by catpaw | 10 Aug, 2025
Movie star Rin Tin Tin died a peaceful death August 10, 1932.
German Shepherd (Canis lupus familiaris)
Issued by France in 2011 as part of their Dog Breeds set
Since there are no good stamps devoted to Rin, I’ve opted for a stamp from his birthplace
The super star German Shepherd was born in France in 1918. One of five puppies and their mother rescued by Corporal Lee Duncan of the U.S. Army Air Service. He was scouting locations for a new airfield for the 135th Aero Squadron when he came upon badly damaged dog kennel. The dogs were being raised for the Imperial German Army, but abandoned when artillery fire became too fierce. Left behind was the starving mother and her new born puppies.
Duncan rescued them and nursed them back to health. He gifted the mother to an officer and gave three pups to fellow soldiers, keeping two – Rin Tin Tin and Nanette.
Officers and men of the 135th Aero Squadron with their mascot Rin Tin Tin shortly after his rescue as a puppy in 1918
Public domain image
Corporal Duncan smuggled Rin Tin Tin and Nanette aboard the ship taking him back to the US. When he landed, the dogs were temporarily given over to a breeder and dog trainer during their processing period. While there, Nanette became ill with pneumonia died. Duncan was give a second female German Shepherd and named her Nanette II. Once reclaimed, Duncan and his dogs headed for California by train.
Determined to have his athletic and photogenic Rin Tin Tin appear in movies, Duncan began walking him up and down a street near Hollywood’s many studios, chatting up anyone connected to films. Eventually he was in the right place at the right time when the director of the 1922 The Man from Hell’s River became desperate for a wolf replacement. The wolf they were using proved to be uncooperative and difficult to work with. Rin Tin Tin, on the other hand, was a happy, obedient dog who excelled in the the role. Not only that, he looked wonderful on screen. More offers followed.
The big dog proved to be a fan favourite and soon landed a staring role in 1923.
Where the North Begins (1923) Rin Tin Tin’s first staring role.
Rin Tin Tin would go on to star in 29 movies.
Before silent films surrendered to sound, Rin-tin-tin was earning $6,000 a week. The dog received bags of fan mail, keeping publicists busy sending out photos, each stamped with a pawprint. Millions regarded Rin-tin-tin as we all do our own pooches. “He is a human dog,” one fan wrote, “human in the real big sense of the word.”
HOLLYWOOD’S TOP DOG — RIN-TIN-TIN
A Dog of the Regiment (1927) movie poster
People flocked to theatres to see their favourite star in both feature films and multi part serials. They couldn’t get enough of the noble, brave dog.
Why was he called “Rin Tin Tin” in those films? Dog names don’t seem hard to think of. His name was used because giving him a different name, even within the fictional world of a particular film, seemed to fritter away some of his star power. Rin Tin Tin was not just an actor, but also a kind of franchise, no matter what character he was playing. Whether he was playing a half-breed wild dog in Alaska, say, or a soldier dog in World War I or a borax miner’s companion dog somewhere out west, he was always, foremost, Rin Rin Tin.
Using his name also made it seem that Rin Tin Tin existed within the film and outside of the film at the same time. Within the film, he was a cinematic character in some cinematic predicament, existing in some other place or time. Outside the film, he was Rin Tin Tin, the famous actor dog.
Rin Tin Tin and the Power of Story | by Drew Coffman | The Extratextual | Medium
The Lone Defender (1930) movie poster for 12 part serial
On a warm August day, Rin Tin Tin let our a peculiar bark, alerting Duncan that something was wrong. He rushed to his dog’s side, only to find him dying. Obituaries appeared in all the major newspapers, including the New York Times. Rin’s press agent claimed the dog died in the Jean Harlow’s arms.
“RIN TIN TIN DIES AT 14 ON EVE OF ‘COMEBACK’; Film Dog Had Been Signed for Talkie — Son Trained as Under- study Will Take the Role.” NYT August 11, 1932, Page 17
He was buried at his home, with his funeral attended by many celebrities.
Hopefully this satisfies someone’s Dog of the Day quota. Mea Culpa.
2024’s Stamp of the Day featured Emperor of Ethiopia on August 10, 1270
by catpaw | 14 Jul, 2025
July 14 is Bastille Day in France.
This national holiday marks the anniversary of the Storming of the Bastille prison in Paris. This event was the symbolic beginning of the French Revolution.
To celebrate, three stamps have been picked to represent the day – from France, Wallis and Futuna and Mali. The French stamp is a classic depiction of the attack on the notorious prison, designed by Albert Decaris. The W&F and Mali stamps incorporate the heroic personification of the Revolution, Marianne, who first appeared on a medallion in July 1789.
Bastille Day July 14, 1789
France issued 1971
Designed by Albert Decaris
National Day (Bastille Day)
Released by Wallis et Futuna in 2018
Marianne and the Storming of the Bastille
(sometimes mislabeled as “woman’s head and the Bastille)
Released by Mali in 1989 for the Bicentenary of French Revolution / PHILEXFRANCE 89
Designed and engraved by Pierre Forget
Of the three, Mali captured the spirit of the day the best.
On July 14 of that year, a Paris mob – hungry from a poor harvest and angry at the king and government for their suffering – stormed the Bastille prison, which had become a symbol of the absolute power wielded by the monarch after he confined many of his opponents there. The mob freed a handful of prisoners and seized large stores of weapons in what was a first victory for the people over the “old regime” (l’Ancien Régime), the French monarchy dating from around the 16th century. Bastille Day: A brief history of France’s July 14 national holiday
by catpaw | 8 Jul, 2025
French resistance hero Jean Moulin was murdered by the Gestapo July 8, 1943.
