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AMERICAN PHILATELIST THE

November 2021

Table of Contents

VOLUME 135 • NO. 11 • WHOLE NO. 1,450

PAGE

995

PIONEERING AIRMAIL IN THE CANADIAN NORTH

BY CHRIS HARGREAVES Reaching the Canadian North, hardly accessible in the early 20th century except via dog sled, was the new goal of Canadian aviators after WWI. Chris Hargreaves tells the story of these resourceful pioneers, the stalls, stops and starts of their journeys, and the advent of airmail into these dangerous regions.

PAGE

AIRMAIL ETIQUETTES

BY ARTHUR H. GROTEN A tutorial to airmail etiquettes, AKA airmail labels, as seen on airmail covers around the world since 1918. Arthur Groten introduces the many types of airmail etiquettes and examples of their use.

PAGE

BY TOM GEURTS Tom Geurts shows airmail covers from a few short-lived stops along the southern German airmail route of WWII, used to connect farflung German soldiers to home.

1027

THE IRON MAN AND THE UGLY DUCKLING

BY DAN GRIBBIN There was nothing flashy about French pilot Henri Guillaumet. His name would seldom appear in the slick magazines that featured the handsome Jean Mermoz and the charismatic Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Flying the homely Farman 220/2200 aircraft, he simply hoisted Air France on his shoulders and carried the mail across the South Atlantic without fail.

PAGE

1032

EXTENDING THE SOUTHERN GERMAN AIRMAIL ROUTE IN 1942: SHORT BUT NOT SWEET

1013

PAGE

1036 YOU MAY BE A CLOSET TOPICAL STAMP COLLECTOR! BY JACK DENYS The first installment of “The Topical Lens,” a new intermittent column highlighting topical collecting, from guest columnist Jack Denys.

1040 SOME MOONSHINERS COULDN’T SPELL

BY RONALD LESHER In the latest from “The Collector of Revenue,” a few bogus bottle labels and strip stamps produced by a moonshiner couldn’t fool columnist Ron Lesher.

ON OUR COVER:

In the background, a U.S. airmail bag from the archives of the American Philatelic Research Library, one of many U.S. mail bags in the collection. The cover is from “Airmail Etiquettes,” and the stamps are just a few commented upon in “The Topical Lens” column.

Other Features 1045 1048 1042 1059 984 1054

Adventures in Expertizing Behind the Curtain Books & Catalogs Classified Ads Editing Philately In Touch

978 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

990 1055 1070 1072 1078 1050

Letters to the Editor Membership Report My Stamp Story New U.S. Issues New World Issues Onscreen Philately

982 1052 1065 1080

Our Story Philatelic Happenings Show Time Worldwide in a Nutshell

AMERICAN PHILATELIST THE

Since 1887 — The Premier Philatelic Magazine in the Nation

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF APS PUBLICATIONS Gary Wayne Loew, ext. 221 • Gary@stamps.org DEPUTY EDITOR Susanna Mills, ext. 207 • smills@stamps.org GRAPHIC COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST Chad Cowder, ext. 223 • CCowder@stamps.org ADVERTISING SALES Steve Schwanz Fox Associates, Inc. 800-440-0231 x114 adinfo.theamericanphilatelist@foxrep.com

American Philatelic Society American Philatelic Research Library

Selections may vary.

100 Match Factory Place • Bellefonte, PA 16823 814-933-3803 • 814-933-6128 (Fax) STAMPS.ORG • STAMPLIBRARY.ORG EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Scott English, ext. 219 • scott@stamps.org DIRECTOR OF MEMBERSHIP Wendy Masorti, ext 218 • wendy@stamps.org CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER Jeff Krantweiss, ext. 216 jkrantweiss@stamps.org

GENERAL INFORMATION apsinfo@stamps.org ADDRESS CHANGES & MEMBERSHIP INQUIRIES requests@stamps.org, ext. 201 DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION/YOUTH Cathy Brachbill, ext. 239 cbrachbill@stamps.org DIRECTOR OF EXPERTIZING Ken Martin, ext. 205 kpmartin@stamps.org DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION SERVICES Scott Tiffney, ext. 246 stiffney@stamps.org DIRECTOR OF SALES Carol Hoffman, ext. 270 stampstore@stamps.org MANAGER OF DIGITAL CONTENT Ross Jones, ext 237 rjones@stamps.org SHOWS/EXHIBITIONS, ext. 217 stampshow@stamps.org SHOW TIME LISTINGS showtime@stamps.org The American Philatelist (ISSN 0003-0473) is published monthly by the American Philatelic Society, Inc., 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823. Periodicals postage paid at Bellefonte, PA 16823 and at additional mailing office. Price per copy $6.95. Canadian Distribution Agreement Number 40030959. Opinions expressed in articles in this magazine are those of the writers and are not necessarily endorsed by the society and/or the magazine. The American Philatelist cannot be responsible for the accuracy of any information printed herein. Postmaster: Send address changes to: The American Philatelist 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823. ©2021, The American Philatelic Society, Inc. 980 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

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Our Story BY Scott English Executive Director scott@stamps.org

Giving Tuesday: Growing Our Educational Mission

en Franklin once said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Every stamp collector has an expensive story to tell. Somewhere in our collection is at least one lesson learned after we made a purchase. In time, we know how to value our stamps better and build a collection, but that takes research, mentors, and education. More than 40 years ago, the APS introduced Summer Seminar, a week-long learning event bringing together stamp collectors and knowledgeable instructors to learn, not just in that week, but to develop relationships that would help them grow in the hobby. Unfortunately, we have had to cancel the inperson Summer Seminar for the past two years due to the pandemic, but we are already planning the Seminar for June 2022. In 2017, we surveyed former, current, and potential members of the APS on several subjects. The highest priority across all segments of those surveyed was online and on-demand educational opportunities. That is why we launched the Collecting and Connecting Central Academy (C3a) in 2019 to bring more online courses to members and non-members. Through C3a, we welcomed more than 1,000 attendees for two Summer Seminar Online learning events, the first in 2020 and again this past June. We also offer live virtual courses, either discounted to APS members or free of charge, throughout the year. All sessions are recorded and available for viewing in the learning portal for those who could not attend live. As of this writing, more than 2,300 users (1,800 APS members) have registered to use the site to access more than 1,000 different learning elements. We have had nearly 2,900 registrations for live learning events through August of this year, and with upcoming courses, we will reach more than 3,000 before the end of the year. With your help, we can grow C3a to reach even more collectors and make it another powerful recruiting tool for the APS. That’s why we’re promoting C3a in November through a campaign to increase the learning opportunities for 2022.

National Philanthropy Day (November 15, 2021): Calling All Educators Each November 15th, we celebrate National Philanthropy Day by recognizing the outstanding contributions of donors and supporters of a given program. This year, we honor the educators who give their time and knowledge to help 982 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Upcoming 2022 APS Elections: What You Need to Know The elective officers of the Society – President, three Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, and four Directorsat-Large – are elected by the members of the society by ballot every three years. At the same time the APS membership also elects two members for the American Philatelic Research Library Board of Trustees. APS Elections: President, Board of Vice Presidents (Slate of three), Secretary, Treasurer, Director-at-Large (Four seats) APRL Elections: Trustee (Two elected at-large and one elected by Founder/Patrons/Fellows) Timeline of 2022 Elections November 1, 2021: Nominations/Seconds officially opens. The APS website has details about election procedures and nomination applications/forms at stamps.org/election. December 31, 2021: Deadline to participate in joint candidate mailing to APS Chapters. January - April 2022: Candidates will be listed in The American Philatelist. Mid-January 2022: A joint mailing will be sent to chapters. January 30, 2022: Election Review Board will be appointed. March 1, 2022: Deadline for candidate statement copy to The American Philatelist. March 15, 2022: Online candidates forum. March 31, 2022: Nominations/Seconds officially closes. May 2022: Election Ballot included in The American Philatelist. June 11, 2022: Voting closes at noon. June 14, 2022: The results will be tabulated and announced on Society website and by electronic mail. August 27, 2022: Installation of officers following the General Membership Meeting at the Great American Stamp Show 2022, Sacramento, CA.

APS-6.qxp_APS 28.04.20 20:49 Seite 1

National Postal Museum Curator Dan Piazza leads a class on research in Summer Seminar 2019.

educate fellow collectors. Our education programs rely on volunteers who take the time to teach courses and become friends with and mentors to the collectors they meet. With the APS, you have the benefit of teaching a class, and we preserve the course and the knowledge for years to come. Our community of educators can never be too big. If you have ever thought about teaching a class on your favorite philatelic subject, now is the time to answer the call.

All menus are available in: EN, CN, IT, FR, DE, JAP.

Giving Tuesday (November 30, 2021): An Investment in Knowledge Giving Tuesday is an international giving campaign on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, aimed to help transform communities. In past years, hundreds of generous supporters have contributed to Stamps Teach and Adopt-a-Book. This year, we are focusing our efforts on growing the C3a platform. We want to create a more significant learning community by adding leaderboards, certificates of completion, and social forums to continue the conversation after the class is over. You can learn more about our campaign at stamps.org/giving-tuesday. We aim to bring more live virtual learning and on-demand learning events to you so that you can learn from the comfort of your home and on your own time. We are honored to have so many of you actively participating in our learning community and invite you to join us there. If you have not used the C3a platform, you can visit our website at aps.buzz/ C3a to register. APS members should be logged into the website to enjoy all the member benefits of the online learning platform. If you have suggestions for courses or ways to improve our online education efforts, please contact the APS Education Department at education@stamps.org. And please join us in growing our education mission this month by supporting C3a.

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Editing Philately BY Gary Wayne Loew Editor-in-Chief of APS Publications Gary@stamps.org

A Busy Month for The American Philatelist

ver the course of the past year, the editorial team for The American Philatelist has continued to innovate and experiment. For the most part, these new ideas have been successful and well received. And what didn’t work has been revised or discontinued. My view continues to be that a lack of failures is indicative of a lack of trying. So, we shall continue to experiment. Your input continues to be a necessary input for our future innovations. The November issue is no exception to our experimentation, as you shall see. This is the Airmail Issue. It is often said that the postal services are one of only two governmental agencies that are technology leaders. (The military is the other one.) This issue will highlight several examples of that technological leadership. The topic continues to be among the most popular among collectors, whether they see themselves as airmail collectors or not. Indeed, many country specialists pursue airmails as the most important part of their BoB (Back of the Book) collecting. Think of this issue as coverage of the history of the development of postal services. I look at this issue as the story of how philately captures the heart of human activities. This is a much an explication of social philately as it is about airmail. We start with those incredibly brave and dauntless pilots who brought air transportation and airmail to the Canadian far north. At a time when dogsleds were a two-week journey, these early flights took under a day. The planes were fragile and unreliable. The air logistics – especially for the return flights – were complex and challenging. And the unpredictable weather was often fatal or near-fatal. And yet the pilots persevered. Author Chris Hargreaves is a master storyteller. “Pioneering Airmail in the Canadian North” is an exciting tale told with powerful words, illustrative maps, classic photographs, and some exciting postal artifacts. Bundle up before reading this saga of the far north, or you will find yourself shivering! Ephemera is a subject we do not cover frequently enough. We rectify that lacking with an article about airmail etiquettes. You know, those skinny rectangles that say “By Air Mail” in many different languages. It may sound like a simple subject, but it is very far from that. So, to tell the full story, we invited Arthur Groten, a past president of the Ephemera Society of America, to lead us through the history of these little pieces of paper. In “Airmail Etiquettes,” Art offers us comprehensive and definitive worldwide coverage. You will see some great rarities of labels and covers from Art’s collection. If this subject is of continuing interest to you, you might consider joining The Postal Label Study Group (APS affiliate #207). A sidebar to this article gives further details.

CALL FOR WRITERS

The American Philatelist depends on our members, who provide much of the content of this magazine. I’d like to encourage more members to join our roster of philatelic writers for The American Philatelist, Philatelic Literature Review, and stamps.org website. If you have an idea, please send your article idea, an outline and a brief description of what would make it interesting to our audience. The editorial team considers articles on any philatelic topic, but is especially interested in topics on U.S. and worldwide modern (late 20th and 21st century) philately. Send your proposal by email to aparticle@stamps.org or mail to The American Philatelist, c/o Article Submission, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823. For more information about APS writing guidelines, visit aps.buzz/writeap. 984 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

APS Official Family

2019–2022

PRESIDENT Robert Zeigler rzeigler@zcklaw.com BOARD OF VICE PRESIDENTS Cheryl Ganz cherylganz@yahoo.com Patricia (Trish) Kaufmann trishkauf@comcast.net Jeff Shapiro dirtyoldcovers@aol.com SECRETARY Stephen Schumann stephen.schumann@att.net TREASURER Bruce Marsden mail@brucemarsden.com DIRECTORS-AT-LARGE Michael Bloom mbloom@sinotech.com Rich Drews richbear427@hotmail.com Peter P. McCann ppm103226706@aol.com Mark Schwartz mark.schwartz1@verizon.net IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Stephen Reinhard sreinhard1@optonline.net STAMP THEFT COMMITTEE Nicholas A. Lombardi P.O. Box 1005 Mountainside, NJ 07092 stamptheft@stamps.org APS INSURANCE PLAN Hugh Wood Inc., 220 Match Factory Place Bellefonte, PA 16823 Toll Free: 888-APS-6494 Phone: 212-509-3777 Fax: 212-509-4906 aps@hughwood.com

ADDRESS CHANGES To change your address online visit stamps.org and log into your My APS account. Or mail your new address information to APS, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823 (Fax: 814-933-6128). Please try to give us four weeks’ notice. You can also add an e-mail address or website to your APS record.

CONNECT ONLINE

Brave, dauntless, and reckless pilots are not unique to the far north. Similar folks also blazed aerial trails creating routes between Europe and South America. Dan Gribbin is a specialist in this very challenging route. Originating in France and proceeding hippity-hop down the west coast of Africa, the land route ends in Dakar, Senegal. Getting across the expanse of the South Atlantic to land in Brazil was almost insurmountable with the aircraft of the very early 1930s. Among the early pilot pioneers was Henri Guillaumet, the “iron man.” In Dan’s exciting article, “The Iron Man and the Ugly Duckling,” the duckling is a Farman 220 bomber loaned by the French military to Air France. In this article we see another example of how postal services pushed the technological envelope in the continuous quest for better, faster, and more reliable mail service. In the military, it is recognized that the troops are the first to arrive for battle, followed immediately by logistics and supplies. The third to arrive are the military postal services. Military leaders around the world and throughout time have recognized that keeping troops in touch with the folks back home is critical to morale. Not all military campaigns are successful, of course: one side eventually prevails, the other, not. So, too, the logistical postal networks established by the military either persevere and evolve or are dissolved concurrent with retreating forces. A perfect example of this is found in Tom Geurts’ poi-

Forever stamped on your memory!

gnant “Extending the Southern German Airmail Route in 1942: Short but not Sweet.” The German Feldpost (military postal authorities) created a complex and dynamic air route to connect the troops advancing to the eastern front. Tom uses some dramatic covers to illustrate the machinations of the Feldpost. But words and covers alone do not always suffice. So he designed his own map of the southern German airmail route with extensions. This is a perfect example of the importance of maps to telling philatelic stories. When we decided upon the airmail theme for this issue, I reached out to Ron Lesher, author of our regular “The Collector of Revenue” column. I asked Ron what airmail theme he could write about for this month. He tried. He really tried. But other than a few old airline tickets with tax stamps on them, there really isn’t much about airmails and revenues to write about. So, Ron came up with a closely-related topic. Very early in the development of passenger airplane service, alcoholic beverage service was introduced. So, this month’s column, “Some Moonshiners Couldn’t Spell” tells the downright bizarre story of some forged alcohol tax stamps where the distillery name was misspelled. It is an informative and entertaining read. And yes, I know it really has nothing to do with airmail… I referred earlier to our continuing to experiment within the AP. Starting with this issue, we are introducing a new occasional feature, “The Topical Lens”. Sometimes a subject has

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such diverse interest that we want to ensure that topical collectors have a voice. Airmail seems like the perfect place to start. We have invited Jack Denys to initiate this feature. Jack was president of the ATA between 2008 and 2016 and was a winner of the ATA Grand Award. Jack’s topical lens explores the possibility that, as an airmail collector, “You may be a Closet Topical Stamp Collector!” Have a look. Speaking of airmail and columns, you won’t want to miss Deputy Editor Susanna Mills’ “Behind the Curtain” column this month. In “A Treasured Airmail Archive at the APS,” Susanna reveals how she learned about one of the great holdings of our American Philatelic Research Library, the Daniel Hines Papers. Of course, Susanna explains what can be found in these papers and how she explored them. But what I found most rewarding and encouraging was how Susanna shared the joy of discovery. So many of our APS members describe themselves as beginning level collectors. All who self-identify as beginning level can draw both comfort and inspiration from reading about Susanna’s explorations and her takeaway lessons. We try to be responsive to the informational needs and desires of our APS members. Over the last year, many of you have written that you want more news about the goings on within our APS family. I am pleased to announce the return of the “Philatelic Happenings” column. Director of Expertizing Ken Martin has generously agreed to resume writing about the news readers have asked for.

As long as I’m on the theme of airmail, I want to bring to your attention a very important upcoming airmail event. It is now about a year until the biggest aero event since 2014, when the second all Aero and Astro World Series of Philately event took place at APS Headquarters in Bellefonte, PA. (The first was in 2007.) The dates are October 21-23, 2022. There will be a WSP exhibition, with the grand award winners, both multi-frame and single-frame, being invited to participate in the next Champion of Champions exhibition. The only condition for entering is that all entries must be aerophilatelic or astrophilatelic in nature or have an aviation theme. All APS categories of exhibit are welcome to apply. Additionally, there will be dealers, many seminars, an awards banquet and other activities. For general information, a prospectus or entry application, contact show chairman, Stephen Reinhard, stephenreinhard42@gmail.com. On a different note, a very exciting stamp show is coming next June. CAPEX 2022 will provide the opportunity for 400 one frame exhibitors to compete and will be the largest exhibition of one frame exhibits. The APS is a sponsor of this important event. Please see the sidebar about exhibiting at CAPEX 2022 nearby. Okay, enough about this issue and looking forward. I want to take a moment and look backwards at last year. We published many fine articles. But I have to admit that, among the really strong field of 2020 articles, I had one Continued on page 988

Faroe Islands Stamps September and October Stamp Issues

Bárður Dal Christiansen, 2021

2021 Franking Labels: Storytellers We have always had great storytellers and raconteurs in all the diverse cultures of the world. Good raconteurs are culture-bearing aesthetic spirits who have shaped and influenced our cultural identity for better or worse. Artist: Bárður Dal Christiansen.

17.00

BARBARA

Art by Ingálvur av Reyni December 18, 2020, marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ingálvur av Reyni (1920-2005) - one of the greatest artists in the Faroe Islands. He was a visual artist who throughout his long artistic life continued to challenge himself, thus creating a life’s work of immense significance to the Faroese visual arts. Artworks: Tinganes, 1947, and “Through time and spaces”, 2002.

17.00

FEÐGAR Á FERÐ

17.00

SAGNIR OG ÆVINTÝR DR. JAKOB JAKOBSEN

MÓÐIR SJEYSTJØRNA

Bárður Dal Christiansen, 2021

HEÐIN BRÚ

Bárður Dal Christiansen, 2021

JØRGEN-FRANTZ JACOBSEN

17.00

WILLIAM HEINESEN

Ingálvur av Reyni, Tinganes, 1947

2021

Order from our webshop: en.stamps.fo Posta Faroe Islands - one of the smallest Postal Services in the world, yet known for its unique, beautiful and creative stamps. Posta Stamps, Óðinshædd 2 Tel. +298 346200 FO-100 Tórshavn, Faroe Islands Email: stamps@posta.fo 986 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Ingálvur av Reyni, Gjøgnum tíð og rúmdir, 2002

2021

“When a collector finally disposes of his stamp collection it may seem like parting from a long time friend – perhaps one of a lifetime. When you choose to deal with Dr. Friedman and his sons you will realize that here are people who will look at and appreciate your every page and know exactly how you felt as you added to your collection. It’s easy to see why almost all of their offers are accepted because they are more than fair, they are generous. You will not feel that it has been an ordeal, but a pleasure. There will be no need to look elsewhere.” Donald Polhemus, M.D. Novato, CA

hands-down favorite. And now it seems like I wasn’t the only one. The American First Day Cover Society agreed with me. And the AFDCS’s Philip H. Ward, Jr. Memorial Award for Excellence in First Day Cover Literature published in 2020 was given to Kris McIntosh for her article “The Fight for Women’s Right to Vote,” which appeared in the October 2020 issue of The American Philatelist. Kris told two stories in one. The central theme is reflected in the title. But the other story is about the struggle to recognize and commemorate the suffrage movement through the issuance of U.S. postage stamps. That struggle was also long and hard-fought. Kris did an absolutely fabulous job of interweaving the two battles and creating a rich tapestry describing this still-evolving story of women’s rights. I am thrilled for Kris to have won the AFDCS award. I cannot wait to see what she will offer next! Please keep your feedback coming and share your views. Remember: if you wish to see an always-improving American Philatelist, you – our readers and APS members – must become a part of this exciting journey. Reach out to me with your questions, concerns, and suggestions. Write a letter to the editor (LetterToTheEditor@stamps.org.) More importantly, volunteer to participate. This is your American Philatelist. My email is Gary@stamps.org. Letters by regular mail are always welcome and will be responded to in kind.

Exhibiting at CAPEX 22 The deadline for receipt of applications for exhibiting at CAPEX 22, the World’s First International One-Frame Stamp Championship Exhibition, in Toronto Canada next June, is fast approaching. The APS is a Partner-Level sponsor of this international exhibition and will have a strong presence at the show. Interested exhibitors should visit the CAPEX 22 website, https://capex22.org/, and open the “Exhibitors” tab to view the General Regulations (IREX) and the exhibit on-line Application Form. Exhibits awarded at least 75 points at WSP shows since Jan 1, 2015, are eligible, as are exhibits awarded at least 75 points at national virtual exhibitions held since Jan 1, 2020. Exhibits in all categories may be entered. Philatelic literature entries in both print and digital media will also be accommodated and require no pre-qualifications. Application deadline for all exhibits is November 30, 2021. Once accepted, entry fees of US$125 for each single frame exhibit, and US$80 for philatelic literature entries, will be arranged.

Giving Tuesday C3a Campaign November 30, 2021 Be Sure to Join us on Nov 30 for Giving Tuesday, an international day of giving. With over 1,000 different learning elements, including more than 30 on-demand multi-session courses, 100+ videos, and resources too numerous to mention, the C3a learning platform brings the world of philatelic learning to your home. For just $25 , you can support the C3a community as we connect philatelists through leaderboards, closed captioning, certificates, and social forums. Make the C3a community blossom this Giving Tuesday with your donation. “It is relaxing to view video recordings from my comfortable chair with parts of my collection at my side.” – LR “An opportunity to learn a LOT about subjects I previously knew little about.” - HP

stamps.org/giving-tuesday 988 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Colombia Part 1--from our HUGE stock of Latin America Scott # Unused Used 118a 1 120.00120.00 118b 1a 120.00 125-6 2 140.00 87.50 127-8 3 120.00 129-31 4 140.00 80.00 130a 4a 140.00 80.00 130b 6 120.00 90.00 131a 6a 120.00 90.00 131b 7 72.50120.00 133-4 7a 110.00 133a 8 225.00225.00 133b 9 325.00200.00 135-40 10 90.00 90.00 141 10a 90.00 142-7 11 90.00 90.00 144a 12 175.00 148-59 13 400.00 150a 14 375.00150.00 152a 14a 150.00 153a 16 175.00 154a 17 400.00400.00 154b 17 400.00400.00 154c 18 400.00 155a 19 125.00 157a 20 725.00 162-5 21 160.00 167 22 160.00 168 23 4500.00 170 24 100.00 65.00 170a 24a 72.50 171 25 50.00 171a 25a 50.00 172 26 75.00 173 28a 35.00 174 29 210.00 75.00 175a 30 60.00 37.50 185 31 55.00 15.00 185a 31a 15.00 186 32 100.00 55.00 186a 33 85.00 65.00 186b 34 150.00 187 35 12.00 12.00 188 35a 30.00 189 36 21.00 14.00 190 37 20.00 190c 37a 47.50 20.00 191 38 67.50 4.50 192 39 67.50 20.00 192a 40 52.50 192b 41 120.00 52.50 193 42 125.00 18.00 194 42a 18.00 194a 42b 20.00 195 45 72.50 27.50 195a 46 5.25 196 47 42.50 21.00 197 48 17.00 13.00 197a 49 32.50 198 49a 32.50 199 51 190.00 199a 52 190.00 200 53 67.50 52.50 200a 54 1.10 201 54a 1.10 201a 54b 1.10 202 54c 1.10 202b 55 3.00 1.25 202c 56 3.50 2.40 203 57 4.25 2.10 203a 57b 27.50 205 57c 2.10 205b 59 4.75 2.50 209 62 2.00 1.25 209a 62a 2.00 1.25 210 63 16.00 13.00 210a 64 67.50 211 65 120.00 67.50 211b 66 3.50 3.50 212 67 3.50 3.50 212a 67a 3.50 213 68 1.60 1.60 213a 68a 1.60 1.60 214 69 2.50 2.50 214a 69a 2.50 2.50 214b 69b 2.50 2.50 215 69c 2.50 216 69d 140.00 216a 69e 140.00 217 73 2.10 217a 73a 2.10 218 74 0.90 218a 74a 3.50 0.90 219a 74b 0.90 220 75 4.25 1.40 221 75a 25.00 3.50 222 77 67.50 223 78 32.50 224 79 17.00 2.75 240-5 80 65.00 240a 81 47.50 2.75 241a 82 67.50 242a 84 NH 95.00 15.00 244a 89 32.50 32.50 255-6 93 13.00 257-65 94 2.50 266 95 12.00 3.75 266-74 97 7.50 266a 103-8 21.10 10.45 266b 104a 1.60 267 109-11 15.50 11.75 267a 112-5 8.40 268 114a 4.00 1.00 268a 116-23 15.65 11.70 269 117a 1.25 269a

1.00 2.50 20.00 13.25 20.00 11.00 7.00 1.80 1.75 0.40 6.75 9.25 7.25 7.25 5.25 2.10 7.25 7.25 7.25 28.35 1.90 1.25 8.75 6.85 1.40 0.40 88.95 88.95 0.50 0.35 1.00 0.35 2.00 1.60 0.75 0.40 5.50 13.00 19.00 13.00 1.25 0.90 2.10 0.90 4.80 2.90 30.00 30.00 30.00 30.00 20.00 20.00 30.00 30.00 20.00 20.00 30.00 18.00 18.00 18.00 18.00 25.00 25.00 120.00 25.00 1.00 1.00 2.25 1.00 1.00 2.50 2.25 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 2.25 2.25 2.25 2.25 2.25 2.25 1.75 1.75 1.50 10.00 5.50 4.50 1.60 1.60 9.50 1.60 1.60 9.50 22.50 22.50 1.10 1.10 4.75 13.00 1.75 1.75 6.50 6.50 1.90 1.90 6.50 1.90 1.90 6.00 6.00 3.50 3.50 0.70 0.70 0.70 0.70 9.50 15.00 9.50 20.00 72.50 2.75 2.75 9.50 4.50 4.50 9.50 3.75 3.75 25.00 25.00 4.50 4.50 25.00 4.50 4.50 11.50 11.50 4.50 4.50 4.50 4.50 11.50 11.50 4.50 4.50 1.60 1.60 5.25 2.50 2.50 7.50 7.50 2.50 2.50 9.50 9.50 62.50 5.50 5.50 8.00 8.00 7.50 7.50 7.75 7.75 25.00 25.00 31.75 31.75 13.50 9.25 9.25 9.25 9.25 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 66.00 69.75 0.35 0.35 20.50 12.60 1.90 1.90 1.40 1.40 0.35 0.35 1.60 1.60 0.35 0.35 1.90 1.90 0.35 0.35 1.90 1.90

