tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6702294928145374276.post490639822016440320..comments2024-01-03T12:22:42.314-08:00Comments on Trevor Pateman's Philately Blog: A Little Test Before Next Week's Harry von Hofmann sale ....trevor patemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843120497490896242noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6702294928145374276.post-71633196224518156162014-10-01T08:41:36.958-07:002014-10-01T08:41:36.958-07:00Dear Mr. Pateman, the answer, I believe, is in the...Dear Mr. Pateman, the answer, I believe, is in the nature of the Baltic governates during Imperial times. The label says LIFL for Liflandskaja, or Livonia. Up to the first world war, the governates of Courland, Livonia, and Esthonia were most often dominated by the Baltic German landowners -- the great majority of governors were from old German families, though in the XX century Russification efforts meant most governors were Russians, with a brief exception from the 1905 period. The labels were probably an example of the slim liberties the German families succeeded in gaining for themselves in the governates. After all, they were the literate inhabitants, the only people writing letters at the time. The majority Latvians and Estonians were mostly illiterate.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com