By admin | March 9, 2010
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
Postmaster General John Potter announced yesterday the appointment of Janet Klug, the former president and current member of the board of directors of the American Philatelic Society, to serve on the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC).
According to a USPS press release, Janet, a lifelong stamp collector who says she “never met a stamp she didn’t like,” is the current chair of the New Initiatives Committee on the Smithsonian National Postal Museum’s Council of Philatelists.
Postmaster Potter is quoted as saying, “Janet brings a wealth of expertise and knowledge to the committee. She represents one of the many voices of the stamp collecting community and we welcome her to CSAC.”
Janet writes regular columns about stamp collecting for Linn’s Stamp News and Scott Stamp Monthly, and her work has also appeared in American Philatelist, Stamp Collector and Global Stamp News.
Her recent publications include Guide to Stamp Collecting (2008) and 100Greatest American Stamps (2007), which she co-authored with Donald Sundman.
Members of the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Postmaster General. The committee, established in 1957, is composed of 15 members, whose backgrounds reflect a wide range of educational, artistic, historical and professional expertise. All share an interest in philately and fulfilling the needs of postal customers.
Janet will join the committee in April.
To read an interesting interview with Janet about her stamp collecting interests, click here.
By admin | March 9, 2010
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
“Plane crashes are today’s headlines, but train wrecks were the major newsmakers 100 years ago,” writes reporter Matt Surtel on New York’s Daily News website.
According to Matt, local resident Mark Milcarek came across four old postcards that documented a train wreck that happened more than a hundred years ago.
“The resulting impact was horrific. It left locomotives, train cars and wreckage strewn over the countryside. Photographs taken the next morning were quickly made into postcards,” pens Matt.
Mark, who found the images online, is quoted as saying, “I just came across them and because they had a date and some information with them, they were something you could trace.”
After buying the postcards, Mark began researching the accident looking through old newspapers and learned that the wreck occurred in early January 1907 after a northbound Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh coal train lost its air brakes heading north in the town of Gainesville.
Ken Wilson writes on his Postards [sic] - A Brief History of Postcards & Postcard Collecting website, “The use of postcards exploded in the early 1900s. They were the “e-mail” of their day.Cards included advertising, artwork, and documentation of current events, and places.”
To read the entire train wreck postcards article and see additional pictures, click here.
By admin | March 9, 2010
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
Patricia Raynor writes on the National Postal Museum blog, “If your vacation destination this year happens to include Walt Disney World® in Florida, try playing the game of who can spot the most mailboxes. From Main Street U.S.A. in the Magic Kingdom® to the international pavilions at Epcot,® careful observers will discover a variety of mailboxes scattered around the many park attractions.”
According to Pat, “If you begin your park journey at Main Street USA, you will be transported to the turn-of-century-the 20th-century American small town with a lamp-post mounted collection box that fits right in to the time period. At Epcot®, you will find collection boxes such as the United Kingdom’s eye-catching red pillar post box or the American turn-of-the-century Owens- style lamp mail box (shown here), on loan to the park from the U.S. Postal Service. Disney cast members collect mail from this box each day for eventual delivery to postal service facilities in Orlando, Florida.”
To read the entire post, click here.
To see and learn more about American mailboxes, click here.
By admin | March 9, 2010
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
Tom Buckham writes in the Buffalo News about a “serendipitous convergence of business and art.”
Tom reports, “When Ashton Potter USA Ltd. in Amherst bid last year on a contract to print a series of postage stamps commemorating the art movement known as abstract expressionism, no one there realized that Albright-Knox Art Gallery owned four of the 10 featured paintings.”
The printer, Ashton Potter, the world’s largest producer of postage stamps with secure printing plants, and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery are both located in and around Buffalo, New York.
The Albright-Knox works in the commemorative series are Pollock’s iconic “Convergence,” Mark Rothko’s “Orange and Yellow,” Robert Motherwell’s “Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 34” and Arshile Gorky’s “The Liver Is in the Cock’s Comb.”
Yesterday evening the gallery held a special event celebrating stamps and art.
Titled, “The Hobby of Kings: Stamp Collecting and the Albright-Knox,” members of the public were given tours of the paintings and invited to create postage stamp scrapbooks. Also on hand was stamp expert Lou Montesano from Lincoln Coin & Stamp Company, Inc. who answered questions about stamps and stamp collecting.