27.00 269b 1.60 1.60 509a 40.00 270 0.35 0.35 510a 39.00 270a 3.25 511a 512a 45.00 270b 2.50 513 25.00 271a 6.50 0.40 0.35 272 0.60 0.60 514 515-9 28.00 8.00 272a 7.75 515a 0.35 0.35 272b 3.25 1.20 1.05 273 4.25 4.25 520-22 4.25 1.60 273a 35.00 523 6.00 4.20 274 6.50 524-6 0.35 0.35 274a 65.00 527 5.55 4.50 274b 45.00 528-36 0.65 0.50 284-8 2.80 2.80 537 537a 10.00 284a 2.25 538 0.35 0.35 284b 2.50 286a 3.25 2.50 539-C145 1.80 1.40 542 4.50 1.25 288b 9.75 8.00 5.50 303-8 4.75 543-4 0.40 0.35 304a 1.10 1.10 545 546-51 8.50 2.10 304c 7.50 306a 2.50 2.50 552-C147 2.10 1.40 554 2.75 1.25 307a 2.25 4.50 308a 2.25 2.25 555-6 314a 0.85 0.35 557-C149 2.70 315a 0.85 0.35 560,C150 3.90 0.35 0.35 316a 0.35 561 1.05 1.05 317a 1.40 0.35 562-4 0.35 0.35 319a 0.35 565 0.40 0.35 323 92.50 92.50 566 1.35 1.05 324 77.50 77.50 567-9 0.35 0.35 325-30 3.00 570 0.40 0.35 325a 0.85 0.35 571 0.35 0.35 326a 0.75 0.35 572 0.35 0.35 327a 0.75 0.35 573 0.35 0.35 331 0.50 0.35 574 0.35 0.35 331-8 550.00285.00 575 0.35 0.35 332 0.40 0.35 576 3.30 1.80 333 0.40 0.35 577-9 6.30 3.00 334 1.25 0.45 580-6 587,C199 4.25 335 10.00 0.35 0.35 336 15.00 5.50 588 337 85.00 25.00 589-91 1.05 1.05 338 325.00 592-3 9.50 3.50 0.55 0.35 339-50 mixed124.0054.40 594 595 1.10 0.35 349 60.00 596 0.35 0.35 350 71.25 1.40 1.40 351 1.25 35.00 597-600 0.35 0.35 351-4 12.20 601 10.00 4.50 352 0.60 602 42.50 353 10.00 6.25 603 1.00 0.30 354 15.00 5.00 604 2.50 0.30 358 0.35 606 25.00 359 5.00 0.35 607 608 3.00 0.65 359a 10.00 0.50 0.35 360-7 26.00 11.00 609 363a 0.65 0.35 610,C226 2.45 1.00 0.95 0.70 369-70 4.70 2.25 611 3.00 0.70 371-5 8.85 612-3 2.20 1.40 377 3.75 1.50 614-7 618,C237 0.90 0.70 377a 22.50 0.90 0.70 379-80 0.70 619-20 0.40 0.35 382-5 9.20 7.05 621 622,C255 0.70 0.70 383a 13.50 395-6 5.00 0.70 623-C257 3.60 1.40 0.35 0.35 400-5 65.00 5.85 625 408 0.60 0.35 627,C258 1.50 0.70 409-10 10.30 0.95 627a,C258a 16.00 24.00 628-C260 1.65 1.05 409a 8.00 411-6 20.15 2.10 629-C266 6.55 2.55 417-9 9.75 2.25 632a,C266a 24.00 420 20.00 0.35 633,C267 2.50 0.85 421 1.60 0.50 634,C268 0.70 0.70 421-36 1350.00 635C269 0.85 0.70 422 1.60 0.50 636-C271 2.00 1.40 423 1.60 0.50 637a,C271a 19.50 424 3.00 1.75 638,C273 0.70 0.70 425 2.50 639,C274 0.70 0.70 426 3.50 1.75 640-C280 29.85 15.00 427 4.25 3.00 642a,C278a 54.00 428 7.25 5.50 643,C281 0.70 0.70 429 8.25 644-65 40.95 12.25 430 8.50 7.00 666-C306 1.40 1.05 431 8.50 6.75 667,C286 0.75 0.70 432 13.00 10.00 668,C287 0.70 0.70 433 120.00 62.50 669,C288 0.70 0.70 434 140.00110.00 670-C296 3.00 2.80 435 425.00500.00 673-C300 1.40 1.40 437-9 25.45 0.70 674a 20.00 440 4.75 1.50 675,C301 0.70 0.70 441-2 0.95 0.70 676C303 1.40 1.40 441a 6.50 678,C304 0.70 0.70 442b 6.00 679,C305 0.75 0.70 443a 0.35 0.35 680-C310 1.65 1.05 445-7 40.15 28.60 681-4 1.40 1.40 448-50 28.50 14.65 685-93 3.15 3.15 452-6 8.10 3.50 695-C413 1.05 1.05 452a 5.00 696-C316 1.30 1.05 453a 5.00 697-C318 47.50 47.50 457-63 59.00 33.35 698-C320 4.70 3.30 464-6 13.50 1.95 700-C389 4.60 1.75 466a 62.50 6.25 704-5 0.70 0.70 467-74 44.50 5.60 709-C354 6.00 4.25 475-83 33.95 713-C359 8.30 5.40 475-84 99.00 716-C370 17.85 488-92 15.00 3.15 718-C376 2.25 1.50 493 5.50 0.65 719-C385 7.90 6.00 494 5.50 0.85 722,C387 1.05 1.05 495 3.75 0.50 724 0.35 0.35 495b 6.00 725 3.75 496 0.35 0.35 726-C393 3.40 497-502 9.00 4.00 727,C395 1.40 1.40 506-7 0.70 0.70 729,C401 4.00 2.45 508-12 14.30 731,C403 1.50 1.40 508a 22.50 733-C408 2.80 2.80

736-C418 4.50 3.15 740,C428 5.45 742-C432 3.40 3.30 743,C433 0.70 0.70 744 5.75 745,C435 0.70 0.70 746,C438 6.75 5.40 747,C440 5.25 5.00 748-C444 7.75 5.50 749-C446 1.05 1.05 750,C447 0.70 0.70 751 0.35 0.35 752,C448-50 1.40 1.40 753,C464-6 6.50 1.40 754 0.35 0.35 755-9 2.95 1.75 760-C483 27.75 20.00 762,C484-5 1.05 1.05 763-C487 1.75 1.75 766-7,C488 1.10 1.05 768-C491 8.70 3.15 770,C492 3.75 2.25 771,C494 2.00 0.70 772-C497 20.85 11.40 774-C499 1.40 1.40 776,C500-1 1.05 1.05 777-C506 9.55 4.95 781a 3.75 782,C507-9 1.40 1.40 783,C510 0.70 0.70 784 0.35 0.35 785 5.00 786,C511 0.70 0.70 787-8,C517 1.70 1.05 789 0.75 0.35 790 1.00 0.35 791 0.75 0.35 792 0.40 0.35 793 0.75 0.35 794 0.80 0.35 795-6 2.00 0.70 797-8 16.00 801 1.00 0.35 802 0.35 0.35 803 1.00 0.35 804 1.00 0.35 805 1.00 0.35 806,C569-71 2.40 1.40 807 9.75 0.75 808 2.00 0.35 809 1.00 0.35 810 1.00 0.35 811 0.35 0.35 812 0.35 0.35 813 0.35 0.35 814-C586 8.00 2.75 817 0.35 0.35 818 0.35 0.35 819 0.35 0.35 820 0.35 0.35 821 0.35 0.35 822 1.30 0.35 823,C610 1.20 0.70 824 0.90 0.35 825-6 1.00 0.70 827-C622 6.55 1.40 829 0.75 0.35 830 0.35 0.35 831 0.35 0.35 832-39A 6.00 840 0.35 0.35 841 0.35 0.35 842-4 6.65 1.50 845 0.35 0.35 846 10.00 6.00 sht 40.00 847 0.35 0.35 848-50 1.05 1.05 855 3.50 856-7 2.75 0.70 858-C647 10.20 2.10 860 0.35 0.35 861 0.35 0.35 862-3 1.50 0.70 868 29.00 20.00 869 0.55 0.35 870 0.45 0.35 871-4 2.50 1.40 875 0.50 0.35 876 1.50 0.60 877 0.60 0.35 878 0.70 0.35 879 38.50 30.00 880-1 1.10 0.70 882 1.20 0.35 883 0.70 0.35 884 0.60 0.35 885 0.60 0.35 886 0.50 0.35 887 0.85 0.35 888 1.25 0.60 889 9.00 9.00 890 82.00 40.00 891 75.00 37.50 892 45.00 22.50 893 30.00 15.00 894 15.00 10.00 895 1.50 0.35 896 1.00 0.35 897 1.00 0.35 898 5.00 5.00 900 16.00 7.00 901 0.50 0.35 902-4 1.80 1.05 905-13 6.10 2.80

917,C731-2 2.00 1.05 918 0.40 0.35 919 0.40 35.00 920 0.45 0.35 921 0.35 0.35 922,C736-7 3.60 2.25 923-C740 8.30 5.00 928,C741 2.50 0.75 929-31 1.05 1.05 933 0.80 0.35 934 0.85 0.35 935 0.70 0.35 936 0.60 0.35 937,C744 1.50 0.70 938,C746 0.80 0.70 939 1.00 0.35 940 0.65 0.35 941 0.55 0.35 942,C748 1.90 0.70 943-6,C758 5.00 5.00 947 0.65 0.35 948 0.35 0.35 949,C755 1.10 0.70 950 0.35 0.35 951 0.35 0.35 952 0.35 0.35 953 0.35 0.35 954 0.40 0.35 955 0.35 0.35 956 0.40 0.35 957 0.70 0.40 958,C772 2.00 959-68 6.65 969 0.80 0.35 970 5.50 1.75 971-2 2.35 0.70 973 0.55 0.35 974 0.90 0.35 975-C797 1.90 1.75 979 0.70 0.70 980 1.25 0.35 981 0.95 0.35 982-3 5.50 984 1.25 0.75 985 1.00 0.45 986 0.85 0.35 987 1.30 0.35 988 0.60 0.35 989-91 2.60 1.80 992-3 4.00 994 4.50 995 0.40 0.35 996-1002 6.00 1011 1.80 1012 0.35 0.35 1013-C826 3.80 1014 0.40 0.40 1016 0.60 0.60 1017 0.50 0.50 1018 0.90 0.90 1019 0.50 0.50 1020 0.60 0.60 1021 0.50 1022-7 9.10 9.10 1028 0.50 0.50 1029 0.50 0.50 1030 0.50 0.50 1031 0.50 0.50 1032-5 4.55 4.50 1036-9 5.00 5.00 1040 6.50 1041 0.60 0.60 1042 0.65 0.65 1043 0.60 0.60 1044-5 1.10 1.10 1046-7 1.75 1.75 1047A 6.50 1048-9 1.50 1.50 1050 0.75 0.75 1051-2 10.90 1053-3 2.50 2.50 1055-6 1.20 1.20 1057 0.75 0.60 1058 0.60 0.60 1059-63 5.80 1064-5 7.00 1066 1.25 1067-8 1.20 1069 1.30 1070 0.50 1071 1.25 1072 1.25 1073 1.25 1074 1.25 1075 1.50 1076 12.00 1077 5.50 1078-9 4.25 1080 5.00 1081 4.00 1081 bklt 40.00 1082-2 2.55 1084-7 13.25 1088 0.75 0.75 1089 1.50 1.50 1090-3 9.00 1094 1.40 1.40 1095-6 3.10 1097-9 4.50 1100 7.00 1101 1.40 1102 1.10 1103 1.00 1104 1.30 1.30 1105-6 4.00 4.00

12.50 1427 17.75 Scott # Unused 1221 7.50 1322 9.00 1428 1107 1.75 1222-3 13.50 1323 1.00 1108-9 2.00 same sht 60.00 1324 84.50 1429 8.95 1110 35.00 1224 8.30 1430 3.00 26.70 1325 1111 1.60 1225 28.15 1431 4.50 48.50 1326 1112 1.00 1226 7.50 1432 15.00 50.00 1327 1113 3.00 1227 68.75 1433 4.50 2.25 1328 1115 1.85 1228 55.20 1434 1.80 9.90 1329 1.80 1117 1.75 1229 8.45 1435 0.50 1528 11.30 1330 .45 1118 1.40 1230 6.25 1436 24.00 1529 7.10 1331 4.40 1119 1.50 1231 24.85 1437 0.60 1530 30.30 1332 4.40 1.25 7.30 1438 19.00 1531 1232 2.65 1333 21.15 1120 2.00 1233 85.00 1439 1.80 1532 3.45 1334 21.15 1121 1.60 1234 15.00 1440 9.00 1533 14.15 1335 13.20 1122 10.00 1235-6 48.50 1336 35.00 1441 18.00 1534 15.90 1122f 20.00 same sht 200.00 1337 2.90 1442 18.00 1535 6.00 1123 2.00 1237 6.10 1443 34.00 1536 50.90 1338 37.50 same sht 24.00 1238-9 12.15 1339 4.00 1444 4.50 1537 3.75 1124 1.50 1240 52.05 1445 28.50 1538 6.30 1340 3.60 1125 1.50 1241 8.55 1446-7 42.60 1539 27.90 1341 .35 same sht 24.00 1242 5.80 1448 9.00 1540 2.40 1342 3.70 1126 30.00 1243-5 40.50 1343 6.50 1449 0.50 1542 15.00 1127-8 3.50 1246 6.40 1450 3.85 1543 84.00 1344 3.75 1129-30 3.50 1247 34.70 1451 2.00 1544 2.80 1345 7.15 1131 10.00 same sht 22.40 1346 6.00 1452 1.00 1545 1.50 1132 1.50 1248 7.25 1453 4.75 1546 7.20 1347 .35 1133 1.50 1249 4.35 1454 3.60 1547 4.05 1348 1548 11.70 1134 1.50 1250 34.75 1455 1.00 4.05 1349 1135 1.75 1251 1.50 1456 0.50 7.90 1350 1136-7 4.40 same sht 31.60 1351-52 41.50 1457 9.85 Unused Used 1138-9 6.00 1252 2.75 1458 0.35 Scott # 2.45 1353 0.35 0.35 1140 1.75 1253 10.00 1459 18.00 B1 3.65 1354 1,200.00 1141 2.75 1254 1.40 C1 Cert 10.10 1355 3.00 1460 C1a 4,250.00 1142 1.75 1254 4.50 40.40 1356 3.25 1461 1,875.00 1143 2.75 1255 9.00 C3 20.20 1357 8.00 1462 C11 60.00 1144 7.50 1256 21.60 40.40 1358 3.25 1463 65.00 1145 2.75 1257 0.35 C11A 6.30 1359 55.00 1464 130.00 1146 2.25 same sht 44.10 1360 0.90 C11B-C 10.00 1465 425.00 285.00 1147-8 6.00 1258 1.80 C12-6 3.85 1361 24.00 1466 C17 signed 1,800.00 1149 15.00 1259 1.90 8.10 1362 8.00 1467 1150 2.25 1260 4.70 C18 signed 1,900.00 8.75 1363 1.00 1468 1151-2 4.50 same sht 52.60 1364 5.65 C20 crease 900.00 3.00 1469 440.00 1153 13.00 1261 9.40 C25-35 9.50 1365 2.00 1470 106.50 same sht 52.00 1262 3.80 C38-50 5.50 1366 9.00 1471 95.00 1154 1.40 1263 0.95 C51-2 4.85 1367 3.25 1472 C53-4 160.00 125.00 1155 2.75 1264 3.80 9.50 1368 1.25 1473 1156 4.75 1265 0.35 C55-67,CF2 205.00 75.00 28.30 1369 2.75 1474 255.25 1157 6.00 1266 12.50 C68-79 42.50 1370 6.50 1475 34.50 32.00 1158 30.00 1267 5.80 C80-2 70.70 1371 20.00 1476 C83-95 303.00 293.00 1159 1.10 1268 17.30 3.65 1372 3.50 1477 175.00 38.10 1160 1.10 1269 19.20 C96-110 8.10 1373 11.00 1478 24.50 24.50 1161-2 4.50 1270 1.95 C111-4 18.20 1374 2.50 1479 2.95 1.80 1163 3.50 1271 19.20 C115-8 8.10 1375 6.50 1480 C119-20 4.50 1.35 1164 4.50 1272 19.20 13.00 1376 10.00 1481 76.90 31.40 1165 2.40 same sht 52.00 1377 28.80 C121-33 24.00 1482 C134-44 20.00 6.60 1166 4.00 1273 9.60 51.50 1378 30.00 1483 27.20 13.95 1167 2.00 1274 1.00 C151-63 15.55 1379 3.50 1484 0.70 0.70 1168 2.60 1275 19.20 C164-5 24.25 same sht 42.00 1485 73.00 103.85 1169 2.00 1276 1.95 C166-74 5.75 1380 4.00 1486 61.00 81.50 1170 2.60 1277 3.85 C175-85 7.25 1381 2.75 1487 50.50 52.50 1171 4.00 1278 28.80 C186-98 4.75 1382 5.00 1488 85.50 90.15 1172 2.00 1279 1.85 1383 0.85 Same SS 96.00 C200-7 68.25 8.60 1173 2.00 1280 8.85 C208-16 35.60 1384 8.50 1489 5.00 0.55 1174 72.00 1281 0.35 C210a 2.10 1385 13.00 1490 C217-25 8.85 3.40 1175 3.75 1282 5.30 4.30 1386 9.50 1491 2.85 1.40 1176 3.75 1283 4.55 1387 1.75 1492 13.00 C227-30 C231 0.35 0.35 1177 4.00 1284 1.85 1388 4.25 1493 17.70 0.50 0.35 1178 5.25 1285 6.80 1389 4.00 1494 7.05 C232 C233-4 0.70 0.70 1179 8.00 1286 2.75 Ftnt 500.00 1495 8.80 0.70 0.70 1181 4.50 1287 1.85 1391 5.00 1496 4.40 C235-6 C238 0.35 0.35 1182 4.50 1288 17.70 1392 2.50 1497 1.80 61.25 15.50 1183 3.75 1289 24.25 1393 33.85 1498 8.80 C239-53 C254 0.95 0.35 1184 50.00 1290 5.85 1394 3.00 1499 28.80 8.00 12.00 1185 2.80 1291 6.45 1395 6.10 1500 1.80 C258a C261 0.35 0.35 1186 1.75 1292 6.30 1396 1.20 1501 3.50 0.35 0.35 1187 4.25 1293 12.60 1397 10.10 1502 43.25 C262 C272 0.35 0.35 1188 7.80 1294 5.30 1398 3.65 1503 17.30 0.35 0.35 1189 30.00 1295 6.15 1399 2.70 1504 0.50 C282 C283 0.35 0.35 1190 55.00 1296 5.30 1400 2.70 1505 8.70 1191 2.00 1297 0.40 0.35 6.15 1401 1.90 1506 22.50 C284 1192-4 68.25 1298 18.50 10.75 1.60 1402 20.00 1507 34.25 C289-90 1195 3.25 1299 0.35 0.35 1.60 1403 5.00 1508 8.60 C291 1196 3.00 1300 0.70 0.70 1.60 1404 3.60 1509 8.60 C297-8 1197 2.00 1301 sht 10.25 1405 0.70 0.70 1.20 1510 17.15 C307-8 1198 10.00 1302 0.50 0.35 5.45 1406 10.20 1511 1.75 C312 1199 2.75 1303-4 2.00 0.40 3.30 same sht 40.75 1512 4.30 C321 1200 61.50 1305-8 38.90 11.15 1.85 1407 49.40 C322-46 7.40 1513 1201 5.40 1309 1.75 1.00 7.50 1407c 16.50 C347-8 55.00 1515 1202 6.50 1310 22.50 22.50 4.00 1408 6.40 C349-50 2.00 1516 1203 2.05 1311 19.00 19.00 2.00 1409-10 36.60 1517 4.40 C355 1204 63.75 1312 2.65 1.40 4.35 1411 .45 C356-68 3.70 1518 1205 25.00 1313 0.40 0.35 7.00 1412 21.15 C371 0.65 1519 1206 58.25 1314 7.50 7.50 5.30 1413 4.40 C372 0.35 1520 1207 3.50 1315 7.25 7.25 2.15 1414 1.80 C386 1.30 1521 1208 3.50 1316 9.75 24.50 1415 4.40 C388 0.35 1522 1209-12 60.00 1317 5.75 5.75 12.50 1416 4.40 C389 9.25 1523 1213 14.55 1318 23.00 29.95 1417-23 33.20 1524 4.40 C409-10 1214 6.50 1319 1.05 1.05 12.50 1424 3.55 C411-3 4.50 1525 1215 10.75 1320 7.25 12.50 1425 4.40 C419 10.75 1526 1216 2.05 1321 5.30 2.50 1.90 1426 13.40 C420-5 17.75 1527 1217 8.30 Lots more Colombia on our website: 1218 12.15 1219 15.00 www.kennieser.com 1220 33.85

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Letters to the Editor LetterToTheEditor@stamps.org

Astronomical Compliments

I would like to compliment Professor Russell D. Sampson on his article [August 2021, “An OHMS Franked Postcard with an Astronomical Story”] bringing together two passions that both of us enjoy, philately and astronomy. His explanation of the evolution of the early universe is extremely well done that a layman can easily understand. I intend to use his explanations of the early universe in my own lectures in Cosmology. This area of Astrophysics can be very theoretical and complex especially tying in Cosmology and General Relativity. The article helps non-astronomers realize the importance of Cosmology as a field of study. I am a member of both the Amateur Astronomers Association of NY and The Villages Astronomy Club here in Florida. I am also involved with the Astronomy Dept at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Kenneth S. Katta, O.D., M.S. Lt Col, USAF (Retired) The Villages, FL

Rhodesia’s “Decimal Day”

The article “Decimal Day in the U.K.” [September 2021] brought back memories of the LSD system in my home country, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Much of our early schooling was dedicated money calculations – adding up the pennies, dividing by 12 to convert to shillings, adding the shillings, then dividing by 20 to calculate the pounds. Rhodesia converted to a decimal system on February 17, 1970, a year before the UK conversion. I was 16 years at the time and overjoyed at the change, but many of the older folks grumbled about the new system being “so difficult”! A few comments on Kevin Hans’ article. He mentioned the pound symbol looked like the letter “L”; in fact the symbol is a stylized letter “L” (similarly a stylized “€” is used for Euro), derived from the Latin “libra pondo” (a basic unit of weight in the Roman Empire.) The “d” abbreviation for pence also has a Latin origin from “denarius” (a Roman coin). One correction: the forward slash “/” was NOT a symbol for shillings; it was simply a device to separate the shillings and pence numerals. For instance, 1 shilling 4 pence is written as “1/4”, 7 shillings 6 pence as “7/6” and so on. If zero pence, then a dash would be used. For example 2 shillings would be “2/-.” Many British-area stamps had their denominations inscribed using this method such as the “10/-” denomination on Great Britain’s Scott 251. The forward slash was compact and so ideal for stamps 990 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Image 2.

where space was limited, ofttimes compressed further to an aposImage 1. trophe. In general, though, this format was mostly used as a handwritten shorthand (see image one). Within printed and typed texts it is preferable to use the “s” and “d” abbreviations, i.e. “2s 6d” not “2/6”. Mr. Hans pointed out that the 1961 conversion to decimal currency by South Africa went smoothly. Their transition was simplified by choosing 10 shillings (120 pence) as the base unit of currency and so conversions were intuitive: 2 shillings = 20 cents, 8 shillings = 80 cents, 18 shillings = $1.80, and so on. Other than the penny and a 3d coin (= 2 ½ cents), the old coins adapted neatly to the metric system: the sixpence, shilling (12 pence), two shillings (24 pence) and 2s 6d (30 pence) coins were equivalent to 5c, 10c, 20c and 25c respectively. Rhodesia anticipated the change to decimal currency in 1964 and all coins struck from that date showed both pence and decimal values. In 1968 Rhodesia also introduced dual currency stamps for the common postal rates (Scott 246-248A) [see image two]. The British used a very different approach because, understandably, they wanted to retain the pound as their currency unit (100 new pence = 240 old pence). The old coins did not have handy metric equivalents (6d = 2 1/2p, 1 shilling = 5p, 2 shillings = 10p, and 2s6d = 12 1/2p) and so a new set of coins was required. Three years before the changeover, new 5p and 10p coins were introduced that were the same size and value as the one and two shilling coins, and a 50p coin replaced the 10 shilling note. Banks closed for four days prior to “Decimal Day,” and both currencies were in use for several months to allow cash registers and slot machines to be converted to the new coinage. R. Campbell Buchanan Lutz, FL

A Programmer’s “Decimal Day” As someone who was a young programmer involved in decimalisation in 1971 I was very interested in Kevin

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Disadvantages of Decimalization

Kevin Hans’ account of “Decimal Day in the U.K.” was a fascinating, wonderfully concise, and beautifully illustrated account of the major currency change and related implications for postage when the UK transitioned to a decimal currency. The rate conversion table (p. 813) left me wondering if people were advantaged or disadvantaged due to cases where different old pence values were equal to a single new pence value (e.g., 2d and 3d = 1p). Similarly, if 3d equaled 1p, then why would 6d equal only 21/2p? The end of that table, of course, makes perfect sense as 1/ and 5p are both 20 to the pound. Tom Broadhead Knoxville, Tennessee

Base 12 vs. Base 10

I read with interest Kevin Hans’ article about decimalization day in the UK and have a few thoughts. All British schoolchildren traditionally learned multiplication tables from 2x to 12x. So adding 2/4 to 5d and 11d, was not a difficult ex-

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Hans’ recent article on British stamps. Stock prices I was dealing with at the stockbroking company where I worked were in a bewildering array of formats and heaven help me if I got the conversion wrong, potentially writing a few million pounds off the value of a large holding in a stock. So I’d like to make a couple of trivial corrections to Kevin’s excellent article. First, the use of LSD to describe the UK currency came from the names of Roman coins (naturally!) the libra, solidus and the denarius. There were many advantages to having 240 pence to the pound. For example, you can divide a pound of 100 pence (or a dollar of 100 cents) in 7 ways – 2, 4, 5, 10, 20,25 and 50 whereas a pound made up of 240 pence can be divided in 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 ,12, 15, 16, 20, 24, 30, 48, 60, 80 and 120 – 18 ways. That offered far more flexibility and, once you’d learned the shortcuts, made it easy to calculate multiples of shillings & pence values. Stanley Gibbons lists face values of pre-1971 British stamps as, for example, “6d” whereas Scott lists them, forgivably but incorrectly, as “6p”. The “p” for pence is reserved for the New Penny (equal to 2.4 old pence). Incidentally, American airman at our local air force base in England complained bitterly about the odd wording on our coins - it was only later in life that I got to appreciate the way they felt when I had to deal with dimes, quarter dollars, nickels that are twice the size of dimes (which are worth twice as

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ercise. 12 base thinking was routine among the public. Now they only learn up to 10X. For someone using 12 base mental arithmetic, the Figure 3 challenge in the article is trivial. Also, before decimalization, the single word for multiple d coins was pennies, not pence. Pence was only used in combination - sixpence, thrupence, and then usually only to designate the coin. If you had a sixpence, you could buy six pennies’ worth of sweets. A stamp selling for 5d was called a five-penny stamp. Pence as a standalone word only came into common use following decimalization. If you asked for a 5 pence stamp before, it would have sounded odd. Now it is the norm. I think even now, pence should be a plural noun with penny being the singular form. “A pence” sounds very strange to me. And any use of pence as an adjective seems odd, such as “shilling and pence stamps”. Also, 10/- (50p) would be worth about 70¢ today. It would have been worth about $1.25 in 1970. The information about private carriers and first day covers was most interesting and I know nothing about them, having emigrated to California by then. John Simms Wolfeboro, NH

Sept. 11 Perspective

I am a retired firefighter and chief officer with 33 years of service. I was in my office at fire headquarters on 9/11 when my wife called to tell me that a plane hit the World Trade Center and I should turn on the television. Members of the on-duty shift and I watched with horror as a second plane hit the south tower, and later when the towers collapsed, killing 343 brother firefighters and my second cousin, Christian Maltby who worked at Cantor Fitzgerald. I hope you can see why I was appalled by your article, “A Philatelic Perspective of the 9/11 Tragedy.” There were things Keith Stupell could have done, not the least of which was going to his place of worship to pray for the victims, the survivors, the first responders and the City of New York. He could have volunteered with the Red Cross, a local hospital or a food kitchen, but no, he pedaled around to create philatelic souvenirs. Shameful! Disgusting!! K. Clarke Crandell

Save Your Receipts and Get a Cert

In response to Mr. Brolin’s article in the September 2021 issue, I thought I would share my own experience with expertization. Over the past three years, I have submitted 34 suspect stamps,

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most from the Washington-Franklin era, to two of the major expertization services; 14 came back as fakes and three as misidentified, a rate of about 50%, generally consistent with Mr. Brolin’s experience. Of the 14 fakes, I had receipts for 12 of them. With the receipts, eight dealers provided me with refunds for ten of the stamps, for which I am grateful. The stamp dealers I know are men of honor and integrity. Two dealers were no longer in the business – I did delay in getting some certs – so my losses were limited to four stamps total, and in value in the neighborhood of $500. The three misidentified stamps were of nearly equal value, for example a 455 was sold as a 492, so I called them a wash. In light of Mr. Brolin’s experience and my own, I suspect that the fakes that were manufactured in the 20th century are now fully diffused throughout the stamp community. I have purchased at least one fake stamp from nearly every stamp dealer but not more than two. The lesson here: save your receipts and promptly certify any stamp that is even remotely suspect. Jeff Sudol West Chester, PA

Errata SEPTEMBER

In Kevin Hans’ article “Decimal Day in the U.K.” we regret to report the following errors: Page 810. The forward slash “/” was not a symbol for shillings but rather a device to separate shillings and pence numerals. Page 811. “A pence from the old system” should read “a penny from the old system.” Page 871. In “New World Issues,” the issues shown from the “United Kingdom” should correctly be labeled as “Great Britain.” Page 823. In “Caveat Emptor: One Collector’s Experience with Expertization,” a percentage was omitted in the paragraph beginning “There was considerable variability…” The correct text should read “from 27 to 75 percent with an average of 56 percent.” Page 872. In “Worldwide in a Nutshell: Pitcairn Islands,” the third paragraph gives an incorrect date of 1964 that should correctly be 1864. We regret the error.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 993

Pioneering Airmail in the Canadian North CHRIS HARGREAVES

hortly after the end of World War I, aviation in Canada boomed. Several hundred trained pilots were discharged from the forces, and war surplus aircraft were being sold off. According to Frank Ellis, pioneer writer of Canadian aviation history: There were any number of cheap planes to be had. Many former war pilots who could rake up enough cash immediately purchased one or more aircraft, while a great many others persuaded someone else to invest money in new-born flying companies. Airplanes in increasing numbers thus made their appearance throughout Canada, and few were the towns and villages of any size which did not receive a flying visitor during 1919 and 1920. Aviation for everybody was suddenly made available to a very receptive public. On top of that there were no government restrictions on flying in Canada in 1919. Anyone with the urge, and the money, could buy a plane and fly away in it if he could, or try to if he couldn’t.1 Most Canadians live in southern Canada, as shown in Map 1. In 1920 the cities, towns and industries in southern Canada were connected by an extensive network of railway lines. Most of the early flights took place in southern Canada, as that’s where numerous potential customers lived. But some pioneers dreamed of using the new technology developed during the war to explore and develop the Canadian North. They planned to use aircraft to reach areas beyond the railway lines. 994 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Map 1. Population Distribution of Canada. Base map is from https:// www.visualcapitalist.com/maps-population-distribution-visualized/

First Airmail in the Canadian North The Canadian Aero Film Company was formed in 1919, and began by taking films of stunts from the air, like men climbing ladders from boats into aircraft. In 1920, CAFC was hired by the Ontario government to film the area between Remi Lake and Moose Factory in the James Bay Lowlands. (See Maps 1 and 2.) The company was contracted to produce an airborne documentary showing the geography and indigenous people of the area. Topics to be covered included: “available water powers, timber resources, agricultural possibilities, fishing, the fur industry, the possibilities of the country for the sportsmen and tourists, native life, etc.”2 To carry out the contract, the Canadian Aero Film Company purchased a war surplus Curtiss HS-2L flying boat (Figure 1). The Curtiss HS-2L had been built for the United States Navy to carry out anti-submarine patrols. (The designation HS-2L stood for: Hydroplane, Single engine, 2nd version, Liberty engine.)

