Filed under: Bhutan
♬ 1.25 NU – Bhutan History (English)
♬ 3 NU – a) Royal Bhutan Anthem b) Bhutan History (Bhutanese) c) Folk Song (No. 1)
♬ 9 NU – a) Bhutan History (English) b) Folk Song (No. 1) c) Folk Song (No. 2)
♬ 10 CH – Bhutan History (Bhutanese)
Whereas the items displayed above may look like records – and they will play on a turntable – they are actually postage stamps from the Kingdom of Bhutan / འབྲུག་རྒྱལ་ཁབ.
The story of these stamps starts in Pittsburgh, PA. That is where a man by the name of Burt Kerr Todd was born. Years later, while attending Oxford University, he befriended Ashi Kesang Choden-Dorfi, the future queen of Bhutan. In 1951, Choden-Dorfi invited Todd to Bhutan for her wedding to King Jigme Dorji-Wangchuck. There were no airfields in Bhutan, and few roads, so Todd had to travel much of the way from India on foot and horseback. His account of the journey appeared in the December 1952 issue of National Geographic magazine. He claimed to be the first American to visit Bhutan, but that cannot be verified.
During his visit, Todd was asked by the Bhutanese authorities to explore the printing of their own postage stamps and joining the Universal Postal Union. The Bhutan stamp program was set up specifically to raise money for the improvement of Bhutan’s infrastructure after the country was refused a loan from the World Bank. Todd set up the Bhutan Stamp Agency in Nassau, Bahamas. He had little grasp of how stamps were marketed through the philatelic trade and therefore relied on unusual designs to attract publicity. At first ignored by many collectors, some early Todd stamps have become cult items.
In 1966, there was a series of triangular stamps featuring the yeti, the Himalayas’ fabled abominable snowman. In 1967 came a set of 3D stamps on the theme of the space exploration. Other successful issues included a set of Buddhist banners printed on silk, a set of traditional sculptures die-stamped in plastic, perfumed stamps and stamps made out of steel foil. In 1972, Todd got the idea to make “talking stamps”. These tiny records – possibly the smallest vinyl records that can still be played with a stylus – have an adhesive backside to affix to either a letter to postcard.
Although there is no information about the performers on these recordings, apparently Burt Todd is the person doing the English narration of the Bhutanese history.
Released 1973 by the Bhutan Stamp Agency of the Royal Government of Bhutan.
Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe 