So just what do cats & oxen & postage stamps have in common?  Why the Lunar New Year, of course.

Year of the Ox stamps just keep on giving. Each time I do a sweep of  2021, it seems like I find a few more late releases. Right on cue, I found 5 more. 

Late comers are Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Gambia, Antigua and Barbuda and Nevis. You can see all the stamps & covers at 2021 Year of the Ox stamps worldwide | Bitter Grounds Magazine. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to source much about the designers, a common issue with post offices.

Last month a FDC was added for Mongolia along with souvenir sheets for Cook Islands, Aitutaki, Guyana, Niuafo’ou, Penrhyn, Tonga. There were some fine designs, with the best being Gambia. The use of deep blue really sets the sheet apart. 

One possible country left – Peru. They issue their Lunar New Year stamps about a year out of synch with the calendar. So, maybe late next year? I’ll be watching for it.

And now the cat part of cats & oxen & postage stamps

2022 Lunar New Year will be **trumpets please** Year of the Tiger! And yes, I’m 100 sorts of excited about this.  Japan and Åland have already released their Year of the Tiger stamps.

Åland is a charming “mini tigers in our homes” theme by designer Martin Mörck. Look for it Oct. 20.

Japan’s series is … exceptional as always. 

Designer Ayami Yoshikawa used paintings by Kyosen Kawasaki (1877-1942) to create this set. It will be released November 1, 2021. There’s a brief writeup about this series on the Japan 2021 stamp page. Skip down to November to enjoy them. 

I’ve begun to pull together the page for these issues and will have it up in early November. I’ll post a link here and in the navigation bar when it’s ready. 

Cheers

Catpaw