Figure 1. Curtiss HS-2L of Canadian Aero Film Company, tied to a log boom at Remi Lake.

The HS-2L was large – it could carry a pilot, flight engineer, two passengers, and cargo. They were also cheap, but had few other redeeming qualities. Its performance was jokingly described as “taking off, flying, and landing at 65 mph.” While it was flying, fuel was pumped from the main tanks in the hull by an air driven pump, but on start up and while taxiing, the air engineer had to pump fuel by hand until the main pump took over. The HS-2L was also difficult to maneuver on the water: the air engineer often had to climb out on the lower wing and move from one side of the aircraft to the other at the direction of the pilot. This had the effect of putting one or the other wing tip float in the water, which helped the aircraft turn. The Curtiss HS-2L left Hamilton, at the western end of Lake Ontario, on Saturday, August 7, 1920, for Toronto. It then started north to a base on Remi Lake, near the railway station at Moonbeam. On board were the pilot, Capt. William “Roy” Maxwell; air engineer Roy Doan; Roy Tash, a motion picture camera man for the Ontario Government; and Irwin Proctor, president of the Canadian Aero Film Company. The flight north was made in short stages over a period of five days. The route followed is shown in Figure 2, which was part of a series of stories written by Fred Griffin, a reporter for The Toronto Star, who joined the group at Remi Lake. This was a period of great interest in aviation, and his reports about the flight were feature articles on the front page of the newspaper, as well as in other local, regional and national news outlets. The aircraft then made five round trips between Remi Lake and Moose Factory, some 160 miles further north. (The town of Moose Factory is situated at the mouth of the Moose River. It was originally founded as a Hudson’s Bay Company fur-trading post in 1673, when it was called Moose Fort. The name was changed to Moose Factory in the 1820s, the term “Factory” referring to the jurisdiction of the Hudson’s Bay Company business agent who was called a “factor.”) Fred Griffin reported that mail was carried on these

Figure 2. Toronto Star, July 31, 1920.

flights to and from Moose Factory, which took about 2½ hours in each direction. They temporarily replaced the private mail services maintained by the Hudson’s Bay Company and Revillon Freres, (a rival fur trading company), which carried mail by canoe and took from two to three weeks for the round trip. The amount of mail carried on each flight was listed in Roy Maxwell’s report on the expedition, which includes a reference to 100 pounds of mail on September 2.3 These flights were described by Ken Molson as being “the first airmail flights in northern Canada.” The flight on September 2 is also credited in 125 Years Of Canadian Aeronautics: A Chronology 1840-1965 as being the “First volume carriage of air mail in Canada.”4 Unfortunately no mail carried on these flights is known to have survived, and there will always be a debate among some aerophilatelists as to whether or not mail flown outside of Post Office services should be regarded as “airmail.”

First Regular Airmail Service and Stamps The boom in Canadian aviation following World War I turned out to be short lived. There were 23 firms engaged NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 995

Map 3. Angliers, Hawkesbury and Rouyn. The railway to Rouyn was not built until 1927, and the road after that. (Base map is from a 1963 edition of The Canadian Oxford School Atlas.)

Map 2. The James Bay Lowlands.

in civil aviation in 1921, but only eight by 1924. A similar decline occurred in the number of active pilots. The Canadian Air Board, set up to regulate aviation in Canada, issued the first “Private Air Pilot Certificate” in January 1920. There were 139 certified pilots in 1922, but by 1924 this number dropped to 31.5 One of the most successful of the remaining aviation companies was Laurentide Air Service Limited (LAS). LAS was formed in 1922, and for a time during 1923 operated a fleet of twelve aircraft, conducting surveys, mapping, doing forestry patrol, and transporting firefighting personnel in southern Quebec. Gold was discovered in the Rouyn area in 1922, and several gold mines were in development. The area was mainly a mixture of forest, bare rock, and lakes (see Maps 1 and 3). At this time the main route to the Rouyn goldfields was by train to Angliers on the Des Quinze River, which was the terminus for a branch line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and then by water to Rouyn. The water trip involved four different boats, involved portages – when travelers had to walk between lakes carrying cargo – and took two days. In 1924 some of the mining interests approached Laurentide Air Service, and asked the company if it could provide a quicker service to the goldfields by air. Laurentide planned a schedule of three flights per week coordinated with the tri-weekly rail service to Angliers. The service was operated by a fleet of three Curtiss HS-2L flying boats, which had been modified to carry a third passenger. The initial service was from Angliers to Lake Osisko, just south of Rouyn. However, the base was soon moved to Haileybury, as the HS-2Ls took about a mile of water to take off, and the river in Angliers was often obstructed by logs and debris from forest fires. Haileybury also had a daily rail service to Toronto and Montreal. 996 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

The flight took about an hour, instead of the two days needed to reach the goldfields by canoe and portage, but at first there was no great rush of passengers. According to Jack Caldwell, the pilot on the first LAS flight: Men who would face many kinds of death in the wilderness found excuses for not flying. But we continued to fly express of all sorts without mishap and, gradually, confidence grew and we began to get more passengers. At the height of the season we were transporting a weekly average of 30 passengers in and out of the goldfields… I once flew over 60 miles of wilderness with 15 foot lengths of heavy piping strapped to the wings. On another occasion a 500-pound pneumatic drill was dismantled and stowed away in various parts of the plane’s capacious interior and delivered safely to a Rouyn mine. An entire drum of gasoline was taken in one trip by pouring it into two containers and putting one in either cockpit. There was very little we had to turn down.6 Laurentide charged $45 for a trip from Angliers to Rouyn (equivalent to about $500 U.S. / $600 Canadian today), and later $60 from Haileybury, but it was difficult to operate a financially viable service. There were a lot of people and freight to be flown into Rouyn, but very little came out. By the end of the year, 51,000 pounds of freight had been carried into the goldfields, but only 2,000 pounds were carried out on the return trips.7 When Laurentide inaugurated its service to Rouyn on May 23, 1924, it carried mail on a courtesy basis without charge. Later, in order to increase its revenue, Laurentide applied to the Post Office for permission to charge for the carriage of mail. Permission was granted on August 9, subject to several conditions. The Post Office announcement stated that:

Aerial Mail Service to Rouyn, P.Q.—Permission has been granted to the Laurentide Air Service Limited operating a daily aerial service between Haileybury, Ontario, and Angliers, P.Q., to the Rouyn gold fields to convey such mail matter as is offered for conveyance by this service provided the senders assume all risk. The requirements for this mail are: 1. “By aerial mail” to be prominently written on the address side. 2. The usual Canadian postage to be affixed on the address side. 3. A special aerial sticker sold by the Company or its agents representing a charge of 25 cents to be placed on the reverse side in payment of the special charge for transmission by aerial service, which has been fixed by those making the flight.8 The requirement that “the senders assume all risk” reflects the fact that at that time, the Post Office endeavored to deliver a letter to the person it was addressed to, not just the address. The Post Office did not guarantee delivery to a particular person after a letter has been handed over to the air service. The Post Office also required that Laurentide’s “aerial stickers” should not show a value. That condition, and the Figure 3. LAURENTIDE AIR SERVICE LIMITED – the first semi-official airmail stamp (Scott CL1). requirement that the stickers should be placed on the back of the envelopes, was similar to those regarding the sale of charity labels to be added to mail. The requirement was designed to prevent “aerial stickers” or charity labels from being confused with regular postage stamps. In practice, philatelists sometimes applied the stickers to the front of the envelope, and the mail was still carried. Laurentide placed an initial order for 200 “stickers,” produced as 25 booklets, each containing four panes of two stickers, as in Figure 3. The “aerial stickers” produced by Laurentide, and by other companies under the same conditions, are now referred to as “Semi-official Air Mail Stamps” and listed in the “Back of the Book” section of the Scott catalog with the prefix CL. Laurentide’s first stickers came out on August 30, 1924 (Canada Scott CL1). The airmail service attracted far more attention from philatelists than Laurentide expected,9 and a second printing of 465 booklets (3,720 stickers) was made. The new issue – Scott CL2 – looks the same as CL1, but the booklets were stapled at the top, and were more convenient to use than the first booklets, which were stapled at the side. Figure 4. Cover with CL3, prepared in accordance with Post Office instructions. NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 997

Figure 5. Laurentide’s De Havilland D.H. 9.

A further printing of aerial stickers was ordered by Laurentide in late September. This time they were printed in red, and an inscription “CANADA 1924” was added to the design. Three thousand of the new stickers were issued in panes of 20 perforated stickers (Scott CL3, shown used in Figure 4). Another 3,120 were produced in rouletted booklets of eight: Scott CL4. Laurentide’s service operated on a daily basis until November 15 when the lake at Rouyn began to freeze over. The company planned to continue with a winter service after the lakes had frozen over, but that required aircraft that could operate on skis. A new base was established at Larder Lake, north of Haileybury, and two aircraft were purchased. One was a Westland Limousine, which could carry a pilot and five passengers and had previously been flying in Newfoundland. Unfortunately, when it was inspected after delivery, wood rot was found in part of the frame and it had to be scrapped.

Figure 6. Scott CL5 on a Northern Air Service first flight cover, June 27, 1925. 998 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

The second aircraft was a De Havilland D.H.9, modified to carry two passengers sitting facing each other in a rear cockpit (Figure 5). The first flight of the service between Larder Lake and Rouyn took place on January 22, 1925. Unfortunately Laurentide’s winter service was short lived, as the D.H. 9 crashed after taking off from Larder Lake on January 24. The pilot was unhurt, but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair, and the accident ended Laurentide’s air service to the goldfields. During the summer of 1925, a new company – Northern Air Service Limited – provided air service between Haileybury and Rouyn. The company was formed by “Bill” Broatch, a former pilot of Laurentide Air Service, who purchased two of the Laurentide Curtis HS-2L flying boats. The company was allowed to carry mail under the same terms that Laurentide had operated, and issued a semiofficial stamp, Scott CL5 (Figure 6). The company made its first official airmail flight on June 27, and then made flights five times per week until the end of October. During the year it made some 212 flights and carried 503 passengers, 22,580 pounds of freight, and 1,030 pounds of mail. One of the flying boats was withdrawn from service on August 10. The company then ceased operations on October 22, after its second Curtiss flying boat was destroyed by fire when the wing fabric ignited following an engine backfire.10 During 1926, winter airmail flights were pioneered on the other side of Ontario in the Red Lake goldfields. These were followed by two-season, summer and winter, services. Summer airmail service was provided to Rouyn by new operators in 1926, 1927 and 1928 on a semi-official basis. Information about these services is available in The Air Mails of Canada and Newfoundland (AMCN), the complete first edition of which can be viewed on the American Air Mail Society website.11

Figure 7. The Globe, September 10, 1925.

Figure 8. Although the railway station and town were called Hudson, the post office was named Rolling Portage, to avoid confusion with a post office in Hudson, Quebec.

First Winter Airmail Flights The Red Lake Gold Rush began with newspaper stories like the one in Figure 7. But as the clipping points out, Red Lake was 180 miles from Sioux Lookout, and getting there involved a five to seven day canoe trip. (See Map 1. A more detailed map by a later airline is shown in Map 4.) Several entrepreneurs sought to capitalize on the gold rush by providing fast air transport for passengers and freight into the Red Lake district. The first of these ventures was the Jack V. Elliott Air Service. Elliott had operated a flying school in western Ontario in the early 1920s and made exhibition flights at county fairs. He loaded two of his Curtis JN-4 aircraft into a railway boxcar and sent them north to Sioux Lookout. They were reassembled, fitted with skis, and flown to Hudson, which was the major starting point for the goldfields. The first half of the “land” journey to Red Lake could be made from Hudson by dog-team over frozen Lac Seul, which was just on the other side of the houses shown in Figure 8. The lake also provided an excellent landing site for the aircraft (Figure 9). The first flights into Red Lake were made on March 3, 1926. Before the aircraft could take off, however, its engine

had to be started after sitting outside all night in -20 degrees Fahrenheit. (For reference, New York City normally has only three nights per year when the temperature drops as low as +10°F (-13° Centigrade), and the lowest temperature ever recorded in New York City was -15°F (-26°C)). The oil had been drained the night before to stop it from freezing solid. William Scott, a Toronto Star reporter in Red Lake, described what happened in the morning: First preparations for the flight were to turn the planes so the morning sun would shine on the engines. Then boiling water was poured in the radiator, to take off the first chill. The spark plugs were taken out and heated, while the anti-freeze solution was also warmed before pouring it in, as was the oil. Next gasoline was sprayed into all eight of the cylinders of the V type motor. Then the propellor was given a few turns with ignition switch off. “Contact” would cry one of the airplane crew, “one, two, three,” he would count and give the propeller a twirl, while a comrade pulled him aside to avoid being hit by the propeller if the motor should start.

Figure 9. G-CAEI, a Curtiss JN-4 Canuck of the Jack V. Elliot Air Service. The first aircraft to fly airmail into Red Lake. Painting by Dave Mork, 2017. NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 999

Figure 10. G-CAEI in the brush, March 5.

The motor was most obstinate however, and four experts and many amateur assistants worked from six o’clock in the morning until after one before the occasional cough became a deafening roar. Once the aircraft took off, the flight to Red Lake took about two hours. There weren’t any maps of the area, but the aircraft followed the trail worn in the snow by some 1,000 men and 5,000 sled dogs that had already travelled to Red Lake. The first flights to Red Lake and returns were made without incident, though the aircraft arrived back at Hudson after dark, and had to land by the aid of flares set on the snow. On March 5, both aircraft took off from Hudson, but then were engulfed in a blizzard as they reached Red Lake. Harold Farrington was leading the way. He had to make a blind landing in the whiteout, and his aircraft (registration G-ACEI), went headlong into the undergrowth on the shoreline. The brush punctured seventeen holes in the lower left wing of his plane, and severely dented its leading edge (Figure 10). Howard Watt was following in the second aircraft, (G-CADW). As he came in to land, his engine sputtered when snow got onto the spark plugs, and then died completely. He made a deadstick landing, but the plane’s skis ran into a snowdrift. It nosed over and suffered a cracked propeller and broken undercarriage. Fortunately, the pilots and passengers were uninjured, and they soon located each other. The aircraft had come down close to the Dome mining 1000 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

camp, which sent out a dog team to look for them as they didn’t usually hear aircraft in that area. A party from the camp then went out with a work horse, extricated the aircraft, and towed them into the camp. The two pilots taped and glued the propeller blades on G-CADW, while two workers cut down a spruce tree and made a replacement strut for the undercarriage. Meanwhile fabric patches were sewn over the holes in G-ACEI’s wings. On March 7, Farrington decided to fly back to Red Lake in G-CADW, taking a chance on the taped propeller. Unfortunately, the plane ran off the trail while taxiing to the lake, and the propeller was again damaged. By March 8, however, G-ACEI was in good enough shape for Farrington to fly it back to Hudson, where proper repairs were made to the aircraft. On March 9, he then flew back to Red Lake with a mechanic, a spare propeller, and an undercarriage strut. (A third aircraft, which was no longer airworthy, had been sent north with G-CADW and G-ACEI for spare parts). Flights with both aircraft resumed on March 10.12 Elliot had been given permission to carry airmail on a semi-official basis, but his first proposal for a sticker was rejected because it showed a value. Some copies were sold in error, however, and can be found applied to first flight covers (FFC). The essay was covered over with the approved stamp – Scott CL6 – when the FFCs were processed (Figure 11).13 Although the first flight covers are canceled on March 6, no aircraft flew on that date. The FFCs were probably flown on March 10.14 Flights were then made on most days in March. Unfortunately pilot Howard Watt and his passenger, a prospector Jack Hill, were both seriously injured when Watt’s aircraft crashed shortly after take off on March 26. They were extricated from the plane by the local Ojibwe chief, who lived nearby and had heard the engine quit, and three prospectors who had stopped their dog team to see what they could do. Watt and Hill were taken by dog team to Hudson where they received first aid, and then by train to hospital in Sioux Lookout. Both later had surgery in Toronto. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.15 The remaining aircraft continued flying until April 15, when the spring thaw made the ice-covered lakes dangerous to use. (By this time the problem of starting cold engines had been reduced by the introduction of small “nose hangars.”

These kept the aircraft engine warmer at night, and a heater was lit inside them in the morning.) In order to operate again during the summer, Elliot needed an aircraft which could land on water. He therefore formed a partnership with Sherman Fairchild, manager of the American Fairchild Airplane Manufacturing Corporation. Part of the deal was that Fairchild would provide the company with a seven-seat flying boat. However, the partnership soured, and Fairchild sent the aircraft to Haileybury instead of Red Lake, where it operated into the Rouyn goldfields. Several semi-official stamps were issued with variations of Elliot company names. The various “Elliott” stickers are listed as Scott CL6 to CL9. Details of all these stamps are in AMCN.16 Elliot then purchased a former United States Navy Curtiss HS-2L for summer operations, but this aircraft turned out not to be airworthy. As a result, Elliot left Hudson and returned to Hamilton.

Airmail is Established The second company to fly into Red Lake was Patricia Airways and Exploration Limited (PA&EL), named after the Figure 11. March 6 FFC with CL6 over essay (top) the essay is shown below as the paste deteriorates with age. “District of Patricia,” the administrative area of Ontario in which Red Lake was Lake. Doc Oaks found some business partners and bought a situated. The district was created in 1912 and named after brand new Curtiss Lark (Figure 12). The aircraft could carry Princess Patricia, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria and a pilot and three passengers (two in the front cockpit, one daughter of the then-Governor General of Canada. sitting beside the pilot in the rear cockpit), and operate from PA&EL was formed by “Doc” Oaks, who was a fighter wheels, skis or floats. pilot during World War I, trained as a mining engineer at PA&EL used Sioux Lookout as its base rather than Hudthe University of Toronto, and then worked as a pilot for son (see Map 5). The Curtis Lark arrived there on April 10, the Ontario Provincial Air Service (OPAS). In the fall of 1926, and made its first flight into Red Lake on April 12, just 1925, Jack Hamill, one of the most successful mine probefore the ice began to thaw. moters, hired some aircraft from the OPAS to fly men and Once the ice was out, the Curtiss Lark operated on floats equipment into Red Lake before the winter set in, so that and was the only aircraft flying in the area after the end of he could start developing his claims there. Doc Oaks was Jack Elliot’s companies, around late May. A large backlog of one of the pilots on the OPAS airlift. (The aircraft involved mail had accumulated at Hudson, and the Post Office paid were Curtiss HS-2L flying boats that were normally used for PA&EL 25 cents per letter to deliver this mail to Red Lake. forestry surveys and fire patrols. They were based in Sioux As a result, covers are known that were flown by PA&EL but Lookout and had finished their flying tasks for the 1925 franked with one of the “Elliot” semi-official stamps, Scott season, but had not yet been ferried back to Sault Ste. Marie CL6 to CL9. They can be identified by their cancels between for their annual maintenance and winter storage.) June 27 and July 6, 1926. Doc Oaks left the OPAS at the completion of the airlift. PA&EL began carrying mail with its own stamps on July He had staked a claim in Red Lake, sold it, and planned to use his profit to start an air service operating into Red 7, 1926 (Figure 13). In addition to the Curtiss Lark, PA&EL NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1001

There has been a long-running controversy regarding the number and variety of these overprinted stamps and how many were produced just for philatelists. Murray Heifetz, who was a very keen collector of Canadian semi-official airmails, used to remark that, “The company president stated that a merger was anticipated and only a small stock of stamps was kept on hand to obviate large remainders.” The variety and inconsistency of overprints might therefore be explained as the result of a busy and overworked administrative staff. However, many philatelists agree with L.S. Holmes, Figure 12. G-CAFB, the Patricia Airways & Exploration Limited Curtiss Lark. It is shown with central float and two wing tip floats, during the summer in the Red Lake area. Painting by who commented in his Specialized Dave Mork. Philatelic Catalogue of Canada and British North America (1968), “Many rented a Curtiss HS-2L during the summer and bought a overprints were made in rapid succession, in ink of various Stinson Detroiter cabin biplane (G-CAFW) in December. It colours and in all possible positions. We have always felt also bought a second Detroiter (G-CAGF) in 1927, and began they were entirely unnecessary.” flights from Haileybury into the Rouyn goldfields as well as The third company to operate into the Red Lake area its flights in the Red Lake area. Unfortunately, the G-CAGF was Western Canada Airways. WCA was formed by Doc crashed in Haileybury when a float collapsed on landing, and Oaks, who had left PA&EL in October 1926 due to disthe Curtiss Lark crashed near Hudson in September 1927. satisfaction at the way the company was run, and James These crashes put the company in severe financial difficulty Richardson who was a prominent businessman and very and it stopped operating in November 1927. interested in aviation. Richardson became president of While PA&EL was the most successful company to WCA, and Doc Oaks was general manager. They aimed to carry airmail so far, it is best known for the number of develop a nationwide air transportation company. stamps it produced, and the variety of overprints on WCA began with one aircraft, a Fokker Universal of them, some examples of which are shown in Figure 14. the type shown in Figure 15, which flew into Red Lake on Figure 13. Scott CL13 original stamp issued July 1, 1926, Sioux Lookout to Red Lake, value of 25 cents.

Figure 14. Scott CL18 overprinted for reduced postal rate of 5 cents for the Sioux Lookout – Red Lake district. Overprint from left to right: black ascending (CL20), black descending (CL20a), red ascending (CL20b). 1002 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

December 1926. Unlike Jack Elliot’s Curtiss JN-4, which carried one passenger in an open cockpit, or the Curtiss Lark, which carried three passengers in its open cockpits, the Fokker Universal carried four passengers in an enclosed cabin. The pilot, however, still sat in the open, but many pilots preferred it that way as they thought it gave them a better feel for aircraft movements. At the beginning of 1927, WCA helped clear a backlog of mail that had built up again to and from Red Lake. After May 10 it carried mail with its own stamp, which is listed by Scott as CL40. In June WCA expanded into Manitoba and began service from Lac du Bonnet to gold mines being developed at Slate Lake, Long Lake and Rice Lake: see Figure 16 and Map 4. By the end of the year WCA had a fleet of six aircraft. In the fall of 1927, the Canadian Post Office had begun to pay companies to deliver mail to some remote locations by air and took over WCA’s airmail routes from Lac du Bonnet. Mail was carried on these routes at regular postage rates. The Post Office inaugurated more airmail routes during 1928 and also authorized new companies to carry mail on a semi-official basis. Details of these routes and companies can be found in AMCN.17 In August 1928 some special airmail flights were made to and from Toronto as part of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Canadian National Exhibition which was held in Toronto. The Post Office applied souvenir cachets to mail carried on these flights, but only if it was franked at 5 cents for the first ounce instead of the usual 2 cents. These souvenir cachets turned out to be extremely popular: over 32,000 covers were flown to Toronto on August 24, and over 27,000 from Toronto on August 29. From then on, the Post Office offered souvenir first flight covers (FFC) whenever it opened a new route, and these covers became a popular collectible.

Figure 15. A Fokker Universal of Western Canada Airways.

Figure 16. First flight cover from Lac du Bonnet to Rice Lake, with Scott CL40 stamp.

Map 5. PA&EL route map and rate card, produced by the airline.

NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1003

Figure 17. Dog teams leaving Fort McMurray with one man travelling ahead on snowshoes, making a trail through the snow.

On October 1, 1928, the Canadian Post Office introduced an Air Mail rate of 5 cents for the first ounce/10 cents per additional ounce. This only applied to inter-city “Air Mail” services, which offered a faster option than the regular services, which carried mail by rail. Mail continued to be flown at the regular postage rates on services to isolated locations, which were known as “Air Stage” services. However, if somebody wanted the cachet on a first flight cover carried on an Air Stage service, they had to frank it at the Air Mail rate of 5 cents first ounce, not the regular, surface rate of 2 cents first ounce.18

First Airmail to the Arctic WCA continued to grow throughout 1928. By the end of the year WCA had a fleet of 27 aircraft, was operating in British Columbia and Ontario as well as Manitoba, and had run an experimental Prairie Air Mail service between Winnipeg, Calgary, and Edmonton for three weeks in Decem-

Map 6. The Mackenzie River Route to Aklavik. (Base map is from The University Atlas, George Philip & Son Ltd.) 1004 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

ber. In 1929 it started expanding north towards the Arctic. The only major transportation route to the Western Arctic was along the Athabasca, Slave and Mackenzie Rivers. During the summer, a series of steam-powered sternwheeler riverboats operated from Fort McMurray, at the end of a railway line from Edmonton, all the way to Aklavik on the Arctic Ocean. But once the rivers froze up, the only way to travel north was by dog sled. It could take two months for a letter to travel from Fort McMurray to Aklavik (see Map 6 and Figure 17). “Punch” Dickens joined WCA in 1928. As narrated by Ken Molson, Punch Dickins made exploratory flights in the North West Territories and assessed the possibilities of starting an air service down the Mackenzie River: He lined up several loads of furs to come out, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police hoped to give him some business and other companies and organisations expressed interest in such a service. In addition, there was a large quantity of second-class mail accumulating at Waterways (Fort McMurray) which would normally wait for the opening of navigation on the river in June or July. The Post Office was approached concerning this mail and a contract obtained to transport some of it by air.19

Figure 18. WCA aircraft being refueled at Fort Resolution on January 25 during the flight north with first airmail.

The first flight of 1929 left Fort McMurray on January 23, and reached as far north as Fort Simpson where Punch Dickins picked up a load of furs (Figures 18 and 19). On the way back, Dickens had to land at Fort Resolution in a heavy snowstorm and ran over a snowdrift that caused the undercarriage to collapse, which in turn bent the blades of the propeller. At the fort, the undercarriage was repaired by cutting off the cracked parts and replacing them with water pipes, which were riveted in place. But when they tried to straighten the propeller, the end of one of the blades which had been cracked on Figure 19. First flight cover to Fort Simpson, backstamped JAN 26 29. landing broke off. Punch Dickins and his engineer then cut six inches off the other propeller so that the blades matched, and flew the aircraft back to Fort McMurray with the shortened propeller. A second round trip to Fort Simpson was made in February. A third trip down the Mackenzie was made in March, and the flight went as far as Fort Good Hope, 10 miles south of the Arctic Circle. Punch Dickins picked up a load of furs and extended his flight north when he left Fort Good Hope, so becoming the first commercial aircraft to cross the western Arctic Circle. On March 21, WCA was allowed to Figure 20. First flight cover Waterways to Fort McPherson, with cachet AIR MAIL FIRST FLIGHT carry semi-official mail on its Macken- Ft. McMURRAY to AKLAVIK, CL40 on back. Waterways was the name of the terminus of the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway from Edmonton to Fort McMurray. zie valley flights. There were no flights in April while a wartime ace and legendary bush pilot. He formed CAL the ice broke up. WCA resumed with in 1928 and it was one of five companies that bid on the aircraft on floats in June, and Aklavik was reached on July 1 contract for a permanent Prairie Air Mail service earlier in (Figure 20). Punch Dickins commented, 1929. It seems likely that the Post Office decided to spread At Aklavik there were about 300 Eskimos that had the contracts it awarded around: Western Canada Airways never seen a plane and together with about 300 dogs was based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, whereas CAL was based tied up, the din when I shut off the engine and got out in Edmonton, Alberta. was astounding. The Eskimos were very curious and I took some 35 of them up in machine at $10 for each Over 100,000 First Flight Covers for about 10 minutes.20 There was a huge response from philatelists when the Western Canada Airways then continued flights along Post Office announced the airmail/Air Stage service to the Mackenzie until October 17, 1929. Aklavik. This was a time of great interest in the Arctic as In spite of the pioneering work by Punch Dickins and well as in philately and in aviation. WCA, when the Post Office awarded the contract for an “air The Post Office offered a cachet for mail carried on stage” service down the Mackenzie it went to Commercial the first flight from Fort McMurray to Aklavik, a different Airways Limited (CAL). CAL had been formed by “Wop” cachet for mail carried to each of the 12 communities en May, who was famous as the pilot being chased by the “Red route, and separate cachets for the mail carried back from Baron,” Manfred von Richthofen, when Richthofen was shot down in Word War I. Wop May went on to become each community to Fort McMurray. The communities are NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1005

Figure 22. A correctly addressed FFC. Some collectors preferred to address their FFCs to the end of the route: they came back with a variety of redirection markings.

Figure 21. FFC cachets depicting Musk ox and dog sled.

Figure 23. Loading the mail in Fort McMurray. The aircraft is one of the three Bellanca CH-300 aircraft used to carry the mail. (The fourth was a similar sized Lockheed Vega.)

shown in Map 7 – the cachets showed scenes from along the Athabasca, Slave and Mackenzie Rivers (Figure 21). In order to obtain a cachet, collectors were instructed to address an envelope to themselves, indicate the part of the route it was to be flown on, frank it with Canadian postage at the Air Mail rate (or enclose a money order for the amount of postage), and send it in a separate envelope to the Superintendent of Postal Service in Edmonton to arrive by October 31, 1929. Over 100,000 pieces of mail were sent to Edmonton to be carried on the first flight! There was also a great response from the people who lived along the rivers, as they would be able to receive goods carried at regular postage rates. By 1929 a number of radio stations had been set up in northern Canada by the Canadian army. These stations allowed short messages to be sent, and many people arranged with a radio station to send out orders for various goods. As a result a very large amount of parcels also arrived to be sent north by the first airmail service. 1006 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

This created a problem for CAL, as a fleet of four aircraft was now needed for the first flight of the new service! Some of these were new aircraft that had just been bought in Montréal, and still had wheels on. The start of the service was delayed while these aircraft were converted to land on skis and altered to fly in winter conditions. Although the cover in Figure 22 was postmarked in Edmonton on November 26 and then sent to Fort McMurray by train, the aircraft didn’t leave Fort McMurray until December 10 (Figure 23). The leading aircraft on each stage north was always piloted by Wop May, who checked out the landing arrangements. The postmaster at each community had been given instructions to find a smooth piece of ice on the river for the aircraft to land on and mark it with two lines of spruce trees. After Wop May had landed successfully, the other aircraft would follow. After landing, the aircraft were secured overnight by chopping holes in the ice, putting gasoline and the end of a rope from the plane into each hole, then throwing in a

Figure 24. Transferring the mail at Fort Smith.

lighted match. After the flames had melted the ice, the water quickly froze again around the end of the rope, and made an anchor, which held the aircraft firmly in position. Once the aircraft was secure, the oil was drained and the engine covered with asbestos blankets. The mail was then unloaded and taken by dog sled to the Post Office, which could be up to two miles away from where the aircraft had landed (Figures 24 and 25). Before the aircraft left Fort McMurray on December 10, 1929, the first flight covers had been divided up and put into separate mail bags to each community, and for the mail to be sent back from each community. A postal inspector, Walter Hale, flew north with the aircraft and made sure that the bag with the first flight covers was always on the first aircraft to land at a community.