To bring the evening to a close, the gallery showed Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Dekalog (1989), an episode from the acclaimed Decalogue series which featured estranged brothers slowly developing a fanaticism for the stamp collecting of their late father.
To read the article about the printer of the new stamps, click here.
For more on the Albright-Knox Gallery, click here.
Shown above, Barry Switzer, chief executive officer of Ashton Potter USA, displays a press approval sheet for the postage stamp series honoring abstract expressionists.
By admin | March 4, 2010
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
A post on the USPS Inspector General’s blog asks, “Could Longer Lines Be Coming to Your Local Post Office…Lottery Lines?”
It goes on to report, “According to a representative on the Postal Regulatory Commission’s staff, a Postal Service-run lottery ‘could offer the potential for substantial profits for the Postal Service and utilize its current retail infrastructure with its 36,000 retail outlets.’ Popular lottery formats in many states include drawings and instant lottery tickets.
The claim is that running a national lottery could help the U.S. Postal Service close its multibillion-dollar budget gap. It could also build foot traffic to post offices, increasing retail sales of postal products.”
Is it appropriate for the Postal Service to offer a national lottery?
Click here to let the Inspector General know what you think.
By admin | March 3, 2010
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
Space.com reports, “Artist Robert McCall, whose visions of the past, present, and future of space exploration have graced U.S. postage stamps, NASA mission patches, and the walls of the Smithsonian, died on Friday of a heart attack in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was 90.”
According to reporter Robert Z. Pearlman of CollectSpace.com, “McCall created the art for 21 space-themed U.S. postage stamps, ranging in subject from the moon landings to the unmanned probes sent to Mars and Jupiter. His design for a commemorative marking the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project adorned the largest stamp published in the United States.”
Robert goes on to say, “In 1981, McCall designed eight stamps celebrating STS-1, the first flight of the space shuttle. At mission commander John Young’s request, McCall also designed the insignia that Young and Bob Crippen wore aboard Columbia for the two-day mission.”
It was through the stamps and patches that he created did McCall ultimately see his artwork merge with their subject matter and enter space. The Apollo 15 astronauts flew his “Decade of Achievement” two-stamp pane to the Moon, and the last men to walk on the lunar surface did so while wearing an Apollo 17 mission patch designed by McCall.”
Shown above, McCall holding a sheet of the “Decade of Achievement” stamps.
To read the entire article, click here.
By admin | March 2, 2010
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
Emma Kat Richardson writes on the
Bookslut website, “War is hell, and Sarah Blake, author of the new novel
The Postmistress, has 101 ways to prove it.”
The story takes place in 1940 and tells the story of events in pre-World War II New Hampshire as well as bomb ravaged London through the eyes of three American women.
Emma goes on to pen, “For example, did you know how graphic and devastating bomb explosions over a populated London skyline can be? Or that beloved and cherished family members (some of them even doctors and family men, no less!) oftentimes disappear without word, in much the same way their steady stream of written correspondence has the annoying tendency to abruptly dry up? These lessons (and many, many more) are all to be found here, bound and sandwiched between the interlocking stories of three World War II-era women and their copious struggles to make those elusively pesky ends meet, no matter how often the powers that be insist on moving those ends just out of reach.”
Jennifer Donovan writes in an Amazon review of the book, “At the center of the story, and the town, is the old-maid postmistress Iris. The post office and the daily intake and output of mail create the hub of this small town. When Iris holds on to a letter that’s been left in her care, the bedrock of order that she has created for herself is shaken. How will this affect Iris? How will it affect the doctor’s wife, and even the female reporter far away in London?”
To watch a video of the author talking about her new book, click here.
By admin | March 1, 2010
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
According to the Alphabetilately website, “A bisect is a postage stamp cut in half (usually diagonally), and used to pay half its face value, e.g. half a ten cent stamp to pay five. The practice has been permitted (in the US at least) only for special situations (e.g. a shortage of stamps). The most recent of them was over 60 years ago, so genuine bisects are usually rare and valuable. There are even trisects! Note that a bisect “off cover” (or not “tied” to the cover by its cancellation) is usually worthless, since it is the proof of actual usage that makes it desirable - anyone can cut a stamp in half, but if it survives the mails that way, it becomes something special. Don’t try it today - it’s illegal to cut, deface or even overlap stamps on your mail.”
Shown above is an extreme example of bisected stamps which has an interesting story behind it.
Alphabetilately webmaster, William M. Senkus, wrties “There’s no pretense of postal validity about this cover, a souvenir prepared by the author at Pacific 97. I call it my “ultimate bisect cover”. One of the odder pasttimes of collectors at philatelic events is the creation of such souvenirs, though most are more conventional First Day and event covers. I had to stand in line for almost an hour just to reach the counter with this one, and then was told that the stamps, having been cut in half, were no longer postally valid, and even though the cover would never pass through the mails, it could not be cancelled! I pointed out that there was over $2.50 in postage on the envelope, and surely it would do no harm to cancel it. Twenty minutes and several levels of consultation later, I was told it could be cancelled, though not in the manner I had requested - I forget now exactly what the changes were, but was pleased with the result, as much for the commotion it caused as for the actual product.”
Senkus goes on to say, “I have just (October, 2001) been informed by a fellow collector who saw my page of Pacific 97 souvenirs that the USPS actually authorized bisects of stamps from the two USPS souvenir sheets issued at the show. He says that the slightly odd conditions were that the cuts must not separate the digits of the denominations, and the bisects were valid only during the show. So diagonal separations were ok, and horizontal separations were ok, but vertical separations (cuts from top to bottom down the middle) were not. Since I was not told about that when I submitted the cover above for cancellation, I can only presume that if this is true, the policy was revealed to the public only after the show; so if one thought to try it, one succeeded, but one never knew whether that success was a fluke or deliberate.
“And this could help explain, perhaps, why my cover caused such a stir among the clerks and required a secret backstage consultation - If they had said the bisects were totally illegal, they would have been lying, while if they had told me the problem with my cover was that I had bisected the triangle stamps, they would have been revealing that the other bisects were ok. So perhaps they decided to let the cover pass as it was, and let me think the whole thing was a special favor.”
For more on bisected stamps and covers, click here.
By admin | March 1, 2010
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
Postmaster General John Potter writes in today’s Washington Post, “For 235 years, the U.S. Postal Service has delivered your mail in snow, rain and dark of night. However, tough market conditions are creating new challenges for our business. Misconceptions about the future of our enterprise abound; dispelling these myths will show that we can continue to deliver the mail.”
He goes on to list, and respond to, what he considers five myths about the U.S. Postal Service.
They are…
1. The Postal Service wastes taxpayer dollars.
2. The Postal Service is inefficient.
3. Mail is not reliable.
4. The USPS is not environmentally friendly.
5. The USPS can’t compete with the private sector.
He concludes with, “Though we operate in a difficult legislative and economic environment, we are prepared to forge ahead. On March 2, we are releasing our plan for future financial viability and greater business flexibility — a plan that will keep the Postal Service thriving for years to come.”
Shown above, U.S. Postmaster General John Potter speaking during a news conference last summer about the Postal Service’s financial troubles.
To read the entire article click here.
By admin | March 1, 2010
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
The Am Law Daily reports that the U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled, 2-1, in favor of 85-year-old sculptor Frank Gaylord regarding a photo of his Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. that was used on a U.S. postage stamp.
According to the article, “John Alli, a retired U.S. Marine and an amateur photographer…took hundreds of photographs of the memorial on a snowy day and eventually produced a single, haunting photo. In 2002, the federal government paid Alli $1,500 to use his photo as the basis for a 37-cent postage stamp.”
Reporter Zach Lowe writes, “The U.S. Postal Service raised more than $17 million from sales of the stamp–including about $5.4 million in sales to collectors–before the agency retired it.” Gaylord, the suit argued, deserved a piece of that money in damages and sued the government in the Court of Federal Claims in 2006.”
The government won the case saying the photo and stamp of the memorial was “fair use”. It also found that the memorial constituted architecture, and thus was not subject to the usual copyright protections.
Having lost the case, Gaylord, who served as an Army paratrooper in World War II, received no damages.
In 2008, Gaylord and his lawyers appealed the case and this week they won on the grounds that “a new work must make some sort of criticism or commentary to fall under fair use,” which clearly the stamp and the photo on which it was based did not.
The appeals court remanded the case for a hearing on damages. The government could petition the U.S. Supreme Court for review.
Shown above, the preliminary design for the 2003 Korean Memorial stamp.
To read the entire article, click here.
By admin | March 1, 2010
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
Randall Stross writes in the New York Times, “In Victorian London, though service wasn’t 24/7, it was close to 12/6. Home delivery routes would go by every house 12 times a day — yes, 12. In 1889, for example, the first delivery began about 7:30 a.m. and the last one at about 7:30 p.m. In major cities like Birmingham by the end of the century, home routes were run six times a day.”
He quotes Catherine J. Golden, a professor of English at Skidmore College and author of Posting It: The Victorian Revolution in Letter Writing (2009) as saying, “In London, people complained if a letter didn’t arrive in a couple of hours.”
An overview of Posting It on the University of Florida website points out, “Although ’snail mail’ may seem old fashioned and outdated in the twenty-first century, Catherine Golden argues that the creation of the Penny Post in Victorian England was just as revolutionary in its time as e-mail and text messages are today.”
Shown above, a British mail carrier in 1839.
To read the entire article, click here.
By admin | February 25, 2010
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
A tip of the tongs to Round-Up reader Richard Cannata of New York!
Richard sends along a listing on eBay about a 117-year-old mystery stamp that is being hailed as “The King Arthur” of stamps because “supposedly all of the experts have heard of the legend, but no one has ever proven it, until now.”
Going for the “Buy It Now” price of $25,000, it is “… very first and only known, P.F. Certified, Graded Fine 70, U.S. used 220 cap on right in the world,” according to the seller who is listed as “philatelic_rocker” of Oceanside, New York.
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According to the listing, “This stamp was once listed by Scott as a U.S. #220b cap on right from 1935-1939 The 220b was the most valuable of the three cap varieties and was also mentioned in an early 1900’s Lester G. Brookman catalog.”
It goes on to say, “The 1890 US 220 was criticized for its color and was reissued between 1891-92. These reissues produced the very popular ‘cap’ varieties, known as the US 220a (cap on left 2), and the US 220c (cap on both 2s).”
Apparently the stamp was originally purchased on eBay in February 2008, with its authenticity unknown. Then in March 2008, the stamp was taken to the A.S.D.A.’s (American Stamp Dealers Association) Mega Postage Stamp Show, at New York’s Madison Square Garden, for appraisal.
The seller says, “The A.S.D.A. referred the appraisal to member and renowned stamp expert, Richard A. Champagne. Being very familiar with the 220 Cap on Right 2 legend, but of course never having seen one, he was very skeptical at first. However, after careful examination, to his surprise, Mr. Champagne found this stamp to be genuine. He advised taking the stamp immediately to the Philatelic Foundation in New York (chartered in 1945 by the University of the State of New York) to be certified.
“Following up on the advise of Mr. Champagne, this stamp was brought to the Manhattan office of the Philatelic Foundation to be certified. It was examined by a team of P.F. experts before being deemed genuine for certification. In its 64 year history, the P.F. has had only two other submissions for certification of a 220 cap on right 2, but these submissions were deemed Not Genuine. Therefore, making this stamp the very first and only known certified, used cap on right 2, in existence today.
“In its 64 year history, the P.F. has had only two other submissions for certification of a 220 cap on right 2, but these submissions were deemed Not Genuine. Therefore, making this stamp the very first and only known certified, used cap on right 2, in existence today.”
The listing ends tomorrow at 8:21 AM PST. Bidding starts at $15,000. Click here to purchase or bid.
For any further information please call 516-209-6449 516-209-6449, or email: hazyjade1@aol.com
Shown above, the Philatelic Foundation Certificate and a blow-up of the “cap on the right.”
By admin | February 25, 2010
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
Wear a piece of history with postage stamp jewelry from around the world!
Anna Van Tuinen’s Dad collected stamps as a boy in the ’60s and she loved sorting through stamps with him when she was a kid. Now she’s making pendant necklaces using stamps from their collection.
Anna can also custom design a necklace with one of your stamps if your prefer. An Inverted Jenny would look nice.
Shown above, a necklace made from Japanese stamp with a crane and Japanese characters. The back is covered in Japanese Chiyogami paper with blue parasols.
To visit Anna’s site, click here.
By admin | February 23, 2010
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
Shown above a photo by Sid Avery of movie star Yul Brynner. Taken in 1953, it appears Hollywood at Home: A Family Album 1950-1965 along with other celebrity photos.
In Avery’s 2002 obitiuary The New York Times wrote, “Mr. Avery’s work in the 1950’s and 60’s was a departure from the glamorized, soft-focus portraits of an earlier Hollywood era when images of the stars were tightly controlled by the major studios. Mr. Avery showed celebrities on the movie set between takes and away from the job, relaxing with the family or engaged in household chores.”
In Yul Brynner: a Biography, author Michelangelo Capua writes, Brynner “…aspired to have one of the most important collections of rare stamps ever. Yul transformed a small hobby collection (inherited from a friend who lost interest in it) into an investment collecting, exclusively United Nations stamps.”
Capua goes to say, “…his 35-volume collection was one of the most complete in the world.”
To learn more, click here.
By admin | January 8, 2010
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
Dr. Catherine Golden will discuss her new book,
Posting It: The Victorian Revolution in Letter Writing on Sunday, January 10, 2010, the 170th anniversary of the Penny Post.
The Smithsonian Institution points out in a recent announcement about the upcoming talk, which it is sponsoring, “As you type out a text message and receive a speedy response, you may not realize how much you have in common with the Victorians.”
It goes on to say, “When the Penny Post began in Great Britain on January 10, 1840, it meant that anyone could send a letter within the UK for only a penny. The Penny Post was today’s equivalent of an unlimited text message plan or free Wi-Fi—suddenly, communication became cheaper and faster than ever before.”
If you would like to submit a question for Dr. Golden, you can send them to her at NPMprograms@si.edu or tweet them to @SmithsonianNPM.
You can view the event live at the Postal Museum’s UStream channel on Sunday, January 10th at 1 p.m. EST or watch the recorded event on the museum’s YouTube channel.
To view a previous talk by Dr. Golden,Object Lessons from Victorian Postal Culture, click here.
Shown above, print of a postboy galloping en route to London, circa 1800.
By admin | December 28, 2009
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
Philippine Daily Inquirer reports, “A group of hobbyists have formed the Dumaguete Stamp Collectors’ Club to tell the whole world about the joys of their favorite pastime. One way of spreading the word is by holding exhibits, so the club members displayed their collections last week at the Museo Vicente at Foundation University.”
According to the article by Alex Pal, the university president, who is also an avid stamp collector, opened the exhibit, titled “Thematics and Accumulations,” and was “awed” by the material displayed.
The exhibit, which was arranged according to theme, attracted professionals and students, even from outside the university.
Gary Rosales, club president is quoted as saying that the public viewing of their collections had given them pleasure. “Your joy is not complete if you don’t display them,” he said.
As a bank manager, Rosales looks at stamps as a good investment. “Weight-wise, stamps are more valuable than gold or platinum.”
Another collector, Lito Diago said in the piece, “As a stamp collector, you have to appreciate history,” and that his hobby gives him a rare insight into history.
Shown above, a 1954 stamp marking the 100th anniversary of the first Philippine stamps.
To read the entire article, click here.
By admin | December 18, 2009
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
UK’s The Press and Journal reports, “John Cooper, 69, has been making pillar and lamp boxes - those on lamp poles - for Royal Mail since he was 16.The grandfather of four has made thousands over the decades and his handiwork has ended up all over the globe.”
John (shown above) is quoted as saying, “Usually it says the maker of the pillar box on the back so any time I’m out and about I have a look to see where it was made and whether I can say we made that. I’ve definitely posted letters in boxes I’ve made.”
According to the piece…
- There are about 100,000 post boxes of all kinds across the UK, of which about 10,000 are in Scotland.
- Queen Elizabeth II does not appear on post boxes north of the border because of protests in the 1950s when post boxes were set on fire as she is technically only the first Queen Elizabeth of Scotland. It was replaced by the Scottish crown, in sympathy with Scots who did not recognise Elizabeth I.
- Before 1859 there was no standard colour.
- In 1859, a bronze green colour became standard until 1874 when red became the standard colour.
- The earliest known post box was installed in 1809.
To read the entire article, click here.
By admin | December 17, 2009
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
Listed on the CollectThatStamp.com website are two stamp management programs, Stamp Manage and Stamp Organizer Deluxe, that you might want to consider as a holiday present or suggestion.
According to the site, Stamp Manage offers a 30 day free download trial version, is compatible with Windows XP, Vista (32 & 64 bit) or Windows 7 and has…
• 50,000 complete variety listings of stamps from the USA, US Possessions, Australia, UK, Canada, Canadian Provinces, France, Germany, Cuba, UN, etc.. Including sub-varieties
• 35,000 hi-res images to help identify your stamps
• Software that is officially licensed to use the SCOTT™ stamp numbering system
• A Stamp Checklist and a Stamp Album Page report that will let you print out Stamp Album pages complete with identifying images
• Up-to-date Market Valuations in several grades, including Plate Block and Mint Sheets
• eBay™ search feature to search current (and completed) auctions by SCOTT™ number…A great way to find the recent selling prices.
