Posta Stamps Nr. 46

Posta Stamps No. 46 Faroe Islands November 2020 ...................................... - Faroese Postal History for 150 Years - Transplanted - immigration stories - Villages: Kirkja and Hattarvík - The Eysturoy Tunnel - Andrea Árting Test proof 150 Years of Postal History Glimpses of Postal History January 7, 1871, printed in Gothic script. This - Two Anniversaries update of the Danish Postal Act led to the This year the Faroe Islands will celebrate organization of postal affairs in the Faroe Is- two postal related anniversaries. The first is lands for the first time. Until then the Royal the 150th anniversary of the Danish Postal Trade Monopoly had delivered mail to the is- Service’s Postal Act of 7 January 1871, when lands, but when the monopoly was abol- the Faroe Islands became a part of the Dan- ished in 1856, this role fell to various private ish postal area for the first time. The second shipping companies, which received subsi- is the 45th anniversary of the Faroe Islands’ dies for delivering mail to the Faroe Islands. takeover of the Faroese branch of the Dan- Domestic delivery took place via the old ish postal administration. On 1 April 1976, “skjúts” (conveyance) system, where men Postverk Føroya, later Posta, was estab- from the surrounding villages were required lished and became responsible for mail de- to transport travellers and bring goods and liveries in the Faroe Islands, as well as the mail ashore – receiving no, or only partial, issuing of Faroese postage stamps. payment. We have chosen to celebrate the two anni- The First Postmen and Their Mailboxes versaries with an anecdotal look back in In 1870, the first post office was established time at fragments of Faroese postal history. in Tórshavn with the well-known H. C. These little tales are told on a souvenir Müller as postmaster general. As a result of sheet containing three stamps. the postal reform of 1871, three postmen were appointed the following year and The Postal Act of January 7, 1871 charged with the task of delivering mail On the sheet’s background, we see an ex- along three postal routes after the mail cerpt of the original text of the Postal Act of ship’s arrival in the Faroes. 2 Post and passengers are beeing sailed ashore in Vágur on Suðuroy The southern route of Tórshavn -Trong- terminus before returning to Tórshavn. isvágur was serviced by Jóhannis á Reyni, Thus, mail in the Faroes was delivered sev- who brought the post to Suðuroy via Kirk- en times a year. jubøur, Sandoy, Skúvoy to Hvalba. From there he went over the mountain to Trong- Each postman was required to carry 25 kilos isvágur, where the post was delivered to the of mail, and for this purpose, they each had district magistrate. For this trip back and their own mailbox, which they carried on the forth, Jóhannis got 14 kroner. backs, just like the traditional Faroese “ley- pur”. The boxes were relatively large and The carpenter Jákup Jacobsen serviced the rarely filled with mail, so they could also be western route as a mail carrier. He left Tór- used to keep clothes and other personal be- shavn for Kvívík from where he was brought longings. The souvenir sheet depicts Conrad by boat over to Fútaklettur in Vágar. From Nicolaisen’s mailbox, marked “Thorshavn - there he went first to Sandavágur, then to Norderøerne”. This box can now be found at Miðvágur where his route ended in the local the Klaksvík Museum. rectory. For the trip back and forth Jákup got 8 kroner. The Knapsack The mailboxes were unmanageable and Conrad Nicolaisen was the first postman on much too large for the amount of mail in the the northern route. He left Tórshavn by boat 1870s. There were no parcels, only letters heading for Søldarfjørður in Eysturoy. He that did not take much space. Therefore, then walked to Lorvik, from where he was Petur í Mattalág, the son of Jóhannis á Rey- brought by boat to Klaksvík on Borðoy. Con- ni, who resumed his father’s postal duties rad got approx. 