He also helped the local postmaster handle this unusual amount of mail and made sure the correct postmarks and cachet were applied. There was an average of 3,500 FFCs addressed to each community along the route, and some 4,000 covers to be canceled and sent out on the first southbound plane from each community. The next morning each aircraft’s engine had to be heated with blowtorches, the oil warmed up and poured into the engine, and the engine started. Before taking off, the pilots taxied up and down the ice strip so the skis on the aircraft packed down the snow that had drifted onto it during the night. Wop May then headed north. Some of the aircraft followed him, while others shuttled back and forth, taking mail back south and bringing up mail for points further north.

The Wide World of Airmail Collectors By David Ball The airmail-collecting community welcomes you to join them. Check out the following societies and see which is right for you and your collecting interests. The British Air Mail Society, based out of London, is for anybody with an interest in airmails, regardless of period or country specialization. The International Federation of Aero-Philatelic Societies (FISA) is the international representative of the interests of the Aerophilatelic and Astrophilatelic community. The Metropolitan Air Post Society covers air post history and the development of aviation, airlines and airmail services. It is a chapter of the American Air Mail Society. The Canadian Aerophilatelic Society has a journal, The Canadian Aerophilatelist. The Irish Airmail Society has the objective of studying Irish airmails in all its aspects. The Air Mail Society of New Zealand has a monthly newsletter and regular auctions, and has published a series of handbooks on airmail postal history. The Australian Airmail Society publishes The Australian Aerophilatelist.

The Zeppelin Study Group is the largest international society for zeppelin mail and airship memorabilia collectors. “De Vliegende Hollander” is the website of the Netherlands Air Mail Society. Der Internationale Aero-Philatelisten Club publishes Die Luftpost four times a year. The American Air Mail Society (AAMS) is the second oldest aerophilatelic society in the world. The Society promotes aerophilately through its publications (AAMS Catalogue is in its 7th Edition), member auctions, an annual meeting held at national stamp shows, and a major airmail show every five years at the American Philatelic Society headquarters in Bellefonte, PA. Information on AEROPHILATELY 2022 can be found on its website (https://www.americanairmailsociety. org/). AAMS members enjoy a subscription to the Airpost Journal, a 20 percent discount on AAMS publications, and members-only content on the website. Society, Literature, and Exhibit Awards as well as participation in AAMS Chapters and Study Units are open to all members in good standing. AAMS alternates a live members’ auction with a specialist presentation on the monthly Zoom calls. NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1007

Figure 25. The Post Office and Government Building in Fort Smith.

Figure 26. Part of the big welcome in Aklavik.

Everything was made more complicated by the short period of daylight during the winter in Northern Canada. In Fort McMurray the sun rises at about 9 a.m. in December and sets at 4 p.m. As the aircraft moved north, the length of the days got shorter. Once they were north of the Arctic Circle, the sun did not rise above the horizon and there were just a few hours of twilight in the middle of the day. The short period of daylight limited the amount of flying that could be done, since the pilots had to land in places they had never been to before. The result was that the fleet normally moved ahead by one community each day. Fort Simpson, the halfway point on the route, was reached on December 18. After that, with half the mail delivered, only two aircraft continued north. Their occupants were: Wop May and his mechanic Tim Sims; Idris Glynn-Roberts, pilot of the second aircraft, and his mechanic Casey van der Linden; Postal Inspector Walter Hale; and Ted Watt, a reporter from the Edmonton Journal who also helped with tasks like loading mail and clearing snow from the aircraft. On Christmas Day they flew from Fort Norman to 1008 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Fort Good Hope. The day started badly, as the nighttime temperature had dropped to -60°F (-51°C), and a gale had partially buried the aircraft in drifting snow. Then, after the aircraft had been dug out and they’d flown to Fort Good Hope, they discovered that the Hudson’s Bay Company’s post they had planned to stay in had burned down a few weeks earlier! They found an abandoned log cabin to spend the night in, borrowed a stove and some cooking pots, and were given wood for a fire. They thawed out an already cooked turkey they had brought with them for Christmas dinner by cutting it up with an axe and boiling the pieces in pots filled with snow. Some members of the Mounted Police then joined the group and shared gifts, which had arrived with the mail that afternoon. The group flew on to Arctic Red River the next day and reached Aklavik on December 27, 1929-17 days after leaving Fort McMurray. There was a three day celebration by the population of Aklavik after the aircraft arrived (Figure 26). They celebrated both the arrival of the airmail and the fact that they now had much better communication with the rest of Canada.

The fliers left Aklavik on December 30. The return trip was much quicker as the amount of mail to be carried was less and the days got longer as they headed south. They arrived back in Fort McMurray on January 2, 1930, four days after leaving Aklavik.21

Epilogue – The 1930s The number of Air Stage services operated by the Post Office into the Canadian North continued to expand during the 1930s, even though the fast, optional airmail services in southern Canada were curtailed. Interest in philately and aviation remained high, and the Post Office continued to offer souvenir cachets when new services were inaugurated. Thousands of first flight covers were carried, and they remain a popular collectible. The semi-official services were gradually taken over by the Post Office and the last flights with semi-official stamps were made in 1934. Western Canada Airways and Commercial Airways both became part of Canadian Airways Limited (CAL) which was formed in 1930. CAL expanded during the 1930s and at its peak operated a fleet of 51 aircraft of various types. In 1942, CAL became part of a new company, Canadian Pacific Airlines.

Acknowledgments Many thanks to Dave Mork for permission to use his paintings in the article header and Figures 9 and 12; to Robert Galway for the items from scrapbooks kept by Capt. Roy Maxwell; to Denny May for information related to Commercial Airways Limited; and to Gord Mallett for photographs from Walter Hale’s photograph album.

Errors! Unfortunately there are numerous contradictions between various articles and books about this period in Canadian aviation history, particularly with regard to who did what and when. In writing this article I have picked the information that I think is most likely to be correct.

For Further LEARNING

Recommendations from the APRL research staff: American Air Mail Society, Canadian Aerophilatelic Society and Richard K. Malott. The Air Mails of Canada and Newfoundland (Mineola, NY: American Air Mail Society, 1997). [HE6238 .A512ac 6th-ed] Baldwin, N.C. Canada: An Air Mail Digest (Sutton Coldfield, England: Francis J. Field, Ltd., 1965). [HE6238 .B182ca]

Map 7. Fort McMurray to Aklavik route map, published by Commercial Airlines Limited.

he Author

Chris Hargreaves has been editor of The Canadian Aerophilatelist, quarterly journal of the Canadian Aerophilatelic Society, since 1994 and continues to very much enjoy the correspondence that involves with members and researchers across Canada, in the USA, and around the world. He is currently Editor-in-Chief for the revised edition of The Air Mails of Canada and Newfoundland.

Bloor, John H. “Pioneer and Semiofficial Stamps and Flights of Canada,” Global Stamp News (January 1998). Mallett, Gordon. No Englishmen Need Apply (Ottawa: British North America Philatelic Society, 2010). [IP24304] Malott, R.K. (Major). Canadian Air Mail Flight Covers (Ottawa: The Author, 1973). [HE6238 .M257c]

NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1009

Endnotes 1 Canada’s Flying Heritage by Frank Ellis (University of Toronto Press, 1961). This was the first major book on Canada’s aviation history. It is still one of the best accounts of early aviation in Canada, and very readable. 2 “Flying Boat Operations in Northern Ontario” by Ken Molson was published in the Canadian Aviation Historical Society’s CAHS Journal in Fall 1973, and reproduced in The Canadian Aerophilatelist, September 2017. An index to the journal and back issues of The Canadian Aerophilatelist can be viewed on the CAS website www.aerophilately.ca. 3 The listing is reproduced in “Unrecorded Air Mail From 1920, Flown by Capt. William Roy Maxwell” by Robert Galway (The Canadian Aerophilatelist, September 2017): 10-15. 4 125 Years Of Canadian Aeronautics: A Chronology 1840- 1965 by G.A. Fuller, J.A. Griffin, and K.M. Molson (Canadian Aviation Historical Society, 1983.) 5 See Endnotes 1 (page 144) and 3 (page 163). 6 Air Transport In Canada volume 1, by Larry Milberry (Canav Books, 1997): 56. 7 See “Laurentide Air Service” by K.M. Molson in The Canadian Aviation Historical Society Journal, vol. 21, no. 3 (Fall 1983). 8 This announcement was published in the Monthly Supplement to the “Canadian Official Postal Guide” for October 1924. Some of the Monthly Supplements can be viewed on the Library and Archives Canada website, https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng under “Post Office Publications”. 9 Bob Jamieson, who had done a detailed study of the Laurentide semi-officials, made this observation in a presentation on Laurentide Air Services at a Toronto Day of Aerophilately many years ago. The prospectors and mine workers did not send or receive much mail, and as a result there was very little non-philatelist mail carried on the early semi-official airmail services. 10 See The Pioneer and Semi-Official Air Mails of Canada 1918-1934 by C.A. Longworth-Dames (Unitrade Press, 1995). This is the classic book for information about the companies that flew semi-

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official airmail as well as the stamps and covers of said flights. 11 The Air Mails of Canada and Newfoundland was published by the American Air Mail Society in 1997. It can be viewed on the AAMS website at www.AmericanAirMailSociety.org – go to “Resources” then “Publications”. A revised edition should be published soon. Illustrations of many semi-official covers and stamps can be found in Tom Reyman’s column of “Semi-Official Notes” in The Canadian Aerophilatelist. 12 “Early Airmail Service in the Red Lake District, 1925-1926” by Derek Rance, in The Canadian Aerophilatelist (September 1996): 9-23. See also “Narrow Escape at Red Lake — 1926” from the Flights of History blog by Diana Trafford, https://flightsofhistory. perfectdayfactory.com. 13 “Further research on the Jack V. Elliott Air Service Semi-Official ‘Blue Essay’“ by Ed Matthews in The Canadian Aerophilatelist (September 2012): 18-25. 14 See again “Early Airmail Service in the Red Lake District, 19251926” by Derek Rance, pages 9-23. 15 Again, from “Narrow Escape at Red Lake — 1926” by Diana Trafford. 16 The Air Mails of Canada and Newfoundland (AMCN), 1997. 17 The Air Mails of Canada and Newfoundland (AMCN), 1997. 18 “New Research on Canada’s Air Mail Rates in 1928” by Chris Hargreaves in BNATopics (Apr/Jun 2019): 20-33. See www.bnaps.org for information on the British North America Philatelic Society. 19 Pioneering in Canadian Air Transport by K.M. Molson (James Richardson & Sons Limited, 1974): 60. 20 Pioneering in Canadian Air Transport, page 62. 21 See More Stories About “Wop” May, written by his son Denny May (Maycroft Publishing - maycroft@shaw.ca ). Also, Wings of a Hero: Canadian pioneer flying ace Wilfred Wop May by Sheila Reid (Vanwell Publishing) and No Englishmen Need Apply, a biography of Walter Hale, “the flying postal inspector” by Gord Mallett. This last book includes a DVD copy of a photograph album kept by Walter Hale, from which some of the photographs in this article are taken. It is available from BNAPS publications at https://bnaps.org/books/books.php.

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Airmail Etiquettes ARTHUR H. GROTEN M.D.

am delighted to be able to write about airmail labels for this special issue on aerophilately. Those who are familiar with my paraphilatelic writings know that I have talked extensively about these little gems for a long time in a variety of places, usually for specialist groups here and abroad. I coined the term “paraphilately” to include that material which enhances the story of a stamp or its usage such as descriptive leaflets, airmail timetables and similar ephemera. It also encompasses what we call Cinderellas, i.e things that look like stamps but are not, like charity seals and informational labels (including airmail etiquettes). In this article, presented as a tutorial, I hope to pass on to a larger audience my enthusiasm for these artifacts and how they can add another dimension to your collection. Airmail labels, or etiquettes as they known outside of U.S. philately (I use the terms interchangeably), were initially created to bring attention to the desired carriage of the letter. In appearance, they differ from postage stamps mainly in that they are non-denominated, thus their inclusion in the larger group of

Cinderellas, things that look like stamps but are not (etiquettes can vary in shape, perforations, and size). Indeed, some have been mistaken for and accepted as postage. The earliest airmail letters required a handwritten instruction, e.g. “by airmail” or “par avion.” But in the early days of airmail, without some way to emphasize that point, the designation could be easily missed. Gradually, the use of airmail labels became much more common. The first air etiquette was issued in France in 1918 (Figure 1). As a rule, there was no charge for either government or airline etiquettes. Some private makers, like Dennison, would charge for their “generic” labels sold in stationery shops and other locations. The customer would apply the etiquette. There was no requirement for where the label should be placed, except by custom. Sometimes you can see labels placed in the upper right corner and accepted as postage – this was not legal use!

Figure 1. First day of use of the world’s first airmail etiquette from Le Bourget, near Paris, to St. Nazaire, August 17, 1918. A pen inscription identifies the pilot as A. Vancaudenberghe, a sergeant in the French Air Corps. This was also the first trial for a French internal airmail service.

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Figure 2. Black proof for France’s second etiquette issued in 1919. Such proofs for etiquettes are very rare. It exists because this label was produced as if it were a postage stamp, as seen in the Figure 5 example.

Figure 3. A remarkable use of both of France’s first two etiquettes, registered to a military group at Fez, Morocco, with route “de Toulouse a Rabat,” properly franked 1 franc (F), 85 centimes (2x 75 centimes to pay the airmail rate and 35 centimes to pay registry).

The most comprehensive catalog of these labels is Gunter Mair’s monumental six-volume work, Airmail Labels of the World. It is now being revised for a digital format (some of which are already available – see “References”). The listing for each label includes the date issued, color(s), type of separation, marginal imprints and varieties, as well as a relative value scale of scarcity. He categorizes them into three main groups: governmental issues, those issued by specific airlines, and miscellaneous, i.e. all the rest. The miscellaneous category encompasses various kinds of etiquettes: generic (referring to labels that simply say “air mail” or “via airmail,” or are not supplied by airlines or made available by the government); those issued by hotels, businesses or charities; and other private issues. I should mention that the earliest labels from a country may not have been government issues. Often, as in the case of Australia and Colombia, the airlines released the first etiquettes, sometimes as much as a decade before. The same parameters of production that define postage stamps also define these labels, as well as many other instructional ones, e.g. those for express or registration services. Like stamps, they may be collected as face different only, on a more specialized basis, or topically or thematically. For those who like to exhibit, such paraphilatelic items and other collateral material are now recognized as appropriate inclusions to help tell the story. Before looking at the broad categories of these labels, let’s look at the collecting similarities between stamps and etiquettes. The discussion below pertains to all three broad categories: governmental, airlines and private. Most of the

examples I show are governmental issues. First, preproduction material is almost nonexistent for etiquettes of any kind. The only example I have found is a black proof for France’s second air etiquette (Figure 2) honoring WWI aviation ace Georges Guynemer, issued in 1919 (Figure 3). Another interesting feature of this label is that it is the only one I know of that commemorates a specific individual. Why other countries didn’t do this is a mystery to me.

About the Postal Label Study Group The Postal Label Study Group (APS affiliate #207) is an international group of philatelists interested in the collection and study of a wide variety of postal labels designating the kind of services and the various kinds of efforts the postal authorities utilized to process the mail including: Airmail labels, Registration labels, Express labels, Priority labels, Certified mail labels, Insurance labels, Official Seals, Parcel post labels and Mail Routing labels. The website, https://www.postal-labelstudy-group.info, talks about what we collect, offers some resources and includes, for members, a complete run of our quarterly PLSG Bulletin and a membership application. NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1013

Marginal Imprints Marginal imprints are almost always printing data indicating the printer, usually the government’s, as well as the date of issue and its quantity. Most often they are in the lower left or upper right margin (Figure 4) but can appear anywhere. I know of only a single example of a true plate number, occurring on France’s second issue, mentioned on the previous page. (Figure 5).

Figure 6. The two colors in which Greece’s first etiquette was issued in 1931, made for the airline Societe Hellenique de Communications Aeriennes (SHCA), two years before the first governmental release.

Figure 4. Imprint on Poland’s first issue: “M.P. i T. 303 (I.1929). 300 000.” Printer, date and quantity. These designations were added by the printer in their own code beginning with their name, often expressed with initials like these, and the actual name may or may not be known. The number following is most likely an order number or has some internal meaning. Finally, the date of issue may appear as well as the quantity.

Figure 5. Second French etiquette with its plate block number, the only one I have seen. I have also seen a large block of the second issue, indicating it was printed in sheets. I suspect the holes to the left were made during the printing as they do not appear to be booklet staples. 1014 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Color The same design may come in various shades of one color, often permitting dating, or in different colors, invariably issued at different times (Figure 6). The early collectors of these labels would indicate in their albums the year a particular new color or shade appeared (and in what city). The printers’ imprints are usually dated as well, and finding a label used on cover can also indicate the range of use. Some labels are printed in two colors, and very rarely in three or more (Figure 7). As one would expect, and like postage stamps, you may find misregistration (color misalignment) (Figure 8) or missing colors, both scarce. The Mair catalog recognizes major errors and varieties.

Figure 7. A four-color label issued by Brazil’s NYRBA airline (New York, Rio, Buenos Aires), in 1929.

Figure 8. Marked misregistration on Great Britain’s “wings” series, 1934. “P25G” is the sheet reference number for this label, but later printings show different reference numbers.

Figure 9. Horizontal imperforates, right, (first Greek government-issued etiquette, 1933) and vertical imperforates (Sudan’s second government issue, 1931. The first government issue was also issued that year).

Figure 10. Vertical imperforates and skewed horizontal perforations (on Great Britain’s “wings” label).

Separation The earliest etiquettes were usually imperforate. The same etiquette designs sometimes later appeared roulette or perforated, often with multiple numbers of gauges. You can find combinations, such as imperforate plus roulette. Perforation errors, like those found in stamps, abound, including imperforates between etiquettes (Figure 9), misperforations (Figure 10) or major miscuts (Figure 11).

Figure 11. Mexico’s first label, shown at top, (no errors), 1927, and the same issue, markedly miscut with an official “Servicio Postal Aereo” handstamp added.

NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1015

Figure 12. A remarkable fading “I” on Great Britain’s December 1920 label (left). This example (right) is a bottom margin stamp, but there is not enough information available (i.e., an example in a large enough block) to assign the error a position number.

Figure 13. Pan American issued these 1945 labels for use by its customers in Iran. It was typographed (shown on cover). and resulted in two major errors: “N” for “M” (top right), which was hand-corrected (middle right), and “K” for “R” (bottom right).

Varieties

Figure 14. India’s first etiquette, 1927, was printed in sheets of six in two colors, blue and red. There is a noticeable plate flaw along the left side at position 2 on both.

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The same designs of labels often went through changes in color or typeface. Mair gives these different catalog numbers, but most are collected as one type with different printings. In addition to color and perforation errors, you can find typographical errors or constant plate flaws. Great Britain’s second issue label shows a most interesting fading “I” (Figure 12). A 1945 Pan American etiquette issued for use in Iran is known with two different typographical errors (Figure 13). India’s 1927 first label comes in blue or red, and a constant plate flaw in position #2 occurs in both colors (Figure 14) whereas a scratched plate at position #5 is found only on the red issue (Figure 15). Major paper folds, like the one seen in Great Britain’s “wings” series, are rare (Figure 16). Set-offs (an unintended impression caused by wet ink, often on the back of a stamp or label) occur from time to time as in Czechoslovakia’s 1920 issue of four labels indicating a route (Figure 17).

Figure 15. In the red color issue of India’s first etiquette there is also a large plate scratch at position 5. In the example shown above, the pair of etiquettes from position 2 and 5 show the same flaw at position 2 as in the blue sheet. The bottom stamp shows a large plate scratch at position 5. The cover at left proves that the position 5 flaw is constant.

Figure 16. A very rare major paper fold on Great Britain’s “wings” series.

Figure 17. A clear set-off is seen on Czechoslovakia’s first etiquette, 1920, one of a set of four with routing specified. Such specifications are very uncommon. NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1017

Figure 18. An early (1930s) Great Britain booklet that contained 3 shillings (3/-) worth of stamps and a number of air labels. There are many issues of these booklets with different covers and interleavings.

Figure 19. Air Orient, 1931, issued labels for use by customers in Thailand. There was a sheet of 10 printed on the back of this airgram (or airletter sheet), the only example of this I have from any country. The labels also appeared in sheets.

Figure 20. A gorgeous booklet cover for France’s CIDNA airline, 1931, containing a pane of 28 labels.

Figure 21. Another unusual presentation of etiquettes, here attached to an official Dutch informational flyer in 1934 (not intended for the mailstream).

Format Many stamps, particularly in the U.S., are printed in sheets of four panes, which is why we have four different corner plate blocks. Most labels are printed as single sheets, rather than multiple panes to be cut apart, or as booklets. Some booklets contained postage stamps as well as air etiquettes (Figure 18) while most contained only the etiquettes with a variable number of panes or panes of different sizes. Many were issued by specific airlines for their patrons (Figure 19). Many have covers or interleavings with rate and route information or advertising. Hundreds of such booklets are known throughout the world, some prosaic, others with graphically beautiful covers (Figure 20). On occasion, labels are attached to governmental flyers (Figure 21). There are examples of têtê-bêche pairs (printed upside down or sideways relative to each other), such as Madagascar’s first issue, 1929 (Figure 22). In this example, some pairs (but not all) were from a sheet of 10 rows where the 5th and 6th are inverted, on to the other. Rarely, issuers printed one on the front and the other on the reverse. By this I mean alternating rows, one on the “front” and the next row on the “reverse.” The user would cut them apart and use the printed side. 1018 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Figure 22. Têtê-bêche pairs were produced in a few countries and are uncommon. A pair of Madagascar’s first etiquette graces this 1929 registered first flight from Madagascar to France.

Most labels have a single language, French being the international language for postal services, or two languages, adding English. There is a correlation between the number of languages on a label and its scarcity. Five is the most I have found (Figure 23). Multi-language labels usually have some combination of English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese or a local language. They were clearly used by those who would correspond to multiple countries. They are not easy to find on cover. Some countries produced oddities such as the combination of air and registration on one label (Figure 24) or spaces for a handwritten denomination (Figure 25), i.e. “porte-timbres.” Porte-timbre is the term for labels, usually advertising of some sort, with the space for the postage stamp to be affixed, similar to the U.S. 19th century “collars” often seen on covers. The only porte-timbres I have seen are from Yugoslavia, denominated 1.50 dinar and 3d. While not strictly air etiquettes, I think them worthy of inclusion in this article (Figure 26).

Figure 23. A five-language U.S. etiquette, c. 1950. There are very few etiquettes with five languages; I have not seen any with more.

Figure 24. In addition to the regular air etiquette (Switzerland’s second issue), the registration label is hand stamped “Poste Aerienne” in red on this first flight cover from Lausanne to Milan, 1925.

Figure 25. Etiquettes from the Portuguese colonies, but not Portugal itself, have space to write the postal rate entered, as on this first etiquette from Mozambique, issued in 1932 and used in 1934. Note the marginal imprint, which, most unusually, appears on all labels in the sheet of 20 (instead of just once, which is usual). The notation on the label is the proper rate Fr. 1.05 in French francs, and the franking of Mozambique stamps totals 175 centavos. NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1019

Airline Issues Virtually all issuing countries had functioning airlines, many of which issued their own labels for use by their customers. Some indicate a particular means of air transport, such as Zeppelin (Figure 27) or catapult. Some airlines’ etiquettes also mentioned which specific airline to use if more than one served a particular place. Generally, you can correctly assert that a cover with one airline’s label was flown on that airline. However, there are examples of ad hoc uses of different airlines’ labels, so take care. Figures 28-31 show a few interesting examples.

Figure 27. Paraguay issued two labels in 1932 for mail carried by the Graf Zeppelin. A handful of other countries also had Zeppelinspecific labels as well as those for catapult and rocket mail. Figure 26. The porte-timbre on this 1932 Yugoslav postcard is denominated and therefore not listed in Mair as an etiquette. Sanabria’s The World Airmail Catalog lists a 50-para value for Jugoslavia very similar to the 3-dinar affixed on this card. I have also seen an example denominated 1d50. This portetimbre and etiquette hybrid is rare and fascinating so let’s just call it an airmail Cinderella. Yugoslavia’s official label issue of 1932 is nicely tied.

Figure 28. Italy’s LATI airlines issued two etiquettes, 1935 and 1940, for use by customers in Brazil. This cover (using the 1940 issue) is properly rated 5,400 reis. The 1935 issue has the same text but a different layout.

Figure 29. This most remarkable 1934 cover has the route spelled out using four different labels. The first is for general airmail, usually found alone. Next, the labels call attention to the desired company to be used. The third specifies Pan American to Colombia from New York to connect with the SCADTA service, while the fourth specifies the internal SCADTA service to Bogota from Barranquilla. It is properly franked 4/- for the double 2/- per ½ oz. rate. 1020 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Miscellany Miscellaneous etiquettes can be further divided into numerous categories. While the vast majority are generic, i.e. “Air Mail,” “Via Air Mail,” etc., there is a whole host of labels that promote businesses (Figure 32), hotels (Figure 33), charities and special events or depict images of identifiable airplanes. These fit perfectly into a thematic or topical collection. An American label even has a note saying that “Air Mail is Socially Correct….” (Figure 34). Figure 30. Condor was the Brazilian airline contacted to connect with the German trans-Atlantic service, carried by Lufthansa flight. The rate was 4,200 reis. It is always a plus to find a use on airline stationery.

Figure 31. This Condor label notes its connection with the [Graf] Zeppelin. The October 4, 1934, letter was carried on the Graf’s return trip of the ninth South American flight. Again, the rate was 4,200 reis.

Figure 32. In 1937, the private company Huile Aeroshell used this beautiful etiquette from Casablanca to Vienna, stamps tied with special machine cancel for the 2nd Raisin Congress. The 4F50 franking pays the proper single air rate to Austria: 1F75 per 20 grams (basic foreign rate) plus 2x 1F per 10 grams (air surcharge to France) plus 75 centimes per 20 grams (surcharge from France to Austria).

Figure 33. 1963 airmail cover to Great Britain, properly franked 15¢ from Hotel Muehlebach in Kansas City with the hotel’s private etiquette first seen around 1948.

Figure 34. In the early days of airmail, there was some question about whether it was proper to send Christmas greetings by air (with airmail just coming into general use, perhaps the Emily Post etiquette was unclear). This private Christmas label on a 1928 internal air cover has on the reverse the following inscription: “Air Mail is/Socially Correct/For Christmas Cards and Gifts….” One assumes it was issued by a greeting card company. NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1021

Perhaps the most fascinating are those etiquettes produced for specific flights, often a first flight, although they do not always specify that information. They may or may not have denominations. Sanabria lists many of these as semi-officials. Scott catalogs do not list them except in rare instances like the U.S., Canada and Germany. Why that should be so is unclear to me. If the Vin Fiz (Figure 35), a private enterprise, can be listed in the Scott catalog, why not the Rockwell Kent Greenland stamp for a private service offered by Captain Ernst Udet (Figure 36) or the label issued for the Ross Smith England-to-Australia flight (Figure 37)? In any event, folks who collect air etiquettes certainly consider them all to be within their purview.

Figure 36. During his stay in Greenland in 1933, Rockwell Kent met Captain Ernst Udet who was helping the movie crew making the picture S.O.S. Iceberg. Kent proposed a special stamp for use on Udet’s flights to support a local charity. Approximately 75 were handprinted and fewer than ten are known on cover. The various handstamps have been fully described elsewhere. Note that Udet signed this cover.

Figure 38. Herald and Weekly Times newspaper had its own etiquettes for an experimental non-governmental flight made on April 17, 1922. This example is wonderfully tied to a commercial cover docketed “Aeroplane mail.” There was no air surcharge for this private flight.

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Figure 35. This semi-official stamp (Scott CL2) was prepared for Cal Rodgers’ cross-country flight in 1911 and is the first stamp in the world to depict an airplane. Courtesy of Kelleher Auctions.

Figure 37. The famous label made for the Ross Smith flight from England to Australia is listed in Sanabria (under Australia….why?) but not in Scott. Its story is well known and told by Tom Frommer in The Ross Smith Stamp and its Postal History (2011).

Figure 39. A special label was prepared for the first flight from Djibouti, French Somalia, to France from December 4-7, 1931, piloted by Marcel Goulette and Andre Salel. The postage is paid with a lovely pair of France Scott 132, quite scarce on cover. It is the proper rate: 1F50 for the basic rate plus 1F50 for the registry rate plus 3F surcharge to France totals 6F.

That said, please indulge me while I show you a few rarely seen etiquettes for special flights (Figures 38-43). There are many more than the examples I show here, making them an ideal subject for a specialized study. However, this collecting area is made even more challenging by the difficulty of acquiring some of them, especially on cover. Figure 40. Captain Wauthier made an aerial survey of the Sahara from Algeria (March 7, 1933) to Niger (April 4). This rare vignette was printed in sheets of six.

Figure 41. On January 12, 1933, Jean Mermoz, one of the most important pilots in the development of the French South American service, flew non-stop to Brazil from Dakar (Mu. 307). This label was prepared for the return flight of May 15.

