The Ivory Stamp Club

The "Ivory Stamp Club" helped promote H. E. Harris & Co. into the nation's largest stamp company in the mid-30s

In a radio series, Australian Army officer Captain Tim Healy fascinated his listeners with stories about stamps on a 15-minute show that aired three times a week. H.E. Harris & Co. and P & G offered their listeners stamp packets for 10 cents and two Ivory Soap wrappers.

By sending in the wrappers, you could become a member of "Captain Tim's Ivory Stamp Club." By 1936, almost a million people had written in asking for the stamp album and over 2 1/2 million people had joined the stamp club.

By 1936, almost a million people had written in asking for the stamp album and over 21/2 million people had joined the stamp club. The show was responsible for distributing over 400 million stamps according to H.E.Harris & Co.

H. E. Harris & Co. recently merged with Whitman Books. Whitman's website provides additional information and photographs.

To learn more, click here.

British charities face hike in postage costs

According to a write-up on the Precision Marketing website, "Charities are facing spiralling postage costs after Royal Mail warned it can no longer guarantee to reimburse them when donors put stamps on freepost envelopes.

The move, which it is claimed could cost charities millions of pounds in extra postage costs, has been sparked by the introduction of new automated sorting systems. In the past, many charities have encouraged the practice as it saves them thousands of pounds a year."

Apparently the new sorting machines cannot identify which envelopes have stamps and which do not.

To read the entire article, click here.

Puppy Postage

USPS News Link reports that, "Now, there’s puppy postage — dog treats featuring images of U.S. postage stamps that mutts everywhere can enjoy."

U.S. Postal Service licensee Taxi’s Dog Bakery of Holyoke, MA produces the gourmet goodies which are made from all natural ingredients.

“Man’s best friend has a pal at the Postal Service,” says Nick Barranca, vice president of product development. “We’re proud to place our name on this innovative product and first-class treat.”

Click here to order some for your pooch.

Going Postal on Cancer

According to an article that appears on the SooToday.com website, some local Canada Post employees are getting ready their very own “Going Postal” campaign next month to help raise funds for cancer care and research.

Canada Post Area Manager Pino Caputo is quoted as saying, “Unfortunately cancer has touched some of our staff members, families and friends and 'Going Postal for Cancer' is a great way to support them."

“Going Postal” will run throughout the month of April, coinciding with cancer month.

To read the entire article, click here.

Confessions of a former stamp collector

The author of the Yankee Belle blog shares her #1 childhood secret with her readers - "I was a philatelist as a wee one."

"A philatel-what?!," she writes, "A stamp collector-but doesn’t philatelist sound more impressive? Sort of makes me sound like I was some kind of child prodigy, which reminds me of Doogie Howser, MD, the concept of which fascinated me as a kid (childhood secret number two)."

At one point, she had over 50 pen pals from around the world but regrettably she now confesses she was just using them to get their stamps.

"I can remember saving up my allowance to buy big bags of thousands of unsorted stamps from all over the world from the bookstore. I would go through all the stamps, convinced that I would find an Inverted Jenny or some other stamp that would make me rich, rich, rich! Okay, so I wasn’t a purist, collecting stamps for the sake of the stamps themselves."

To read the entire post, click here.

Snow bound mailboxes show ingenuity

According to the Laconia, New Hampshire's Citizen.com.,"This winter's heavy snowfall has taken its toll on area mailboxes, making it difficult or impossible for mail carriers to deliver and thus requiring a little ingenuity on the part of homeowners."

"Between record snowfalls and plows moving it onto higher and higher embankments, mailboxes that are buried or are missing completely are being temporarily replaced with all sorts of buckets so mail can still be delivered," writes reporter Geoff Cunningham, Jr.

Shown above, Axel Kjellander, put his mailing information and address on a bucket with a small American Flag. His real mailbox is buried six feet behind it in a snowbank.

To read the entire article, click here.

Swapping Stamps

Margaret C. Nellans of Rochester, Indiana., writes in Mother Earth News, "I used to have many thousands of postage stamps, but when my husband died I discovered I needed other things more. If I had sold my collection outright, I would have realized only a fraction of the stamps' value . . . so I decided to trade them for items I could either use myself or give away as gifts."

She goes on to say, "As a result of an ad I ran in the 'exchange column' of a few women's magazines, I swapped off my entire assortment to several ladies. In return, I received handcrafts, needlework, cash refund coupons, discount coupons (which I can exchange again), and other similar goods."

"Now I own many beautiful articles I otherwise couldn't afford to buy . . . and the folks with whom I swapped have acquired valuable additions to their stamp collections without having to pay top prices."

