Switzerland – Scphila 17 in the music box village The village of Sainte-Croix in the Vaudois Jura on the border with France can look back on a chequered history. It is known to this day for the music boxes produced there. This year the municipality is all set to play host to Stamp Day. Stamp Day has been the highlight of the year for philately a cionados for many a year. And 2017 will be no different, with the event taking place in the picturesque town of Sainte-Croix in Vaud’s Jura mountains.

The local club, the Société Philatélique Sainte-Croix, extends an in- vitation to all philatelists to come to the Centre sportif des Champs de la Joux. The community of some 5,000 inhabit- ants is situated high up in the Vaudois Jura mountains and enjoys a fantastic panorama view of the “Jura balcony”. Af- ter a boom in lace-making and watch- making, the industrious inhabitants took up precision mechanics, with the rst music boxes being produced in 1814. The miniature sheet issued by Swiss Post takes up this topic on one of the two spe- cial stamps depicting a detail of a music box. The second special stamp shows a view of the centre of Sainte-Croix, with Lake Neuchâtel in the background. The sheet also features rectangular elements in the colours of the local coat of arms, a picture of the comb teeth of a music box, plus a triangulation point.