Figure 42. Two survey flights from Paris to Lake Tchad in Niger were made on January 18, 1925. These two etiquettes were prepared for those flights. The left example is denominated 10F. I have been able to find no information on these labels other than that they exist. Were they used on either or both of the flights?

Figure 43. At the behest of Imperial Airways, Alan Cobham made a survey flight over Africa from London (November 18, 1925) to Cape Town (February 17, 1926). This striking vignette was placed on the few (very rare) cards he carried.

Figure 44. Airmail etiquettes that indicate a routing are not common. This cover went by surface from Grand-Bassam (Cote D’Ivoire) to Dakar (Senegal), then by air to Toulouse and surface to Paris. The rating of 50 centimes per 20 grams (domestic rate) plus 2x 3 francs per 10 grams (air rate) totaling 6F50 is correct.

For Further LEARNING

Recommendations from the APRL research staff:

Labels and Vignettes, 1920-60 (Chatswood, Australia: Cinderella Stamp Club of Australasia, 1995). [HE623 8 .F932e 2ndPrint. 1995]

Dixon, Fred E. “Irish Airmail Etiquettes,” The Revealer (July 1966).

Groten, Arthur H. “Air Mail Etiquettes of Air France,” American Stamp Dealer & Collector (September 2014).

Field, Francis J. Air Mail Labels (Etiquettes) (Sutton Coldfield, England: Francis J. Field, Ltd., 1940) [HE623 8 .F453a 1940]

Holman, John. “Royal Mail Labels, Air Mail Etiquettes,” Gibbons Stamp Monthly (August 2009).

Frommer, Tom. Exhibit & Catalogue of Australian Air Mail

Jones, Frank G. Etiquettes: Par Avion - By Air Mail (London: British Aerophilatelic Federation, 1992). [HE6238 .J768e 1992] NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1023

Figure 45. Three-service covers, with each service designated with an etiquette, account for about 0.1% of all airmail covers (I have written about this in Kelleher’s Stamp Collector’s Quarterly #22). This 1934 cover from Russia to Germany, by Dereluft, is one such, with etiquettes designating airmail, registered and express. The proper rate was 65 kopeks (airmail rate) plus 20 kopeks (registered letter service) plus 30 kopeks (express) totaling 1 ruble 15 kopeks. As a note, for some direct air routes the special rate was 55 kop., but this postal directive was frequently ignored and the basic rate of 65 kop. was charged instead.

Figure 47. The reason for two different route labels on this cover is that it was originally to go by air (Iraq’s first air etiquette) but missed the flight and was sent instead by Nairn Overland service. The rate was the same, 3 annas (postage) plus 3a for the air or overland fee. I’ve not seen another example of this occurrence.

What follows is a potpourri of fascinating airmail covers all greatly enhanced by the presence of air labels (Figures 44-50). Meanwhile, Figure 51 shows the only cover I have seen with five different air etiquettes upon it. It appears to be a commercial use and is a fitting end to my story.

Figure 49. Airmail from New Caledonia in the 1930s is scarce enough but it is a definite plus to have one with such a lovely etiquette with route designation. For this 1936 cover, the rate is 1F50 per 20 grams (domestic) plus 2x 4F50 per 5 grams (air to France) plus 75 centimes per 20 grams (air from France to Czechoslovakia) totals 11F25, paid with New Caledonia Scott 162 and 174, both scarce to rare on cover. Note the red crayon additional route mark “France Tchecoslovakia.” 1024 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Figure 46. Most additional services seen on airmail covers are for registry or express. Here a most interesting label, “Service Accelere,” indicates accelerated internal carriage by road between Hanoi and Saigon while the railway was being completed, a service available in the 1930s. The rate on this 1930 cover is 6 cents (domestic rate) plus 5 cents (for accelerated service) plus 1 piaster per 10 grams by the Dutch KLM route (see red boxed handstamp) to France totals 1pi11.

Figure 48. The use of pneumatic mail in association with air covers (in this case the Graf Zeppelin to the U.S.) is not common. The airmail rate was 1 mark 50 pfennigs. I suspect the other 35pf. is for the pneumatic fee. Rohrpost = pneumatic mail.

So there you have it: a mini-course in airmail etiquettes. The marvelous thing about collecting them is that they are readily available. Most dealers have some in their miscellany; the Postal Label Study Group has a quarterly auction and many members who like to trade. eBay is an excellent source. Like stamps, they can be collected by country, region or go for the whole world; thematically; as singles or on cover. They tend to be inexpensive, usually under $20 each, often much less, but, like all collecting areas, there are great rarities. The fun is finding them in unexpected places. For the postal historian, these labels, along with other instructional ones, offer evidence of services rendered and how an item was carried, supplementing date stamp and back stamp data. For the researcher, there are many opportunities for further work. For instance, I am working on the first four issues of Great Britain. I hope this has piqued your interest. I welcome correspondence at artgroten@optonline.net.

Acknowledgments My thanks to Andrew Farberov and Gregory Mirsky for their assistance on the Russian rates shown in Figure 45.

References

Figure 50. The air etiquette on the 1927 cover from Tahiti is on the reverse and is of the utmost rarity (with only two or three known). “Avion” is clearly written on the face. The franking of 3F50 is difficult to parse: the surface rate to France was 50 centimes per 20 grams (paid for by the 50-centime stamp). There was no trans-Pacific air service so it went by sea to San Francisco and then by air to New York, then by sea to Great Britain and by air to France. The rate for using U.S. airmail within the U.S. and then airmail from Great Britain to France was 17 centimes per ½ oz. (14 grams) or 27 centimes (for up to 1 oz.). The 3F stamp (Scott 72, rare on cover) is a convenience overpayment for the double weight air service.

Figure 51. The five air labels on this cover are from Great Britain, Denmark, France, Sweden and the U.S., the most I have ever seen on one cover.

In addition to the Mair catalog noted above, there are a few country-specific listings such as Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and Italy. The Postal Label Study Group Bulletin is a fount of information, including contact details for Gunter Mair for those who are interested in accessing the digital catalog updates: https://www.postal-label-study-group.info/airmail-labels

he Author

Arthur H. Groten, M.D. began collecting stamps (among other things) at age eight. Over the years he has created award-winning collections and exhibits on many topics: Canada 1859 Cents Issue; Censorship of Napoleon’s Mail during his Exile on St. Helena; and on various aspects of Mandate Palestine postal history. His non-philatelic collections include 17th century English illustrated books; Rockwell Kent; and Maurice Sendak. He includes ephemera in all these collections and exhibits. He has written extensively on a wide variety of subjects, including, most recently and in collaboration with David R. Pitts, an awardwinning book on the Postal History of Bermuda, published by the APS. Groten is a life member of the American Philatelic Society, a recipient of the Luff Award for Research, a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London, a life member of the Society of Israel Philatelists, and a member of the Collectors Club and the Postal History Society, among others. He is currently president of two APS affiliates, Postal Label Study Group and Poster Stamp Collectors Club. He is a past-president of the Ephemera Society of America. NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1025

The Iron Man and the Ugly Duckling DAN GRIBBIN

ew great heroes of French aviation have captured the world’s imagination like the dashing Jean Mermoz (1901-1936), who piloted the first official transatlantic mail flight between Europe and South America, crossing the South Atlantic non-stop in 1930. Equally renowned is Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944), who flew the mail but also wrote so beautifully about the exploits of his aviation colleagues. On my occasional visits to a dusty little stamp shop in the cradle of French aviation, Toulouse, tempting covers from these heroes’ flights were always on offer. But there was another pilot, every bit as talented, whose modest and unassuming personality seem to have kept him unfairly in the shadows. Henri Guillaumet (1902-1940) may be best known to most as a sidenote to his more famous comrades’ stories – he served as a mentor to Saint-Exupéry (Figure 1) and as a loyal sidekick and co-pilot to Mermoz. Yet Guillaumet’s own amazing accomplishments in the pilot’s seat over nearly two decades qualify him as the “iron man” of French aviation. His remarkable survival in the frozen Andes while laying the foundation for the airmail route between Argentina and Chile is the stuff of legend. More importantly, especially for philatelists, Guillaumet established a stellar record flying the first four-engine landplanes – the ungainly, homely Farman aircraft – on scheduled mail service across the South Atlantic (Figure 2). And so, Henri Guillaumet’s enduring legacy can be characterized as that of the Iron Man and the Ugly Duckling. In 1926, encouraged by Jean Mermoz (his friend from their days as military pilots) to cast his lot with the fledgling French airline Ligne Latécoère, Guillaumet became the steadiest of pilots under the exacting regime of legendary flight director Didier Daurat (1891-1969). The airline first established airmail routes in the mid-1920s from Toulouse down through Spain to Casablanca, in North Africa. They then pushed across the desert and down the coast to Dakar, Senegal, the eventual jumping off point for transatlantic airmail flights to South America. A similar effort ran the airmail route down the east coast of South America from Natal, Brazil, through Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires, Argentina. 1026 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

The airline, heavily subsidized by the French government, was now being identified as Aéropostale (Figure 3). Airmail service on the line running from Toulouse to Buenos Aires began on March 1, 1928, with Aéropostale flights operating in both directions under a contract with the Argentine government that called for nine-day service. Half of the long journey was accomplished by ships called avisos crossing the South Atlantic between Dakar

Figure 1. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Henri Guillaumet in flying leathers (1931). Photo courtesy of the Fondation Latécoère.

Figure 2. The Farman 220 “Centaure,” a discarded prototype loaned to Air France by the military. Photo courtesy of Nico Braas.

Figure 3. This map (from a 1928 Aéropostale promotional poster) gives a good sense of the great expanse of water that had to be traversed between Dakar and Natal.

and Natal. Even with Jean Mermoz flying up the coast from Buenos Aires and Guillaumet flying a leg up the coast of Africa, the service was snakebit by delays during the first few months. The airline finally achieved more timely service by establishing faster ships for the 3,200 km leg across the Atlantic. As the year 1928 wore on, Aéropostale tackled its next challenge: linking Buenos Aires with Santiago de Chile over the peaks of the Andes, mountains whose peaks averaged 13,000 feet in height. With Guillaumet temporarily assigned to other duties (reconnaissance flights over the African forests), Mermoz set out to conquer the Andes in a Latécoère 26 aircraft that could achieve the necessary 10,500-ft altitude for the vital Cristo Redentor pass only by catching an updraft. Mermoz’s exceptional skill and ingenuity allowed him to escape disaster on two separate occasions, but clearly better equipment was needed. Potez 25 A2 aircraft, biplanes capable of conquering those heights with a load of mail, were transported to South America (Figure 4), and on July 15, 1929, Mermoz and Guillaumet used one of those craft for the mountain stage (Mendoza to Santiago) to conduct the first official mail flight between Argentina and Chile. The return flight over the mountains (about 350 km as the Potez 25 flies, so to speak) was accomplished on July 18. Guillaumet would ultimately come to be known as the Angel of the Andes for his 396 crossings of the mountains over the next few years.1 One of those flights would become the stuff of legend. On June 13, 1930, Guillaumet set off in bad weather from Santiago to cross the Andes peaks with the mail for Buenos Aires and beyond. Flying a Potez 25, he found himself blocked from his usual route by a howling snowstorm that had already sent him back to base on the previous day. Rather than turning back again, the stubborn Guillaumet headed south to find a way to effect a crossing. He succeeded, but the wind along the eastern slopes betrayed him—a furious downdraft utterly robbing him of control over his craft. With no hope of escaping the storm, Guillaumet landed on the shores of the Laguna del Diamante, his aircraft flipping over its nose upon touchdown. The lake was a landmark from which he hoped to be visible to searchers. He wryly noted to himself that his only previous crash had also been on a Friday the 13th.2 Guillaumet spent two days tucked in under the wing of the upended aircraft, surrounding himself with the heavy mailbags for warmth. When the weather cleared, searchers flew past without seeing NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1027

Figure 4. Artist Christophe Gibelin's rendering of the Potez 25 A2 biplane that could achieve the required altitude to allow mail pilots to conquer the peaks of the Andes.

Figure 5. This Paris to Montevideo 8A cover is the only one that I have seen flown to South America under the special rate (see rectangular cachet) for airmail treatment at the surface rate of 1.50 franc. The stamp is Scott 282. All covers are from the author’s collection.

Figure 6. Letter flown by Guillaumet on flight 16A. Sent from Cardiff, Wales, franked with perfins (Great Britain Scott 426, 429) to make the standard airmail rate of 3 shillings, 6 pence to Bahia, Brazil. 1028 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

his aircraft or the flares he sent up. And so, in twentybelow-zero weather, Henri Guillaumet decided to walk eastward across the frozen landscape, plunging forward day after day while fighting off the urge to end his pain by simply falling asleep in the deep snow. Thoughts of his responsibility to his wife Noëlle and to his fellow pilots kept him moving forward, step by step, for five days. Upon his rescue, he told Saint-Exupéry: “No animal would do what I have done.”3 In collecting airmail flown by Aéropostale (called Air France beginning in October 1933), I decided to limit myself to mail that was actually flown across the South Atlantic, eliminating covers that were carried by boat. I first encountered Guillaumet while researching a particular cover from a flight on which he served as Mermoz’s co-pilot on the long, overwater leg between South America and Africa (i. e. between Natal and Dakar) on September 25, 1934. This was the third return flight of the beautiful three-engine Couzinet Arc-en-Ciel—flight 6R on the list established by Pierre Labrousse.4 It is fitting that Guillaumet, who would make his mark in landplanes, first crossed the Atlantic in the Arc-en-Ciel, rather than a flying boat. On flights 8A and 8R (October 1 and 23, respectively), the final transatlantic flights of the Arc-enCiel, Guillaumet also served as Mermoz’s co-pilot. Figure 5 depicts one of the few surviving covers carried on flight 8A, as attested by its arrival backstamp in Montevideo, October 7, 1934.5 In the mid-1930s, Pierre Latécoère seems to have successfully pressured the Air Ministry to favor his four-engine Laté 300/301 flying boats for use on Air France’s South Atlantic run.6 But maintenance problems on the engines of these beautiful aircraft left the French lagging behind the Germans, who successfully began mail service in February 1934, using ships to launch Dornier Wal aircraft on the open ocean via catapult. After being forced to rely exclusively on a single Blériot 5190 flying boat for seven round trips between November 1934 and April 1935, Air France accepted a loan from the military of a four-engine Farman 220 bomber which was subsequently outfitted to carry the mail.7 And where could they turn to find a lunch-pail kind of guy to fly this ugly duckling? They did not have to look far. Figure 6 shows a letter carried by Henri Guillaumet on flight 16A, the first transatlantic flight of the Centaure, the name given to the workaday Farman 220 aircraft that would make a dozen transatlantic crossings over the next twelve months, paving the way for a fleet of six land-based Farman 2200’s.8 The 16A cover tells a story of airmail efficiency that our 21st-century postal services would be delighted to match. Posted by Cory Brothers, Inc., in Cardiff, Wales, on May 31, 1935, the letter received a transit backstamp in Paris the next day on its way down to Dakar. The trip across the Atlantic, Dakar to Natal, was accomplished

on June 3 by Guillaumet in the Centaure. The arrival backstamp applied in Bahia, Brazil, reads “4.6.35.11,” indicating arrival at 11 a.m. on June 4. That’s a five-day service between the company’s offices in Cardiff and Bahia, a distance of 6,200 miles. Not exactly snail mail by any standard. The result of shifting to the highly dependable Farman landplanes was that, beginning in 1936, the French were finally able to match the Germans in establishing weekly transatlantic mail service. By phasing out the beautiful but ill-fated Latécoère flying boats, Air France established a perfect record on South Atlantic crossings from late December 1936 to June 1940. The only two French crews Figure 7. Posted in Capetown, South Africa, this letter, franked at the 5 lost in the South Atlantic were flying Latécoère 300/301 shilling per ½ ounce rate to South America with South Africa Scott 31b, aircraft, crews headed by Juan Ponce (February 10, 1936) made the long journey up to Marseilles, then down to Dakar to catch flight 17A. Note the dual postmarks – one in Afrikaans (Kapstad) and one and Jean Mermoz (December 7, 1936). in English (Capetown). Figure 7 depicts a well-traveled letter from Capetown, South Africa to Buenos Aires, Argentina, franked at the 5 shillings per half ounce airmail rate to South America with South Africa Scott 31b. The cover caught Imperial Airways flight AN244 that left Capetown on June 4, 1935. Having arrived at Marseilles on June 13, according to its transit backstamp, the cover was flown by Air France down to Dakar in time for flight 17A of the Centaure on June 17. An important point here is that six days after Guillaumet’s June 11 arrival of the Centaure at Dakar on its first return flight from South America (flight 16R), the aircraft was overhauled and ready to make the second westward crossing, flight 17A. That’s the sort of efficiency which became a hallFigure 8. Letter from Milan to Buenos Aires, carried by Guillaumet on flight mark of the Farman aircraft to which our iron man was 63A, September 21/22, 1936. Franked at 8.75 lire (1.25 surface + 7.50 for airmail of 5 grams) made up of Italy 223, C13, C17, and C18. By this time, the so frequently assigned. Air France would continue to carry mail across the French had finally achieved weekly service to South America. South Atlantic through the end of June 1940, when but returned to the South Atlantic service in 1938. His final war rendered the connecting flights across the Meditransatlantic mail crossing was a return flight from South terranean too dangerous. Between 1936 and 1940, two America in the Farman 2200 Ville de Natal (flight 183R), workhorse Farman 2200 aircraft, the Ville de Montevion January 31, 1939. A cover from that flight is shown deo and the Ville de Mendoza, made 208 South Atlantic in Figure 9, a letter posted in Villa Maria, Argentina, on crossings, establishing an incredible record for dependJanuary 27. Franked with Argentina 427, 443, and 446, it ability.9 The cover in Figure 8 was flown by Guillaumet on bears a Buenos Aires transit backstamp applied on January flight 63A in the Ville de Montevideo. Franked with Italy 28, and a Vienna, Austria, arrival backstamp dated Febru223, C13, C17, and C18 at 8.75 lire (1.25 surface plus 7.50 ary 2. Franking of 1.45 pesos is correct for a letter of up to 5 for airmail of 5 grams), the letter was posted in Milan on grams. Again, the airmail service was completed in a comSeptember 18, 1936, and traveled by rail to Ventimiglia, mendable five days. the westernmost mail terminus in Italy, where it was canOf the 71 crossings of the South Atlantic made by Guilceled on the reverse at 4 pm on September 19. From there, laumet over the period from June 1935 to January 1939, 51 it traveled by rail through Nice to Marseilles and then was of his flights were in Farman landplanes. If we consider the flown by Air France down to Dakar for the transatlanlarger picture of aviation in that era, with the establishment tic crossing, departing on September 21. Guillaumet and of suitable runways there was really no reason for airlines to his crew arrived in Natal in the early morning hours of rely on flying boats from 1935 on. Thus, though they were September 22 after a flight of 15 hours. The flight down the not carrying paying passengers, the Farman landplanes were South American coast would have reached Buenos Aires the true precursors of our modern transatlantic aircraft, and on the morning of September 23, achieving five-day service Henri Guillaumet was the iron man at the controls of those from Milan. Guillaumet took on other duties for Air France in 1937 ungainly, groundbreaking craft. NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1029

Figure 9. Letter posted in Villa Maria, Argentina, and flown on flight 183R, Guillaumet’s 71st and final South Atlantic crossing. Franked with Argentina 427, 443, and 446 to achieve 1.45 pesos, correct for a letter of up to 5 grams.

Guillaumet went on to spark the French effort to develop suitable aircraft for traversing the North Atlantic, at one point flying into New York in a Laté 521 with Saint-Exupéry as his co-pilot. The outbreak of war in Europe caused those plans to be shelved, however. And then, on November 27, 1940, Guillaumet embarked on a flight to deliver a French diplomat to his post at the dangerous eastern end of the Mediterranean. In an unarmed Farman 223 co-piloted by his longtime friend Marcel Reine, Henri Guillaumet met his fate at the hands of an Italian fighter pilot. “Machinegun attack,” the stricken crew radioed by Morse code. “Fire. SOS.” And so ended the career of one of the most remarkable pilots of that remarkable age, a man whose raw courage and inestimable endurance combined with sharp navigational skills and keen powers of observation to establish him as the keystone upon which Air France built its remarkable legacy flying the mail across the South Atlantic. Header image is of Henri Guillaumet. Photo courtesy of Collection P. Deley via R. Angel.

Endnotes

1 Jean Renac, “Guillaumet,” Icare 37(Spring 1966): 83. The number of flights is identified as 393 in https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Henri_Guillaumet. 2 Benoit Heimermann and Olivier Margot. L’Aéropostale: La fabuleuse épopée de Mermoz, Saint-Exupéry, Guillaumet (Paris: Artaud, 2003): 103. 3 Antoine de St. Exupéry, Wind, Sand and Stars (New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1939): 58. 4 Pierre Labrousse, Répertoire des Traversées Aériennes de l’Atlantique Sud par l’Aéropostale et Air-France, 1930-1940 (Libourne, France: Labrousse, 1974): 12-13. The Labrousse catalog makes it possible to determine whether an item was flown rather than carried via aviso, since it lists all of the transatlantic flights (1930-1940) by their dates, including the names of the pilots and their crews. The “A” flights are westward (Dakar to Natal); the “R” flights are eastward (Natal to Dakar).

Note that the flight listing is also presented as a convenient table in the standard catalog for this material: Gérard Collot et Alain Cornu. Ligne Mermoz: Histoire aérophilatélique, Latécoère, Aéropostale, Air France, 1918-1940 (Paris: Editions Bertrand Sinais,1990): 294-308. 5 Why mail from this flight is so elusive remains a mystery, but the late Gérard Collot and Dominique Petit (President of the Çercle Aérophilatélique Français) were kind enough to verify for me the authenticity of this item. Their support for my study of this material has been invaluable. 6 Heimermann et Margot, 174-177. 7 Heimermann et Margot, 177-178. 8 An exhibit containing a fuller selection of these covers can be accessed under the title “Landplanes Shoulder the South Atlantic Mail” on the American Air Mail Society site at www.americanairmailsociety.org/resources/exhibits. (Members section.) 9 Labrousse, 48-49.

he Author

Dan Gribbin, Vice President of the American Air Mail Society, has written for a variety of stamp publications over the past forty years. His study of mail carried across the South Atlantic by Aéropostale and Air France has been facilitated by membership in the APS, the AAMS, and the CAF (Çercle Aérophilatélique Français). His membership in the Bermuda Collectors Society hints at a totally different passion: photographing shore birds, including the Bermuda Longtails that nest on the South Shore of the “Far Bermudes.”

For Further LEARNING

Recommendations from the APRL research staff: “Aviation & Air Mails of France” by Francis J. Field. Journal of the France & Colonies Philatelic Society, May 1974. “Aviation Pioneers” by J. Brijon. L'Echo de la Timbrologie, 1974.

1030 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Histoire de l'aerostation et de l'aviation francaise de 1783 a 1930 by Jean Silombra. Amiens, France: Silombra, 1981. [HE62 38 .S58 5h] “Paris Aviation” by G.-P. Cuny & J.-C. Delwaulle. Les Feuilles Marcophiles, 1989, 3Q. “War Time Airmail Service between France and French Somaliland (1940- 1942)” by B. Abouchar. France and Colonies Philatelist April 1993.

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10/7/21 8:30 AM

Extending the Southern German Airmail Route in 1942: Short but not Sweet

View into the cockpit of the Junkers Ju 52/3m D-Aqui, courtesy of Deutsche Lufthansa Berlin-Stiftung.

TOM GEURTS

he German Feldpost (military mail service) service initiated the southern airmail route on May 9, 1942. The two Junker 521 planes allocated to servicing this route flew around 3,900 kilometers from Biala Podlaska2 to Shitomir near Kiev, Poltawa near Kharkov, Stalino3, Mariupol, Simferopol, Nikolajev, Shitomir again, and back to Biala Podlaska, as shown in Figure 1.4 The southern route was one of three dedicated airmail

routes, (the other two going to northern Russia and central Russia) which were implemented to improve mail delivery over the slower train service and thereby improve morale. According to the flight schedule of the southern route, it was scheduled to be flown three times a week, starting at 6:00 a.m. and arriving back at the starting point at 2:10 p.m. the next day, with an overnight stop in Simferopol. However, by August 1942 the planes flew from Stalino to Rostov, instead of Mariupol, and then on to Mineralnyje Wody to service the troops fighting to capture the oilfields around Grozny. Mineralnyje Wody was the furthest airmail station that was created for the Luftfeldpostdienst (military airmail service) on the Eastern front. Finally, on their way back, the planes landed in Armawir and Krasnodar to drop off and pick up mail to/from the soldiers fighting in that area. The planes then continued on to Simferopol, where they picked up their original route. There was one more extension later in August, when planes started to use the Morosowskaja airport, bypassing Stalino, to service the troops fighting around Stalingrad. From Morosowskaja the planes flew to Rostov and then followed the aforementioned route. This was the ultimate extension, which is indicated by the solid blue Figure 1. Map of southern German airmail route with extensions. Cities and airmail routes added by the author. lines in Figure 1. 1032 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

This significant extension of the southern airmail route meant that by the middle of August the number of planes transporting the mail had to be increased by six, in part to make sure that the extended route was properly serviced. The Feldpost service also had to take Junker 52 planes out of rotation to perform necessary maintenance and repairs, since they were pushed to their limits in the hot summer of 1942. The German army required these extensions as it moved into these areas to capture the oil fields in the Caucasus. The story of that failed attempt is told in an article by this author titled “Luftfeldpost Letters from the Caucasus: The Failed Attempt to Capture the Russian Oil Fields in 1942”, which is published in the Petro-Philatelist (Autumn 2021). I will discuss the three frontline extension airports, namely Morosowskaja, Mineralnyje Wody, and Krasnodar in separate sections and show letters that were routed through each of these airports.

Figure 2. Feldpost card, with mandatory handwritten addition Luft, from August 15, 1942.

Morosowskaja German tanks from the 4. Panzer Armee captured this southern Russian airport on July 15, 1942 from the north, but moved on in search of the enemy. The slower-moving infantry arrived approximately two weeks later when the 76. Infanterie Division entered the area from the southeast. Consequently, the letter shown in Figure 2 was most likely on one of the earliest flights out of Morosowskaja. Postmarked August 15, 1942, it was written by Obersoldat5 Erwin Krog from the 10th Batterie of Artillerie Regiment 176, which was subordinated to the 76. Infanterie Divi- Figure 3. Cover from December 12, 1942, with blue Luftfeldpost label plus blank sion.6 The Division was by now further east selvage attached. of Morosowskaja on its way to annihilation Morosowskaja, loaded on a plane for further transportation in Stalingrad. The letter is obviously written in great haste by air to Rostov, from where it followed the route to Biala and is addressed to the Spandauer Zeitung, the name of a Podlaska, as outlined in the introduction. local newspaper, at the Neuendorfer Straße 101 in Spandau, After the German troops in and around Stalingrad were which is the westernmost borough of Berlin. The building surrounded on November 23, the train connection was still exists, but the newspaper does not.7 Perhaps its delivery obviously severed. Instead planes moved the mail between service was substandard because Erwin complained that he Morosowskaja and the main airport within the so-called had not received the newspaper although he sent them 5.80 Kessel (literally, cauldron),9 which was called Pitomnik. One 8 Reichsmark on June 30. He ended this complaint with “Heil of the covers that took this route is shown in Figure 3. It was Hitler.” mailed on December 12 by Gefreiter Wolfgang Fromme, Morosowskaja is located around 300 kilometers east of who served in the 1st Kompanie of Panzer Korps NachStalino and was close to a railroad that went in the direcrichten Abteilung 60, which handled the messaging for the tion of Stalingrad. Hence after a Junker 52 dropped off the 14th Panzercorps. This unit had played an important role mail, it could be transported by train to the troops fighting in reaching Stalingrad, but was out of place in the built-up around Stalingrad and vice-versa. Indeed, it is very likely that the letter shown in Figure 2 was transported by train to environment. Indeed, during the existence of the Kessel this NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1033

Ordschonikidse

Figure 4. Ordschonikidse cover from November 25, 1942.

Figure 5. Krasnodar cover from October 9, 1942.

unit was used as a mobile reserve that provided assistance wherever Russian troops threatened to break through. The letter was addressed to Joh. Fromme, who was a certified business teacher at the German equivalent of a trade school, and who was very precise in keeping track of the mail: he not only wrote down which day the letter arrived, namely January 6, 1943, but also the time, 8:45AM. The sender, who was most likely his son, had perished by then. In the Volksbund archive, which documents all those that fell on the German side during both world wars, Wolfgang Fromme is listed as Missing in Action on January 5, 1943. His body was never found, although he is listed as one of the many missing in the German military cemetery in Rossoschka, which is around 37 kilometers northeast of Wolgograd, the current name for Stalingrad. On January 5, 1943, Russian troops recaptured Morosowskaja. A couple of days earlier, as it became clear that the airport would be lost, German airmail was redirected to Novocherkassk.10 The last flight from the Stalingrad Kessel arrived there on the January 23, carrying seven mailbags from Gumrak airport, which had replaced Pitomnik since its recapture on January 16, 1943. This marked the end of this extension of the southern German airmail route. 1034 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

This city in the Caucasus, the geographical name for the region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea spanning the border of Europe and Asia, whose name means “Ruler of the Caucasus,” was almost captured by the 13th and 23rd Panzer Divisions on November 2, 1942, when they reached the city’s outskirts. A Luftfeldpost mail office was established in Mineralnyje Wody, which was captured earlier and is located northwest of Ordschonikidse. When the first Junker 52 landed there is unknown, but apparently by September planes were bringing and picking up mail for the troops that were fighting in the mountains of the Caucasus. Only a few planes ever landed in Mineralnyje Wody, since on December 28 this area was abandoned again. The German army had to retreat in order to prevent being cut off due to the rapidly deteriorating situation further north near Stalingrad. In the less than three months that this airport was in German hands there could have not been more than 25 flights, most likely fewer. The cover shown in Figure 4 was on one of those flights, which was sent by Obergefreiter Reiß to his father Anno Reiß.10 The latter was a Mittelschulrektor, a high school principal. Luckily for this article, he also wrote down when the letter, which is no longer inside the envelope, was written, namely November 22, 1942, and when it arrived in Magdeburg, namely December 8. Although it was written on November 22, it was canceled three days later by the local traveling Feldpost office where the senders’ unit was located, along the Terek river west of Ordschonikidse. The Feldpost bus transported it to the Mineralnyje Wody airport where it was stored until the next flight, which took the letter via Armawir all the way to Biala Podlaska, the beginning and end-point of all Luftfeldpost routes. From there the letter was sorted and loaded on a train to Magdeburg, which was reached via Berlin. Finally, the letter was sorted again in Magdeburg and delivered at the Hallische Straße 1-III. This whole trip took 13 days, which is fairly reasonable given the circumstances. The sender of this letter served on the staff of Artillerie Regiment 13, which was a part of the aforementioned 13th Panzer Division. He was far from home: it seems that he survived the fighting in the Caucasus, but not the war. A man named Bodo Reiß from Magdeburg is listed in the Volksbund archive as having succumbed to his wounds on October 14, 1943, at the first aid station in Nowosselki and being buried near Pykhan in what is now Belarus.

