POSTAL ACTIVITIES

This stamp set was issued in 1959 and depicts various activities of the Israeli Postal Service: the Philatelic Service, Mobile Post, Radio-Telephone and Telex. On the tabs of all four stamps is the running stag emblem of the Israeli Postal Service and the inscription: "The Activities of the Post".

THE PHILATELIC SERVICE

The Postal Authority’s Philatelic Service designs, produces and markets Israeli stamps and accessories in Israel and abroad, produces postmark imprinters, organizes philatelic exhibitions, and produces collectors’ albums.

This stamp depicts a stamp with a partially painted image of the Israeli Post emblem, the running stag. A paintbrush is poised over the stamp, finishing the job. In the background is a postal worker running a machine that is producing stamps.

MOBILE POST

When Israel became a state, there was no mobile post service. However, by 1958, when this stamp was issued, there were 23 lines of the mobile post operating in Israel, providing service to 500 settlements. Approximately 150,000 people benefited from this service.

This stamp depicts a mail truck with mail man, on a background of the Israeli Postal Service emblem and line drawing of a settlement.

RADIO-TELEPHONE COMMUNICATIONS

In 1959 there were 44,000 telephone lines in use, connected with almost 80,000 telephones, up considerably from the 18,000 telephones in use in 1948. The number of radios increased from 121,000 in 1949 to 361,000 in 1959.

This stamp depicts a telephone receiver on a background of a radio antenna and the running stag emblem of the Israeli Postal Service.

TELEx

In 1959, Israel had three automatic telex communication centers, in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, that provided telex services for inside Israel, from abroad and to abroad. The stamp depicts a ticker tape, a telephone dial with the running stag emblem and a telegraph machine keyboard.

The four stamps depict the various branches of the postal services: the philatelic service, represented by a stamp showing the Israel Postal Service symbol being painted by brush on a stamp with a background of ; mobile post; radio-telephone; and telex.