Stamps with stories - 2. Please click on an image to see a larger version. The North Ingermanland Issues The area around St. Petersburg was inhabited by numerous workers belonging to all sort of trades of Finnish origin. These Ingrian workers obviously so, were more attached to Finland rather than Russia and a few of them even nurtured the idea of carving an independent state called Ingermanland, around the Gulf of Finland. Towards the end of 1919, a combined Finnish-Ingrian force managed to seize several villages,among which,Kirjasalo was of utmost importance.The Ingrian military commander,who masterminded this operation, Colonel Elfvengren, influenced the printing of a set of postage stamps for the new terriroty that he had manage to capture. Accordingly,the first set of stamps were printed at a press in Viborg in Finland.The main purpose of this issue was to aid communication between the Ingrian troops at the front and their beloved in Finland. These stamps were designed by a Finnish lieutenant called Frans Kamara and had a close resemblance to the Finnish stamps of 1918.But these stamps bore the image of a highly intricate coat of arms representing the River Narva.This river was the border between Estonia and Russia and hence of much political importance. The stamps also bore the inscription which read “Pohjois Inkeri,” meaning Ingrian posts. The first stamps were used for mail as intended and were canceled in black ink.The post mark bore the date March 21, 1920.Kirjasalo village functioned as the only post office, handling some many items of mail daily.Soon the first issue was exhausted and a second set was ordered in 1920 to be printed at a press in Viborg,designed by Niemeyer. The first issues were quite bland in design but the second issue were quite distinct in appearance. The 10-penni stamp bore the Ingrian coat of arms while the 30-penni bears the image of a peasant toiling in a field. The 50-penni shows a farmer with a horse and a milkmaid graces the 80-penni while the 1-marrka bears the image of potatoes being sown. The 5-marrka stamp shows a church in flames while the 10-marrka stamp depicts a pair of men playing an instrument. So far for the history of Ingerman land stamps but ironically the endeavors of Col. Elfvengren and did not bear fruit and Elfvengren was tried and executed in 1927. Finally with its immediate threats gone the Red army directed its full force of attack against the Slavs and the Finns. A surrender was obtained with the Ingrian leadership decimated and as per the treaty, the Finns retained control of small portions of Ingermanland while the bigger chunk was taken over by Russia. The curtains finally came down on North Ingermanland’s stamps when all the issues were withdrawn.Unfortunately,the UPU never recognised these issues.