For more on Stamp Manage,retailing for $69.95 (download) or $79.95 for a CD, click here.
The other product suggestion is Stamp Organizer Deluxe by PrimaSoft.
According to the site, this program offers…
◦ Stamp Organizer, Detailed Solution: organize and maintain data about your stamps in as much detail as you want.
◦ Stamp Organizer, Basic Solution: organize and maintain data about your stamps in a quick way.
◦ Stamp Glossary Solution: organize and maintain dictionary of stamp terms.
◦ Stamp Web Resources: organize information about online stamp dealers, auctions, access accounts, and other stamp resources.
◦ Stamp Contacts Solution: organize stamp related contacts.
The company also offers a free trial put is only compatible with Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, NT, XP.
For more on Stamp Organizer Deluxe, retailing for $43, click here.
By admin | December 17, 2009
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
The University of Texas Dallas’ McDermott Library website reports, “The Wineburgh Philatelic Research Library was founded to provide collectors access to a dynamic collection of books, journals, and catalogs. Collectors have been using this resource for more than two decades in pursuit of their philatelic interests.”
It goes on to say, “Founded in 1976 by the late Harold Wineburgh, the library was envisioned as a means of promoting not only philatelic research but also of inspiring a love of learning through philately. Since then the WPRL has grown into one of the finest philatelic libraries in the country with thousands of books and periodical volumes. Over 100 subscriptions to current philatelic journals are maintained with hundreds of older journal titles. In addition the library maintains catalogs and a growing selection of post office publications and reports.”
According to the website, “Among the collection’s strengths are holdings in U.S., British, Western European, and Mexican philately. Other important areas include detection of forgeries, state postal histories, and air mail philately. There is good coverage for the British Commonwealth as well as South America. The collection has especially fine holdings in Confederate postal history.”
For more information contact The University of Texas at Dallas, Special Collections Department, P.O. Box 830643, Richardson, Texas 75083-0643, Paul Oelkrug, Coordinator for Special Collections, Phone: (972)883-2570.
To visit their website, click here.
By admin | December 15, 2009
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
Fox News in Washington, D.C. reports that yesterday was the busiest day of the year for the U.S. Postal Service.
Wisdom Martin files this report, “It’s 11 days before Christmas, and the crowds at the Post Office know they are running out of time…Post Office officials say they will get about 60 million pieces of mail on Monday alone. That’s 30 percent more than a regular day, and that’s just in the D.C. metro area… Nationwide between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the postal service will deliver more than 19 billion letters, packages, and cards.
He goes on to say, “To make sure everything is delivered, some offices have extended hours. Some have hired part-time workers, but with the down economy, they didn’t bring in as many this year. But postal officials say none of that will affect customer service. Nationwide, the Post Office expects to process 839 million pieces of mail. They recommend you send packages by the following dates:
December 16: Parcel Post
December 21: First-Class Mail
December 21: Priority Mail
December 23: Express Mail
Click here to read his full report and watch a view video.
By admin | December 14, 2009
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
Posted on the Military News Network website is footage of service members volunteering at a post office in Afghanistan to sort through more than 200,000 pounds of holiday mail destined for the troops.
Produced by Marine Staff Sgt. Clinton Firstbrook, it drew some angry responses from former USPS and military personnel.
One retired first sergeant of a military postal unit wrote, “I can’t believe what I just saw on this video. First I would like to say I am sorry to the mailers and to the soldiers receiving these packages for the way their packages were handled. This is not the way I was trained nor the way I trained other soldiers to process packages. Being in a war zone is no excuse for these soldiers behavior. This is certainly not the way we handled packages in OJE. Some of the packages did look poorly prepared & too large, but there are ways to handle these packages to prevent damage. I can just imagine all the insured damaged items having a claim filed on them to make the USPS pay for repair or replacement when the damage was done by these soldiers. This unit needs to be shut down until they are retrained in the proper way of mail processing. Whoever is in charge of this unit should be releived of duty, including officers and nco’s and removed from the unit.”
Lesson learned - pack your packages to overseas military personnel EXTREMELY well!
To view the video, click here.
