The Stamp Collecting Round-Up

Confessions of a Collector

2008-07-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hunter Davies in the UK's Guardian asks, "So why do collectors collect?"

He believes there are 8 reasons why people collect things.

1. Gathering
2. Arranging
3. Knowledge
4. Escape
5. Therapy
6. Identity
7. Social life
8. Excitement

To read the entire article, click here.

Shown above, Charles Spencelay's "The Stamp Collector."

Vancouver 2010 Winter Games Stamps

2008-07-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

The Canadian Press website reports, "More than half a billion stamps and related products will be produced for the Games under the terms of a $3-million supplier agreement the carrier has signed with Olympic organizers."

According to the site, it is the first time Canada Post has been an official sponsor of the Olympics in Canada, though they have produced Olympic-related stamps in the past.

The report goes on to say, "Design of the 2010 stamps will be done in conjunction with Vancouver organizers and will likely feature images of the Olympic mascots, as well as sports imagery."

Dennis Kim, director of licensing and merchandising for the committee is quoted as saying the Olympics Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, has a room full of Olympic stamps from previous Games.

For more on this story, click here.

Patriotic Covers

2008-07-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

Patriotic covers are envelopes used during periods of national conflict with pre-printed or hand-drawn slogans or illustrations.

According to L.B. Rothchilde,during the Civil War, "Families and friends wrote to their soldiers and the mail was delivered to them in the field whenever it was possible. Their deep rooted patriotism was made known through what we now refer to as 'patriotic covers,' envelopes with patriotic themes and phrases that were printed on the front. This idea originated in the North and soon became very popular."

The U.S. Postal History Blog says, "95% or more of the patriotic covers that exist today were printed between 1861-65. It is believed that no fewer than 7,500 and perhaps as many as 10,000 designs exist."

To learn more about patriotic covers, click here.

Happy 4th of July!

Stamps of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair

2008-07-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

Seventy-five years ago, the city of Chicago staged its second world’s fair, A Century of Progress, to celebrate its centennial.

The U.S. Post Office Department issued three stamp designs with a total of seven varieties according to the National Postal Museum.

On May 25, 1933, a 1-cent stamp for the postcard rate and a 3-cent stamp for the letter rate promoted the fair just days before it opened. It depicted Fort Dearborn. A replica of the fort was a popular attraction at the fair.

The violet 3-cent stamp’s vignette featured the fair’s Federal Building and had Roman numerals for its value. It the first U.S. stamp since the 1847 10-cent George Washington to feature that element.

For the American Philatelic Society convention, held August 21 to 26 in Chicago’s central business district, the post office issued the same two stamp designs but in a different format - souvenir sheets of twenty-five stamps.

Two more varieties appeared March 15, 1935, after collector protests following the discovery that complete sheets had been presented as gifts to government officials.

On October 2, 1933, another stamp was issued.

The 50-cent green Graf Zeppelin stamp (Scott C18) depicted the famous German airship over the Atlantic Ocean with the Federal Building of A Century of Progress in the lower left. If you look closely you can see fairgoers on the steps.

For more on the stamps of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, click here.

Postal employees reunite owner and lost memento

2008-07-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

The USPS News Link reports, a Concord, MA, customer was pretty upset when his mother’s WWII civilian military badge (shown here) was not received in the the mail.

When he reported the item missing, Retail Associate Lisa Dente sprung into action.

According to the News Link, "Dente contacted mail recovery centers, but came up empty. Undaunted, she reported the missing badge to Massachusetts District Consumer Affairs Clerk Wanda Sanchez, who sent e-mails to her counterparts across the country. Connie Snyder, a senior business service network specialist in Salt Lake City, saw the message and sent it to Claims and Inquiry Clerk Joanne Matragos."

Matragos found the badge and shipped it to Concord by Express Mail the same day.

Shipped from Salt Lake City, the family heirloom was apparently lost when the envelope carrying it was torn open during mail processing.

For more on mail recovery centers (MRC), click here.

Postal Service Pushes the Envelope

2008-07-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

The Postal Service’s Customized MarketMail (CMM) lets mailers send mailpieces of any shape or design.

Since its launch in 2003, advertisers have mailed images of puppy dogs, doughnuts, drink bottles, race cars and other memorable shapes.

"Customized MarketMailTM (CMM), advertisers can communicate their products and services visually by sending literally-outside-the-box-shaped pieces of mail..." according to Robert Longley, on the About.com website.

According to Direct Marketing magazine, "The Postal Service allows you to mail almost any item that doesn't present a hazard, or isn't impractical. Some items that have gone through the mail include dollar bills with a stamp and address pasted over George Washington's face; a mylar balloon filled with air; plastic bottles with a message inside; empty beer cans; and cinder blocks.

The blocks, by the way, must weigh less than 70 pounds and can be refused if they have sharp or extra rough edges.

To learn more about Customized Market Mail, click here.

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" Stamp Cross Promotion

2008-06-30T00:01:00.001-07:00

The most popular song in baseball, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” is getting its own stamp.

The seventh-inning sing-along celebrates its 100th anniversary this year and its stamp will be officially dedicated Wednesday, July 16, in a ceremony to be held on the White House lawn according to the USPS News Link.

The News Link reports, "USPS is covering all the bases for this one. The Postal Service is teaming up with Little League Baseball and Pitch In For Baseball to promote the stamp in communities across the nation. Pitch In For Baseball’s mission is to share the great American pastime with kids all over the world. The two organizations collect and give used baseball equipment and other assistance to young people around the world. Their motto: “Let your equipment play extra innings.”

It goes on to say, "Postmasters from coast to coast are being asked to plan a homerun event to sell the stamp and encourage their customers to collect “gently used” or new baseball equipment — mainly baseball gloves. The new Priority Mail Large Flat Rate box is perfect for shipping old gloves, and the new online Click-N-Ship discounts will make it easier and more affordable for customers to send equipment to Pitch In For Baseball. "

For more information, see the "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" Postmaster kit in the latest Postal Bulletin.

Colorado Mountain in Wyoming?

2008-06-29T00:01:00.004-07:00

Denver's TV 7NEWS' website,The DenverChannel.com, reports, "Colorado's new flag stamp that went on sale two weeks ago as part of a new national stamp series may have a major problem: the mountain is in Wyoming. "

As seen above, the stamp shows the Colorado flag, with evergreen trees and a snowy mountain.

But, a sharp-eyed 7NEWS viewer from Fort Collins thought the mountain outline depicted on the Colorado stamp looked distinctively familiar. He thought the mountain on the stamp is 13,620-foot Mount Helen in Wind River Range of Wyoming.

Al DeSarro, with the U.S. Postal Service, is quoted as saying the artwork "was not based on any specific picture of a mountain," and was supposed to be a generic representation of a mountain -- not a specific mountain in Colorado.

To read the entire article and view a video, click here.

Doane Cancels

2008-06-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

According to Gary Anderson, "Doane Cancels" were the Post Office Department's first attempt to improve postmark legibility by issuing rubber handstamps.

On Anderson's website he says, "The name honors Edith R. Doane a postal historian who became interested in these early 20th century handstamps in the 1950's. She published her first research findings in 1978."

Basically, there are 3 types according to Anderson.

Type 1 Doane Cancels have 5 bars with a number in them. They were issued from Aug. 28, 1903 to Sep. 28, 1903 for just one month. Approximately 1600 Type 1 Doane Handstamps were issued including the 500 experimental post offices.

Type 2 Doane Cancels have 2 sets of railroad track type bars with a number in them. They were issued from Sep. 29, 1903 until Jun. 30, 1905. Approximately 17,500 Type 2 Doane Handstamps were issued.

Type 3 Doane Cancels have 4 solid bars like a standard 4-bar handstamp cancel with a number in them. Sometimes they are very hard to see because of the green colored stamps of the period. They were issued from Jul. 1, 1905 until the fall of 1906. Approximately 12,000 Type 3 Doane handstamps were issued.

For examples and known uses, click here.

Stamps For Orangutans

2008-06-27T00:01:00.002-07:00

Staff at UK's Blackpool Zoo are supporting endangered orangutans by collecting their used postage stamps and encouraging visitors to do the same according to the Blackpool Citizen's website.

The initiative has been organized by The Orangutan Foundation who are asking people to send in their used postage stamps to help raise funds for endangered orangutans.

Jude Rothwell, Communications Manager at Blackpool Zoo is quoted as saying, "All our visitors need to do is cut out their postage stamps, leaving approximately 1cm of paper around the stamp, and put them in the collection box at the zoo's reception and we'll send them off to The Orangutan Foundation."

Stamps collected should be sent to Orangutan Foundation Stamps, PO Box 6198, Leighton Buzzard, Beds, LU7 9XT.

New Express and Priority Mail Envelopes

2008-06-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

USPS now offers legal-sized envelopes for Express Mail and Priority Mail.

The new Express Mail envelope allows legal-sized papers to be sent — without folding — anywhere in the U.S. with guaranteed overnight service.

The new Priority Mail envelope provides two-day delivery for legal-sized documents to most U.S. locations at an even lower price. And both can be used to ship to either domestic or international recipients.

Prices for the two envelopes are based on weight and delivery zone or destination country group.

Click here for a shipping calculator to determine prices from ZIP Code to ZIP Code.

Ethnicitee

2008-06-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

Dr. Allan Bernstein writes to say he has started a new tee shirt company called Ethnicitee. Dr. Bernstein founded the company last year and his designs take their inspiration from the world of stamps.

According to the company's state of the art website, "Ethnicitee is a clothing line designed to celebrate our cultural similarities as well differences. Through images inspired by the artistry of stamps that identify each country,Ethnicitee displays a unique and contemporary way to celebrate cultural and artistic passions."

It goes on to say, "Ethnicitee brings energy, personality and expertise to its mission by showcasing snapshots of humanity – the art of stamps from around the world – to thread cultural awareness into each wearable work of art."

The designs are most impressive and unlike anything I've seen before. I think even non-stamp collectors will like them.

For more information, click here.

Summer Seminar on Philately

2008-06-24T00:01:00.001-07:00

Eighty-three individuals from both the United States and Canada are attending the Summer Seminar on Philately this week at the American Philatelic Center in Bellefonte, PA.

The week-long event includes classes taught by knowledgeable collectors, authors, judges, exhibitors, expertizers, or other authorities. Courses consist of in-class discussions and hands-on workshops.

Among those being offered...

Stamp Technology

Stamps of the British Commonwealth

Evaluating U.S. Stamps in Today’s Marketplace

Cultural Projects in Postal History

Collecting the Expos

Computer Technology in Philately

According to Gretchen Moody, American Philatelic Society's Director of Education,the Summer Seminar series begin in 1980.

Shown above, Instructor Barbara Harrison discusses collecting picture postcards during one of the morning general sessions.

To learn more, click here.

Internet Philatelic Dealers Association

2008-06-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

The Internet Philatelic Dealers Association (IPDA) has been welcomed as an American Philatelic Society (APS) Affiliate No. 260 by the APS Board of Directors, bringing the number of APS affiliates that are currently active to more than 200 according to an APS news release.

Organized in 2002,the Internet Philatelic Dealers Association has 57 members, 19 of whom are APS members. About half of these are based in the United States, but because the organization exists on the Internet, the rest of the members hail from, all over the world — Australia, England, Scotland, Canada, India, New Zealand, Indonesia, Portugal, Philippines and Belgium.

The Association was founded to allow stamp collectors to trade and interact with other collectors and dealers with the confidence that will make the Internet a safer place to interact with each other.

The Association was incorporated in Florida on February 28, 2007, as IPDA, Inc.

To visit their website, click here.

National Postal Museum Internships

2008-06-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

The National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. is seeking interns.

Interns work with a small professional staff on current projects in one or more of the following museum departments: Collections, Curatorial, Education, and Exhibits. Internships are offered during the spring, summer and fall semesters. Interns with a wide variety of skill levels are accepted.

In addition to the internship project, interns are encouraged to take one afternoon per week to explore current exhibitions in a variety of local museums and to talk with museum staff from all departments regarding careers.

Internships do not offer a stipend.

The National Postal Museum has no deadlines for intern applications; internships take place during the summer, fall and spring terms.

Shown above, Intern Rose Mary Stubblefield working in the NPM Preservation Office rehousing the #1 Album in the Leach Collection.

For more information about internships at the National Postal Museum , click here. You can also contact the Intern Coordinator at 202-633-5534 (voice) or 202-633-9849 (TTY).

Post Office Flooded

2008-06-21T00:01:00.001-07:00

The USPS News Link reports, "Iowa and Illinois aren’t the only Midwestern states struggling from the effects of too much water. In the wake of last week’s rains, the Fond du Lac River in Wisconsin also caused flooding along its banks."

