by Chris Whitehouse
25th of January 2026
Being asked to name your favorite stamp is kind of like being asked to name your favorite child. There are A LOT of beautiful stamps out there, and many, at various times, I might consider a favorite. However, this one in particular is [one of] my favorite stamp, not because it is valuable (2018 CV $1.10 unused) or because it is the most beautiful stamp in the world (although I do think it is quite attractive). It is my favorite because of its connection to my father and because it was one of the first stamps I remember seeing as a kid, which got me interested in stamp collecting in the first place. This stamp is Scott #232, issued in 1940 by New Zealand depicting Abel Tasman, a sailing ship, and the western coastline of New Zealand (Figure 1).
Figure 1.
This was part of a special centennial issue of stamps featuring important events in New Zealand’s history. Abel Tasman (1603-1659) was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant, who in 1642, while in the service of the Dutch East India Company, was the first European explorer to reach New Zealand and Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania).
Now my father (Figure 2)
Figure 2.
was not a stamp collector per se, but he did keep a scrapbook, which contained many mementos and other items he picked up during his tour of duty on a destroyer in the South Pacific while serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. As a young boy, I would love looking through this scrapbook, which contained a variety of items, such as postcards, matchbooks, napkins, and various photos showing exotic tropical people and places from various South Pacific islands. In addition, he apparently picked up a few local stamps along the way, which he also stuck in the scrapbook. These included the New Zealand stamp described above, but also several French Polynesia stamps (Figure 3).
Figure 3
Needless to say, all these items - especially the stamps - were very exotic to a young boy who had never been outside of his small town in southern Indiana. Seeing and being excited about these foreign stamps were in my memories when, at the age of eight or nine, my parents gave me a beginner’s stamp album and packet of stamps and, as they say, the rest is history – I collected stamps off and on for the next 50 years.
My father joined the U.S. Navy in 1940 and on December 7, 1941, he was aboard the USS Shaw, which was in drydock in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. The Japanese planes dropped three bombs on the ship. Luckily, he was blown off the ship into the water and was able to survive the massive explosion that resulted in one of the most iconic images of the attack (Figure 4).
Figure 4
I am happy to say that he lived a full life and passed away in 2015 at the age of 95. Of course, that New Zealand stamp made its way into my stamp collection, and every time I see it, I think of my dad and that stamp’s unlikely journey from the South Pacific onto its page of my Scott International stamp album.
Figure Legends
Fig. 1. New Zealand Scott #232, issued in 1940 depicting Abel Tasman, a sailing ship, and the western coastline of New Zealand.
Fig. 2. My father, Garnett Whitehouse (left), with an unnamed friend drink at a bar in the South Pacific sometime in the early 1940s.
Fig. 3. Examples of some French Polynesia stamps that my father also collected in his World War II scrapbook.
Fig. 4. USS Shaw exploding after her forward magazine was detonated during the Japanese attack resulting in one of the most iconic images of the attack.