Good idea!

An Affair with Stamps

In the new book The Error World: An Affair with Stamps author Simon Garfield writes about an “ordinary” life made unusual by his obsession with stamp collecting.

In a review posted on the TimesOnLine website, reviewer Christopher Hart writes, "...unlike other forms of collecting, buying, consuming and hoarding, Garfield points out that the nature of stamp collecting is partly non-consumerist, as we safeguard artefacts that previously would have been used up and thrown away..."

Garfield began collecting when he was 8 and lost interest in stamp collecting around 20.

"Only later would he connect this revived hobby with the gradual decline and then break-up of his marriage, and a subconscious longing for the simple pleasures of his boyhood"

At one point he even took his stamp album along to his marriage-guidance counselor and said he intended to sell his collection. She observed that their sale might signify a new start.

To read the entire article, click here.

For an excerpt from the book, click here.

The Last Post

The Last Post, a new documentary film from India, tells the story of a man (Nila Nayak) who has been transporting mail bags from the post office to the bus stand on a rickety horse drawn cart for more than four decades.

According to an article in the Deccan Sunday Herald, "The Last Post is a tribute to the silent workers of India Post. Here, one also gets a glimpse of postage stamps depicting the various means of transporting mail – through runners, ponies, motor vehicles, trains, ships and by aircrafts."

Come rain or shine, Nila[shown above] is forced to make the mandatory five trips, two kms each way, from the post office to the bus stand for which he is paid Rs 90 per day. On the days he is absent, he has to pay the post office Rs 200 – the amount required for transporting the mail.

The short 22-minute film won a silver medal at the INPEX held in Chennai in January 2008.

To read the entire article, click here.

Armenia’s First Stamps

According to Hetq Online, independent Armenia’s first stamp was printed in 1992.

In 1991 a competition was announced for the stamp design in which 100 individuals submitted some 400 entries. The theme of the first stamp had already been selected - Mount Ararat and the Tri-color flag.

Graphic designer Harutyun Samuelyan, shown here, was the creator of that first stamp.

He's quoted as saying, “That stamp was my first attempt at such a design. Sixteen years later I still believe it’s one of my best stamps, even though I see some shortcomings in it. If I were to draw it now, I’d make Ararat taller, as it appears in the winter months with more snow on its peaks.

In the sixteen years since he’s designed more than 100 stamps. The artist confesses that designing stamps is one of his best-loved pastimes. He continues to submit new sketches to the HayPost committee responsible for new stamp design.

To read the entire article, click here.

US Postal Service Introduces Recycling Program

Secure Destruction Business Magazine reports the United States Postal Service has launched a pilot program that allows customers to recycle small electronics and ink cartridges by mailing them at no cost.

Through the Postal Service’s "Mail Back" program customers can obtain free envelopes, located in all 1,500 post offices. They can mail back cartridges, PDAs, Blackberries, digital cameras, iPods and MP3 players – without having to pay for postage.

Postage is paid for by Clover Technologies Group, an electronics recycling company. In addition, Clover states that it has a does not send any of the collected material to landfills.

Clover bested 19 other companies to win the bid according to the article which appeared on-line.

The pilot is set for 10 areas across the country, including Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego, but could become a national program this fall if the pilot program proves successful.

New Record Price For US Invert

Antiques and the Arts Online reports a new world auction record for a US invert, eclipsing the $825,000 paid for a 24-cent "Inverted Jenny" sold at auction late last year, has been set.

"An unused 1869 24-cent inverted center US stamp, #120b, certified fine and one of only four unused examples known to exist, soared to $1.27 million at a sale of the Newport collection conducted February 9 by Philip Weiss Auctions, " according to an article that appears on their website.

Philip Weiss is quoted as saying, ""This was a great day for the industry and a great day for stamp enthusiasts, too. Recession? What recession? We had a packed house and money was spent."

"People will be buzzing about the 1869 24-cent invert for some time to come. It was the only completely sound- and fault-free example of the stamp and was the second best centered such stamp known to exist. Still, the specimen carried a conservative presale estimate of $200/300,000. The Scott Catalog valued the stamp at $325,000 with gum (unlisted no gum)."

To read the entire article, click here.

USPS to offer competitive prices for Express Mail, Priority Mail

According to a USPS press release and various media reports, the U.S. Postal Service will for the first time volume and other price incentives for its Express Mail, Priority Mail and other shipping services beginning May 12 when new rates go into effect.

Postal Service shipping products are currently priced by a “one price fits all” approach — customers pay the same price per piece regardless of the number of packages sent or the method of payment. Beginning May 12, customers will be able to take advantage of commercial volume pricing, minimum volume rebates, online price breaks and other pricing incentives.

