Bhutan issued its first international postage stamp only in 1962. This event happened because of earlier visits by Burt Todd an "Adventure-Prenuer", the first American to visit Bhutan. Having met future Queen Kesang Choden Wangchuck while attending Oxford, Todd had determined to visit the country someday. At the Queen's invitation Burt and two college friends hitchhiked to Bhutan from Europe and across central Asia. Entering Bhutan in those days was only possible by foot from the Indian border at Phuentsholing and after days of trekking and riding mules they reached the capitol city of Thimphu and were received by the Royal Family. Burt returned to the US and after his marriage insisted on returning to Bhutan for his honeymoon in 1954.

Burt and his wife became so enamored by Bhutan and having been treated to such hospitality they decided to repay Bhutan somehow by giving what assistance they could in Bhutan's development.

Burt Todd was from an American family of some business influence in US industry. He was appointed as Honorary Financial Advisor to the government of Bhutan. Burt was able to pull strings, garner favors and lobby officials in the United State regarding United Nations and World Bank issues. Bhutan needed to raise revenue and one official suggested "Stamps". Bhutan's need to be recognized as a sovereign state on the world stage made the issuance of stamps a perfect match.

The first three years of the Bhutanese philatelic enterprise was met with ho-hum. Most people didn't even know of the restricted Himalayan Kingdom. By 1967 Burt realized to get the attention of general collectors they had to try something so different that they could not be ignored. Bhutan issued the first circular shaped stamps as a 40th year commemorative of King Jigme Wangchuck's ascension to the throne. Then came the triangular stamps with Yetis on them, religious banner stamps on silk, 3D stamps, and the world famous playable vinyl record stamps. The rest is stamp collecting history.
 

Todd in his very unassuming way, because the results outweighed any financial gain for himself, way credited stamps from Bhutan as the beginning of development that brought in the first airfield and assisted in the building of hospitals and developing infrastructure. The Sovereign Nation of Bhutan was now connected to the outside world and you can send a letter to someone there too.

Famous Bhutanese Stamps

First Round Stamps 1966
Gold foil embossed commemoration the 40th Anniversary of King Jigme Wangchuck's ascension to the throne.


First Triangle Shaped Stamps

World's First 3 Dimensional Stamps
A set of twelve stamps released in the space theme released on October 30, 1967. These stamps are the first 3-D stamps ever released. The technology used a simulated 3-D effect using a plastic overlay. The designs were Astronaut walking in space, Orbiter & Lunar Module docked, Lunar Module, and Astronauts.

World's First Talking Stamp
This musical phonograph playable stamp was issued in 1973. Discounted by stamp snobs as just a "novelty", this stamp really started the trend and was wildly popular worldwide and inspired other small countries to try innovative stamp designs.

World Cup Commemoratives
Uruguay 1958 Champion Misprint
"Apparently in 1998 Bhutan Post had to recall its World Cup commemorative stamp (shown above) when it wrongly depicting Uruguay as the 1958 champions. The Bhutanese agent in New York, Inter Governmental Philatelic Cooperation (IGPC), which represents about 70 countries, had made a printing mistake. It meant to list Uruguay as the 1950 champions. The error was detected by a school teacher." - http://stampcollectingroundup.blogspot.com...

World's First CD ROM Stamp!

What's next? Ok, that's a lot of Stamp Firsts for Bhutan. Also visit the Bhutanese Stamp website run by Burt Todd's daughter in partnership with Bhutan Postal Service.
http://www.bhutanpostagestamps.com
 

Why not get some postage at the main post office in Bhutan?

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