Stampin' in the Rain

Who says it never rains in Southern California?

Last night, we had to cancel our stamp club meeting because it was coming down in buckets. According to the National Weather Service, Los Angeles is supposed to get up to 10 inches of "liquid sunshine" before it stops sometime today.

Speaking of rain, stamps and weather...a few years back, Tom Fortunato put together a very creative on-line exhibit called A Philatelic Look at the Weather for the Rochester Philatelic Association. In it are a lot of interesting stamps, cancellations, covers and other material related to meteorology.

Tom is currently the chairman of the American Philatelic Society's Chapter Activities Committee and media relations chairman for the Washington 2006 international stamp exhibition.

To visit his A Philatelic Look at the Weather exhibit, click here.

All about "Machins"

Ever wonder about those colorful little British definitives that have Queen Elizabeth's picture on them?

According to the Stanley Gibbons' Machin (pronounced may’-chin) Mania Web site, they were designed and named after Arnold Machin, a sculptor.

Since the original issue in 1967, Royal Mail has tried many colors. Some worked, some didn’t. In the mid-1980s, they settled on a standard range of 30 colors created by Jeffery Matthews. In 1990, another shade of blue was added, making 31.

Just like Baskin-Robbins.

For more about Machins, click here.

Spellman Museum - A Hidden Gem

Writing in the Weston Town Crier, Amelia Aubourg calls the Spellman Museum of Stamps & Postal History "a hidden gem" on the Regis College campus in Weston, Massachusetts.

The Spellman Museum, which opened in 1963, is one of just two public museums in the U.S. devoted to stamps and postal history, the other being the Smithsonian Institution’s National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C.

Originally, the museum brought together the collections of the late Francis Cardinal Spellman, archbishop of New York (see photo above), and the National Philatelic Museum in Philadelphia. The collection now includes over 2 million items, including those from President Dwight David Eisenhower, violinist Jascha Heifetz and General Matthew Ridgway.

Cardinal Spellman died in 1967.

To read the entire article, click here.

Stamps called "Royal Currency"

According to the Scotsman.com., "Investors and financial advisers looking for alternatives to high-risk equity funds and the slowing property market have rediscovered the investment potential of rare stamps."

In an comprehensive article, reporter Jennifer Hill writes, "Rare stamps - also known as 'royal currency' - were among the top-four-performing investments in the period 1907-1990, ahead of bonds and foreign exchange, with average returns of 10 per cent per annum, according to Salomon Brothers Investment Bank. And they have out-performed the stock market every year since 1985. "

The SG100 index, established by Stanley Gibbons - which has seen annual customer growth surge to more than 10,000 from just 850 two decades ago - tracks the 100 most frequently traded stamps in the world.

It has shown a cumulative rise of 150 per cent over the past five years. However, rare stamps are still trading at one-third below their 1980 price levels, while globally stocks are four times above the level they were then.

Stamps are a medium- to long-term investment: at least five years, although many investors wait ten to 15 years for optimal growth.

To read the entire article, click here.

USPS to sell cardboard scales

PostalMag.com reports that,"After a limited giveaway last fall, the USPS will distribute 200,000 cardboard scales (see picture) "in early summer" to 18,000 post offices nationwide.

The post office will sell them for a "modest cost," according to Gerald J. McKiernan, a Postal Service spokesman.

They shouldn't cost much, because the post office is paying the manufacturer "much less than the cost of a first-class stamp" for each one, according to Jelmer Jarig Huizinga, the Dutch co-inventor of the scale, which is given away by many major postal services, including Royal Mail and Deutsche Post, he said."

Iraqi postmen on mopeds brave gun battles

The New York Times reports that in a country where “the bizarre regularly scrambles daily routines,” Iraqi postmen on mopeds brave gun battles to deliver the mail. There are no mailboxes in Iraq, so they deliver to the person, not to the address — a task that has become far more complicated in the past three years, the article said.

But still, six days a week, postmen hand-deliver thousands of letters, to greetings so warm that they often include dances and high-pitched warbles of sheer joy. “It’s something wonderful to get a letter,” said Ibrahim Ismail Zaiden, a postman in Dora. “The paper, the stamp, the envelope. It’s not just a piece of paper. It is something sacred.”