Express Mail, premium overnight delivery, is switching to an industry standard, zone-based pricing system, resulting in lower prices for closer destinations. Customers will enjoy a 3 percent price reduction by purchasing Express Mail online or through corporate accounts. Up to an additional 7 percent price reduction is available for those who meet quarterly volume minimums.

Shown above are the new Express Mail and Priority Mail stamps.

For more on this story, click here.

Papua New Guinea stamps of distinction

The Sydney Morning Hearld reports that an unique collection of Papua New Guinea stamps and covers will be auctioned off next month.

According to the article, "It is thanks to the missionaries that so much postal history survives from this region. They tended to be avid stamp collectors and most of the known rarities have filtered through the collections of former missionaries. Some missionaries are still alive and possibly sitting on small fortunes."

"Interest in philatelic microcosms such as Papua New Guinea is now widespread," writes reporter James Cockington, "...especially among investors looking for the philatelic equivalent of blue-chip stocks. It would be virtually impossible for new collectors to compile anything similar."

Sydney lawyer Tim Rybak (shown above), who started collecting as a child, owns the collection and has kept a low profile in the philatelic community. He has never exhibited his stamps, as most of the big collectors tend to do.

Rybak is quoted as saying it was only five years ago that he realised what a valuable asset his childhood hobby had become. Selling was a hard decision but he now seems almost relieved to pass the collection on. He admits that he has never visited the country whose postal history has fascinated him most of his life.

It is estimated the worth of the entire collection to be $1.1 million but is expecting more - about $1.5 million - if the expected bidding wars take place.

To read the entire article, click here.

For more on Papua New Guinea, click here.

Bollywood Through Stamps

The Econiomic Times reports Indian Post is organizing a two-day event on Indian cinema titled ‘Magic of Film’ through postage stamps along with a philatelic exhibition ‘Mahafilmpex’.

According to the report, the postal department will also release a commemorative stamp honoring Madhubala, shown here, the legendary beauty of the Indian cinema, on the last day of the show. During the event, a special DVD detailing stamps on Indian (sometimes referred to as Bollywood) films, will be released.

A booklet containing a listing of stamps from 1854, when first Indian stamp was released, to 2007 together with merchandise related to philatelic themes will be published.

To read the entire article, click here.

Americans know a good deal

According to the Associated Press, Americans know a good deal when they see one.
The AP reports sales of the Forever Stamp -- valid for postage regardless of any rate increase -- jumped by $95 million after plans for higher stamp prices were announced last month.

The Postal Service said Tuesday that it sold $275,211,160 in Forever stamps in February, up sharply from sales of $179,320,713 in January.

The cost to mail a first-class letter will rise a penny, to 42 cents, on May 12.

Until then the special Forever Stamp will continue to sell for 41 cents and after the rate increase it will still be valid for postage without the need for any extra stamps.

Since the stamp was introduced in April 2007, sales have totaled $2.3 billion.

Soccer ball stamp

Early next month Austria will issue a stamp made of the same material as a soccer ball to promote UEFA EURO 2008.

Some 490,000 of the special stamps (which also promotes Adidas)have been made and can be purchased for €3.75. According to the site, countless analyses and trials were made over many months in order to ensure that this material could be printed on.

The head of philately at the Austrian Post Office, Erich Haas, is quoted as saying, "It is the country's the most sophisticated stamp in terms of typography and fabric."

UEFA EURO 2008 is the largest sporting event ever held in Austria. It will take place from June 7-29, 2008.

To learn more and/or to place an order, click here.

National honor for a village postman

Postie Will Blight, 38, has been given a Royal Mail award after cycling 5,000 miles to raise money for The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and helped unveil the new British "Rescue at Sea" stamps.

During a six-month bike ride, Blight visited all 198 lifeboat stations on the UK coast including those in Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, according to an article that appears in his hometown newspaper - The Dorset Echo.

After raising £11,000 he was honored at the Royal Mail First Class People awards with a fundraiser award.

Shown above, Blight receives his Fundraiser Award from British television personality, Lorraine Kelly.

This year is also the centenary of the adoption of the SOS distress signal, so the Royal Mail re-created the sequence of dots and dashes along the edges of the new stamps, shown above.

To read the entire article, click here.

In rural England, the mail's bad news

Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer has penned an exceptional piece about the closing of rural post offices throughout England.

Murphy writes, "It is a landmark one imagines has changed little since Henry VIII first established the "Master of the Posts" in 1516. The outposts serve as an enduring symbol of the Royal Mail's commitment to deliver 98% of all first-class letters within a single day and the neighborly, if eccentric, character of the English village."

