GBLA Stamps by Ján Stašák
Peter Valdner (2024)
Just as every soldier carries a marshal's baton in his pack, sailors have their sights set on captain’s stripes for their epaulettes. Ján Stašák, who served as a cook on the MS Lednice at the Great Bitter Lake, eventually earned his.
The fact that something remarkable was hidden within this young sailor was evidenced by his GBLA stamp. It is the only stamp in the history of the Great Bitter Lake Association known by the name of its creator.
His stamps can also be found on covers.
Although Polish sailors helped with the printing, the stamp's design was the first design of a Slovak member of the Lednice crew. Later, Ing. Ondrej Kaliňák followed in his footsteps.
If you’ve been following articles about the GBLA, you might have counted eight stamp creators from the MS Lednice. That’s an average of one for each year of GBLA’s activity. Stamp production was far from the main activity of the GBLA, though it forever immortalized the association. And how many stamps were made? Around twenty-five thousand, arranged chronologically in the GBLA Catalogue. When you consider that these stamps were created at a time when there were officially over one hundred thousand registered collectors in Czechoslovakia, it was, from a collector’s perspective, woefully few.
Fortunately, it’s easier to obtain GBLA stamps today. Since the onset of COVID, many GBLA members have passed away, and the number of older collectors has significantly declined. As a result, GBLA stamps are finding their way back to the market. There are always some available on eBay, and for various reasons, I offer a few there as well.
The primary reason is to show collectors of ASFE that GBLA stamps are no longer inaccessible and don’t need to be replaced in collections with imitations. The second reason is the opportunity to establish new contacts, which may lead to acquiring new information for the Encyclopedia and the GBLA Catalogue. The third is to practically verify catalog values. Additionally, it creates an opportunity to exchange duplicate stamps I have. So, please don’t buy them from me on eBay any more. If you're interested, feel free to contact me directly.
Sources: GBLA Ecyclopaedia and Stamp Catalogue
Contact: valdpete@yahoo.com
