Postcard — December 5, 1916
Elise Bieri postcard sent as printed matter on December 5, 1916, from Lucerne via England to Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
During WWI France imposed several philatelic war restrictions which severely limited the French stamp trade. Among other things, it was forbidden to circulate all stamps issued by enemies, either used or unused. When Béla Szekula was caught selling stamps of the enemy to some stamp dealers in Paris, the dealers were fined and Béla was blacklisted by the French censors. To circumvent the ban he began using the alias Elise Bieri on his correspondence – it is not clear wether this was a made-up name or the name of an employee. In November 1916, the Foreign Trade Department of the UK followed suit and declared him an undesirable person for firms or persons in the British Empire to deal with.
During WWI France imposed several philatelic war restrictions which severely limited the French stamp trade. Among other things, it was forbidden to circulate all stamps issued by enemies, either used or unused. When Béla Szekula was caught selling stamps of the enemy to some stamp dealers in Paris, the dealers were fined and Béla was blacklisted by the French censors. To circumvent the ban he began using the alias Elise Bieri on his correspondence – it is not clear wether this was a made-up name or the name of an employee. In November 1916, the Foreign Trade Department of the UK followed suit and declared him an undesirable person for firms or persons in the British Empire to deal with.
