One pink plate, with the same dimensions and designs but in pink. Its back reads as the others with one change in the first phrase: "The Spode Archive Collection" (emphasis mine). $15 from Walter Fisette at the Craftsmen's Gallery, Manchester, CT, through Ebay, Oct., '99.
1990 One Olympians FDC Envelope with original Tortoise and Hare art by GreenLee. Postmarked Minneapolis, MN, July 6, 1990. $8.50 from Linda Roberts, Jordanville, NY, through eBay, May, '03.
The five different $.25 stamps present American Olympics winners: Hazel Wightman, Eddie Eagan, Helene Madison, Jesse Owens, and Ray Ewry. The envelope itself has a hare in gray and reddish-brown and a tortoise in two shades of green. The logo is "I accept the challenge." On the back is marked "8/35 Paw Prints #5." May there be other Olympic themes from GreenLee that use fables?
1972 One Maximum-Card (Monaco #818) depicting the head of La Fontaine and a large tortoise. Postmarked Monaco, Jan. 18, 1972. Éditions CEF, Nice. A stamp is pasted onto the lower right corner of the picture, and the "Jour d'Emission" stamp is positioned to cover part of both the stamp and the picture. $3.50 from Ausdenmoore-McFarlane, Midland, MI.
Monaco is a new source for a fable stamp. The stamp itself is green and black and includes FC, FS, TH, and perhaps "The Lion and the Ass." The verso of the card proclaims "La Fontaine: 350ème Anniversaire de sa naissance.
One green plate, with the same dimensions and designs as the pink and blue. Its back reads, as does the pink plate's, "The Spode Archive Collection." $9.99 from KeyStrokes, Lebanon, CT, through Ebay, August, '00.
1890? One FS button, ½" in diameter, showing the stork from FS with a long tall vase. $10 from an unknown source at an unknown time.
One of the smallest buttons in our collection. Might there have been a matching mini-button of the fox and a shall dish? I had to scan this little gem, print it, and rotate it for a while before I could make out the tiny figures.
1890? One FS button, ½" in diameter, showing the stork from FS with a long tall vase. $10 from an unknown source at an unknown time.
One of the smallest buttons in our collection. Might there have been a matching mini-button of the fox and a shall dish? I had to scan this little gem, print it, and rotate it for a while before I could make out the tiny figures.
1995 One FDC from Albania featuring "Zhan de la Fonten." Postmarked August 20, 1995. The three full-color stamps used for posting the letter display each a variety of fable characters. Even the postmark is peculiar to La Fontaine. $20.50 John Rydzewski at JR Stamps through Ebay, Feb., '02.
Now here is a surprise! I would not have thought of Albania as a country that would celebrate Jean de la Fontaine. The spiffy design on the envelope, rendered in brown, blue, and violet, slenderizes and stylizes La Fontaine as he almost dances up to a book with pen in hand. The first of the stamps, worth 2 leke, includes TT, BC, WC, and LM. The second stamp, worth 3 leke, features FG, FC, FS, and DS. On the third, worth 25 leke, I think I can make out AD, OR, and perhaps OF. The characters seem to be rendered in pastels of some sort.
1994 One FDC envelope from Australia celebrating the World Masters Games in Brisbane during September and October, '94. The postmark from Sydney confirms the first day of issue as August 11, '94. The left half of the envelope presents TH in three different forms. $3.25 from Lawrence and Rose Bove, St. Ives, New South Wales, Australia, through Ebay, July, '00.
The hare leads the tortoise in swimming and cycling, but the tortoise seems to have arrived first at the goal in running. The 45c stamp, which is part of the envelope's own material, lists events from archery through weightlifti
1990? One dessert plate illustrating FC. On the front is "Fables de la Fontaine" and "Le Corbeau et le Renard." On the back of the plate is "Musée de la Faiencerie de Gien." Gien: France. £2.99 from Karen Dillon, St. Saviour, Jersey, Feb., '06.
This plate is identical in form to the FC plate in the set of six dessert plates by the Musée de la Faiencerie de Gien. Where, however, that plate used gray, this plate uses black. The impression is quite different!
1990? One imperforate stamp showing FS. Maroon and blue. 35F. Republique du Dahomey. Signed "Haley." $8.49 from Westminster Stamp Gallery, Ltd., Foxboro, MA, through eBay, August, '05.
This stamp comes out of nowhere for me. I did not know of its existence. I suspect that it has several companions in a series of either La Fontaine fables or FS. It presents the climactic moment in which the stork can get food out of the vase but the fox cannot.
1880? One colored FS plate. 10¼" in diameter. Slightly scalloped rim. "Ye Stork Inviteth ye Fox to Dinner." £9 from Franklin Giles, Romney Marsh, Kent, UK, through eBay, Sept., '11.
The lively and beautifully colored picture spreads across the center of the plate onto its rim. Print outlines the illustration to the upper right. A floral branch circles the rest of the plate. The artist's moment here is the revenge moment: the stork gets back at the fox by offering food only he can reach. There are several small chips around the edges. The trademark seal on the back is joined by a lovely image from the fable world: two pots sailing on a river. The "Rd" of the trademark is here surrounded, clockwise from the top, by 12, Y, W, and 12, with IV over the whole mark.
1880? One colored FC cake pedestal. 8½" in diameter. About 2¾" high. Sculpted rim on both the stand the plate itself. "Ye Crow and Ye Pitcher." From an unknown source.
