Croatian Philatelic

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Zagreb International Fair of 1951 Stamp - Handicrafts

Stanley-Gibbons #701. DIN is the Youglslav Dinar.

Issued for the Zagreb International Fair of 1951. The picture shows handicrafts of Yugoslavia. Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of Croatia, therefore the lace might relate to that region. Pag needlelace or Lepoglava bobbinlace are possibilities, although by 1945 Lepoglava had largely died out. I think I see round motifs in the pattern, which might argue for Pag, although the rectangular form is not typical - they usually do round pieces. I have seen some specialty forms, like crosses.

The Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (Federativna Narodna Republika - FNR Jugoslavija) was installed with a communist government in 1946. Apparently the fair was part of their 5-year plan, hence the 1951 date. At this time, the country consisted of 6 republics - the Socialist Republics of:
Bosnia and Herzogovina
Croatia
Macedonia
Montenegro
Serbia (including the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina)
Slovenia

Idrija is of course, in Slovenia, so the lace might also have come from there. But it looks a little too geometryic for Idrija, so in lieu of firm information, I'm putting it with the Croatian material. Yugoslavia no longer exists, as anyone who pays attention to the recent turbulent history of that region will know.

first posted 3/13/2009