Estonia 1937 - "Estonian Red Cross"


Issue Date 23.12.1937
ID Category: Ot
Designer
Value Stamp: 10-senti
The envelope price: 5-senti.
Cachet a trilobite of Calymene species
Printed by Libris printing house in Tallinn
Quantity 1084
Issuing Authority Estonian Red Cross
Trilobite on postal stationery of Estonia 1937

A set of 28 postal stationeries (lettercards) was produced by the Estonian Red Cross to support the Youth Red Cross and was released for sale in post offices on December 23rd, 1937. From the total printing of 30,372 lettercards covering all 28 designs, 29,424 were sold over the counter, while the remainder were distributed to the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and to postal museums in Tallinn and Berlin.
IN Estonia these lettercards were sold in the Post Offices as so called private articles (as note paper, envelopes, postcard forms etc.), the net amount thus realized was not remitted to the GPO but transferred to a special fund for the benefit of the Postal Officers.
These stationery envelopes with imprinted stamps were made from a single sheet of paper folded in half with perforated edges, and featured advertisements inside and on both the front and back.
One or more writing sheets were attached inside the envelope for correspondence.
The message was written on the inside, after which the lettercard was folded and sealed. It was then mailed at the postcard rate. Upon receipt, the addressee opened the lettercard by tearing along the perforated edges to read the contents. Similar lettercards were also used in other countries at the time, including Germany.

Paro logo from the postal stationery of Estonia 1937
Paro logo from the postal stationery of Estonia 1937.
These lettercards are sometimes incorrectly referred to as the “Paro issues”, due to the logo on their bottom side. The name “Paro” came from the advertising company Paro, which designed the envelopes and arranged for them to be printed at the Libris printing house in Tallinn. The State Printing House then added the franking, namely a 10-senti postage stamp, showing the Coat of Arms design by the Government Printing Works.
Normally, charity postal issues include a surcharge added to the postage value, but in this case the situation was reversed. Although the postcards carried a printed 10-senti stamp, they were sold for only 5 senti each. This is probably a unique case in the history of the world postal service.
The advertisement inside and on the outside sides of these postal stationaries are not related to each other: lottery, Jewish bank, etc.

Trilobite on a cachet of Estonian postal stationary 1937
Trilobite on a cachet of Estonian postal stationary 1937.
One of these postal stationeries featured a trilobite of Calymene species on its cachet, with "EESTI KIVIÕLI ÄÜ text on its right side. “Eesti Kiviõli” refers to the Estonian oil shale company/town Kiviõli, and “ÄÜ” is an abbreviation historically used for a business association/company type.

“Eesti Kiviõli” (Estonian Oil Shale Co. Ltd.) was originally the name of an oil-shale company established in 1922. In the 1930s, it became the largest shale-oil producer in Estonia and, in 1939, produced 70,000 tonnes of shale oil. A workers’ settlement belonging to the village of Varinurme was built in the 1930s and named Kiviõli after the company. In 1946, the settlement was granted town status, and the town still exists today with a population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants.

The text beneath the trilobite reads “Estolin on parim Eesti bensiin”, which translates as “Estolin is the best Estonian gasoline”.
During the 1920s and 1930s, Estonia strongly promoted fuel produced from its famous kukersite oil shale, an Ordovician rock formed around 450 million years ago in an ancient sea. By the 1930s, Estonia’s shale-oil industry had become internationally significant, and shale-derived gasoline was marketed as a distinctly national product.

Why the trilobite?
Trilobites are iconic fossils of the Ordovician Period, the same geological age as Estonia’s oil-shale deposits. They were also closely associated with Estonia’s oil-shale industry and with the branding of Estolin. Fossils are common in Estonian oil shale and limestone formations, and the trilobite likely symbolized the ancient marine origin of the raw material used to produce Estolin gasoline. At the same time, it conveyed the idea of “prehistoric energy” through a modern Art Deco commercial design.

Calymene is a genus of trilobites found throughout North America, North Africa, and Europe. Calymene trilobites are small, typically about 2 cm in length. Their cephalon is the widest part of the animal, and the thorax usually has 13 segments. They are also frequently found enrolled.



Gallery


Unused Postal Stationery (front and reverse sides) The postal stationery overprinted by Ukranian post in 1992
Trilobite on a cachet of Estonian postal stationary 1937 Estonian Red Cross lettercard of Estonia 1937 Estonian Red Cross lettercard of Estonia 1937



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Last update 20.05.2026