[Regrettably, the illustrations for this section are not yet available.]

National Assembly Issue First Day Commemoratives

Several different commemorative stationery formats were available for use on 15 March when the 3-koruny stamp was first put into circulation. They had been prepared for the originally scheduled opening of the National Assembly on the 2^nd of March and had been set aside for the day when the Assembly finally would meet. So, when Carpatho-Ukraine issued its first stamp, there were plenty of suitable first day materials available at hand.

All of these commemorative products were privately produced and would normally not be included in an itemization of postal stationery. However, these items are important and popular collectibles among Carpatho-Ukraine specialists and they represent the only instance of first day stationery being produced in Ukraine during the Classic Period. It is for these reasons that the materials are described below and listed in Table 1.

Cards. The smallest commemorative article prepared was a three-color card (approximately 12.5 by 8 cm) whose upper and lower borders both display a blue and yellow stripe, each 4 mm wide (Figure 1). The upper left corner of the central white portion of the card shows a sword-in-trident design over the Ukrainian words СЛАВА УКРАЇНІ! (Glory to Ukraine!).

The second item of commemorative stationery available in Khust at the time of independence was a large (approximately 212 by 294 mm) five-color, commemorative mounting page (Figure 7). Centered at the top of this page is the Carpatho-Ukrainian coat of arms; below it is a large blowup of the 3- koruny stamp that differs from the true stamp design in a number of details. Just below the stamp is a black obliterating bar that covers a one-line Ukrainian inscription that originally read: ВІТВОРЕННЯ СОЙМУ KAРПATСЬKOЇ УKРАЇНИ (Opening of the Assembly of Carpatho-Ukraine). Apparently, it was felt that the word for ‘opening’ was grammatically inappropriate and so a new three-line, black inscription was appended: ВІТКРЕТТЯ / ПЕРШОГО СОЙМУ KAРПATСЬKOЇ УKРАЇНИ / XУСТ - 1939" (Opening of the First Assembly of Carpatho-Ukraine, Khust 1939). A large amount of blank space below the text left plenty of room for a stamp and cancellation.

Another mounting card shows an illustration in the upper center that matches the stamp vignette. Printed in a dark blue similar to the stamp, the attractive card measures 105 by 145 mm. Underneath is the three-line inscription ЗАСІДАННЯ ПЕРШОГО СОЙМУ / «KAРПATСЬKOЇ УKРАЇНИ» / XУСТ – 1939. (Session of the First Assembly of Carpatho-Ukraine, Khust-1939).

The above-described commemorative cards should not be confused with a bogus souvenir sheet that also reproduces the Carpatho-Ukrainian stamp (in approximately true size) over the two-line Ukrainian inscription: OTВOРEННЯ 1. СОЙМУ KAРПATСЬKOЇ УKРАЇНИ / 2.III.1939 (Opening of the 1^st Assembly of Carpatho-Ukraine, 2 March 1939), Figure 8. A full color reproduction of the Carpatho-Ukrainian coat of arms appears below the text.

These souvenir sheets were prepared six at a time on a printing sheet measuring 295 by 228 mm. The sheet was then cut randomly yielding souvenir sheets of varying sizes. The following dimensions have been recorded: 80 x 97 mm, 80 x 114 mm, 83 x 110 mm, and 106 x 114 mm. Many additional sizes undoubtedly exist.

Only about 200 copies of this souvenir sheet were sold before the perpetrator - a printer from Olomouc, Moravia by the name of M. Komínek - was caught and all his remaining copies (some 800) were destroyed. The entire rip-off scheme was rather slipshod and it is surprising that so many of these sheets were sold. The grammar in the text is wrong, some of the letters were not well formed, the coat of arms was poorly drawn, and the reverse was crudely gummed.

Envelopes and Post Card. The remaining five products more closely resemble typical first day stationery. The first is an envelope (about 186 by 123 mm) evidently made by the same printer who created the mounting sheet. The same enlarged and modified Carpatho-Ukraine stamp appears on the left of the envelope. Beneath is an obliteration bar and the same three-line text as on the sheet (Figure 9). This is the most common type of first day envelope found.

Another printer evidently prepared the next several items because they all closely resemble each other. They are the most tastefully produced and carry the same blue vignette in their upper left corners as appears on the stamp. The articles consist of a gray-white card (150 by 100 mm) and a creamy white envelope (177 by 114 mm), see Figure 10.

A variant of the above envelope exists where the first two lines of Ukrainian text are identical, but the third line reads XУCT – 1939 – CHUST (Ukrainian and Czech) and the two additional lines in Czech read: ZASEDÁNÍ PRVÉHO SNĚMU / KARPATSKÉ UKRAJINY (the same meaning as the Ukrainian inscription). The Czech letters are formed with a non-serif type (Figure 11). Because the vignettes on these envelopes and card are identical to the second of the two mounting cards described above, all four items were most likely produced by the same person.

Finally, a simple non-decorated (sans illustration) envelope is known. It displays an outer border and four lines of text in the upper left: ПЕРШE ЗАСІДАННЯ СОЙМУ / KAРПATСЬKOЇ УKРАЇНИ / XУСТ / 2. III. 1939" (First Session of the Carpatho-Ukrainian Assembly, Khust, 2 March 1939). [Dimensions and color of this item are unknown.] This envelope is the scarcest of the four produced for the Opening of the National Assembly.

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