According to the article, "Post Office Ltd., the government-owned company that runs Britain's 14,376 post offices, says it is hemorrhaging $5.8 million a week, in large part thanks to the sprawling network of tiny outlets in just about every village and neighborhood across the country."

Murphy writes, "After a year of warnings, studies and anguished debate, the government has announced final plans for closing 2,500 post offices by the end of the year, a great many of them in rural outposts with little else but the post office to define themselves as a proper village."

Shown above, Postmistress Sonia Leeming, left, and husband Darren at the rural post office in Hawnby, England. They offered to forgo the $88 a week they receive from the government in hopes of keeping it open.

To read the entire article, click here.

A first class collection of 190 postboxes

UK's Daily Mail reports, "For most people their gardens are devoted to flowers and plants, but eccentric Arthur Reeder keeps his collection of 190 postboxes in his."

According to the article, Reeder (shown here) is regarded as having the country's biggest private collection of post boxes. It includes 14 post boxes from Ireland and examples from Russia, France, America, Poland and even Hong Kong.

The oldest wall box in his collection dates back to 1856 and the oldest pillar box was first used in 1861. His most modern model is a brand new pillar box built by Scottish firm Machan Engineering in 2007.

Reeder,52, who lives on the Isle of Wight, began collecting them 18 years ago while out indulging in his other hobby of photographing phone boxes.

To read the entire article, click here.

Brunei Promotes Students' Interest In Stamps

BruneiDirect.Com reports Brunei's Chief Superintendent of Posts and Head of Philatelic Unit, Hjh Hammah bte Puasa is giving a series of presentations at local primary schools in a bid "to promote a love of stamps among children."

Ms. Puasa gave a brief history of the Philatelic unit and Postal Services Department and talked about the benefits of collecting stamps,the methods of collection and the different types of stamps to collect.

Brunei's Postal Service has a Standing Order Deposit Accounts for Students (SODAkids) which is a deposit account specifically for students that allows them to to easily purchase first day covers and stamps.

According to the report, "The SODAkids programme will be highlighted in schools to encourage the establishment of stamp clubs with the aim to raise the level of intellects among students, broaden their perspectives and social circle as well as persuade the students to be active for their own personal development."

Ms. Puasa believes stamp clubs are able to influence a person's intellectual and social skills.

Shown above, some early Brunei stamps.

To read the entire article, click here.

21st Asian International Stamp Exhibition

The China Post reports, "A postage stamp with the head of Queen Victoria inverted, issued in 1854 in India and said to be one of the first stamps issued in Asia, has caught the public's eye at the 21st Asian International Stamp Exhibition that opened Friday at the Taipei World Trade Center."

There are only 27 stamps showing the Queen's head upside down left in the world and they are listed as the most precious stamps in Asia, according to Gongvatana Surajit, president of the Federation of Inter-Asian Philately (FIAP).

This year, the stamp collections are classified into competitive and non-competitive categories. The former includes 1,012 frames, while the non competitive one includes 20 honorary collections that have won previous awards at various international competitions, as well as five cases of collectors' treasures, according to Taiwan Post, which is organizing the event.

To read the entire article, click here.

To learn more about the Inverted Head 4 Annas, click here.

Liechtenstein mystery

Denise McCarty in her World of New Issues column in the latest edition of Linn's writes, "Liechtenstein Post has placed a mystery to unravel in its new Europa stamp pane."

Liechtenstein issued the stamp sheetlet shown here last week as part of the 2008 Europa theme. In the selvage is a love letter.

The question is - Who is the letter to?

According to Denise Liechtenstein Post will give away 20 yearbooks to postal customers who figure out "to who or what is this letter addressed."

Polish Museum Gets WWII Uprising Mail

According to the Assoicated Press, the Warsaw Uprising Museum has acquired of some of the letters which were sent to family and friends by resistance fighters during the Second World War.

AP reports, "During a doomed revolt against Nazi occupation in 1944, young insurgents — largely ill-armed teenagers — organized their own postal service to help city residents get information to relatives cut off by street-to-street fighting in Warsaw."

Museum director Jan Oldakowski is quoted as saying, "The service was also meant to give people a sense that they were living in a "small but independent state."

The museum bought the collection of some 123 letters and postcards last month at an auction in Duesseldorf, Germany. It paid $280,000 for the mail, written by Warsaw residents and young insurgents during the revolt, and bearing unique uprising-era stamps.

Shown above, a private post cover from the Warsaw ghetto. To learn more, click here.

To read the entire Associated Press article, click here.

What are children collecting today? Everything!

