, the war years, and the economic crisis and inflation which followed undermined philatelist societies to the point where on the verge of chosing down it was than that the postal authorities stepped in to help. They had an interest in promoting philately, and in establishing new groups of collectors, from both an economic and an educational point of view.
In this way began the cooperation between philatelic associations and postal authorities, in bringing out special stamps for Stamp Days or for other philatelic occasions, such as exhibitions, as a way of raising the funds necessary to keep philatelic organisations going. For this purpose, Austria put out a stamp for Stamp Day on 3 December 1949, but she was preceded by Spain who put out the first ever "Stamp Day" stamp on 12 October 1944, and by Hungary on 21 December 1947. In 1974 West Germany published the first stamp commemorating the 40th anniversary of the first "Stamp Day".
With time, the style of the annual event has changed in some places and "Stamp Day" has been replaced by "Philately Day". Recently, countries such as Belgium, Portugal, San Marino, the Antilles, Salvador and others have published special stamps for their Philatelic Societies to encourage and promote philately, and most countries also bring out stamps for national and international stamp exhibitions.
The first Israel "Stamp Day" will take place on 17 October this year, during "Tevel 89", a national stamp exhibition for youth, which will have participants from around the world and will take place in Bnai Brith House in Tel-Aviv from 15-21 October. The Israel Stamp Association, together with the Postal Authority and the Philatelic Service, will continue to organise "Philatelly Day" every year and to bring out a special stamp to mark the occasion.
On the face of this year's stamp appears the insignia of the World Stamp Authority, the F.l.P. (Federation Internationale de Philatelie), which was founded in 1926 by the philatelic societies of 7 countries: Austria, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, France and Switzerland. The Israeli Association was accepted as a member of the organisation in 1946. Today, there are more than 60 countries who are members of the International Philatelic Federation. The insignia on the border is that of the Israeli Philatelic Association.