Krasnodar This airport served the soldiers that fought to capture a number of strategically important objects, namely the oil fields of Krymskaya and Maikop, as well as the harbors of Noworossisk and Tuapse. The 5. Armeekorps, which was subordinated to the 17. Armee, was one of the units that

was involved in this endeavor. Gefreiter Otto Haumacher served in the 3. Kompanie of its Nachrichten Abteilung and he wrote the letter shown in Figure 5 on October 9, 1942. He was stationed northeast of Noworossisk, close to Krasnodar, where it thus joined the Southern Airmail Route. The letter was addressed to Emil Haumacher in Lauffen am Neckar in the state of Württemberg, a city known for its quality wines. Otto would not have been able to taste those wines after the war, since he died at age 25 on September 27, 1946, still in captivity in the hospital of a labor camp in Milecin, Poland, where he is also buried.

Short But Not Sweet The extension of the southern airmail route to facilitate mail to and from the soldiers fighting in the Caucasus marks the furthest extension of the German Luftfeldpostdienst. Although the battle for Stalingrad, which was fought from August 23, 1942, to February 2, 1943, is one of the most well-known in history, it was in reality a sideshow to the main thrust of Germany’s attempt to capture the much-

Endnotes 1 This was the type of plane used for the Luftfeldpostdienst and is in fact the plane shown on the blue labels that were required in order for a letter to be transported by the Luftfeldpostdienst. 2 Biala Podlaska is now located in eastern Poland, but in 1942 was located in the so-called Generalgouvernement, which was the name for German-occupied Poland. All other locations mentioned in this article were located in the then-named USSR, which encompassed many different now-independent countries. Exceptions are noted and of course all covers either were sent to or came from German cities where lived the families and friends of the German soldiers fighting at the front. The author used the German spelling of Russian city names, which sometimes slightly differ. 3 Stalino is now named Donetsk. 4 This was the most common flight plan. There were additional airf ields that were temporarily and/or intermittently used, however, that fall outside the scope of this article.

needed oil fields further south. Many soldiers fought, sent and received mail, and perished in this attempt. Indeed, this article showed some bitter examples to illustrate the relatively short-lived southern airmail extension.

Resources Sauer, Erich. Stalingrad – Feldpost 1942/43 (Siegen, n.d.) Schmitt, Bruno and Bodo Gericke. Die deutsche Feldpost im Osten und der Luftfeldpostdienst Osten im Zweiten Weltkrieg (Frankfurt am Main: Gesellschaft für deutsche Postgeschichte, 1969.) Volksbund Archive (https://www.volksbund.de/) Note: The search function is available in six different languages, including English, and is very useful to see whether a German soldier has been killed in action or is missing in action, with details, during both world wars. Another useful resource is http://www.denkmalprojekt.org/ index.htm, which lists war memorials, for example on cemeteries, with inscriptions and many photos.

5 For a translation of all military ranks mentioned in this article, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranks_and_insignia_of_the_German_Army_(1935%E2%80%931945) 6 This information can be derived from knowing the 5-digit Feldpostnummer, which a soldier had to write down as a part of his address. 7 The author visited the building in 2018, which at that time had a pizza restaurant and carpet store located inside. 8 Assuming that Erwin Krog also lived in Berlin-Spandau, the author checked the 1943 telephone book of Berlin-Spandau for this last name, see https://digital.zlb.de/viewer/image/34115495_1943/1590/. There were two families with that name listed. 9 This is the word used in German when troops are surrounded in a pocket. 10 This airport is omitted from Figure 1 since it was only briefly used on ad hoc basis. 11 The first name can be found in the telephone book of Magdeburg for 1940, which has been scanned and is available online.

he Author

Dr. Tom G. Geurts, FRICS, currently holds the William H. Dunkak Chair in Finance at Bucknell University and enjoys writing stamp articles based on his extensive Luftfeldpost collection as a pleasant distraction from writing his more academic articles. In particular, he is very pleased with the articles that he wrote with his brother John for the premier Dutch stamp magazine Filatelie, especially their article on Dutch citizens serving in the German army on the eastern front and their use of the Luftfeldpostdienst.

For Further LEARNING Recommendations from the APRL research staff: Fisher, Ingeburg L. “Airmail Service in Early Post-World War II Berlin, Part 1,” Airpost Journal (December 2003). Fisher, Ingeburg L. “Airmail Service in Early Post-World

War II Berlin, Part 2,” Airpost Journal (January 2004). Soldati, Gianluigi. Luftfeldpost: German Military Air Mail, 1942-1945 (Edison, NJ: G. Soldati, 1990). [G6081 .M644 S684L 1990 EXHIBIT]

NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1035

Kelleher & Fine Asian Auctions

Welcome to an Extraordinary, Three-Day Dec

elleher & Rogers Ltd’s December 2021 Auction will feature three separate important catalogs, offering some of the finest selections of Chinese/Asian postal history we have ever featured. First, the “General Sale”, which in fact, is anything but “General”. Featuring the Gold Medal Collection of Tibet formed by the eminent philatelist, Alan Warren. Additionally, another wonderful, exhibition style collection is highlighted, “The Postal History of Canton”, formed by Mr. Edward Waterous...both offering a wealth of scarce and popular items. An outstanding, historical highlight will be the recently located, detailed and highly literate correspondence of Annie Allender Gould---murdered by the Boxers in July 1900. A rich correspondence, much with exceptional philatelic appeal. The PRC section includes hundreds of lots, the undeniable standout piece is a remarkable, lower left corner margin example of the legendary, 1957 8f “Sunrays” variety, showing “062” sheet number in the margin. The Republic of China Era is highlighted by an attractive example of the 1941 $2 Sun Yatsen issue with inverted center, an issue which is Alan Warren a cornerstone piece of the era.

Kelleher & Rogers Ltd. respectfully solicits Asian material from collectors and dealers alike. Act now for inclusion in future sales. Please feel free to contact the firm at the address below.

Buy • Sell • Consign

stamps@kelleherasia.com • www.kelleherasia.com USA Office: Daniel F. Kelleher Auctions 22 Shelter Rock Ln., Unit 53, Danbury CT 06810 T: +1.203.830.2500 F: 203.297.6059

& Rogers Present

cember Adventure in Chinese & Asian Philately… 1883-97, an important collection of the Customs Mail Matter handstamps and their usages. Among the finest collections of this subject, with an in-depth representation of most offices, illustrating this unique system of handling official mail by the Customs Post and the Chinese Imperial Post during the latter’s early period.

Customs Mail Matter Handstamps

The “I.P.O.” tie-prints, 1899-1904, illustrating the relation of the Chinese Imperial Post with Hong Kong and the Foreign Post Offices in China. Assembled over 30 years of collecting, this is almost certainly the most extensive such collection ever formed, with a magnificent array of frankings and remarkable usages from virtually every office.

“I.P.O.” Tie-Prints 1899-1904

THE

TOPICAL LENS

BY JACK DENYS

You may be a Closet Topical Stamp Collector!

W Figure 1. U.S. Scott C3a, position 76. This stamp was part of the McCoy block until the block was stolen in 1955, broken up, reperforated, and recovered in 2016 by its then-owners, the American Philatelic Research Library.

Figure 2. U.S. Scott C20, the first China Clipper airmail stamp, issued on the date of the China Clipper’s inaugural flight, November 22, 1935. 1038 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

ho, me? Yes, you may unwittingly be someone who collects stamps according to the subjects they depict – (e.g. animals, sports, space, trains, kings and queens) – rather than by country, purpose of issue or type of service. The theme of this month’s American Philatelist is airmail, so let’s look at how airmails and topicals connect. We all know about the upside down “Jenny” seen on the famous U.S. Scott C3a (Figure 1). Here is what you may not know: the Jenny’s real name was “Curtis JN4.” The first flight of the U.S. airmail service was on May 15, 1918, in Washington, D.C. President Wilson and other dignitaries watched the untrained pilot in the modified-for-mail Jenny take off in the wrong direction – and then crash! Each inverted Jenny has its own story – perhaps the most unusual is about the copy (position 78) that a careless collector left on his desk. Somehow it fell to the floor where it was inadvertently sucked up in a cleaning lady’s vacuum cleaner. It was retrieved, but now, wrinkled and dirty, it is only now worth a fraction of its previous value. Moral: Don’t leave your stamps lying around! Of course, while Inverted Jennys are beyond the reach of most collectors, many U.S. stamp issues depict aircraft, including many airmail stamps, such as the China Clipper shown in Figure 2. Did you know that the first ever airmail issue began as a different kind of stamp? In 1917, Italy overprinted its 25-centesimi Express Delivery Stamp with the words “EXPERIMENTO POSTA AEREA/ MAGGIO 1917/TORINO-ROMA, ROMA TORINO” for use on that experimental flight (Italy Scott C1, Figure 3). How about flying boats? These are fixed-winged seaplanes with a hull that allows them to land on water. They usually have no type of landing gear to allow operation on land. Flying boats were used in both

About the ATA

The American Topical Association (ATA), https://americantopical.org/join-us, promotes topical stamp collecting and the educational and recreational aspects of the hobby by encouraging the collection, research and study of topical stamps and their subjects; providing for the exchange of ideas worldwide; developing and publishing books, checklists and audio-visual programs; holding or participating in philatelic exhibitions; and assisting members to acquire stamps and dispose of collections. ATA is an APS affiliate. World Wars I and II. Between the wars, Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific airlines used them to carry mail and passengers. Few are used today. Norway Scott 104-110, issued in 1925, depict them (Figure 4). The world’s biggest airship, the Graf Zeppelin, was huge, just about as long as the Golden Gate Bridge is tall. In 1930, the U.S. Post Office rushed the design and printing of the three Graf Zeppelin stamps in denominations of 65¢, $1.30, and $2.60 (Figure 5), quite a sum during that Depression time. Collectors protested the cost, and many boycotted the issue. Only about one quarter were sold. Then, adding to collectors’ grief, the post office destroyed all the unsold stamps. The world’s first airport was Croydon Airport built in 1928 in England. It was the main airfield for London until it was closed down in 1959. Now it is a visitor center for aviation. Hounslow Heath Aerodrome in August 1919 was the first airport to operate scheduled international commercial aviation services. A grass airfield, it was in the London borough of Hounslow. The world’s first stamp depicting an airport (Figure 6): Chile Scott C25, issued in 1931, showing Los Cerrillos Airport in Santiago. It was closed in 2006. Aircraft pioneers, such as the Wright Brothers, Otto Lilienthal, Glenn Hammond Curtiss, Bessie Coleman, Wiley Post, and Amelia Earhart have all been pictured on stamps. But one of the most celebrated pioneers was not portrayed on the first stamp to honor him (Figure 7). Charles Lindbergh’s name and plane, “The Spirit of St. Louis,” were shown on U.S. Scott C10 (1927), but U.S. law prohibited depicting living persons on a stamp. Think about it – you may collect airmails – and you also collect topicals! Who knew?

Figure 3. Italy Scott C1, courtesy of APS StampStore.

Figure 4. Norway 109, courtesy of APS StampStore.

Figure 5. U.S. Scott C13, the 65¢ Graf Zeppelin airmail stamp.

Figure 6. Chile C25, courtesy of APS StampStore.

he Author

Jack Denys was president of the ATA from 2008-2016, winner of the ATA Grand Award, and is a prolific philatelic writer. He recently resurrected the ATA’s Albrecht Durer Unit and has received the ATA Distinguished Topical Philatelist and the APS Nicholas G. Carter Volunteer Service Award. He may be contacted at jdenys@verizon.net.

Figure 7. U.S. Scott C10. NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1039

The Collector of Revenue BY RON LESHER

Some Moonshiners Couldn’t Spell

ne of my long favorite areas of collecting has been the taxation of legal alcohol during National Prohibition (1920-1933). Most readers will know that this was an era in which makers of illegal beverage alcohol, usually called moonshiners, and smugglers of alcohol from abroad, usually called bootleggers, flourished. Remnants from the moonshiners are a wonderful addition to a collecting interest in the Prohibition era. A property on Cold Spring Lane in the Jones Falls area north of Baltimore originally contained a building that operated as a flour mill as early as 1806. The Gambrill family acquired the property around 1830 and expanded the location to include a sawmill. The property included a railroad station. In 1861 Union troops came in and were garrisoned on the property. The Gambrills, who were Southern sympathizers, were unhappy and sold the property in 1862 to William Denmead. It was during this period that the name “Melvale” became associated with this area. Sometime between 1862 and 1872, the Denmeads built the stone building shown in Figure 1 and operated it as a distillery. The building, with its segmentally arched window openings, was architecturally distinguished by the cupola centrally located on the roof. Two warehouses and a boiler shed were added by 1880. Shortly thereafter, the distillery and two acres of the grounds were sold to a group of locals led by John Cummings, a Baltimore commission merchant. Under the Cummings leadership, Melvale Rye Whiskey became one of the most premium of the pre-prohibition Maryland Ryes. Following the death of John Cummings in 1900, the leadership passed to William Cummings and his younger brother Alexander, two of John Cummings’ sons. Continued expansion with excellent railroad access led the Melvale Distillery to become the largest whiskey producer in Maryland. A 1914 ad described Melvale Pure Rye Whiskey as: 1040 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Figure 1. The stone building with distinctive cupola that became the Melvale Distillery.

Figure 2. Moonshiner’s counterfeit front bottle label for “Mellvale” Pure Rye Whiskey from the early 1920s.

Manufactured whiskey distilled from the highest grade rye. Its pronounced high flavor, character and bouquet make it most desirable for medicinal and other purposes. In January 1920, the 18th Amendment ushered in National Prohibition. Although the state of Maryland itself did not ban alcohol production and sales, the national ban affected the Melvale Distillery. The distillery was designated a “bonded warehouse” and the Cummings brothers managed to stay open for several years to produce grain alcohol for industrial purposes. The family sold the distillery in 1925. By 1928 the facility was converted to vinegar production. Interestingly, during the early years of National Prohibi-

Figure 3. Back of Figure 2 counterfeit bottle label.

tion, a moonshiner decided to try to trade on the popularity of Melvale Pure Rye Whiskey. To convince the public of the authenticity of the product, the moonshiner printed bottle labels (Figures 2 and 3). They did a very nice job of copying the black part of the front bottle label. But alas, the red portion of the bottle label in Figure 2 has an extra letter “L” in the distillery name, MELLVALE. To further impress the potential purchaser of the whiskey, the moonshiner also had counterfeits of the federally required green bottled in bond strip stamps printed (Figure 4). These are in the style of the Series of 1911 offset bottled in bond strip stamps (intended to seal over the bottle cap) that Internal Revenue was still using until mid-1922 (Figure 5), when the design was altered to reflect the changes of National Prohibition. The term “in bond” refers to alcohol that was aged in a bonded warehouse and bottled there without paying the federal tax on alcohol. Only when the alcohol was to be removed for sale did the distillery have to pay the federal tax on alcohol. The appearance of these counterfeit bottle strips is enhanced by imitating the orange change-of-date obliteration for production and bottling (produced Spring 1918 and bottled Fall 1922). But these strip stamps are clearly a very crude imitation of the Bureau of Engraving & Printing stamps produced for Internal Revenue. It would also appear that whoever introduced the extra L in Mellvale on the red part of the bottle label must also have done the same on the green bottled in bond strip stamps. These productions of the moonshiners enhance our collections of the genuine stamps used during the Prohibition era, when it was only possible to purchase legally alcohol that was prescribed by physicians. Yes, this was called medicinal alcohol and not beverage alcohol!

Figure 4. Moonshiner’s counterfeit bottled in bond strip stamp to accompany the bottle labels used in the early 1920s.

Figure 5. A genuine Series of 1911 bottled in bond strip stamp.

NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1041

Books & Catalogs BY Gary Wayne Loew Gary@stamps.org

The History of Airmail in Poland and Its Contribution to Airmail Services of Europe (1914-1939) by Jerzy W. Kupiec-Weglinski. Published by Collectors Club of Chicago, Chicago 2021. Xxxvii+385 pages, color illustrations, 29 cm. Price $79.50 available from collectorsclubchicago.org. Do not flip through the hundreds of impressive illustrations of postal artifacts and then relegate this book to your philatelic library. Perhaps I too-casually use the term “contribution to the literature” to describe any philatelic topic that has not been written about thoroughly in the past. But Jerzy Kupiec-Weglinski presents a very different contribution to the literature. There are many great philatelic books being published on specialized areas of collection. And if you look at the first part of KupiecWeglinski’s title, “The History of Airmail in Poland,” you will think that this book falls neatly into that category. But it is the second part of the title, “…and its contribution to Airmail services of Europe” that points to the seminal nature of this important work. The forward, written by famed Polish historian Prof. Norman Davies, sets the stage. He notes that the postal history field is often filled with Eurocentric and Orientalism biases. The Kupiec-Weglinski book transcends these biases. Three other introductory notes by philatelist James Mazepa, Prof. Ludwik Malendowicz, and aerophilatelist/dealer Wolfgang Porges all speak to the importance of what Kupiec-Weglinski has written. Porges is president of the International Federation of aero- and astrophilatelic associations and is intimately familiar with the literature of aerophilately. His affirmation of the importance of this work is confirmation enough. The effectiveness of a book’s content can be enhanced or degraded by many factors. Key among those is organization. Kupiec-Weglinski has structured this book to ensure that researchers can maximize their efficiency when referencing any section. The table of contents is indicative of the focused explication that is to follow. This is a book about postal history. But, as I’ve often pointed 1042 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

out, it is historical context that creates the understanding of the world within which postal artifacts were created. For many of the book’s chapters, Kupiec-Weglinski begins with an introduction to the local history, followed by the development of the postal services that evolved into airmail services. Most chapters have concluding remarks that refocus the reader on what has preceded. The author’s major points are driven home with these brief summaries. Refreshingly, each chapter is concluded with its own bibliography. While predominantly philatelic in origin, there are many broader academic titles and governmental publications included. The breadth of the author’s research is very evident. I must also mention the important contributions offered by the extensive tables and appendices. There are significant philatelic insights to be found in them. The opening Synopsis frames the book’s twelve chapters into four segments. We start with three chapters on the forerunner period of Polish airmail (1914-1920). These were trying times for any Airpost service, if for no other reason than the crudeness and dangerous unreliability of the aircraft themselves. But these were also dangerous and brutal times for the nation of Poland. The first three chapters treat the development of airmail services against that historical background. The pioneer period in the evolution of Polish airmail (1921-1928) consumes the next three chapters. One of the striking things here is the early importance of international routes in the focus of Polish postal authorities. The vision of Poland as an important player on the international political stage is demonstrated through a postal history lens. But, of course, domestic routes are of primary importance to the citizen consumers of postal services. Interestingly, there were a great many experimental flights and participation at early air rallies that necessitated an entire chapter. Those same three themes reemerge in the next four chapters, covering the pre-WWII period of 1929-1939. Here we see the expansion of services that were defined during the pioneer period. While it might be a default assumption among airmail collectors, Kupiec-Weglinski elaborates upon the important role that philatelists played in postally using – and indeed supporting – many of

these experimental flights and first flights. That frame of reference may be somewhat surprising to non-students of aerophilately. But it is the chapter on Poland’s role in transcontinental route development that is especially important. The author’s treatment of the many air links is definitive. (I’ll return to this chapter momentarily.) This third section concludes with a chapter on Polish Crash Airmail. While equipment reliability continued to improve during this period, air transport remained a somewhat risky proposition. Kupiec-Weglinski offers many examples of both domestic and international air tragedies on Polish aircraft as well as foreign aircraft crashes on Polish territory. For the Crash and Wreck Mail collector, this is a very important chapter. There is little of greater aerophilatelic interest than the subject of Zeppelin mail. Kupiec-Weglinski includes an expansive treatment of Polish Zeppelin mail in the 19321937 period. He ends the book with a chapter on the interesting Zeppelin mail from Gdańsk, on the Baltic coast of Northern Poland (1932-1936). This very narrowly-focused chapter is a deep philatelic dive. Its many cover illustrations (typical of the entire book) portray a stamp collecting population that continues to influence philately today. But let us have a more detailed look at Chapter 8, “Polish Airmail in the Transcontinental Postal Networks (1929-1939).” The chapter touches on each populated

Figure 1. A seldom seen Polish dispatch carried by the first all-air AF service to South America (January 5, 1936).

continent and establishes a link between LOT, the Polish national airline, and nearly every other air service flying worldwide at that time. Indeed, it was the formation of LOT that enabled the Polish Ministry of Post and Telegraphs to reach out internationally and place Poland in the midst of the explosion of air postal services. From the very end of World War I, another war always seemed to be looming on the European political horizon. Commerce and politics were evolving in two very different directions. In retrospect, the oppressive terms of the Treaty

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Figure 2. Both sides of Łódź dispatch flown by DLH to Buenos Aires (April 14, 1935).

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of Versailles led inexorably to the Second World War. But one could have easily missed those war winds if one focused exclusively on international commerce. Throughout the 1920s the recovering world had a voracious appetite for foreign goods. Trade and transport boomed. Airmail services grew to facilitate such trade. Even into the depression of the 1930s, businesses continued to focus on international trade. And airmail routes expanded unabatedly. Take, for example, the French routes from Europe to South America that Dan Gribbin writes about in this issue of the AP. The German Deutsche Lufthansa (DLH) was developing a very competitive service beginning in 1934. But by late 1935, the two competitors were route sharing and coordinating their schedules. The Polish LOT airline had already coordinated its own schedules to meet both Air France departures from Paris and DLH departures from Berlin and Stuttgart. Kupiec-Weglinski illustrates examples of both linkages. His Figure 8.17 (Figure 2) shows a cover from Łódź to Buenos Aires carried by DLH, while his Figure 8.18 (Figure 1) shows a cover from Warsaw that just missed the DLH flight. Instead, it traveled to Paris for transit via the French route. LOT demonstrated similar synchronization with routes that originated throughout Europe and transited the globe. The illustrated covers speak worlds about the enormity of Kupiec-Weglinski’s philatelic vision. But he goes beyond the covers and provides route maps that facilitate an understanding of the logistical complexity that Polish airmail was an integral part of. Everywhere you look in The History of Airmail in Poland and Its Contribution to Airmail Services of Europe, you see a dynamic world economy driving the demand for airmail services and evidence of international cooperation among commercial enterprises. Had it been up to those commercial interests, WWII might never have happened. This book provides another example of the ultimate dominance of political motivations over the commercial aims of a peace-enjoying world. And Poland was among the first victims.

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Adventures in Expertizing BY Ken Martin APS Director of Expertizing kpmartin@stamps.org

New transitional perf example of a rare variety discovered

mong the scarcest 20th century United States stamps are copies of the 1917-1919 Washington Franklin flat plate stamps that are perforated 11 on three sides and perforated 10 on one side (either the top or bottom). These varieties occurred during the process of perforating sheets on the standard 11-gauge machine. At a certain point, one of the perforating wheels developed a problem and had to be repaired. When the row of pins on the perforating wheel was reset, some were spaced unevenly and further apart than the others. The Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps & Covers lists eleven of these varieties: catalog numbers 498g, 502e, 506a, 508c, 509a, 511a, 512b, 514a, 515d, 516a and 517c. Over the past 15 years only four copies of any of these have been authenticated by the American Philatelic Expertizing Service (APEX) — one each of 498g, 502e, 508c and 512b (Figure 1). Scott notes that four of the eleven, 498g, 506a, 509a and 511a, exist with transitional perfs, where the perforations gauge partly perf 10 and partly perf 11 at the top or the bottom. One of these transitional perfs was recently submitted to APEX (Figure 2). This previously unrecorded example of Scott 511a is precanceled with the Hoboken, NJ precancel (Precancel Stamp Society type 211). The stamp has transitional perfs at the top, starting at the left edge with perf 11 and transitioning to perf 10 at the 5th perf tip from the left. Scott values this at the same value as a regular 511a, $3,250 for a used copy in the 2021 Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers.

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Figure 2. Scott 511a with transitional perfs on top and a Hoboken, NJ precancel.

Figure 1. Certificate 200462, Scott 498g. This block, submitted in 2012, has a transition to perf 10 on the bottom row after three gauge 11 perfs. One of only two known multiples of the 498g variety with transitional perforations.

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Behind the Curtain BY Susanna Mills Deputy Editor smills@stamps.org

A Treasured Airmail Archive at the APS

at the American Philatelthe book cover to cover – joyfully recognizic Center were saddened ing the landmarks of my youthful wanderto hear that Robert Hines ings (relative youth, as I know among APS (1930-2021) of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, members I’m a spring chicken) as Wunderly passed away a few months ago. Robert was named them. Wunderly conducted her rean active community member, a lifelong search in part from Daniel Hines’ collection supporter of multiple local fire companies of early Bellefonte airmail material – newsand member of several flying and transporpaper clippings, flight records, correspontation organizations. More personally to us dence and photographs among them. at the APS, he was the nephew of U.S. airThe archives of the American Philatelic mail historian Daniel Hines, and worked Research Library are distributed throughwith the American Philatelic Research Liout the building – in the stacks, various back brary to make sure that his uncle’s life work rooms, piled in boxes awaiting proper idenand research would be preserved for future tification. The Daniel Hines collection spegenerations. The result, completed in 2004, Figure 1. Charles Ames, photograph courtesy of the Daniel was the Daniel Hines Air Mail/Aviation Pacifically is mostly in archival-safe boxes in the pers, a collection available for visitors and re- Hines Air Mail/Aviation Papers. stacks, with the photograph collection safely searchers to the APRL to peruse. tucked away in the study carrel room. To find Daniel Hines’ fascination with the U.S. Air Mail Service beout the contents of the collection, a finding aid is available on the gan in his youth – he lived with his family, including his plane APS website at https://classic.stamps.org/Subject-Guides-andmechanic brother Ellis Hines, close to the Bellefonte airfield. Finding-Aids (see: “Daniel Hines airmail/aviation papers”). The airfield was for almost a decade the singular stop on the Some of the best stories from Hines’ collection are about first U.S. westward airmail route, from New York to Cleveland, the pilots, many of whom were permanently stationed in inaugurated in fall of 1918. Through his brother, Daniel met several of the pilots as they passed through the station. Daniel would later become a pilot himself and work for the U.S. Postal Service. But it wasn’t until the 1950s that he began to collect airmail – specifically Bellefonteconnected and U.S. Air Mail Service material – in earnest. He also began working on a manuscript, unpublished, that he called “The Air Mail Story.” My first introduction to the Daniel Hines Papers was through Kathleen “Kitty” Wunderly’s book Bellefonte and the Early Air Mail, 1918-1927 (first edition 2007, third edition 2019, and available for purchase from the APS Publication Shop). In my first year at the APS, the third edition was being completed Figure 2. A postcard, including the text “Ames – Lost for 10 Days.” Courtesy of the Daniel and I had the great pleasure of reading Hines collection. 1048 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

paper clippings, photos, and ephemera about Ames and the search (Figures 1-3). For those interested in U.S. airmail, Daniel Hines’ collection is just the beginning of the material you can find on the topic at the APS. For those interested in perusing the APS archives for unpublished material, there is so much primary material to rediscover. As a side note, I want to encourage anyone who hasn’t already begun such a collection to begin looking into your own local postal history. As a native central Pennsylvanian, Wunderly’s book gave me a new appreciation for my local history and geography, even spurring me to pull up and study topographFigure 3. The Pennsylvania National Guard conducts a search, courtesy of the Daniel Hines ical maps of central Pennsylvania, collection. tracing the mountains and valleys I Bellefonte and greatly beloved by the community. I’ll just menusually traverse by car and seldom tion one, Charles Ames, about whom Hines had the opportu- think about twice. It may seem obvious, but discovering the nity to collect much material. On October 1, 1925, Ames went postal history of your hometown will change how you unmissing with his airplane instead of arriving as scheduled in derstand your community and the connection you have with Bellefonte. What followed was a 10-day search by over 1,000 your surroundings. When next I hike in the Nittany Mountains, will I keep one volunteers and the Pennsylvania National Guard, reported in eye out for the Ames memorial, deep in the woods? I will cerpapers across the country. The crashed plane and Ames’ body tainly remember to thank Daniel Hines, his nephew Robert, and were found on October 11 on the nearby Nittany Mountains. Kitty Wunderly for keeping the story of Bellefonte’s airmail piHines’ collection includes countless local and national news- lots alive.

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Onscreen Philately BY Ross Jones Manager of Digital Content rjones@stamps.org

Come Behind the Scenes with the AP

very month, about 30,000 readers look forward to settling in with one of their favorite publications, The American Philatelist. It is the oldest continuously published philatelic journal in the world, the first issue having appeared in January 1887. Have you ever wondered what goes on in the office of the AP? Well, wonder no more – watch the video series “AP Sneak Peek” to get a behind-the-scenes look at life in the editorial department. In this series, we ask Gary Loew, Editor-in-Chief, and Susanna Mills, Deputy Editor of The American Philatelist about what goes into writing and editing the stories you see in The American Philatelist. You can watch “AP Sneak Peek” (and other great videos) online at stamps.org/videos. We post a new Sneak Peek each month so keep watching for insights into the topics and themes for each month, as well as the preparation required to make sure each issue is reliable, informative, and compelling. Want to be notified when the AP gets posted online each month? You can sign up to receive an email notice each month (along with a link to that month’s Sneak Peek). To access this service, go online to stamps.org/preference-management and be sure to check the box next to “Email when a new AP is posted online.”