Of course, Saddam Hussein stamps are a thing of the past. Now, new stamps depict, colorfully if unimaginatively, various means of Iraqi transportation, including a raft, a horse and carriage, and a canoe piled high with grasses.

To read the entire article, click here.

Stamp photographer also a collector

The Moab Times Independent in Moab, Utah reports that a photograph of Bryce Canyon National Park taken by local photographer, Tom Till, will be seen around the world.

The new 63-cent Bryce Canyon stamp is the one-ounce rate for letters destined for Mexico and Canada, and the two-ounce rate for domestic mail.

It features Till's photograph of Bryce Canyon’s Bryce Amphitheater, where erosion shaped the landscape into countless whimsical spires known as 'hoodoos.'

The Bryce Canyon stamp marks the second time one of Till’s photographs has been featured on a stamp. The first was a 60-cent Grand Canyon stamp issued in 2000.

"It’s really a thrill for me to have my images on stamps,” said Till. “I was a serious stamp collector as a kid.”

The new stamp is one of three being released tomorrow, as part of the Scenic American Landscapes Series, the others include the Great Smoky Mountains (75-cent international postcard rate), and Yosemite Valley (84-cent international letter rate for countries other than Canada and Mexico).

To read the entire article, click here.

To visit Tom Till's Web site, click here.

Stamps on Consignment

USPS has announced that Walgreens has returned as a consignee in the national stamps on consignment program.

According to the USPS, "With more than 5,000 locations, customers will have plenty of opportunities to purchase postage while doing their regular shopping. "

Projected revenue for the first year is $35 million. Having Walgreens as a partner increases USPS consignment alternate access locations by 12% — a big step toward making the USPS Transformation Plan 2006-2010 goal of alternate access channels contributing 40% of their total retail revenue.

Approximately five percent of the Postal Service's total retail revenue is generated from the stamps on consignment program, which makes First-Class Mail stamp booklets available in commercial venues such as ATMs and supermarkets.

The program benefits retailers by generating customer traffic while allowing customers to combine common tasks in one trip. Future plans include expansion of this convenient service to other retailers who have not formerly considered making stamps available to their customers.

Mail carrier bitten by dog wins $25,000

A jury has awarded nearly $25,000 in damages to a letter carrier in Vermont attacked by a German Shepard more than four years ago while she was delivering the mail.

The jury awarded $4,648 to cover the mail carrier's medical expenses, $5,000 for future damages as a result of "disfigurement and sensory impairment to her right hand," and $15,000 for pain and suffering.

The lawsuit stated, "The dog owner was aware, or should have been aware, that had the dog not been controlled by him, or alternatively, had the dog not been not confined to the owner's property, that the dog would attack and bite persons with whom it came in contact."

The letter carrier did nothing to provoke the attack.

For more on letter carriers and dog bites, click here.

Give Benny stamp a rest, will ya?

Last Tuesday would have been Jack Benny's 112th birthday.

Famous for claiming to be 39-years-old well into his 70s, Laura Leff, 36, president of the International Jack Benny Fan Club and others have been trying to get the famous comedian on a 39c stamp. ,

On Benny's birthday, she lobbied the offices of Illinois Sens. Barack Obama and Dick Durbin after leading a "39 Man March" - of about 10 people - from the Washington Monument to the U.S. Capitol. U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill. said he is already on board and plans to lobby the U.S. Postal Service.

According to the Chicago Tribune, among the hurdles to getting Benny on a new stamp is the fact he was honored on a 29-cent stamp in the early 1990s as part of a series honoring comedians. Postal Service rules say a person can be honored with a stamp every 50 years.

For more on this story, click here.

Happy Presidents Day!

Shown above is a series of stamps issued in 2005 by the Marshall Islands. Look familiar?

They should if you are a U.S. collector.

They are almost identical to the U.S. Presidential series (nicknamed "The Prexies") issued in 1938 - except THEY stopped with Calvin Coolidge.

Ron Robinson interviewed by Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

In yesterday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Kyle Brazzel interviewed newly appointed chairman of the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee, Ron Robinson (see Round-Up posting for Feb. 10).