This is a lovely piece of work. The black crow stands out in the center of the plate with a stone in his beak. Next to him is a red flower atop a green stem. The crow is perched on a red and brown surface and is ready to drop the stone into a gray vase. "Ye Crow and Ye Pitcher" runs from 12 o'clock to 4 o'clock. The base has an attached label: "28 Jan. 1879." The "Rd" of the trademark is here surrounded, clockwise from the top, by 28, Y, C(?), and 11, with IV over the whole mark. Very nice color work here!
1926 One blotter almost 4" x 9" for the months from October through December, 1926. The blotter advertises "Remembrance Advertising." Apparently the maker of this series is C.W. Bloom of Brown & Bigelow on Milk Street in Boston. $10.95 from Carolyn Dias of Norfolk, VA, through eBay, Sept., '05.
This long landscape-formatted blotter has a picture on the left that seems to be in the same series as the pictures on the two blotters found earlier. Once again, I am not sure that I recognize which fable is being presented here. Is a young bear telling a fish story to an older bear? The moral attributed to Aesop here is "Do not believe everything you hear."
1880? One black-and-white DS plate. 10¼" in diameter. Slightly scalloped rim. "Ye Dog and ye Shadow." $14.99 from Nancy Wolf, Brookfield, WI, through eBay, Oct., '06.
The emphasis in this strong illustration is on the match between the aggressive dog with a chop in his mouth and the reflection in the water, beautifully positioned along the rim between the center and outside of the plate. The title makes its way toward the center of the plate from about 11 o'clock. On either side are branches with leaves and blossoms. Would this plate have been colored in some versions, like the plate of FS? There is a curious burn in the finish of this plate around 7 o'clock. The "Rd" of the trademark is here surrounded, clockwise from the top, by 28, Y, C, and 11, with IV over the whole mark.
1972 One 3½ x 6½" hologram FDC envelope depicting the head of La Fontaine with a turtle. Postmarked Monaco, Jan. 18, 1972. $8 from Loic Marchat, Villeurbane, France, through eBay, April, '04.
The hologram cloth has the same image, framed with a gold stripe, that one finds on the maxicard issued at the same time as the stamp. Perhaps the background pictures the Château-Thierry countryside where LaFontaine grew up. The envelope mentions CEF.
1972 One 3½ x 6½" hologram FDC envelope depicting the head of La Fontaine and several animal groups. Postmarked Monaco, Jan. 18, 1972. $3 from psoriano75 through eBay, May, '04.
The hologram cloth is signed "Thesmot." The likeness of LaFontaine seems to depart from the normal depiction, including the depiction on the stamp on this envelope. The animal groups are FC, LM, and perhaps CJ.
1972 One 3½ x 6½" FDC envelope depicting a wolf and lamb. Postmarked Monaco, Jan. 18, 1972. Editions J.F. $7 from Philaatelicpassion, Paris, through eBay, Oct., '06.
By comparison with the other two FDC envelopes done in Monaco at the time, this envelope seems rather plain. A red rectangle encloses the white lamb and the green wolf. The art is signed with a difficult-to-read name, perhaps "G. Mauscalchi, '71." The envelope notes that it is the 350th anniversary of La Fontaine's birth.
1980? One "Polska" stamp displaying FC. Good copy uncancelled. Extra copy cancelled. In a series with Puss n' Boots, Red Riding Hood and two other popular tales. H. Matuszewska. 40 GR. $1.50 from J.R. Stamps, Chelsea Antiques Building, NY, April, '97. Extra copy for 1000 Lire at the Porta Portese flea market, July, '98.
The crow clearly holds something in his mouth, and the fox seems to offer flowers picked from the surrounding lawn. Bravo, Crow!
1969 One "I.A. Krilov" Russian stamp and cover with a rare special cancellation on Feb. 13, '59, the two hundredth anniversary of Krylov's birth. $2.25 from Vladislav Pronin, Brooklyn, through Ebay, March, '99. Extra copy for $.95 from Edward Bubis, Ipswich, MA, Sept., '00. One further extra.
The stamp itself shows a colored head-and-shoulders portrait of Krylov and gives his dates (1769-1844). The envelope shows the full statue of him standing with arms crossed behind his back. My, the things one finds on Ebay!
1987 Once Upon a Fable. 52 minutes. Wembley, Middlesex: Visionpower, Ltd./Crestshaw, Ltd. £2 from Video Vault, through Ebay, Feb., '02.
Unfortunately, this videotape seems to contain no fables at all. The items featured on the tape are "The Magic Mirror," "Three Clumsy Hunters," "Brave Whistle Stop," "Sleepy Keeper," "Dinosaur Hunt," "The Two Magicians," "The Santa Visit," "Wheels," and "Life in Dogywood."
"The Old Man and the Meat Can" may be one of Fairbank's more outrageous "stretches" of an Aesopic fable. It is based on the fable of the old woman who finds an empty wine jug. Here the old man finds an empty Fairbank meat can on the roadside. Here is what the card then presents: "'Sweet creature,' said he, 'how precious must have been your contents when the mere sight of your outer covering awakens such delightful emotions in my breast,' (stomach!) Moral: He went and bought a full can at once."
1930? Old Fables in New Rhymes. Marian B. Cochrane and Florence A. Camp. No. 8475. Springfield, MA: Milton Bradley Company. Unknown source.
This is a curious game. Fifteen (of sixteen?) heavy cardboard cards are still here, each representing a verse version of a childhood story. The first and third line of each quatrain is blank. The child needs to substitute a word that makes sense and rhymes with its partner two lines away. Two of the cards (#4 and #8 in the hand-numbering here) present FC and TH. Someone (a teacher perhaps?) has filled out a smaller card for each of the numbered stories: the card contains correct words for filling the blanks. One of those words, according to the scribe, is “unsterstand.” Actually the verse version of FC here is quite good. I may use it soon in some oral presentation!