Meet Isabel! I am the Digital Marketing Specialist on the Digital Content Team. I produce the AP Sneak Peek series, but that’s only part of my job. I also manage the APS Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (https://linktr.ee/APSstamps); design logos, web illustrations and ads; record (and edit) live events and small scale video productions; and produce Stamp Chats (found at stamps.org/stamp-chats). When I first started working for the APS, I had no idea that there were stamps for almost every topic imaginable. One day Darlene Bloom (who volunteers with her husband, Leonard, to handle in-kind donations to the APS) came to my office and gave me a stock book so I could start my collection. Ever since, I’ve been collecting stamps that show animals and plants, as well as stamps that are related

From the October AP Sneak Peek with Susanna Mills:

The October issue - and many of our recent and upcoming issues - was not 100 pages, our typical amount, but 108 pages. What that means is that we have so much material that we want to fit in and bring to APS members and not enough space to do it in just 100 pages. 1050 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

to the Philippines. When I’m not working, you can find me by the pool with a good book, at the gym, or doing something creative like painting or scrapbooking.

Philatelic Happenings BY Ken Martin APS Director of Expertizing kpmartin@stamps.org

The Return of Philatelic Happenings

fter a little more than a year’s absence, Philatelic Happenings is returning and will regularly appear in future issues. For new readers of the column, Philatelic Happenings is a place for you – APS members, clubs, societies and shows – to share philatelic goings-on, successes, and recognitions. This month’s column will be heavy on show-related information but we would love to hear about events held in celebration of October as National Stamp Collecting Month, non-exhibiting awards and other news. Please send these along with other suggestions for content to kpmartin@stamps.org, and please feel free to include a photo(s) if appropriate. A lot of national-level (World Series of Philately) shows are being held this fall as many have been rescheduled from the spring. A few, such as NOJEX, continue to be canceled and in some cases. portions of the shows have been or will be virtual rather than in person. Traditionally, BALPEX in Hunt Valley, Maryland, follows the APS Great American Stamp Show and kicks off the fall season. Organizations meeting at the show included the American Society of Polar Philatelists, the Universal Ship Cancellation Society and the Military Postal History Society. Congratulations to Daniel Knowles who won the multiframe exhibit grand award for The Development of the Confederate States of America (CSA) from Secession to Appomattox. Louis Caprario received the multi-frame reserve grand for United States Beer Stamps 1866-1919. The Single Frame Grand went to Earl Toops for his The Trucial States Palm Tree and Dhow Series of 1961. SEAPEX was held the following weekend. Their show grand award, donated by the Puget Sound Collector’s Club, went to Louis Fiset for Censored, Rerouted, Suspended, Resumed: U.S. International Mail in World War II. James Graue took home the reserve grand for his German North Atlantic Catapult Mail. The Single Frame Grand went to Sandeep Jaiswal for The First Issue of Jaipur and the People’s Choice Award to Niko Courtelis for The Ubiquitous Paper Stamp Perforation Gauge: An Introduction. SEAPEX also had 52 competitive single frame virtual exhibits, which may still be viewed at https://www.seapexshow.org/vexhibits.html. The Omaha Stamp Show was held September 11 1052 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

and 12, the same weekend as SEAPEX. Alan Moll won the multi-frame grand for U.S. Vended Postal Insurance (1965-1985). H. James Maxwell won the multi-frame reserve grand for Rates during the Post-War Chinese National Currency Era. John Hotchner won the Single Frame Grand for The Mid-19th Century Start of Perforating in Great Britain and the United States. On September 18 and 19, the West Suburban Stamp Club hosted its Plymouth Show normally held in late April. However, this event was bourse-only with no exhibits. Philatelic Show, in suburban Boston, was also rescheduled from its normal early May date to September 24 to 26. Timothy P. O’Connor took home the multi-frame grand award for Postal History of the Thirteen Original Colonies. Behruz Nassre-Esfahani won the multi-frame reserve grand for Persia, Qajar Postal Stationery, Issued 1876-1925. The Single Frame Grand went to The War Rate: 1815-1816 by Anthony F. Dewey. A Youth Grand was also awarded to Mia Fillion for The USDA My Food Plate – Mapping Out the Foods. The Universal Postal Stationery Society (UPSS) met at Philatelic Show and offered their Champion of Champions Awards. Marvin and Judith Platt won the UPSS multi-frame for The Columbian Envelopes of 1893. Steve Schumann won the UPSS Single Frame Champion of Champions for New Zealand Stamped to Order Envelopes. The Canal Zone Study Group, the Universal Ship Cancellation Society, CAPEX 2022 and Boston 2026 also had a presence at Philatelic Show. CAPEX 2022 and Boston 2026 are the next two North America international shows. The CAPEX 22 International One Frame Stamp Championship Exhibition will be held June 9-12, 2022, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) in the heart of Toronto’s downtown entertainment district. With 400+ frames, CAPEX 22 will be the largest showing of one frame exhibits at any philatelic exhibition ever. The exhibition will also have an array of philatelic literature exhibits, both traditional print format and four categories

of digital literature, including philatelic websites. The exhibition’s bourse area will consist of more than 80 Canadian and international dealers, providing a full range of philatelic material for exhibition attendees. For collectors who want to venture a little farther, the London international show which was originally scheduled for May 2-9, 2020, is now planned for February 19-26, 2022. The December issue of the AP will include additional information on London 2022. fancy cancels. This postal history passion led to his first The North Carolina Postal History Society philatelic business venture, The Fancy Cancelist. However, recently announced the winners of two annual awards it was his next business, Kristal Kare, established in 1983, for significant work in the field of postal history at the that endured. CHARPEX stamp show. Each of the winners authored We also are sad to report the passing of Richard A. articles in the society’s quarterly journal, North Carolina Washburne, an APS member for 48 years, who for many Postal Historian. The A. Earl Weatherly Award for North years was an expert on Honduras stamps for the APS. Carolina Postal History Research was given to Darrell Washburne graduated from the University of ConnectiErtzberger for his extensive research into the subject of cut and was employed by the United Fruit Company in North Carolina Rural Free Delivery, which resulted in Honduras in June 1950 where he worked until a leave of a significant update of the published RFD information absence to join the army for the Korean War. He returned for the state. Co-winners were selected for articles pubto Honduras in 1954 and worked in Central America unlished in the last completed volume of the North Carolina til retiring in 1989. Philately was his lifelong passion. He Postal Historian – Larry Baum for his “North Carolina wrote for The American Philatelist and won numerous Antebellum and Confederate Advertising Covers: Spotawards for his stamp collections and postal history. light Wilmington” and Mark S. Schwartz’s contribution, “The Colony Was Lost but the Stamp Remains,” a study of the 5¢ gray blue Virginia Dare stamp issued at Manteo, North Carolina, on April 18, 1937. William “Bill” A. Stearns, Jr., an APS member for 42 years and founder of Kristal Kare Protective Pockets, passed away in September. His children reignited his love for stamp colInvites You to Attend Our Upcoming Show lecting in the 1970s, after which Bill featuring the Annual Conventions educated himself on U.S. postal hisand Exhibitions of the: tory and became a serious collector of American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors postage stamps and covers, especially Germany Philatelic Society

2021

CHICAGOPEX November 19–21

Stamps, stationery, postal history, die proofs from around the World. Send a note of your interests and we’ll advise you of suitable items we have. If in London, please visit our offices and browse our stock. Have you visited our DELCAMPE STORE?

1, Wardour Street London W1D 6PA Great Britain Phone: 011-44-20-7930-6100 Fax: 011-44-20-7494-2881 E-mail: philatelists@argyll-etkin.com Website: www.argyll-etkin.com

Polonus Polish Philatelic Society Lithuania Philatelic Society Friday & Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Sunday 10 a.m.–4 p.m. 250-Frame Exhibition Over 75 Dealers • U.S. & U.N. Post Offices

The Westin Chicago Northwest 400 Park Boulevard • Itasca, Illinois

(just west of O’Hare Airport; east of I-290/I-355 at Thorndale)

Free Admission & Parking • For further information visit

www.chicagopex.org facebook.com/chicagopex | call 773-775-2100

NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1053

In Touch BY Wendy Masorti Director of Membership and Shows wendy@stamps.org

It’s that time of year again!

long with sweater season comes family gatherings, holiday shopping, year-end giving and APS annual renewals. Membership renewals were mailed in October to all members – even if you have already paid. The mailing is our opportunity to provide a quick recap of the current and upcoming year, announce the latest book releases, and encourage members to update their information. Renewals can be paid online, through the mail, or by calling 814933-3803. Paying online is quick and easy if you already have an APS web account established – see the web tip shown on the right. While paying dues, this is a good time for some housekeeping. Make sure to update your contact information so you continue to receive the monthly magazine as well as APS communications. If you do not already receive the weekly APS eNewsletter, I encourage you to subscribe at www.stamps.org/morenews. These weekly newsletters provide updates on the latest APS happenings, new stamp issues, and some great stories. In addition, make sure to register or update your collecting interests. Registering your collecting interests allows APS dealers and specialized groups to provide information that may help you build your collection (assuming you permit the release of your address). Three new books to add to your holiday wish list: With your renewal you received a condensed listing of some of the books offered through APS (many at a discount to members). We recently added three new titles: 1) Pan American’s Final Flight by Jon E. Krupnick 2) The Art of Stamps: Messengers of History and the Character of Nations by George Theotocatos 3) U.S. Zeppelin and Airship Mail Flights by Cheryl R. Ganz Order through the mail, by phone, or online at www.stamps.org/publications. Year-end giving: You can help us grow the hobby and increase services by making an end-of-year donation. Any amount makes a big difference and may qualify as a tax deduction. Thank you for your continued support. And remember – if you need assistance with member services, don’t hesitate to contact our membership team – we are here to help!

Happy Thanksgiving,

1054 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Wendy

Web Tip Renew Membership Online Don’t let the internet intimidate you! Pay online with a few simple steps: 1. Visit www.stamps.org/Dues – it will prompt you to log in 2. On the “MyAPS” screen select the blue tab “MyAccount” 3. Here you will see Annual Renewals where you can click the “Pay Dues” button 4. Submit payment using Visa, Discover, Mastercard, or by Paypal.

Affiliate Spotlight As we think of Thanksgiving dinner, a nice glass of wine comes to mind. So this month our spotlight is:

Wine on Stamps Study Unit www.wine-on-stamps.org/ The unit promotes the collection and study of stamps and other philatelic material concerning wine, grapes, wine making and consumption, and related areas. They publish a quarterly full color journal and a Wine on Stamps Checklist.

What do you collect? Visit stamps.org/affiliates to find a group to share common interests.

Membership Report No. 9, SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

NEW APPLICANTS NEW APPLICANTS The following applications were received during September 2021. If no objections are received by the Executive Director (814-933-3803) prior to November 30, 2021 these applicants will be admitted to membership and notice to this effect will appear in the January 2022 issue. Adams, Martee L. (234174) Midlothian, TX 20th Century-Air Mails-Commemorative PanelsDuck/Hunting/Fishing Stamps-Souvenir Sheets-Special Deliveries; 60; Retired Aharonian, Avishay (234132) Kiriat Bialik, Israel Israel-Israel Tabs, FDCs, Error Stamps, Phosphor Errors; 36 Alexander, Edith (234204) Romulus, MI Amburgey, Lisa M. (234164) Delavan, WI Olympics-Vatican Appell, Si (234109) Land O Lakes, FL Cancels; Retired Aramburu, Hayley (234160) Plano, TX Fancy Cancels-Disney-Space/Jet/Rocket CoversFictional Detectives-Medicine/Drugs/HealthScience/Scientists; 26 Auger, Harry F. (234100) Hanson, MA Souvenir Sheets-Sheets/Small PanesCommemoratives-Canada-Pitcairn Islands20th Century Banbury, John (234110) Prospect, KY 19th Century-20th Century-CommemorativesDuck/Hunting/Fishing Stamps-First Day Covers-Kentucky; 65; Retired Bates, Bill (234076) Ludlow, MA US; 76 Beadling, David (234089) Warren, OH US Commemoratives-Early Singles; 79 Bell, Roderic (234161) Dallas, TX Precancels (City)-First Day Covers; Retired Best, Charlie Jr. (234179) Seattle, WA Philatelic History/Memorabilia-US-Commemorative Panels-Plate Blocks-Souvenir Cards-Souvenir Pages-Organized Labor; 67 Bethke, Larry (234189) Ennis, TX Late 1800s-Air Mails-Postcards-Special Deliveries-Early England And Colonies; 92 Blaine, Roy (234123) Pendleton, OR British Africa-Trains-Railroads-Animals-Kenya/ Uganda/Tanzania-African Animals; Government Bontrager, Eli Ray (234084) Shipshewana, IN Collections-Foreign Stamps; 21; Wood Working Shop Brogan, Matthew C. (234139) Ridgewood, NJ Postal History-Pre-Philatelic Mail-GermanySwitzerland-Religion-Madonnas-Cathedrals Burnap, William A. (234115) Pleasanton, CA China-Classics Burns, Michael (234180) Niagara on the Lake, ON Canada British Commonwealth-British Empire-British Omnibus-British OceaniaBritish West Indies; 70; Retired Buzzard, Ruth (234190) Linwood, MI; 79 Calora, N. (234202) Arroyo Grande, CA Capehart, Mark (234181) Tulsa, OK US-Mint US; 75 Cash, Don M. (234106) Troy, KS US-Sheets/ Small Panes-Souvenir Sheets-ImperforatesBooklets/Panes-Perfins; 69; Retired

Chan, Phillip (234093) Oakland, CA Asia-20th Century-British Empire-China (People’s Rep.)Birds-Hong Kong; USPS Mail Carrier Dahms, Caitlin (234199) Stevens Point, WI Fancy Cancels-20th Century-19th CenturyForeign Precancels; 31 de Mauriac, Henry (234184) Waldoboro, ME 19th Century-Classics-Confederate StatesDuck/Hunting/Fishing Stamps-Newspapers & Periodicals-Revenues/Tax Paids Delaney, William (234182) Windber, PA Commemoratives-First Day Covers-Air Mails20th Century-Blocks/Guideline Blocks-Plate Blocks; 55; Teacher Durham, Doug (234087) Lincoln, NE Commemoratives-US Pre-1950; 56 Fiscella, Jeffrey Troy (234085) Norwalk, IA US; 48 Francis, Kirk (234158) Cary, NC Used USPrecancels (Bureau & City)-Iowa-19th Century-Science/Scientists; 50; Scientist Frazer, Chris (234173) Coarsegold, CA; 71 Gallagher, William E. (234120) Lakewood Ranch, FL First Day Covers-US-Worldwide; 62 Geier, Leo (234183) Gibbsboro, NJ Commemoratives-US-History-US Postal History-Love-Graphic Arts; 58 George, Anthony (234191) Skokie, IL Worldwide; 83; Retired Gilbride, Ken (234079) Pine Valley, CA Duck/ Hunting/Fishing Stamps-Air Mails-Arctic/ Antarctic-Dinosaurs-Revenues/Tax Paids (Federal)-Officials/Official Mail; 62 Gleaves, Kathleen G. (234156) Lawton, MI Black Americans-Olympics-20th Century; 64 Gordon, Terry (234165) Carmel, IN; 68 Grassler, Frank P. (234074) Dallas, TX Plate Blocks-Commemoratives-Air Mails-Sheets/ Small Panes-Germany-Great Britain; 66; Attorney Greene, Ken (234128) Rockmart, GA US; 55 Gruber, Greg (234187) Greensboro, MD Commemoratives-First Day Covers; Retired Hakkinen, Jorma (234083) Vantaa, Finland Finland-Foreign Classics-Used WorldwideForeign Perfins-Perfins-Classics; 56; Health and Safety Representative Hanlon, Joan (234112) Winston, MT 19th Century-20th Century-Air MailsCommemoratives-Bureau Issues; 59 Heger, Catherine (234192) Englewood, TN Hepsley, Barry (234159) Fort Collins, CO Covers-Flight Covers (Foreign)-Picture Postcards-Foreign Postal History-Zeppelin Covers/Stamps; 75; Retired Higuera, Karey B. (234178) West Monroe, LA Butterflies/Insects-Space-Computers-Science Fiction; 27; Software Engineer Hillman, John M. (234116) Kalamazoo, MI 19th Century-20th Century-Air Mails-Zeppelin Covers/Stamps-Coils-Commemoratives-USCovers-Postal Cards Holm, Jeanne A. (234140) Stoughton, WI USWorldwide-Disney Holm, Thomas (234141) Stoughton, WI US Hood, Rafael (234077) Green Valley, AZ Civil War Covers-19th Century-20th Century-Errors, Freaks, Oddities-No. 1s Of The World; Retired Horace, Kenneth M. (234102) Chicago, IL Howard, Edwin R. Jr. (234129) Winston Salem, NC; 78

NEW MEMBERS Applications 233785-233915 (recalled 233805 and 233864) as previously published have been accepted for membership by the Board of Vice Presidents.

SUMMARY Total Membership, August 31, 2021...................26,824 New Members 129 Reinstated 31 Deceased 20 Suspension 1 Dropped NPD 1 Total Membership, September 30, 2021 26,962 (Total Membership, September 30, 2020 was 27,090 a difference of 128). Hunley, Giselle (234203) Dallas, TX Black Heritage-Birds/Fowl-African Stamps-Florals; 28; Historian Iannuzzo, Scott (234113) East Brunswick, NJ Air Mails-Souvenir Sheets-CommemorativesErrors, Freaks, Oddities-Plate BlocksCommemorative Panels-US; 63 Jennings, Richie (234088) Philadelphia, PA Pictorial Cancellations-Cancels-CoversForeign Cancels-Foreign Covers-Pennsylvania; 23; Student Kaple, Patricia M. (234133) Olean, NY US-Plate Blocks-Duck/Hunting/Fishing Stamps-Used US; 69 Keller, Kathleen (234118) San Antonio, TX USForeign Classics; 68 Kilgore, Robin (234166) Hoover, AL MintUnused-Used; 63; Retired Auto Worker Lara, Kenn (234125) San Carlos, CA DefinitivesAir Mails-Commemoratives-Sheets/Small Panes-Classics; 55 Lester, Markham (234142) Homewood, AL British Commonwealth; 70; College Professor Lust, Thomas (234188) Bruxelles, Belgium Classics-Mexico-Russia/Ussr/Independent Republics-Canada-Germany-Great Britain; 53 Maack, Matthias (234185) Buedelsdorf, Germany Crete Martin, Sara (234104) Arlington, VA First Day Covers-Commemoratives-Cancels-US Postal History-Cats-History; 59; USPS Sr. Public Relations Rep. Martin, Simon (234075) Alexandria, VA British Colonies-Rotary International-Lots & Collections-Worldwide-Graphic Arts-French Colonies McTigue, Susan E. (234117) Manhattan Beach, CA Women/IWY-Costumes-American IndiansTextiles-Flowers/Plants-Birds-Women’s Rights-Civil Rights; Retired McVey-Crawford, Bryant W. (234096) Maricopa, AZ Commemoratives-Arizona-Spain-TrainsDisney; 53 Medeiros, Joao C. (234098) Westport, MA Commemoratives-Portugal-North America; 70 Mei, Andrea (234157) Mondovi, Italy 19th Century-Fancy Cancels-Precancels (Local); 47 Melso, Joseph A. (234153) Ramsey, NJ CoilsPlate Blocks-First Day Covers; 72; Sales NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1055

Miller, John D. (234152) Harrisonburg, VA First Day Covers-Plate Blocks; 76; Retired Monahan, Dennis (234143) Beloit, WI US; 71; Retired Moore, John H. (234090) Columbia, SC US-First Day Covers; 58; Physician Morfei, Joseph (234108) Naples, FL US-19th Century-Classics-Confederate States-Florida20th Century; 78 Morris, Roger A. (234122) Duluth, MN Topical; 88; Retired Morrow, Avery (234177) Boston, MA JudaicaShips/Boats-Japanese OccupationsManchukuo-Indonesia-Philatelic Literature; 34 Mullin, Thomas C. (234154) Chester Springs, PA Christmas Seals-Commemoratives-Duck/ Hunting/Fishing Stamps-Used WorldwideDefinitives; 63 Muse, Erica (234201) Carrollton, GA GeorgiaCancels-First Day Covers-Sheets/Small PanesMiniature Sheets-Stamp Design Errors; 23 Myers, Robert J. (234121) Spring City, PA British Commonwealth-Specimens; 65; Director Engr. Nagel, Hannes (234131) Tallinn, Estonia Used Worldwide-Cinderellas-Russia/ USSR/Independent Republics-British Commonwealth-French Africa-Antarctic Territories; 35; Cross-Border and Regional Cooperation Expert Okhuysen, Pablo C. (234080) Houston, TX First Day Covers-Commemoratives-Space CoversMexico-Aviation-Medicine/Drugs/Health; 58 Ornstein, Peter (234137) Mill Valley, CA Commemoratives-Classics-Zeppelin Covers/ Stamps-Liberty Series-Possessions-Europe; 69 Osako, Wayne (234134) Garden Grove; 52

Ostry, Drew (234103) Dallas, TX Advertising Covers-20th Century-Commemorative Panels-Official Post Office Seals-Art-Science Fiction; 47; Marketing Pakulski, Frank (234095) Williston, VT United Nations-Railroads Palowitch, Casey (234119) Medford, OR Used Worldwide-Masonry-German 3rd Reich/ Occupations-Eastern Europe-Russia/USSR/ Independent Republics-Worldwide Palting, Renee V. (234200) Tucson, AZ Official Post Office Seals-Locals & Carriers-ArizonaAstronomy-Whales-Dogs; Archivist - Student Parikh, Mayank S. (234099) Ahmedabad, India India-British Commonwealth; 50; Business Parrish, Walter (234086) Jasper, AL USWorldwide-Space; 65; Retired Parsons, Michael G. (234127) Newport, OR 19th Century-20th Century-German ColoniesPoland-Germany-German States; 80; Stamp Dealer Patino, Hector (234206) Chicago, IL IllinoisIowa-Spain-Mexico-United Nations-Flags/ National Emblems-World Fairs; 29 Patric, Kenneth W. (234082) Chattanooga, TN US; 72 Peel, Cameron (234172) Allen, TX 19th CenturyClassics; 10 Perez, Rolando (234167) San Antonio, TX USSingles-Blocks-Sheets-First Day Covers; 72; Retired Pogue, James T. (234144) Memphis, TN USBack Of Book-Possessions-Select Foreign; 71; Retired

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1056 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Pomeroy-Peterson, Jerilyn F. (234162) Bellingham, WA Egypt-Morocco-CoversBureau Issues-Washington/Franklins-Foreign Classics-Cross Country Skiing; 40 Powell, Susan L. (234101) Olympia, WA IndiaIndian States-Nepal Price, Howard J. (234155) Richmond, IN Commemoratives-Air Mails-DefinitivesHistory-Classics-Coils; Retired Prokop, Chris (234197) Grapevine, TX GreeceBritish Colonies-Cyprus-Cinderellas-Zeppelin Covers/Stamps-Olympics Rosenfeld, Kenneth M. (234078) Folsom, CA British Commonwealth; 75 Ryan, John (234092) Lakewood Ranch, FL USWorldwide; 64 Sasso, Louis (234114) Waynesville, NC First Day Covers-Classics-Fine Arts-Graphic ArtsArchitecture-19th Century (Foreign); 85 Sawyer, Thomas H. (234107) Terre Haute, IN Air Mails-Commemoratives-Blocks/Guideline Blocks-First Day Programs-Definitives; 75; Retired Semidey, Gregory (234170) New York, NY 19th Century-20th Century-Air Mails-Confederate States-Errors, Freaks, Oddities-US; Retired Sharp, John (234171) Toronto, ON Canada Air Mails-British Commonwealth-Canada-Great Britain-Germany-Norway; Retired Shekitka, John (234145) Fishkill, NY; 36 Shelley, Neal A. (234146) Carolina Beach, NC Mint NH US; 73; Retired Shuff, Latisha (234081) Old Hickory, TN Guernsey/Alderney-Japan-Birds-EmbroideryBritish Royal Family-Disney; 34 Skoog, Levi (234151) Chicago, IL ChristmasDisney-Fine Arts

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End of Year Giving stamps.org/donate

Your Hobby, Your Support, Your Success Over the past five years, you’ve helped the APS and APRL transform to meet the needs of the 21st Century collector. In the past year, we: • Attracted 100,000 new visitors to the APS website, • Reached nearly 90,000 collectors with our weekly newsletter, • Drew 76,000 viewers to APS Stamp Chats. Those results have helped us recruit more collectors to the hobby, but we’re not done. With your support, we will: • Launch a new website to further expand our worldwide reach, • Deliver more philatelic research to you through Robert A. Mason Digital Library, • Increase our technology to bring live philatelic events online, • Grow our online educational courses to serve collectors of all levels. Your gift will educate, engage, and recruit more collectors than ever before. Thank you for making the future of stamp collecting brighter! Please indicate the amount/designation on the enclosed renewal form. Your generosity will be recognized in our annual April Donor Recognition issue of The American Philatelist.

Name: ______________________________________________________________________________ APS No. _____________ Address:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City:_____________________________________________________________ State:___________ Zip:_________________________ Daytime Phone _____________________________________________________  My pledge is $ _________________. I will pay $ _________________ annually.  Enclosed is my contribution of $ _________________ Form of Payment:

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Contact APS for other Designations/ Naming Opportunities.

 Education  Technology  Other _______________________ All gifts receive written acknowledgment. Donors also are listed in the annual recognition issue of The American Philatelist.  Please check here if you wish this gift to remain anonymous.  Please contact me about planned giving opportunities.  I am interested in beginning a monthly giving plan with automatic deductions from my checking account or credit card.  I would like to include APS/APRL in my will. Please contact me about how to make a bequest. Mail your contribution to: American Philatelic Society, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823-1367 For more information on donations, naming opportunities, planned giving, and bequests contact Scott English at 814-933-3814 or e-mail scott@stamps.org The American Philatelic Society and American Philatelic Research Library have non-profit tax-exempt status under IRS Section 501(c)3. No goods or services will be provided in exchange for your gift.

Smith, Craig A. (234136) Sugar Land, TX 19th Century-Philippines-Revenues/Tax Paids (Federal); 73; Retired Southwick, David E. (234186) Sheldon, VT British Commonwealth-Birds-Dogs-Flowers/ Plants-Stamps On Stamps-Revenues/Tax Paids (Federal); 60; Chef Stacy, Ralph (234193) Xenia, OH Worldwide; 61 States, Jeffrey (234147) Plymouth, MA; 68; Retired Stenzel, Thomas (234105) Alexandria, VA; 66 Stewart, Barry M. (234148) Burns, TN; 73 Susen, Paul (234130) Huntington, VT 19th Century-20th Century-Air Mails-Booklets/ Panes-First Day Covers-Imperforates Talik, Craig (234097) Powell, OH 19th CenturyOfficials/Official Mail-Possessions; 64 Tekiela, Tom (234149) Tinley Park, IL US; 61; Engineer Thompson, Jay (234135) Hoover, AL 19th Century-20th Century-First Day Covers-Air Mails-Duck/Hunting/Fishing Stamps-Officials/ Official Mail; 71; Retired Tingstrom, Bob (234175) Healdsburg, CA Classics-Commemoratives-Naval Covers; 72 Tov, Abraham (234091) Everett, WA US-Rare Stamps; 68; Retired Twining, Stephen (234205) San Antonio, TX 19th Century-20th Century-Texas Warfield, Scott K. (234111) Antioch, TN 19th Century-20th Century-Plate BlocksCommemoratives-Covers-Australia; 62; Executive Management Weihmiller, William (234168) Colorado Springs, CO Plate Blocks-Commemoratives; 91 Wenzel, Martin (234163) Montgomery, TX Canal Zone-Air Mails-Florida-Errors, Freaks, OdditiesTexas; 70 Whelan, John R. (234176) Duluth, MN Cancels-Air Mails-Duck/Hunting/Fishing Stamps-Christmas Seals-19th Century-20th Century; 89; Retired Aircraft Pilot Whetstone, Dow (234198) Wauseon, OH GreeceUS-Canada-Ireland; 51 White, Denny (234138) Alexandria, VA ClassicsUS Will, Edward (234194) Olympia, WA US; 72 Witherow, Wayne (234195) Altoona, PA; 70; Retired Wright, David C. Jr. (234094) Sanford, ME BirdsReligion-Balloons-Space-Used Worldwide; 55; Nurse

Wright, Lynne (234126) Bloomington, IL; 76; Retired Yamada, David (234169) Jamaica Plain, MA US Mint Issues-World War II (Thematic)-Hawaii; 62; Law Professor Yost, David (234150) San Diego, CA 20th Century-19th Century-Air Mails-Plate BlocksBritish Empire-Canada; 65 Youngblood, Ivory J. (234196) Shreveport, LA US-International; 63; Retired Zoeller, Franklin S. (234124) Baltimore, MD 19th Century-20th Century-Classics; 60

DECEASED Adams, David R. (226045), Lexington, KY Blaisdell, Charles O. (9142-062374), White Plains, NY Borza, Eugene N. (107731), New Cumberland, PA Evans, Larry W. (219289), Palm Coast, FL Hasman, Raymond J. (6933-048082), Brecksville, OH Iradji, Amir H. (10610-070927), Sacramento, CA Irwin, William R. (187477), Fredericksburg, VA Kelly, Paul J. (5810-164315), Philadelphia, PA Kesterson, James R. (6862-048676), Bremerton, WA McComas, John L. (137923), Fresno, CA Mercer, John W. (8678-044734), San Marino, CA Padwater, A. Dennis (9183-064274), Cromwell, CT Scardera, Michael (9748-067857), Hamden, CT Shoenig, Edward (178161), Randolph, MA Sorensen, Robert S. (102339), West Lafayette, IN Varella, M. David (173027), North Easton, MA Waggoner, Thurman D. (1544-058677), White Bluff, TN Washburn, Richard A. (10427-073133), Lady Lake, FL Webster, John (220507), Jonesboro, GA Williams, Raymond G. (161586), Vernonia, OR

SUSPENSION Reeves, James L. (4324-088567), Huntingdon, PA, suspension of APS membership privileges for three years for failure to provide a refund of expertized items (without extension requested).