By admin | December 14, 2009
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
Some time ago, Sheryll Oswald wrote a nice piece on altered U.S. stamps warning collectors to be careful about what they buy on the Internet.
Sheryll writes, “If it sounds too good to be true….. it probably is!!” This is what I often hear from fellow bidders of classic U.S. stamps on eBay when they find out that the ‘elusive bargain’ they have won is nothing more than a cheap stamp misrepresented as its more expensive variety, or has even been altered to look like it.
She goes on to say, “As a stamp collector, I must confess to being a bit of a bargain hunter myself. And there are times when I have bought what looked like the rarer variety of pre-1930 U.S. stamps, only to find that an extra bit of artwork has been added to the design, or there are signs of a pen cancel on what I thought was an “unused” stamp.”
“But the more likely case is that I am happy with my bargain buy because I don’t even know that it has been altered in some way!”
Sheryll points out, “Altered stamps have been and still are found at stamp shows, bourses, bricks-and-mortar auctions and mail-bid sales. Thus the phrase ‘caveat emptor’ should be the refrain of any collector of early U.S. stamps, and careful study of the Scott catalogue and the extensive literature available a must before any major purchases are contemplated.”
To read her entire article, click here.
By admin | December 14, 2009
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
Volker Kleiner from Germany writes to let
Round-Up readers know about his new website, www.philateria.com.
Volker says, “I try to show the classic locals of the world and if somebody could help me out with scans it would be fine. Articles from different people are also included – looking always for some new.”
One of those articles is by Peter C. Ford who writes about the Lady McLeod local shown above.
According to Wikipedia, “The Lady McLeod was a paddle steamer and a private local post. The ship sailed regularly between Port of Spain and San Fernando, on Trinidad island, now in Trinidad and Tobago from the end of 1845 until 1854. The private local post ran during the same time with the use of postage stamps on its mail from April 1847.”
Peter points out, “Although this issue did not emanate from an official source, the Lady McLeod (as the stamp is commonly called) has the glamour of being the first adhesive stamp issued in a British Colony, the ‘POST OFFICE’ Mauritius appearing some six months later.”
For more on the Lady McLeod local, click here.
By admin | December 7, 2009
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
As we commememorate
Pearl Harbor Day, Joseph Robertia of Alaska’s
Peninsula Clarion reports since 1942, the Stamps for the Wounded program has collected stamps and other stamp collecting related materials, and redistributed them to veteran’s hospitals across the U.S. as occupational and recuperative therapy for wounded soldiers.
According to Joseph, “Thirty-five years ago, Livingston, Texas, resident Virginia “Cy” Turner had a cousin — a veteran of World War II — who had a stroke. At the time, doctors had given her cousin tweezers and two shot glasses — one filled with BBs, as part of the rehabilitation process to improve his fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.”
Turner is quoted as saying, “He was supposed to move the BBs from one glass to the other. It was nerve-wracking and he got BBs everywhere.”
Instead of BBs, Turner suggested stamps and the rest, as they say, is history.
Between her collecting efforts in Alaska and Texas (where she lives), Turner has collected more than 15,000 pounds of stamps to be used in veteran’s hospitals around the country.
“They’ll use them to make mosaics, crafts or for matching exercising,” she said. “It occupies their time, eyes, hands, and above all, their minds.”
To read the entire article, click here.
By admin | December 7, 2009
Submitted by Stamp Collecting Round-Up Blog
Glenn Estus, president of the Vermont Philatelic Society was interviewed on WCAX-TV in Burlington, Vermont about holiday postmarks.
Shown in the piece are holiday covers being cancelled at the North Pole, New York and Bethlehem, New Hampshire post offices.
Glenn (shown above) writes on the Virtual Stamp Club website,”… the postal clerk was actually the general manager of the Santa’s Workshop theme park. In the winter time the post office is located in the business offices. In the summer time it’s located in the main park itself.”
He goes on to say, “From 1953 to about 2004, the North Pole office was a station of Lake Placid, NY. As a matter of fact in 1976 when the Olympic stamps were issued in Lake Placid, the North Pole also had them on sale the first day since it was a part of the Lake Placid post office. The U/Os created using the postmark that was very relevant since the post office is on the slopes of Whiteface Mountain, the venue for the downhill skiiing events. About 2004 it was transferred to the Wilmington, NY post office.”
Click here to view video.
A post on the USPS Inspector General’s blog asks, “Could Longer Lines Be Coming to Your Local Post Office…Lottery Lines?”
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