The sporting spirit: Perceptions in philatelic art iconography and sports philately, 1896-1974. (Volumes I-IV)

The sporting spirit as a reflection of man's ideas, concepts and images of his competitive movement experiences as revealed in an interpretative analysis of philatelic art inconography and sports philately has been the primary focus of this investigation.;The research procedure emphasized in the study included four stages of comparative analysis: description, interpretation, juxtaposition and comparison. In addition, the initial stages of the research process involved the development of a sports classification system for sports philately and a method for interpreting philatelic art motifs.;The first philatelic art designs related to sport and international competitive sport championships were issued in 1896 by Greece, to commemorate and financially support the revival of the modern Olympic Games. Subsequently, during the pre-modern era of sports philately, most nations throughout the world issued various philatelic sport art designs; and these generally reflected man's previous, as well as, anticipated involvement in national and international competitive sport championships.;The philatelic sport art motif was an effective means for: (1) commemorating the revival of the Olympic Games; (2) promoting universal movement patterns and sport rituals among people; (3) honoring achievements of champions, organizers and promoters of sport; (4) promulgating political ideologies and nationalism; (5) advertising unique sporting opportunities within a nation's geographical landscape; and (6) promoting the cause of peace and international understanding.;Significant changes occurred in the development of sports philately from 1896-1974. These included: an ever increasing flow of commemorative philatelic sport art sets and designs; an ever increasing trend towards specialization in iconographic images depicted in philatelic sport art motifs; a greater interest and emphasis in depicting women in philatelic sport art designs; a greater awareness and appreciation for the achievements of sports personalities through philatelic art; the development of philatelic organizations on the local, regional, national and international levels; the development of philatelic sports literature including journals, newsletters, books, theses and dissertations; the development of a philatelic sports research center, library and archives devoted to the promotion and preservation of sports philately around the world; the emergence of international philatelic sports exhibitions; the formulation of standardized rules for evaluating philatelic art collections and the training of judges to ensure the quality of material displayed; the emergence of specialists (professionals) and role differentiation to reflect the expertise of sports philatelists; and the emergence of consumerism and the big business corporate enterprise system in sports philately.;The results of this investigation clearly indicated that ideas and concepts of sport could be derived from an interpretation of philatelic sport art iconography and sports philately from 1896-1974. Sport emerged as a universal phenomenon in which competition and winning or success were important components.