10 kroner for each trip. All on the southern route, wrote to the Danish three postmen had to wait 12 hours at the postal administration requesting smaller and 3 more manageable boxes for the mail. He Gøta on Eysturoy to arrange postal transport was sent a knapsack made of sealskin, to Gøta and Fuglafjørður. The mail was slightly larger than a child’s school satchel. picked up in Søldarfjørður or Skipanes at The knapsack provided ample space for all Skálafjørður. The mail van was also sup- mail to the southern half of the Faroe Is- posed to include freight and passengers on lands. Only after 1890 did the volume of the route. The mail van’s driver was Poul mail increase to such an extent that three or Kristoffer Poulsen from Gøta. The car de- four men were needed to operate the south- picted on the souvenir sheet was provided ern route. The aforementioned knapsack is for Poul Kristoffer’s use in 1935. It was gen- depicted on the left-hand side of the souve- erally known as “Abbabilur” (grandfather’s nir sheet. car), a moniker given to it by Poul’s grand- daughter, Petra. The moniker stuck. Petra The Postmen later married radio director Niels Juel Arge The northernmost postal routes were notori- and has just become a great-grandmother at ously difficult and sometimes directly dan- the time of writing. The people in the car gerous in the early days of the Faroese are the driver Poul Kristoffer and his pas- postal service. This was especially true senger, “Kunoyar” Johanna. when the postmen had to climb high mountains or bring the mail by sea. Conditions for driving in those days were quite bad as can be imagined. In heavy rain, In 1927 or ‘28, the postman Marius í Áran- the road up to the mountain pass at Gøta stovu arrived at the village of Mikladalur on tended to disintegrate. Sometimes the con- Kalsoy, which is known for its violent surf. ditions were so awful that men had to walk There were two men on the mail cutter and in front of the bus filling the worst potholes Marius sailed alone to the landing site on with stones. Thus, most of the stone-cov- the cutter’s dinghy. The surf was violent, as ered peat sheds along the route disappeared usual, and the village postman, Jóan Mag- with time. nus Eliasen, jumped into the dinghy to help Marius get the mail ashore. Suddenly, a It was not uncommon for passengers to huge wave hit the dinghy and Jóan Magnus have to share seats with sheep and geese. was swept overboard disappearing from Once, Poul Kristoffer even brought a large sight. Marius quickly grabbed an oar, stuck bull carcass from Fuglafjørður. The head it in the sea and moved it around under the and hooves had been cut off and the en- boat. Somehow Jóan Magnus managed to trails removed from the carcass, but it was get hold of the oar and was pulled back on so bulky that the passengers to the mail board. The story goes that the provost, boat in Søldarfjørður had to sit on it all the Jákup Dahl, was intending to travel back to way from Fuglafjørður and Gøta. Klaksvík that day on the mail boat, but was so shocked by the incident that he did not The Red Jackets March Out dare jump into the dinghy. The postmen in Tórshavn have always been a part of the cityscape. They were perhaps a “Abbabilur” - Grandfather’s Car little more visible before the Faroese took In 1927, the postal administration entered over the postal service due to the distinctive into an agreement with the municipality of Danish postal uniforms. It looked a little like 4 The personel at the post office in Tórshavn in the 1960ies a festive parade of officials, when Tórs- souvenir stamp. He continued to wear the havn’s postmen left the old main post office uniform until he retired. in the center to go out on their routes. The seniors wore black trousers, red jackets, ties The March of the Blue Coats and caps, sometimes also red coats - the Today’s postmen no longer have to climb aspirants, however, in black coats with silver high mountains on foot or cross treacherous buttons and caps. The red postal jacket was straits and fjords in small boats. However, only used in Tórshavn. In the rest of the wind and weather conditions remain the country it was black. The postmen in Thor- same and working conditions are sometimes shavn also used the uniform when attending harsh. In addition, they do not maintain the a colleague’s funeral. Even after the postal same clothing traditions in the Faroe Is- takeover in the Faroes, there is an example lands, so after the takeover the uniform of the Danish uniform being used. gradually changed and became more practi- cal for everyday usage. When the postal administration became Faroese, the Danish uniform was set aside. The first Faroese uniforms consisted of a However, there were exceptions. The oldest black windbreaker and black trousers. Over postmen were able to continue as Danish time, they have evolved into their current officials, who in principle were employees form, an azure waterproof windbreaker with on loan to Postverk Føroya - and thus con- dark blue sleeves fitter with reflective tapes tinuing to wear the red Danish uniform. This - and Posta’s logo on the chest. The trou- was, for example, the case with Eiler sers are black with large side pockets and Rubeksen, a well-known postman in the reflective straps on the legs.

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