Moulin managed to unite the disparate factions resisting the Nazis into a coordinated organisation. He served as the first President of the National Council of the Resistance until his death.
“It would be insane and criminal, in the event of Allied action on the continent, not to make use of troops prepared for the greatest sacrifices, scattered and unorganized today, but tomorrow capable of making up a united army of parachute troops already in place, familiar with the terrain and having already selected their enemy and determined their objective.”
Jean Moulin 1941
Jean Moulin 1899-1943
Resistance Heroes series
Issued 1957 by France
Designer and engraver: René Cottet
Jean Moulin Memorial
Issued 2009 by French post office
Designer and engraver: André Lavergne
Based in Lyon, operating under the code name “Max,” traveling throughout France and keeping one step ahead of the Gestapo and the despised Vichy milice police force, Moulin organized the Press and Information Bureau, a Resistance press service; the General Study Committee, a rudimentary brain trust charged with studying post-liberation reforms; a service that oversaw radio communications with London; another service that organized vital parachute drops and clandestine air transport between England and France; and a secret army, a pool of the paramilitary forces of the three major Resistance organizations whose actions were coordinated by London. His greatest triumph was the creation of the National Council of Resistance on May 27, 1943, a sixteen-member organization that precariously brought together representatives from eight Resistance groups, five political parties, and two trade unions. In a secret meeting held in Paris, its first action was a vote to recognize de Gaulle as the head of a French provisional government.
The Death of Jean Moulin: The French Resistance Gets Its Greatest Martyr | Defense Media Network
Moulin was betrayed to the Gestapo and arrested June 21, 1943. He endured 3 weeks of torture at the hands of Klaus Barbie, the Butcher of Lyon. ‘In Jean Moulin, the biography of her brother, Laure Moulin wrote, “Jeered at, savagely beaten, his head bleeding, his internal organs ruptured, he attained the limits of human suffering without betraying a single secret, he who knew everything.”’ (Ibid).
Read more about Jean Moulin Jean Moulin Memorial – Caluire et Cuire | The town of Caluire et Cuire makes you discover the Jean Moulin memorial
Last year’s stamp was devoted to Romantic poet, playwright, radical, free thinker and all around rogue Percy Bysshe Shelley
by catpaw | 6 Jul, 2025
On July 6, 1885, 8 year old Joseph Meister received the first rabies vaccination.
“As the death of this child appeared inevitable, I decided, not without deep and severe unease, as one can well imagine, to try on Joseph Meister the procedure which had consistently worked in dogs.”
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur 1822-1895 – bicentennial of his birth
Released 2002 by France
Designer: Patrick Dérible, using photo by photographer Atelier Nadar
Engraver: Pierre Bara
Young Meister had been bitten 14 times by a rabid dog on July 4 at his home in Alsace.. His mother, Marie-Angélique, had heard of a doctor experimenting with rabid dogs and raced Joseph 400 km to Paris to see scientist Louis Pasteur. Two days later, medical colleagues encouraged him to use his new rabies vaccine on Joseph. If he didn’t, the young boy was facing a certain, painful death. That evening, the first injection of an attenuated rabies vaccine was performed, followed by 13 more between July 7 and July 16. This was a huge gamble. Up to this point, there was no effective treatment for rabies, and the vaccination had only been tried on dogs and rabbits.
Pasteur’s handwritten notes on administering the rabies vaccine
Image courtesy of Bibliothèque nationale de France
One hot July morning in 1885, feverish little Joseph Meister was dragged by his frantic mother through the streets of Paris in search of an unknown scientist who, according to rumors, could prevent rabies. For nine-year-old Joseph had been bitten in 14 places by a huge, mad dog and in a desperate attempt to cheat death, his mother had fled from their home town in Alsace to Paris. Early in the afternoon Mme Meister met a young physician in a hospital. “You mean Pasteur,” he said. “I’ll take you there.”
Time magazine 1939
Who is Joseph Meister – VAXOPEDIA
Later Pasteur confessed to being racked with unease about administering his untested vaccine on a human, but doctors he worked with convinced him to try and save the boy’s life.. Against the odds, Joseph Meister lived. He was the first human to survive a bite by a rabid animal. Meister would go on to become a caretaker at the Pasteur Institute and live until 1940, when he tragically committed suicide when Nazis invaded Paris..
Joseph Meister c. 1885
Image courtesy © Institut Pasteur/Musée Pasteur
1885, the first rabies vaccination in humans | PNAS
Don’t forget to take a look at last year’s SOD – Australia’s longest cantilever bridge, Story Bridge officially opened July 6, 1940
by catpaw | 28 Jun, 2025
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, one of the key people of the Age of Enlightenment, was born June 28, 1712 in the city of Geneva, Republic of Geneva.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-78)
Part of Switzerland’s Pro Patria 1962 set
Engraver: Karl Bickel Jr.
J.J. Rousseau (1712-1778)
Part of France’s Famous people (1956 II) series
Designer: Michel Ciry Engraver: René Cottet
Jean-Jacques Rousseau remains an important figure in the history of philosophy, both because of his contributions to political philosophy and moral psychology and on account of his influence on later thinkers. Rousseau’s own view of most philosophy and philosophers was firmly negative, seeing them as post-hoc rationalizers of self-interest, as apologists for various forms of tyranny, and as playing a role in the alienation of the modern individual from humanity’s natural impulse to compassion. Jean Jacques Rousseau (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
2024’s stamp featured the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie, Archduchess of Austria.
