Hungarian 1964 Anniversaries and Events Commemoratives

Two stamps from the 1964 Hungarian "Anniversaries and Events" set honoring the National Forestry Service and the Aggtelek National Park. The Aggtelek stamp (right) features the stalactite formation known as "Sesak Szifon" found in one of the caves.

If you bought any type of international stamp packets in the late 20th century, chances are you have some of these stamps in your collection since they were (and still are?) very common. Chances are also good that you've been curious about the meanings of these stamps and have possibly been spent years or even decades trying to decipher them! If this is the case, look no further! In today's blog entry, we'll take a look at the meanings behind these stamps, and a little about the Hungarian-language inscriptions.

Throughout 1964, Magyar Posta (the Hungarian postal service) released a set of commemoratives commemorating birth and death anniversaries of various Hungarian and international figures, as well as national events that took place that year.

The people honored on these stamps include various noteworthy people from Hungarian history, such as the 100th anniversary of the death of Hungarian writer András Fáy. Also commemorated are the anniversaries of births of famous international figures such as Shakspeare, Karl Marx, and Galileo. In addition are two stamps dedicated to sporting figures. These stamps feature eponymous figures of a bowler and two runners. 

A stamp honoring the Albia Regia Days.

Also featured in this set are stamps commemorating events of national significance held in Hungary that year, such as the stamp (right) honoring the Alba Regia Days held in the Hungarian city of Székesfehérvár (also known as Alba Regia) and a stamp commemorating the Budapest Fair. Sporting events such as the 1964 Tennis Exhibition in Budapest and the 9th European Women's Basketball Championship were also commemorated in this series.

Celebrating 30 years of Hungary's aluminum industry.

Two other stamps in this set commemorated the 600th anniversary of the founding of the city of Cegléd and 30 years of Hungary's aluminm industry (right).

Like some of the other Hungarian commemoratives from the 1950s-60s, this set comes in a wide variety of shapes! Square, triangular, and diamond-shaped stamps are all used in this set.

Now about the inscriptions on the stamps. On the sides of all of the stamps are the words Évfordulók- események, which translate to "Anniversaries-Events" in English. The descriptions of the people and events vary depending on the person or event, as well as the stamp artwork. The stamps were issued in 60 fillér, 1, and 2 forint denominations and were issued through March-November 1964.

Stamps from the set commemorating the 100th anniversary of the deaths of Hungarian playright Imre Madach, Andras Fay, and  a stamp commemorating Hungarian revolutionary Ervin Szabo (1877-1918).

This is a fairly large set of commemoratives that covered a wide spectrum of people, places, and topics, and is definitely among the most recognizable of all Hungarian stamps!

For more about this set, be sure to have a look at the following site:

-http://colnect.com/en/stamps/list/page/1/country/6955-Hungary/series/55038-Anniversaries-Events/year/1964 (The 1964 Anniversaries and Events set in its entirety.)