Mauritius - Malaria Slogan - New Find
(Published: January, 2020, Volume 20, Number 1, Issue #50) (Table Of Contents)(Author: Larry Fillion)
At the NAPEX 2019 show in McLean, VA, a dealer had recently purchased a large United Nations FDC collection.
I could not attend the show but a collector friend of mine who collects United Nations was at the show and texted me. He looked through and found some
nice items for his United Nations collection. There was a large group of anti-malaria FDCS and I had my friend buy them for me.
When I looked through them when they arrived, I spotted a very interesting commercial cover
from Mauritius with an anti-malaria slogan cancel. This cancellation is not mentioned in any of the W.H.O.
documents which were written during the early 1960s which contained a running list of anti-malaria stamps and
slogans produced for the campaign. It is also not mentioned in any other publications including anything from the MPI.
I sent an email off to the Mauritius Philatelic Society and got a response from Arnaud Guibert:
"I have consulted fellow members of the society and I can confirm that no one is aware of any catalogue about slogans cancels of Mauritius. The slogan you shared are known to some of them."
Arnaud Guibert also wrote:
"I have looked into Peter Ibbotson's book 'The Postal History and Stamps of Mauritius' where he writes about publicity handstamps. Your cancellation [from 1962] is not listed there but the book mentions a 1944 cancellation on malaria 'MALARIA PUBLIC ENNEMY No.1 ERADICATE IT' on 3 lines. But I have never seen an example."
I sent an email off to the Mauritius Philatelic Society and got a response from Arnaud Guibert:
"I have consulted fellow members of the society and I can confirm that no one is aware of any catalogue about slogans cancels of Mauritius. The slogan you shared are known to some of them."
Arnaud Guibert also wrote:
"I have looked into Peter Ibbotson's book 'The Postal History and Stamps of Mauritius' where he writes about publicity handstamps. Your cancellation [from 1962] is not listed there but the book mentions a 1944 cancellation on malaria 'MALARIA PUBLIC ENNEMY No.1 ERADICATE IT' on 3 lines. But I have never seen an example."
*If any reader has other examples of these Mauritius malaria cancellations, please contact me at malariastamps@yahoo.com