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• Editorial Articles
• Culture and Traditions
• 10 / 23 / 2006

Cuban philately has a millionaire heritage in collection pieces, some of them of universal relevance due to its cultural and historical significance.

The printing of the first postage stamp occurred on April 24th, 1855. However, curiously it wasnt until the year 1877 that the word Cuba was read in our postage stamps.

This practice has been present in all times of our history contributing to the development of our nationality. During the colonial times, although the post was run by the Spaniards, the insurrectionist forces had the so called "mambí post" that was used in the two independence wars.

In 1958 Cuba was the first country that printed stamps in four-color reproduction with an edition honoring Doctor Felipe Poey.

The Cuban Philatelic Federation was created on November 25, 1965 and has about 2000 members throughout the whole country where there are 30 philatelic clubs.

Another milestone in our history was the official edition in Cuba and worldwide of the first stamp with the topic Cosmos on October 15, 1930 owing to the failed attempt of shooting a rocket called Marlin with the mail from the Casino Deportivo to Matanzas city.

Since 1965 Cuba owns a Post Museum located at the first floor of the Ministry of Informatics and Communications in Havana City. There, we can find the most complete Cuban stamps collection. Original designs, printing tests with the artists signs, 000, 1 sheets, envelopes, covers and historical data, as well as, the Cuban prephylatelic brands from the first one known as "Habanos" are also carefully kept.

Regarding exhibitions, the first one of national importance took place in 1911 at the Jardines de la Finca de los Molinos. One of the most relevant shows has been the international exhibition of the year 1955 at the Palacio de Bellas Artes.

Cuba has achieved important recognition in the philatelic field at international level. One of them is the Cuban Prephylately by Jose Ignacio Abreu which is considered one of the 5 best collections of the world in this field.

Names such as Tomás Ferry and doctor Buenaventura Cruz Plana the most famous Creole collector of all times will never be forgotten when referring to the beautiful history of the stage stamp and the Cuban collectors.