Competition to POSTAL SERVICE - Stamp Maker

From the corporate newspaper, a story that (as always) gives the wrong impression, it misrepresents the world in favour of the rich and powerful. The doctrine here is that PRIVATISATION IS GOOD. Bruce is an unemployable Hairless Hippie who is a great anarchist and a jolly good human! But the embedded Media uses him to spin yet another yarn of the benefits of capitalism.

Illegal bike post rolling again

By FLEUR COGLE - The Timaru Herald

Last updated 12:46 16/10/2009

BRUCE HENDERSON

PIRATE POST: Bruce Henderson has resurrected his Timaru Bike Post service for one day.

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Pirate postie Bruce Henderson is at it again – 40 years after his original Timaru bike post service was shut down.

Mr Henderson is cycling from the Timaru District Council chambers to the SBS Centre on Morgans Rd to celebrate the opening of Timpex, New Zealand's annual stamp exhibition.

It's the first time since 1950 Timaru has hosted a major stamp exhibition, and Timpex will run until Sunday.

As an 18-year-old just out of Timaru Boys' High School, Mr Henderson was busted for operating the Timaru Bike Post.

These days Mr Henderson holds a respectable job as a publisher, but when he heard Timaru was hosting the exhibition this year, he offered to re-enact his bike post delivery in celebration of the event.

In honour of the occasion, he has even printed his own stamps – which, at 30c, again undercut the official post office stamp rate.

This time, however, his stamps have a more professional look and he has official endorsement: Mayor Janie Annear will cycle with him.

Mr Henderson and two school mates set up the Timaru Bike Post from their office "Moulins Services" in December 1968.

The trio ran the operation for nearly half a year, producing their own stamps and undercutting the New Zealand Post Office delivery rate. They collected mail daily from five centres around Timaru and offered same-day delivery.

The enterprise came to an end in April 1969, when the New Zealand Postmaster General ordered it to stop.

The venture did no lasting damage to Mr Henderson's reputation, though.

"The main result of that brief venture in 1968 was to get Timaru a listing in the International Encyclopedia of Stamps published in the United Kingdom. That's an achievement that Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Temuka and Geraldine do not have!"

http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/2969529/Illegal-bike-post-rolling-again

Christchurch stamp collector Hank Smits is chuffed his collection of umbrella stamps has caught the eye of Sally Chye.

Mrs Chye, a Timaru resident, singled Mr Smits' collection out as one of her favourites at the Timpex national stamp exhibition yesterday. But not only did she admire the collection – she was also able to supply Mr Smits with some new information about one of his letters by translating a postmark for him. Mrs Chye was able to translate some kanji – Chinese characters – on a letter.

Mr Smit has been collecting for more than 70 years. He has been collecting umbrella stamps and memorabilia featuring umbrellas for about 10 years and said it was wonderful when people could pass on information.

Timpex 2009 kicked off yesterday with an official opening address from Timaru Mayor Janie Annear, who later donned safety gear and got on her bike to help pirate postie Bruce Henderson re-enact his short-lived (and very illegal) Timaru Bike Post mail delivery run.

The national exhibition is an annual event but this is the first time in 59 years the Timaru Philatelic Society has hosted it.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/2973682/Umbrella-stamps-prove-to-be-favourites

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