Calling him, "Equal parts philatelist and bon vivant," Brazzel says Robinson has post-office booth from 1935 in his Little Rock condominium.

According to Brazzel, "Robinson briefly considered removing the cage and retrofitting the counter as a cocktail bar, but ultimately couldn’t bear to dismantle any part of U.S. Postal Service history."

As regards what he and the committee looks for in a stamp subject, he is quoted as saying, "We look for stamps that represent American achievement. And we want it on a national, not regional, basis. We do not commemorate disaster. We have received some criticism for that, but so be it. For instance, there was not a stamp this year on the 20th anniversary of the shuttle explosion."

To read the entire interview, click here.

"APS Stamp Talk" going for the Gold!

Guests on a special Winter Olympic edition of the APS Stamp Talk radio show tomorrow will include Morris Rosen, International exhibitor, "Olympic Classics; Glen Estus, Winter Games specialist, "Lake Placid and More;" and Mark Maestrone, President Sports Philatelists International, "Collecting Sports and Olympics.

APS Stamp talk with Nancy Clark airs live every other Tuesday 7:00 AM - 8:00 AM Pacific time (10:00-11:00 Eastern) on WSRadio.com. Past shows are also archived on the site.

Nancy is an experienced exhibitor, international level judge, author, editor and past Director and Treasurer of the American Philatelic Society. She is a founding member of a local club, a state federation and a national-level stamp exhibition.

Philately and the Olympics

At a special stamp, coin and memorabilia exhibit being held at the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, visitors can see the first Olympic and sports stamps.

Issued in 1896 by Greece (see photo at left), they commemorated the 1st International Olympic games of the modern era.

There is also an on-line version titled Philathely [that's the way they misspelled it, folks!] and the Olympic Movement where you can view these and other stamps.

The site points out that, "..... Olympic stamps were the first 'sponsors' of the Olympic Games. Since then, Olympic stamps have contributed to the budget of Organising Committees for the Olympic Games, National Olympic Committees and Olympic events."

It also reveals an interesting philatelic fact about the 1896 stamps (Scott #117-128)

"It was widely believed that there were many different post offices operating in Athens at the time of the release of this issue. The different post marks indicated up to eight different post offices. However it was proven that there was only one post office operating at the time with eight different counters."

To visit the site, click here.

Stamp collector, art teacher mixes favorite hobbies

The Elkhart Truth (Elkhart, IN) ran a nice story yesterday about Gary Bennett.

Bennett (shown at the left) is an artist and long-time stamp collector. Combining his two loves, Bennett began creating cachets back in 1983. Some are for his own personal collection while others are done for outside organizations or to commemorate special events.

To date Bennett has done more than 600 covers. Some of them are being shown in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution's The Art of the Stamp traveling exhibition at Midwest Museum of American Art where Bennett was scheduled to give his second of two talks.

Bennett is quoted in the article as saying "I have been very few places physically in the world, but my cachets have been all over the planet and even into space."

His cachets went into space on the Russian Soyez, to Antarctica on a Japanese trawler, to Berlin when the wall went down and to the Iceland summit of Reagan and Gorbachev.

To read the entire article, click here.

Postal Facts 2005

Want to know how many pieces of mail are delivered in a year, how many places you can buy stamps or how many changes of address USPS processes annually?

Click here.

Stamp collecting broadens students world of learning

The Palm Beach/Neighborhood Post reports that a 73-year-old retired lawyer started a lunchtime stamp-collecting program at a local elementary school that has become so popular that the school made it part of its curriculum.

As a child, Ira Klosk learned about geography by collecting stamps and finding the countries they came from on a map. He feels stamps help students learn not only about the location of countries but their language, culture and history.

Kindergarten teacher Sandy May is quoted in the article as saying, "It's hard for a 5-year-old to realize there is life beyond their neighborhood. Stamps give them something concrete to look at."

To read the entire, article click here.

Cathy and Dilbert to promote USPS

Advertising Age and Media Buyer Planner report that USPS is mailing a monthly postcard featuring the comic strip characters “Dilbert” and “Cathy” to tout its services to 120 million residential and 10 million business customers.

