Thord Andersson
"The Cobra" is one of Ericsson's most famous products in modern
times. It was the world's first one-piece commercial telephone handset to become an
international success. In March next year, it will be featured on a Swedish postage stamp.
On December 3, Sweden Post presented all the new 1999 Swedish postage
stamps at a well-attended exhibition in central Stockholm. The themes included coins,
orchids, the Öresund Fixed Link, signs of the Zodiac, European national parks and
"Our 20th Century."
Four Swedish inventions
The latter series of stamps includes four Swedish inventions in the
forefront of industrial progress LM Ericsson's cobra telephone of 1956, accompanied by
Nils Bohlin's three-point Volvo seat belt, Asea's high-tension cables and switchgear and
Tetra Pak's pyramid milk carton.
"These stamps are designed to arouse a sense of pleasure and personal
involvement, reflecting society and our everyday lives. But the most important point is
that we should enjoy sticking them on our letters and putting them in our stamp
collections," says Sweden Post's Director General, Ulf Dahlsten.
And that is exactly what the Our 20th Century series does. The idea is to
present events which made history. The designs include scenes from Ingmar Bergman films,
the war years in Sweden, the first SAS flight across the Atlantic in 1946, world
championship boxer Ingemar Johansson, and Jussi Björling, one of the world's greatest
operatic tenors.
The stamps in the Our 20th Century series were designed by Gustav
Malmfors.
Ten stamps för domestic mail
They are printed in offset and issued in books of ten stamps for domestic
letters. The initial stamping date is March 11. Anyone interested can prepare
"first-day" letters and send them to philatelically-minded friends or customers
on this date.
