A delightful set of five stamps showing a selection of children’s toys from a bygone era is being issued by the Philatelic Bureau of Maltapost plc on Wednesday.

The stamps, which have been designed by Richard J. Caruana, are offset printed by Messrs Printex Ltd of Qormi on Maltese Crosses watermarked paper.

The stamps, which have five different values – 2c/EUR0.05, 3c/EUR0.07, 16c/EUR0.37, 22c/EUR0.51, 50c/ EUR1.16 – are 44mm x 31mm in size, with a perforation of 13.9 x 14 (comb). The stamps are available in sheets of 10.

In his usual inimitable way, philatelic artist Richard J. Caruana has managed to capture the spirit of a bygone age with this delightful set of stamps. One can almost visualise the delight on children’s faces when presented with some of the beautiful items shown on the stamps. The 2c/EUR0.05 stamp shows a rocking horse, tricycle and car, all made in England by Triang in the 1950s.

The 3c/EUR0.07 stamp shows a pram made by Pedigree in the 1950s, constructed out of chrome and rexine, a top drum from the same period and a bottom drum from the 1960s, both by Happy Nak, and a skipping rope, also by Happy Nak, made out of wood and tin. All these toys were manufactured by British companies.

The 16c/Eur0.37 stamp depicts a sailing boat made in England out of tin and canvas by Triang, a spade made out of wood and tin by another British company, ACME, and a Japanese tin cabin cruiser going back to the 1960s. The sand buckets on this stamp were also made in England out of tin by ACME.

The 22c/EUR0.51 stamp shows (clockwise, from top left) a doll made in Italy by Lenci from composite materials, another doll made in England in the 1650s by Pedigree, also from composite materials, and a third doll made in France by Armand Marseille in the 1930s, which has a bisque head and glass eyes.

The 50c/EUR1.16 stamp shows a tin toy delivery van made in England by Chadvalley in the 1930s, a tin toy motorcycle with a driver on it, made in Germany in the 1950s by P.N. (Niedermayer), and a tin toy clockwork racing car made in Japan during the same period by Alps.

Information regarding the various toys depicted on these stamps has been kindly provided by Vincent Brown of the Toy Museum.

This set of stamps is available in first day cover format, mint or cancelled, and as a souvenir folder or presentation pack, from all Maltapost postal retail outlets in Malta and Gozo, or from the Philatelic Bureau of Maltapost (tel.: 2596-1747, email: philately@maltapost. com

Additional details on this and future issues are obtainable from the Maltapost website: www.maltapost.com.