The first “Cathy” comic will highlight the availability of stamps at ATMs and stores, while the “Dilbert” strip points out that postal information and many products and services are available online at USPS.com.

Incidentally, on his Website, http://www.dilbert.com, Dilbert suggests that next time a nosy store clerk asks for your zip code, tell them, "It's 'unlisted' just like my phone number."

For more on Cathy, click here.

Rare cover recovered

A unique philatelic item which was stolen more than 40 years ago has turned up in Chicago.

Known as the "Ice House Cover" because its address reads, "Ice House, Calcutta, E. Indies," it was stolen in 1967 from a collector in Indianapolis according to both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times.

Sent from Boston to Calcutta in 1873, the envelope has a 1869, 90-cent Lincoln along with two others (see photo above). Apparently the envelope, which may be worth close to $1 million, is only one known to have a genuine 90-cent Abraham Lincoln stamp affixed.

Chicago police have turned the stamp over to the Indianapolis office of the FBI, which is investigating its theft.

For more on this story, click here.

Happy St. Valentine's Day

About.com's "Honeymoons and Romantic Getaways" writer Susan Breslow Sardone points out that the first Love stamp was issued by the Postal Service in 1973 with a denomination of 8 cents and an iconic design by pop artist Robert Indiana.

Since then, Love stamps have featured a wide range of subjects, including flowers, animals, cherubs and love letters as well as abstract designs.

The 2004 Valentine's Day stamps featured heart- shaped candies that said "I Love You." It was created by Michael Osborne of San Francisco. The design was based on the popular Valentine's Day candy made by the New England Confectionary Co. (NECCO) which made a special run of the candies that year.

On her site, Susan also offers up a selection of vintage Valentine's Days postcards that you can e-mail to a friend or lover. To view them, click here.

Stamps needed for Washington 2006

Washington 2006 is in need of US and worldwide kiloware both on and off paper to be used during demonstrations and seminars especially in the children's area.

Collectors are being asked to cut stamps from envelopes and leave about ¼ inch of paper all the way around. Any damaged stamps, those with tape on them, and those on colored paper of any kind should be discarded. It would also be appreciated if stamps could be sub-divided into U.S. and foreign lots.

Donations should be mailed to: W2006 Stamp Zone c/o Joan Bleakley,15906 Crest Drive,Woodbridge, VA 22191 USA. If you include your e-mail address, you will be notified when your donation arrives.

For more on the Washington 2006 youth area, click here.

Is this the end of stamp collecting as we've known it?

The Times of India ran an interesting first-person perspective on collecting stamps by K. V. Krishnan.

Krishman writes poetically, "Philately had always fascinated me. About 40 years ago, I went about my task fervently — trading duplicates with neighbourhood children...I would rummage through my grandfather's trunk of forgotten letters and dunk dusty envelopes into jugs of water, waiting for those kings of Travancore to float up free from their papery grips."

He goes on to scribe, "Over New Year's, I was flooded with greetings powered by a newly unique postage. Called 'personalised stamps' in fashionable circles, cherubic faces of my friends' children have now replaced the profiles of dead personages."

"A tiny barcode by the denomination had made it all official. With the likes of US and Canada getting philatelically advanced, can hi-tech India be far behind?"

He also poses the bigger question, "Is this the end of stamp collecting as we've known it?" To read his entire piece, click here.

Video stamps?

While sounding a bit far-fetched, apparently a New Zealand company has come up with the world's first video stamps.

The stamps are supposedly being issued by the Netherlands to celebrate the 2006 Winter Olympics and will feature Dutch speed skaters - Ard Schenk, ‘The Flying Dutchman’ and Yvonne Van Gennip.

Measuring 52 mm x 30 mm in size they will have two seconds of condensed video footage of the skaters’ finest performance, displaying the actual video footage recorded when they won gold medals.

Lenticular printing is a process that uses numerous tiny lenses, which can produce depth, motion, HD (high definition) video, film or a combination of these.

According to a company press release, "They’re the first of their kind in the world, having new added security features never before seen in stamps, and comply with all the security requirements for philatelic printing."

Jonathan Moon, Director of Outer Aspect Ltd., is quoted as saying, "“This is merely a starting point. Now we are furthering the technology to double this video footage amount with both ease and confidence."