According to the Link when the postmaster of the Fond du Lac, WI, post office arrived at work last Friday, she found a mess - a flooded parking lot and employees who couldn't get to the building.

"Inside the building trash cans, letter carrier satchels and office supplies floated on what looked like a lake on the workroom floor."

The Lakeland District’s retail van rolled into Fond du Lac late Friday night. By the next morning,they had moved the dry portion of her stamp stock to its safe. She got cash from Oshkosh and opened the temporary site for business.

"Saturday morning, employees reported to work at a temporary facility at the County Fairgrounds. Carriers sorted mail on tables. By Saturday afternoon, maintenance people from Fond du Lac and other offices in the area had moved mud-caked carrier cases to the temporary site. They cleaned and disinfected the cases in time for work Monday morning."

Now that the water has receded, the building will be cleaned and hopefully back to normal in two weeks.

For mail service updates in the other flood areas, click here.

National US Postal Service Award for Research

2008-06-20T00:01:00.001-07:00

The University of Buffalo's UB News Center reports David A. Gerber, Ph.D. has received the National US Postal Service Award for Research for Authors of Their Lives: The Personal Correspondence of British Immigrants to North America in the Nineteenth Century .

According to a press release, 2006, NYU Press),Dr. Gerber's book analyzes the cycle of correspondence between immigrants and their homelands to uncover the critical role played by letters in reformulating personal relationships made vulnerable by separation.

Dr. Gerber is professor and chair of the Department of History in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University at Buffalo.

The award carries a $2,000 cash prize and was presented to him recently at ceremony at the Main Post Office in Buffalo. A Junior Award of $1,000 was presented to a graduate student in California.

The awards honoring Rita Lloyd Moroney, historian of the U.S. Postal Service from 1973-91, are designed to encourage scholarship on the history of the American postal system and to raise awareness about the significance of the postal system in American life.

To learn more, click here.

To read some of the the book, click here.

Posties told to ditch bikes for trolleys

2008-06-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

Tom Peterkin reports in UK's Telegraph that postmen have been told to use trolleys instead of bikes, so their shoulders are not injured carrying heavy mail bags.

"All delivery offices in the county are taking part in the trial, which aims to reduce shoulder strain by replacing the bike with "high-capacity" trolleys, which can carry more mail," writes Tom.

He says the move has not gone down well with all postmen and women.

One carrier is quoted as saying, "We are absolutely baffled. They tell us it is health and safety because of the big bags we have on our shoulders but the bikes have saddle bags, so that makes no sense either.

Royal Mail responds, "It is nonsense to suggest that we are phasing out the bike. We have 30,000 nationally and the bicycle is a key part of our equipment and will remain so."

To read the entire article, click here.

Pain at the Postal Pump, Part II

2008-06-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

In a related story to yesterday's post, Canada's City News is reporting rising gas rices threaten rural mail service around Toronto.

Rural mail carriers say they can no longer afford to deliver the mail since they not only use their own vehicles, but don't get paid as much as carriers in urban centers according to the report.

Canada Post pays them roughly $2000 a month for gas, but carriers say that rate is outdated, and that many have to fork out as much as $400 a month extra just to get around.

To learn more and watch a video, click here.

Pain At The Postal Pump

2008-06-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

The spiraling cost of gas is not only affecting regular drivers, it's also costing the Postal Service a lot of money according to the Associated Press.

AP reports, "Every time gas prices go up a penny, it costs the U.S. Postal Service an extra $8 million a year. The Postal Service paid $6.5 billion to deliver the mail last year, a half billion more than the year before."

With over 200,000 delivery cars and trucks, the post office operates the largest civilian fleet of vehicles in the country.

Shown above is a hybrid-electric mail delivery van. USPS currently has 30,000 alternative fuel vehicles that operate on compressed natural gas, propane, ethanol, and biodiesel.

For more on this story, click here.

First a Philatelist... Later a God-Knows-What

2008-06-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

Columnists Rick Nelson and Claude Peck talk about stamp collecting in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota Star Tribune.

Nelson says "philatelist" is a creepy word but then goes on to write, "My poor father. I used to beg him to drive me from our home in Dorkville to the big stamp collector expos at the old Leamington Hotel, and I'd spend hours at Dayton's stamp and coin department. It was a big day in my nerdacious little life when the post office would preview its annual Christmas stamp designs, and I was awfully proud of my first-day-of-issue portfolio."

