Postilion and Post Rider Stamps

This article features my postilion and post rider stamps. The post horn has long been a symbol of the postal service. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, mail carriers on horseback would use a small horn to announce the arrival or departure of the mail. The instrument is now a common motif of postal logos, on uniforms and mailboxes, and the like. Since the middle of the nineteenth century, depictions of postal horns are also common on postage stamps. Read more about post horns and see examples from my collection.

Some of my favorite stamps, however, are those that depict the mail carrier with a post horn, particularly those that show the instrument in use. While these are more rare, they are so much more active. I would say that several of these stamps are among the favorites in my entire collection of music-themed stamps. Most of these are from central and northern Europe, especially from Germany.

The Postilion and Post Rider Stamps

Sometimes these mail carriers playing horns are called postilions. However, strictly speaking, that term means a rider leading a team and carriage from riding one of the horses. The left horse of a pair, or the back left horse in a team of four. The only true postilion stamp in my collection with a post horn is from West Germany in 1985. The postilion and his team of four horses are on one stamp, then they carriage that they are pulling is on a second stamp. It is a pretty neat pair.

I do have a Polish stamp from 1974 that also shows a postillion on the back left horse in a team of four, there is no visible post horn on this stamp.

Standing Players

The remaining stamps of this type are really post riders or post carrier. I would suggest that one reason mail carriers playing post horns are often said to be postilions is because they are usually depicted in full livery. For example, two stamps with mail carriers playing post horns show them in uniforms, even though they are not pictured with a horse.

The stamp on the left is from Nazi Germany in 1941, the stamp on the right was originally from Nazi occuppied Austria. The iconography of both stamps are similar. On the left, the post horn player stands in front of a globe. On the right, in front of a map of Europe. From a different time and place, this could be a nice notion of how the postal service allows for global communication. However, on these stamps one cannot help but realize it is a quite literal political message about Hitler’s aspirations for global domination. The stamp on the right has an overprint from when the Soviet Union was occupying Austria after the War.

Okay. I know, the following two stamps do not feature postmen playing or riding horses. However, they do feature postal uniforms and a post horn. The first is from the Saarland in 1953. It is a stamp created for Stamp Day and features postal uniforms representing the postal services of Prussia (left) and Bavaria (right) with a post horn.

Next is a Czech stamp that shows a post rider standing next to his horse, with the post horn hanging on his side.

Post Rider Stamps

However, the most common depictions of mail carriers playing post horns are of a single mounted figure. Some are quite romantic, such as those that show the horse rearing up on its back legs while the postal carrier blows their horn.

Notice on the stamp above from the USSR features a post horn player with just a small curved horn, like an animal horn as opposed to the more complex post horn with the circled tubing. The stamp from Great Britain has a straight horn. These simple horn shapes are less common, but sometimes seen on postage stamps.

Others

There is a wide variety in the way post riders are depicted. The two stamps below from Belgium show one post rider on a slow trotting horse and another post rider mounted on a standing horse, both have post horns tucked under their arms.

Many post horn stamps show postal riders on horses at full speed. The below stamp shows two riders, one playing a simple type of post horn, both on fast moving horses.

Here are other examples of post horns being played by post riders on fast moving horses.

On Parade

The next two stamps appear to show mounted post horn players in a more formal situation. Perhaps on parade.

Mail Carriages

So I am going to admit to a bit of confusion. A couple of the next stamps feature carriages with riders playing or carrying horns. In different circumstances I may have presumed these were passenger coaches and coach horns (coach horns are usually straight and not wound, but not always). However, because these appear on stamps (or specifically commemorate the postal service) I am going to say it is safe to say these are post horns and mail coaches. It is true that such mail coaches would also carry passengers, so there we go.

Karriolpost

This was a new one on me! The karriol is the German word for a light single-axel cart. The karriolpost was such a vehicle put in use carrying mail. It had room for the driver and perhaps one passenger sitting next to him. A single horse draws the karriol. This stamp from 1952 celebrates such a cart being used in Thurn and Taxis.

Mythological Mail Carriers

This stamp is great. It features some kind of Greek god in a Roman style being pulled by a Pegasus. In his hand is a post horn. Behind the mythological being is a modern locomotive. Both the train and the mail carrier are moving quickly across a globe at the bottom of the image. Obviously a stamp celebrating the speed and reliability of the mail service.