The release does not say exactly how the technology works, (i.e. power source) or how much they cost.

For more on this story, click here.

For more on this emerging technology, click here.

New Citizens Advisory Committee chairman

Ron Robinson, [shown at left] former Chairman and CEO of the Little Rock-based advertising/marketing agency Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods, has been appointed to chair the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee.

Robinson was first appointed to the Committee in 1993. From 1997 to 2002, he served as Stamp Subject Subcommittee Chair. Robinson succeeds Committee chairman Dr. C. Douglas Lewis, who left the Committee in October after 26 years of dedicated service.

According to a USPS press release, Robinson's relationship with the world of stamp collecting extends more than half a century. He has been an active member of the American Philatelic Society, American First-Day Cover Society and the Universal Ship Cancellation Society since 1978. In 1979 he was a founder and first president of Arkansas' largest stamp society, the Pinnacle Stamp Club of Little Rock.

As chair of the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee-which annually reviews thousands of stamp suggestions before making 20 to 25-subject recommendations-Robinson's role is to lead the 15-member Committee, whose backgrounds reflect a wide range of educational, artistic, historical and professional credentials.

For more on the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, click here.

America's favorite hobbies

According to a 2002 Harris Poll, reading, watching TV, spending time with the family, fishing and gardening are America’s most popular pastimes.

From top to bottom, here's what Americans were doing with their free time four years ago....

Reading
TV watching
Spending time with family/kids
Fishing
Gardening
Swimming
Computer activities
Going to movies
Walking
Golf
Exercise (aerobics, weights)
Playing team sports
Socializing with friends/neighbors
Renting movies
Traveling
Listening to music
ShoppingCrafts (unspecified)
Camping
Church/church activities
BoatingHunting
RelaxingSewing/crocheting
Bicycling
Watching sporting events
Playing music
Sleeping
Beach/Sun tanning
Bowling
Cooking
Entertaining
Working on cars
Animals/pets/dogs
Eating out
Painting
Running
Woodworking
Hiking

While the survey is a bit out of date, I suspect the the rankings are still pretty much the same.

Not surprisingly, stamp collecting wasn't even listed. No wonder when (according to the American Academy of Pediatrics) kids are watching TV 4 hours a day or more!

To see the complete Harris survey, click here.

Post Office cutting back on mailboxes

The EveningSun.com reports that in central Pennsylvania, mailboxes that receive fewer than 50 pieces of mail per day could be targeted for removal, according to the U.S. Postal Service in Harrisburg.

The Postal Service is surveying public mailboxes nationwide for possible removal as a cost-cutting measure. The volume of mail has fallen 20 percent in recent years and some boxes collect more trash than mail, postal officials say.

To read the entire article, click here.

Postal Consumer Protection Week

The United States Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Trade Commission are partnering with Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Phonebusters and Canada’s Competition Bureau—an independent law enforcement agency for National Consumer Protection Week (Feb. 5 through 11) in the U.S. and Canada’s Fraud Prevention Month in March.

This year's campaign focuses on family members staying in touch with one another to ensure no one is falling victim to fraudulent deals.

Some of the most common types of fraud include;

• Free-prize schemes
• Foreign lotteries
• Multilevel marketing
• Identity fraud (or identity theft)
• Investment schemes
• Internet fraud (and online auctions)
• Work-at-home scams

A series of initiatives to educate consumers about scams targeting victims in both countries to combat cross-border fraud are planned.

To learn more about postal fraud in United States and Canada, what you can do to prevent it, and how to get a free DVD, "Nowhere to Run: Cross-Border Fraud," click here

Make your own philatelic notecards

From time to time I get cards and letters from fellow stamp collectors around the world. I always try to write them back but I never liked to use ordinary notecards that didn't have anything to do with stamps.

A recent visit to my local Michaels arts and crafts store inspired me to start making my own philatelically themed notecards.

They are really very easy to do. All you need are some blank cards, old auction catalogs or stamp magazines, a can of spray glue...and, of course, some stamps!

Then it's simply a matter of cut and paste. If you want to get fancy you can use a rubber stamp or two.

