History repeats itself at Suriname - 23 May 1949

Postage stamp issued to celebrate the first KLM flight from Paramaribo and Amsterdam.

It is well known that the postal authorities of India had issued a special stamp for the Air-India Bombay-London flight on 8 June 1948. All the more, they decided that this would be printed in limited quantities, and be valid only for use on the day of the flight, and that too, only on mail to be flown on that flight. So far we thought that this was a unique event in world philately, and never repeated since.

'We were wrong! A keen philatelist pointed out to us that one other country, Suriname, had issued a postage stamp on 23 May 1949 to celebrate the first flight from Paramaribo and Amsterdam by KLM. Just like the Air-India International issue, this stamp was also valid for use on this flight only.

An interesting stamp with value 27½¢ Women of Netherlands was issued May 10, 1949, for the KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) inaugural DC-6 flight from Paramaribo to Amsterdam and the stamp was only valid on mail carried on that May 23, 1949, flight.

Suriname is located on the northern coast of South America and is a former Dutch colony. One of the smallest countries in South America, its population is one of the most ethnically diverse in the region. Suriname's economy is dependent on its extensive supply of natural resources, most notably bauxite, of which it is one of the top producers in the world. The southern four-fifths of the country is almost entirely covered with pristine tropical rainforest. It has a population of approximately 612,985. Most of the people live by the country's (north) coast, in and around its capital and largest city, Paramaribo.

the some of the postaly used examples of the Suriname stamp are displayed below,

First Flight cover with the 27½ c stamp used on 23 May 1949 with the first flight cachet in violet.

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Return post card with both halves intact used on the Amsterdam-Paramaribo stage on 20 May 1949 and the return stage on 23 May 1949.
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