The Sheboygan Press of Sheboygan,WI sent a junior high school reporter out to find out what other kids are collecting today...and why.

Surprisingly there was a young stamp collector named Hillary (no relation to THE Hillary), who said that "she found a beautiful stamp when she was a little girl on a card from her grandmother, and ever since, she's been searching everywhere for new stamps to add to her collection."

Hillary, 12, is quoted as saying that she doesn't know what really made her love stamps so much; she just likes the feeling that she has accomplished so much by just collecting.

The Round-Up is sending Hillary a big bag of stamps she can share with her friends and classmates. You GO girl!

Shown above is a 1963 stamp from Monaco promoting youth philately.

To read the entire article, click here.

Iraq’s historic stamps

UK's TimesOnline reports Freddy Khalastchy will be showing his “The Stamps of Iraq” exhibit (588 album pages in 52 frames) to the Royal Philatelic Society in London.

According to the article, Khalastchy, a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London, who has built up the world’s finest collection of the stamps of Iraq, was born and brought up in Baghdad during the late 1950s and experienced at first-hand the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein.

Times reporter Peter Jennings writes, "In order to appreciate the stamps of Iraq it is necessary to understand a little of the history of that country. During the First World War British and Indian troops occupied Basra on November 22, 1914, to protect the oil pipeline from Persia. These troops advanced up the Euphrates and Tigris and after a hard-fought campaign captured Baghdad on March 11, 1917. Turkish postage stamps were overprinted with “Baghdad In British Occupation”.

Two of these are shown above.

To read the entire article, click here.

V-Mail Letter Sheets

The National Postal Museum's "Object of the Month" this month is V-Mail Letter Sheets.

According to the NPM website, "Staying in touch with family and friends stationed overseas was just as important in World War II as it is in current military undertakings. Fast, free, and difficult for the enemy to intercept, victory mail (or "V-Mail") played the same role 60 years ago that email is playing today in keeping lines of communication open between loved ones."

V-Mail service began operations on June 15, 1942.

To encourage the use of V-Mail, the Post Office Department and the military made the stationery available for free to the armed forces and civilians. Patrons could get two sheets per day from their local post office.

Use of V-Mail began to decline in the spring of 1945 and microfilming ceased November 1, 1945.

To learn more, click here.

Prince Harry blasts the Army postal service

Prince Harry blasted the Army postal service - after a Christmas card from his dad Prince Charles turned up in Afghanistan over a month late according to the UK's Sunday Mirror.

He went on: "I've been getting post - even though it's addressed to my Colonel - it eventually makes it way to me. I got a Christmas card from my dad two weeks ago and that was pretty hard to take. I was a bit miffed about the whole thing."

Among letters he did receive was one from his brother William telling him their mother Princess Diana would be proud of him serving his country.

Shown above, Prince Harry is known in the army as Cornet Wales. The 22-year-old, 2nd lieutenant, third in line to the British throne, was forced to cut short his stint in Afghanistan after 10-weeks because of concern for his safety and that of his fellow soldiers.

To read the entire article, click here.

Door knockers on stamps

Looking for a new topical theme to collect? How about door knockers?

Malta will issue four new stamps March 5, 2008 featuring door knockers or "Habbatas" as they are called in the archipelago nation located in the Mediterranean.

"Found with numerous motifs, shapes and sizes they often reflects the personality and taste of the house owner. Buildings throughout the Maltese Islands can boast of some exceptionally fine examples which qualify as veritable works of art," according to a post on the Malta Post website.

The four examples chosen for the stamps are found on the doors of the Ministry of Finance; the Museum of Fine Arts; the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations; and the Museum of Archaeology.

To find out more, click here.

"Stamps -- they were my pirate"

Cuban exile Alejandro Pascual is featured in a recent story that appeared in the Miami Herald

In 1959 during the early violent and chaotic days of Castro's Cuban revolution, it was unsafe to go out at night. That's when Pascual decided to collect stamps.

Pascual, shown above, is quoted in the article as saying, "It was like Sir Walter Raleigh's travels, where a pirate is telling him what is on the other side of the world. Stamps -- they were my pirate."

Reporter Cammy Clark writes, "Pascual hasn't seen his original collection since 1964, when he left most of the stamps hidden with family during his solo exodus to Mexico and ultimately the United States at age 14."

"But his newfound freedom wasn't the end of his passion for stamps, and their ability to spark his curiosity about the world's history and geography.

"Now, millions of collected stamps later, the gray-bearded man's eyes sparkle when he shows visitors of the San Carlos Institute his nostalgic Cuban stamps, as well as his prized albums of other country's first stamps."

To read the entire article, click here.