If you don't have a Michaels near you, go to their web site where you can buy what you need PLUS they'll show you how to make cards for various occasions - like Valentine's Day (hint, hint). By adding some appropriate philatelic material you'll have something quite unique.

Shown above is one of my recent creations.

Super Bowl Sunday

To commemorate today's Super Bowl XL in Detroit, MI, USPS is offering collectors the commemorative stamped envelope shown above. Collectors can purchase the envelope inserted in a 12x17 matte as well as with the envelope and matte inserted in a 13x18 frame.

The colorful design features the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks logos against the backdrop of the Detroit skyline. It also sports an official Super Bowl XL stamp cancellation.

The envelopes sell for $8, the mattes for $19.99 and the framed mattes for $39.99. They’re available by calling toll-free 888-850-USPS (888-850-8777) or by e-mail at: detroituspsproducts@usps.gov.

By the way, the first championship game between the American Football League and the National Football League was January 15, 1967. Later dubbed the Super Bowl, the NFL's Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs.

Shown at the left is a 1999 stamp marking the first Superbowl game. It was part of the Celebrate the Century series.

African Americans on stamps

February is Black History month.

In recognition of the many contributions African Americans have made to American life and culture, The African American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey is holding a exhibit of African Americans on stamps.

Titled "Black Mail" - A Celebration of African-American Stamps", the exhibit features posters, stamps and other memorabilia.

In 1940, Booker T. Washington became the first black American to be honored on a U.S. postage stamp. Since then, many other African Americans have been pictured on both U.S. and foreign stamps.

The Ebony Society of Philatelic Events and Reflections (ESPER) is a national stamp society which promotes the collecting of African Americans on stamps and the collecting of stamps by African Americans.

On their website there are pictures and background information on not only the Black Heritage series, but African Americans pictured on other U.S. stamps as well as world-wide issues honoring African Americans and Black History.

To visit their site, click here.

Loveland Valentine's Day cancellation

With Valentine's Day just a couple weeks away, USPS Link is recommending that now is the time to send that special him or her a message, all your own, complete with a Valentine’s Day postmark from the city that’s made sending Valentine’s special for 60 years — Loveland, CO.

To have your Valentines re-mailed with the Loveland postmark, mail your pre-stamped, pre-addressed envelopes in a larger stamped envelope to:

Postmaster
Valentine Re-mailing
Loveland, CO 80538

Cards for delivery within the United States, but outside Colorado, should be in Loveland by Thursday, Feb. 9. Customers wanting the cancellation for delivery inside Colorado have until Friday, Feb.10.

Customers can use Express Mail Service (1-2 day delivery) or Priority Mail Service (2-3 day delivery) to get their Valentines to Loveland in time to meet the above deadlines.

For more on this story (and the seniors who do the cancelling), click here.

Stamp collecting software book

Not sure which stamp collecting software program to buy?

If so, you might want to get a copy of Linn's Guide to Stamp Collecting Software ($14.95) by William F. Sharpe. Sharpe is a Linn's columnist who writes about computers and stamps and stamps on the Internet.

In the book, Sharpe explores the two primary areas where collectors use computers: creating stamp inventories and producing exhibition pages. In separate chapters on hardware, CD-ROMS, sorting, databases and album-page creation, Sharpe gives practical information. He also devotes a special chapter to the Internet and stamp-collecting sites on the World Wide Web.

To order, click here.

Postal Service mourns loss

The Los Angeles Times reports a former postal employee went on a rampage in a mail sorting facility Monday night near Santa Barbara, Calif., where she killed five people before she turned a weapon on herself.

According to the Times, "Monday's incident in this usually peaceful town, home to University of California Santa Barbara, was the latest in a string of shootings over the past decades that have made the phrase 'going postal' a synonym for murderous anger."

It was the deadliest involving a postal worker since 1986 and the worst in any workplace since 2003.

In a statement issued in Washington, Postmaster General John E. Potter said, "Our heartfelt prayers and condolences go out to the families of the victims and to our employees who have suffered through this tragic incident," Potter said.

Potter has dispatched Deputy Postmaster General Pat Donahoe to Santa Barbara on behalf of the Postal Service to offer his personal assistance and to meet with plant employees.

For more on this story, click here.