Nelson adds, "The USPS, bless its democratic heart, has commemorated all kinds of gay Americans: Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Lorenz Hart, Andy Warhol, Thornton Wilder, Tennessee Williams, Grant Wood. I've always been crazy about the postal version of Robert Indiana's 'Love.' There's something nicely subversive about the thought of a gay artist's most iconic work stamped on the invitations to, say, Rush Limbaugh's third wedding."

Peck likes the new Eames stamps.

"Buying those stamps may be as close as I get to owning an original Eames chair."

To read the entire article, click here.

Stamps and Sunday School

2008-06-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

Rev. Doug Forbes writes in the Norton Mirror, "Stamp collecting can open up new worlds of adventure for our young people. It’s educational and lots of fun too."

He suggests as a Sunday school activity, "Give each student a notebook and instruct him or her write a different title at the top of each page, such as: God’s creation, interesting people, states, countries, etc. Place a large pile of stamps on the middle of the table and ask the children to use tacky glue to place stamps on the corresponding pages of their notebooks."

Not sure sure about that "tacky glue" but otherwise sounds like a great idea to get kids started in the hobby.

If you want to send him some stamps (along with some hinges!) he can be reached at easton@cnc.com.

To read the entire article, click here.

$2.60 Zeppelin Among the Missing

2008-06-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

One man has been arrested and another is being sought for allegedly stealing some $140,000 in stamps from Nutmeg Stamp Sales. Both suspects worked in the shipping department according to an article which appeared in the News-Times of Danbury, Connecticut.

Detective George Bryce, Jr. is quoted as saying, "People would purchase stamps, and as they prepared them for shipment, some would end up missing. Some of the shipments were big, so they figured, 'Who would know?'"

Among the missing items was a mint $2.60 Zeppelin (similar to the one shown above).

Reporter John Pirro writes, "The [Zeppelin] was originally purchased from Nutmeg in November by a Michigan collector who bid $6,000 at auction. The collector asked Nutmeg to ship the stamp to Professional Stamp Experts, a company in California that would grade and encapsulate it in plastic, before Nutmeg sent it to him."

But when Nutmeg went to ship the then-encapsulated stamp to the collector in December, it couldn't be found.

The investigation began in January, after Nutmeg president David Coogle and chief operating officer Lawrence Gibson reported some stamps shipped to customers hadn't made it to their destinations.

For more on this story, click here.

Spellman Museum in the running for contest

2008-06-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

The Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History has been nominated to compete in a contest to determine the best museum for children in the Boston area according to the Weston Town Crier in Massachusetts.

The voting is sponsored by Nickelodeon TV and the Web site GoCityKids. Parents who have been to the Spellman Museum and found the visit fun and entertaining for their children may cast their vote at "www.parentsconnect.com". The museum is on the ballot in the "Big Kids" category.

People may vote only once and the balloting continues until June 30.

Throughout the year the museum has lots of hands-on activities that get children interested in stamp collecting. When they visit they receive a packet of stamps and tips on how to start a collection.

The museum is now preparing a special exhibit featuring the Olympics on stamps from around the world. It will open on July 4 as part of the museum’s annual Happy Birthday USA Family Day program from noon to 4 p.m.

For more information about the Nickelodeon voting, contact the museum at (781)768-8367

Rare Dalai Lama Stamp to Be Auctioned

2008-06-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

An extremely rare Austrian postage stamp showing the face of the Dalai Lama is to be auctioned in the German city of Dusseldorf this week. It is said to be one of only 30 of its kind according to a report on the Deutsche Welle website.

The Austrian post office designed the stamp to mark the 70th birthday of the Tibetan leader in 2005, but the stamp did not go into large-scale production.

"There were only a few test prints made by hand, because a new color was being tested," a spokesman for the Austrian post office told German news agency dpa.

The Austrian post office denied reports that political pressure from China had prevented the stamps from going into production. "Many designs are tested and not pursued," the spokesman is quoted as saying.

According to the article, Auctioneers Felzmann maintain there are only 30 of the stamps in existence. The stamp had never before been offered at auction, they said. The starting price for Thursday's auction was put at 4,000 euros ($6,200).

To view an on-line catalog in which the stamp appears, click here.