THE POSTAL HISTORY OF ICAO

 

1953: Santa Cruz de Tenerife Regional air navigation meeting

 

The Second African/Indian (AFI) Regional Air Navigation (RAN) Meeting was held in the Casino Ballroom in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain from 17 November to 15 December 1953. Many nice first day covers were issued for the commemoration of this meeting.

 

Cigar band commemorating the meeting

Moreover, during this meeting, cigars with a special band commemorating the event were sold. The history of tobacco is essentially the history of modern industry in the Canary Islands, relating centuries of tradition in a familiar activity. It now combines modern processes with the original principles that inspired its inception. The Canary Islands have a long-standing cigar making tradition.

 

Tobacco has been linked to the Island life since America was discovered, but it was in the 17th century when this marriage became closer yet, when many Canarian people arrived in Cuba, where they would participate actively in tobacco production there. Cuba, which was then a promised land where Spaniards were offered opportunities to improve their standard of living, received a tremendous flood of Canary Island residents: up to 120,000 moved to Cuba. There were so many of them, that their Cuban descendants are still called isleños, or islanders. In exchange for this re-population, the Canary Islanders were given the licenses to grow and process tobacco. In Cuba, the Canary Islanders learned the way to treat tobacco and perfected it, honing their own craftsmanship, with care, coddling, and pride in a job well done. It was a process that Canary Islanders had already begun in their native country, as there are records of tobacco products being made in the Canary Islands as early as 1723. In Cuba, Canary Islanders gained further experience in this art, already familiar to them, which they would take back home.

 

 

First Day and Last Day Covers with a strip of flags from the participating countries.

The correct name of the Organization is: Organización de Aviación Civil Internacional.

 

First Day Cover showing an early emblem of ICAO.

ICAO’s emblem that was in use in 1953 is depicted herewith. The designer of the cachet of this cover has taken some graphical latitude in the representation of ICAO’s emblem.

 

 

Cancel dated 26 November 1953.

 

Last Day Cancel. The cachet shows probably a de Havilland D.H.60 Moth,

registered G-VRND in the United Kingdom.

This cover was addressed to the color cachet maker ALFIL, S.A. in Barcelona, Spain, also designer of this cachet.

 

 Souvenir sheet with a frame of various stamps from Spain.

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