APPLICATION RECALLED Begia, Blake (233805), San Antonio, TX Hasenberg, John P. (233864) Morton Grove, IL

Extensive online listing of ENVELOPES

SPECIAL NOTICE – UNABLE TO LOCATE Anyone having any information on the status or mailing address of the following members is requested to advise the Membership staff: email membership@stamps.org or call (814) 933-3803 by December 31, 2021. If no information is received, these members will be removed from the membership rolls. Arellanes, Charles (232430), Ontario, CA Breitman, Steven E. (5843-081042), Bellmore, NY Cashman, John (187651), Beaumont, TX Chernich, Frank M. (9383-062398), Ironton, MO Cimorelli, Michael A. (185138), Boynton Beach, FL Cook, Seymore C. (5861-061981), Warminster, PA Corcoran, George I. S. (3974-118894), Longwood, FL Emery, John J. (229296), Caledon, ON Gauger, A. Gary (12226-071699), West Bloomfield, MI Glaentzer, Christoph H. (10054-061578), Bielefeld, Germany Hardman, Edward M. (7408-051991), East Peoria, IL Ingenito, Mark C. (9066-195677), Havertown, PA Kohn, Stanley P. (6628-047489), Woodland Hills, CA Lester, Michael (231528), Church Hill, TN MacDonald, Hugh R. (6993-050556), Clearwater, FL Marsh, Jerrold V. (151820), Grosse Pointe, MI Mattson, Diane L. (5058-152321), Clovis, CA Miller, John (226613), Morton, WA Mohr, Henry J. (5662-165988), Cape Coral, FL Perry, Clarence E. (090425), Reno, NV Russell, Floyd (6697-035816), Green Valley, AZ Schuenemann, Paul A. (3301-114428), Horsham, PA Simpson, Timothy J. (150659), San Rafael, CA Sowell, Broadus F. (10566-071880), Vero Beach, FL Stein, George (9709-066680), Cliffside Park, NJ Vazquez-Alamo, F. (2939-016862), Rio Piedras, PR Waite, Oren B. (10305-068420), Oxnard, CA Washington, Deborah L. (135141), Chicago, IL Williams, Ambreya A. (233372), Goshen, IN Wise, James C. (202356), Baltimore, MD Zamora-Pamies, Carlos J. (8898-062332), San Sebastian, PR Zhu, Zhongjian (7602-183103), Flushing, NY

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APS #216955

Classified Ads UNITED STATES 20-33% OF SCOTT $1,000,000 WW inventory. Lots of US & cols. Catalog avail. www.BillsStamps. com Many finer sets & singles up to $1,000 Unconditional money-back guarantee doctoryes007@aol.com 214-213-8066 (1451) US APPROVALS Beginners welcome. Lowest prices. Lists welcome. John Barkdoll POB 751024 Petaluma CA 94975 (1451) Surprising! www.JaySmith.com (1451) stampsforcollectors.net (1451) FREE 83 PAGE PRICELIST. Call, write or email. Includes 19th century to Forever issues, Air Mail, Ducks and other BOB. Or, visit my website and shop my online store. Enter www.thenorthwoodsstamps. com into your address bar at the top of the page. Major credit cards and paypal accepted. John Brown. Northwoods Stamps. PO Box 823 Rochester, MN 55903. brown55902@aol.com.( 507 ) 2525956 (1453) USED and MINT PNCs. Google “Himes PNCs” or send SASE to J.Himes, POB 453, Cypress, CA 90630 (1455) UNITED STATES Classics + www. hipstamp.com/store/ralphsroom (1455) BARNEY’S STAMPS has interesting 19th Century, Choice Commemoratives, Artsy Airmails, BOB, Used and MINT! All at Powerful prices! WOOF www. barneysstamps.com (1455) www.triple-sonline.com 25,000 WORLDWIDE COVERS (1458)

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EARLY TO THE LATEST PLATE BLOCKS on approval. Positions filled. Send me your want list today John Robie, PO Box 2-A, Linden, CA 95236 (1459)

LIKE APPROVALS? Try APS Circuit Books for British Commonwealth! We can build your collection. Email CircuitBooks@stamps.org (1460)

FREE 40-page U.S. U.N. Pricelist (412)-431-3800 or view online www.fortpittstamps.com Fort Pitt Philatelics PO Box 6009 Pittsburgh PA 15211 (1459)

CANADA

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U.S. POSSESSIONS www.stampstore.org Seller ID 738268 (1451)

BRITISH COMMONWEALTH 20-33% OF SCOTT $1,000,000 WW inventory. Lots of GB & cols. Catalog avail. www.BillsStamps. com Many finer sets & singles up to $1,000 Unconditional money-back guarantee doctoryes007@aol.com 214-213-8066 (1451) BRITISH EMPIRE – Extensive stock with emphasis on pre-1960. Advise us of your wants. TOGA ASSOCIATES, Box 396, Fairfield, CT 06824 203-255-8885 e-mail: tbansak@aol.com (1455) stampsforcollectors.net (1455) www.triple-sonline.com 25,000 WORLDWIDE COVERS (1458) www.commonwealth-stamps.com (1458)

CAN. MINT NEVER HINGED STAMP ISSUES-1950-2003 Definitives, Commemoratives, Coils, Plate Blocks, Souvenir, Miniature, and Full Sheets and Booklets at 25% of Catalogue. <524gordon@gmail. com> (1450) www.nfldstamps.com Walsh Specialized eCatalogues 2022 Newfoundland 2022 BNA Canada (1451) stampsforcollectors.net (1451)

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AFRICA

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CHINA stampsforcollectors.net (1451)

stampsforcollectors.net (1455) LIKE APPROVALS? Try APS Circuit Books for Africa! We can build your collection. Email CircuitBooks@ stamps.org (1460)

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COLOMBIA

stampsforcollectors.net (1455)

JOIN: www.COPAPHIL.org (1459)

GET NOTICED WITH CLASSIFIED ADS Classified advertising in The American Philatelist is a cost-effective way to get the attention of nearly 26,000 American Philatelic Society members around the world. Call or email Chad today for more details (CCowder@stamps.org). Payment in advance. No change of copy. No refunds.

1 line 2 lines 3 lines 4 lines 5 lines 6 lines 7 lines 8 lines 9 lines 10 lines 11 lines

1 month $ 3.94 $ 7.88 $ 11.82 $ 15.76 $ 19.70 $ 23.64 $ 27.58 $ 31.52 $ 35.46 $ 39.40 $ 43.34

6 months $ 21.28 $ 42.55 $ 63.83 $ 85.10 $ 106.38 $ 127.66 $ 148.93 $ 170.21 $ 191.48 $ 212.76 $ 234.04

12 months $ 37.82 $ 75.65 $ 113.47 $ 151.30 $ 189.12 $ 226.94 $ 264.77 $ 302.59 $ 340.42 $ 378.24 $ 416.06

To calculate the number of lines for your ad, count all letters, numerals, punctuation and blank spaces between words. Divide the total by 34 and round up to the next whole number. Advertising is restricted to current APS members; please include your APS number. All classified ads must be prepaid. The best way to submit classified ads is online at www.stamps.org/ Classified-Ads. Classified ads are also

accepted via mail by sending your ad text and payment to AP Advertising, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823. When submitting your ad, please include your card number (VISA, MasterCard or Discover only) and expiration date. Checks must be drawn on a U.S. bank. Renewal Notice: If (1450) appears after your ad, it expires after this issue. Deadline for the December issue is November 24.

Interested in display adverting in The American Philatelist or online with Stamps.org? Contact Advertising Director Steve Schwanz for more information Fox Associates, Inc. 800-440-0231 • adinfo.theamericanphilatelist@foxrep.com NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1059

CZECH www.StampsOfCzech.com WANT LISTS FILLED. New issues. Year sets avail. HSE, POB 4028 Vineyard Haven, MA 02568 Phone - (888) 868-8293 (1456)

EASTERN EUROPE stampsforcollectors.net (1451)

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GERMANY stampsforcollectors.net (1451) www.Stamps-Germany.com (1453) LIKE APPROVALS? Try APS Circuit Books for Germany! We can build your collection. Email CircuitBooks@stamps.org (1460)

HUNGARY stampsforcollectors.net (1451)

1060 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

www.HungarianStamps.com WANT LISTS FILLED. New issues. Year sets avail. HSE, POB 4028 Vineyard Haven, MA 02568 Phone (888) 868-8293 (1456)

ITALIAN COLONIES 20-33% OF SCOTT $1,000,000 WW inventory. Lots of Iltaly & cols. Catalog avail. www.BillsStamps. com Many finer sets & singles up to $1,000 Unconditional money-back guarantee doctoryes007@aol.com 214-213-8066 (1451)

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PHILIPPINES

SCANDINAVIA

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PORTUGAL stampsforcollectors.net (1451) www.StampsPortugal.com (1453)

MEXICO

ROMANIA

stampsforcollectors.net (1451)

MIDDLE EAST stampsforcollectors.net (1455)

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MONACO

RUSSIA

stampsforcollectors.net (1455)

NEW ZEALAND stampsforcollectors.net (1451)

PANAMA JOIN: www.COPAPHIL.org (1459)

HUGE STOCK AND GREAT SERVICE since 1973. Price lists: js@JaySmith. com or 2880-page website www. JaySmith.com (1451) LIKE APPROVALS? Try APS Circuit Books for Scandinavia! We can build your collection. Email CircuitBooks@stamps.org (1460)

SOUTH AMERICA stampsforcollectors.net (1455)

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WORLDWIDE www.riverbanktreasures.com (1450) 20-33% OF SCOTT $1,000,000 WW inventory. Lots of France & cols. Catalog avail. www.BillsStamps. com Many finer sets & singles up to $1,000 Unconditional money-back guarantee doctoryes007@aol.com 214-213-8066 (1451) SELLER ID 534232: US, Polynesia (1451)

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RussianPhilately.com (1455)

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www.StampsOfEasternEurope. com WANT LISTS FILLED. New issues. Year sets avail. HSE, POB 4028 Vineyard Haven, MA 02568 Phone - (888) 868-8293 (1456)

OquistStamps 208-546-9070Worldwide Stamp Specialists www.OquistStamps. com or Ebay:DOCNIK Contact@ oquiststamps.com (1453)

ALL

HAWAII

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OLD WW COUNTRY COLLS, MiniColls, Topicals. Stouse 218-3465025 (1456)

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FSDA ASDA

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Mexico

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1840/1955 SETS SINGLES N/H/U 60%-80% of Scott cat. 2021 USA, Canada, Newfoundland, Britain/ Col. Many European Countries Strong: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece/Crete, Liechtenstein, Netherland, Italy/ Aegean Islands, Erithred, Saaz, S. Cal. CP 864 Succ. B Montreal, Que. h3B-3k5 Canada (1455)

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D & P Stamps

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Canada Revenues 11/25/2014 9:10:16 AM Massive Inventory E.S.J. van Dam Ltd

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ALBUMS Search eBay Stamps for Mac’s Supplements. US 2018-20. Duck albums. Custom topical pages. (1459)

US AND WORLDWIDE. See it before you buy it. Philatelic Friends, PO Box 187, Carlisle, PA 17013 (1459) US AND WORLDWIDE. GREAT PRICES BEGINNER TO ADVANCED. Sets and Singles. State interest. Larry Serenari, 766 Nestle Quarry Rd., Falling Waters, WV 25419 (1462)

APPRAISALS WORLD WIDE STAMP APPRAISALS Valuation and written report provided. Sellers Agent Services info@hungarianstamps.com (888)868-8293 HSE POB 4028, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568 (1456)

APPROVALS

AUCTIONS AUCTIONS WITH A DIFFERENCE. Covers, revenues, documents, etc. Even stamps. Contact us for next catalog; HJW Daugherty, PO Box 1146, Eastham, MA, 02642, 508-255-7488,hjwdoonline@gmail. com (1455)

SUPPLIES

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EXCHANGE CLUBS LOOKING FOR A MORE ADVANCED EXCHANGE? Pete’s 4470 Chippewa, Boulder CO 80303 peterbialick@comcast.net (1454)

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POSTAL HISTORY

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US FIRST DAY COVERS

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Worldwide Books of Mounted COLLECTIONS Singles by country. Pre 1941 to REVENUES 2000’s. Some sets available. Many QUALITY SURPLUS STAMPS. British WORLD REVENUES LIQUIDATION books with issues of last 10 years. & French Colonies, W.Europe, collections, sets, singles, of State interests. Howard Mundt, 415 AP-PLACEHOLDER-2018.qxp_USspecialist_FP 3/15/18 5:51 AM Page 1 US, BOB at 25-30% catalogue. everywhere from A-Z. also N Lenfesty, Marion IN 46952 (1450) Muriel Rowan, 17160 Kinzie documents and Cinderellas. CANADA, USA, WORLDWIDE St., Northridge CA 91325 Gordon Brooks. Email Bizzia@ MINT AND USED,PERSONALIZED Email: merkrow@aol.com (1451) sympatico.ca. (1452) SERVICE IN SETS AND PACKETS. PROPHIL STAMPS, P.O. BOX 112, STCOVERS TOPICALS Sauveur QC JOR 1R6 WEB: WWW. TIMBREPROPHIL.COM (1451) www.philbansner.com (1456) www.westernstampco.com (1457)

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WANTED Foreign Postal Stationery. I can use almost anything in foreign postal stationery. Steve Schumann, 2417 Cabrillo Drive, Hayward, CA 94545 stephen.schumann@att.net (1455) Join: IPDASTAMPS.COM Become an accredited internet stamp seller. (1464)

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When in Naples (Florida) buyers and 2019 Miller Celebrating 50 years 1-inch ad. 1indd.indd 10/7/2019 1 1:56:12 PM stop in and examine our large stock of U.S. and builders of great Foreign Stamps, Covers, Collections, Wholesale Lots stamp collections NEW ENGLAND STAMP 4987 Tamiami Trail East visit Village Falls Professional Ctr., Naples, FL 34113

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CZ, Cuba, Guam, Hawaii, PR, Philippines, & Spanish Era Whether you want that elusive issue to complete a set or sell your collections. Free price list.

FSDA ASDA

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WANTED

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Remember the APS and APRL in your Will Call (814) 933-3803 for info on estate planning 1062 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

ericjackson.com

Online Auctions Every three weeks we offer more than 200 lots of U.S. Revenues, Taxpaids, State Revenues, Canada Revenues, World Revenues, Telegraph Stamps, Cinderellas, U.S. Postage stamps on occasion and much more. Take a look and bid! Bidding ends Tuesdays at 11 p.m. EST

Eric Jackson

The hobby’s premier dealer of revenue stamps since 1975 P.O. Box 728 • Leesport PA 19533-0728 Phone: 610-926-6200 E-mail: eric@revenuer.com

Established 1914

Wish Central

“Making Buying & Selling Wishes a Reality!” Gary Posner

#311. Mint, Extremely Fine to Superb, with Lightly Hinged Original Gum, Intense Deep Rich Black Color and a Philatelic Foundation Certificate. Our List Price $1,500 Special Ad Price $1,325

From Classics to Back-of-Book, please visit www.garyposnerinc.com where you will find to the right on our home page a “CLICK HERE” link to the many singles and multiples we have listed at Collectors Corner. Enjoy another Great Resource: Our eBay Store: www.ebay.com/str/garyposner—with a Best Offer Option !

Bob Prager

#459. 1914 2¢ Carmine Line Pair, Mint with Never Hinged Original Gum and No Crease, a Real Beauty, with a PF Certificate Grading it XF 90. SMQ $1,750 Our List Price $1,750 Special Ad Price $1,575

#TC1e. 1847 10¢ Issue Large Die Trial Color Proof in Blue. Scott $800 Our List Price $650 Special Ad Price $575 #E7. Special Delivery Top Imprint and Number 4916 Plate Block, Extremely Fine with NH Original Gum, The Best We’ve Ever Seen! Our List Price $3,500 Special Ad Price $3,250

#C12. 5¢ Winged Globe, Air Post, Mint Never Hinged, Exceptional Wide Margins, Mathematically Precise Centering, A Gem Stamp with a PSE Certificate Grading it Gem 100, One of Only Ten at This Perfect Grade, Which is the Highest Awarded a Never Hinged C12. SMQ $1,500 Our List Price Will Be $2,000 Special Ad Price $1,750

#289. 1898 Trans-Mississippi 8¢ with Plate #609 in a Wide Top Margin, Extremely Fine, with Never Hinged Original Gum and a PSE Certificate. Our List Price $1,440 Special Ad Price $1,275 #666. Kansas Overprint Plate Block, VF-XF Centering, NH Original Gum, with an APS Certificate. Scott $925 Our List Price $925 Special Ad Price $825

#C6. 24¢ Carmine, 1923 Air Post, An Absolutely Beautiful Stamp In Every Respect with Mint Never Hinged Immaculate Original Gum, Intense Color and Impression, Perfectly Centered In Jumbo Margins, a Stunning Gem with a PSE Certificate Grading it Superb 98 Jumbo Never Hinged. SMQ $1,850 Our List Price Will Be $2,600 Special Ad Price $2,350

#678. Nebraska Overprint Plate Block, Extremely Fine with Never Hinged Original Gum, an Extraordinary Plate Block with Great Color! Our List Price $900 Special Ad Price $795

“Building Collections by Building Relationships”

For more than 40 years Bob Prager has worked with discriminating philatelists in forming their outstanding collections. His reputation as a respected consultant is built on the one-on-one relationship he has with his clients. With our vast and growing stock, we either already

have what you seek, or he will get to work locating it for you.

Call Bob Prager at 800-323-4279 to discuss how you can achieve your goals, including building an Award Winning Collection.

GARY POSNER, INC.

COLLECTORS: We are successful on 265 Sunrise Highway, Ste. 1-308, Rockville Centre, NY 11570 nine out of ten Cell: 917-538-8133 • Phone 800-323-4279 • Fax 516-599-2145 collections that www.garyposnerinc.com • GaryPosnerInc@aol.com are offered to us! eBay Store: www.ebay.com/str/garyposner

#562. 10¢ Orange, Mint Never Hinged, Vivid Color, as Fresh as the Day it Was Printed, Virtually Perfectly Centered, A Superb Gem with a PSE Certificate Grading it Superb 98 NH, Only Four Graded Higher! SMQ $775 Our List Price Will Be $1,000 Special Ad Price $890

Gary Po

They’re

Index of Advertisers Airmail and Space — www.airmailandspace.com C4 American Numismatic Association — www.money.org 1071 Amos Media — www.linns.com — www.amosadvantage.com 1031 Antonio M. Torres — www.antoniotorres.com 1066 APS Estate Advice — www.stamps.org/Estate-Advice 1062 APS Giving Tuesday — www.stamps.org/giving-tuesday 988 APS Year End Giving — www.stamps.org/Estate-Advice 1057 Argyll Etkin Limited — www.argyll-etkin.com 1053 Auktionshaus Christoph Gärtner GmbH & Co. KG — www.auktionen-gaertner.de 985 CDD Stamps — www.cddstamps.com 1062 Century Stamps — www.century-stamps.com 1060 Cheryl Gantz — www.classic.stamps.org/Publications 1067 Chicagopex — www.chicagopex.org 1053 CK Stamps — www.CKstamps.com 1058 Colonial Stamp — www.colonialstamps.com 1061 Columbian Stamp Company — www.columbianstamp.com 1062 D&P Stamps — www.dpstamps.com 1061 Daniel F. Kelleher Auctions — www.kelleherauctions.com 977, 1036-1037 Davidson’s Stamp Service — www.newstampissues.com 1061 Delcampe — www.delcampe.com 985 Denali Stamp Co. — www.denalistamps.com 1066 Deveney Stamp — www.deveneystamps 1068 Don S. Cal — www.DonSCal.com 1066 Dr. Robert Friedman & Sons — www.drbobfriedmanstamps.com 987 Dutch Country Auctions — ww.DutchCountryAuctions.com 1043 E.S.J. van Dam, Ltd. — www.canadarevenuestamps.com 1061 Eastern Auctions — www.easternauctions.com 1068

Eric Jackson — www.ericjackson.com 1062 Florex — www.FLOREXstampshow.com 1058 Frank Bachenheimer — www.astampdealer4u.com 1061,1062 Gary Posner, Inc. — www.garyposnerinc.com 1063 Gregg Nelson Stamps — www.greggnelsonstamps.com 1061 HB Philatelics — www.hbphilatelics.com 1049 Hipstamp — www.hipstamp.com 979 Hugh Wood Inc. Insurance — www.hughwood.com 1069 India and States — www.indiaandstates.com 993 J.R. Mowbray, Ltd. — www.mowbrays.co.nz 1061 James E. Lee LLC — www.jameslee.com 1010 Pan American’s Final Flight — www.panamclippers.com 1011 KAP Stamps — www.kapstamps.com 1056 Kay & Co. — www.kaystamps.com 1049 Kelleher & Rogers, Ltd. — www.kelleherasia.com 977, 1036-1037 Lawrence J. Mozian — www.mozianstamps.com 1049 Markest Stamps — www.markest.com 1045 Martin Winter 1046 Michael Eastick & Associates Pty. Ltd. — www.michaeleastick.com 1058 Miller’s Stamp Company — www.millerstamps.com 1062 Mountainside Stamps, Coins & Currency — www.mountainsidestamps.com 993 Mystic Stamp Company — www.mysticstamp.com C2, 980 New England Stamp — www.NewEnglandStamp.com 1062 Nieser Stamp and Coin — www.kennieser.com 989 Oquist Stamps — www.oquiststamps.com 1068 Palo Albums Inc. — www.paloalbums.com 1065 Paradise Valley Stamp Company, Cornerstamp, Inc. — www.stamp-one.com 1046

Patricia A. Kaufmann — www.trishkaufmann.com 1056 Penny Black Stamp Company — www.pennyblackstamp.com 1068 Philasearch.com — www.philasearch.com 983 Posta Faroe Islands — www.en.stamps.fo 986 Postal Stationery.com — www.postalstationery.com 1058 Randy Scholl Stamp Co. Have Tongs Will Travel — www.randyschollstampcompany.com/ have-tongs-will-travel.asp C3 Rasdale Stamp Company — www.rasdalestamps.com 1067 Richard Friedberg Stamps — www.friedbergstamps.com 983 Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Inc. — www.siegelauctions.com 1062 Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library — http://rmplauctions.org 992, 1044 Rubber Stamps — shop.wcp-nm.com 1061 San Pedro Stamp & Coin, LLC 1067 Scott A. Shaulis — www.shaulisstamps.com 1061 Space Cover Store — www.spacecoverstore.com 1062 Sparks Auctions — www.sparks-auctions.com 981 Stampbay, Inc. — www.stampbay.com 1044 Stephen T. Taylor — www.stephentaylor.co.uk 1049 Sterling Stamps — auction.sterlingstamps.com 1068 Steve Malack Stamps — www.malack.com 993 Suburban Stamp 1062 Tropical Stamps, Inc. — www.tropicalstamps.com 992 Universal Philatelic Auctions — www.UPAstampauctions.co.uk 1047 Vance Auctions Ltd — www.vanceauctions.com 992 Victoria Stamp 1050 Vogt Stamps — www.vogtstamps.com 1061 Whitman Publishing — www.whitman.com 991 William Kelly 1062

About the Index of Advertisers This index is included to help readers find advertisers included in this edition of The American Philatelist. The support of these dealers and services is very important to the APS and to The AP. Advertising is a privilege of membership and each business represented here is a member in good standing of the Society. Some postal organizations, like the U.S. Postal Service, are not directly members, but are afforded the opportunity to advertise because of their standing, reputation and impact on the hobby. Advertising is open to any member of the American Philatelic Society. 1064 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

For any advertiser that maintains a website, that web address is listed with their information above. Additionally, the online version of the journal includes clickable links for each of these companies and individuals. These links make visiting the advertisers’ websites easy and avoids the possibility of mistyping the web address from these listings. As you interact with these advertisers, please tell them you saw their ad in The American Philatelist and let them know that you appreciate their support of the journal and the hobby in general.

Show Time

stampshow@stamps.org

The “Show Time” Calendar features a list of upcoming shows and APS events. To obtain a listing, please submit a “Show Time” form, available online at www.stamps.org/Show-Calendar or by mail from APS headquarters. Information must be received 60 days before desired publication time. The listings are free to World Series of Philately and other shows that are sponsored by an APS chapter or affiliate. Other shows/bourses may purchase listings for the month of the show/ bourse and the month prior only. The listing fee is $25 per show per issue. Shows designated *B* are bourse only. Grand award winners from *WSP* shows are eligible for the annual APS World Series of Philately Champion of Champions competition. Note that CofC eligibility may be affected if WSP criteria are not achieved for an individual show. Visit aps.buzz/ Calendar for a complete listing of shows and APS events.

Pennsylvania

Michigan

34th Annual Stamp EXPO, Mid-Cities Stamp Club, Grapevine Convention Center, 1209 S. Main Street, Grapevine. Contact: Peter Elias Email: info@mid-citiesstampclub.com Website: https://www.mid-citiesstampclub.com/ mid-cities-expo-2021.html

November 5-6

AAPEX2021, Ann Arbor Stamp Club, St Luke Lutheran Church, 4205 Washtenaw Avenue, Ann Arbor. *B* Contact: Michael Homel Email: arbor@provide.net Website: http://www.annarborstampclub.org

New Jersey

November 6

Rhode Island

November 6

RIPEX 2021, Rhode Island Philatelic Society, Pilgrim Lutheran Church, 1817 Warwick Avenue, Warwick. *B* Contact: Michael Imbruglia Email: msimbruglia@gmail.com Website: http://www.nefed.org/02_ RhodeIslandPhilatelicSociety.htm

California

November 6-7

Sacapex Stamp Show, Sacramento Philatelic Society, Sacramento Scottish Rite, 6151 H Street, Sacramento. Contact: Joanne Murphy Email: joannebe@pacbell.net Website: http://www.sacramentostampclub.org/

November 6-7

Pittpex 2021, The Philatelic Society of Pittsburgh, South Fayette Fire Hall, 661 Millers Run Road, Cuddy. Contact: Bryan Gross Email: maxaugust@aol.com Website: www.pittsburghstampclub.org

Virtual

November 8

47 Ways to Collect Airmail, Virtual Course via C3a. *APS* Email: education@stamps.org Website: https://stamps.org/learn/c3a-onlinelearning

Virtual

November 9

Intro to Polar Aerophilately, Virtual Course via C3a. *APS* Email: education@stamps.org Website: https://stamps.org/learn/c3a-onlinelearning

Texas

New York

November 12-13

STEPEX 2021, Elmire NY Stamp Club and Crystal City Coin Club, American Legion Post, 45 South Olcott Road - Exit 49 off highway I-86, Big Flats. *B* Contact: Wayne Nyre Email: mrstampman14891@yahoo.com

California

November 13-14

Filatelic Fiesta 2021, San Jose Stamp Club, Napredak Hall, 770 Montague Expy, San Jose. *WSP* Contact: Brian Jones Email: bfj39@yahoo.com Website: http://www.filatelicfiesta.com

Ohio

November 13

101st Annual Rubber City Stamp Exhibition and Bourse, Fairlawn Kiwaniw Community Center, 3486 S. Smith Road, Fairlawn. Contact: Tom Hirschinger Email: TGHerodium7@aol.com

Ohio

November 13-14

MSDA Cincinnati Stamp Show, Midwest Stamp Dealers Association, Sharonville Convention Center, 11355 Chester Road, Cincinnati. Contact: Michael Mules

Email: msdastampshow@gmail.com

Illinois

November 19-21

CHICAGOPEX, Chicago Philatelic Society, Westin Chicago Northwest, 400 Park Blvd., Itasca. *WSP* Contact: Charles Berg Email: stampkingchicago@hotmail.com Website: http://www.chicagopex.org

Ohio

November 20

Illinois

November 27

Florida

December 3-5

Ohio

December 3-4

Black River Stamp Club Annual Show, Black River Stamp Club, St. Jude School, 590 Poplar St., Elyria. Contact: Dennis Sadowski Email: blackriver.stampclub@gmail.com Website: http://stamps.org/Black-River-StampClub Supex 2021, Suburban Collectors Club of Chicago 061737, Operating Engineers Hall, 6200 Joliet road, Countryside. *B* Contact: Scott Mitchell Email: scott.mitchell@aah.org

FLOREX--The Florida State Stamp Show, FSDA & Central Florida Stamp Club, Osceola Heritage Park, Events Center, Hall B, 1901 Chief Osceola Trail, Kissimmee. *WSP* Contact: Francis Ferguson Email: show@florexstampshow.com Website: http://www.florexstampshow.com 60th Annual Worthington Stamp Show, Worthington Stamp Club, Doubletree Hilton Worthington, 175 Hutchinson Ave, Columbus. Contact: Guy Purington Email: gpurington@homesteadcos.com Website: http://worthingtonstampclub.com/

New Jersey

December 4

California

December 4-5

MSC First Saturday Monthly Bourse, Merchantville Stamp Club, Martin Luther Chapel School Gym, 4100 Terrace Ave, Pennsauken. *B* Contact: Carol Anne Visalli Email: cavisalli@yahoo.com Website: https://www.merchantvillestampclub.org/ PENPEX, Sequoia Stamp Club, Redwood City Community Activities Building, 1400 Roosevelt Avenue, Redwood City. Contact: Kristin Patterson Email: PENPEXRedwoodCity@yahoo.com Website: https://www.penpex.org/

1939-1945 BOHEMIA & MORAVIA

Complete (181 different)

181 diff Mint NH 181 diff Mint 181 diff Used

$190.00 $125.00 $250.00

www.DonSCal.com

Don S. Cal PO Box 1732 • Port Angeles, WA 98362

Tel: 250-383-6211 • E-mail: dcal@victoriastamp.com Dealer member APS since 1985 1066 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Wisconsin

December 4-5

Indiana

February 12-13, 2022

Website: http://www.americanstampdealer.com

MSDA Madison Stamp Show, Midwest Stamp Dealers Association, Double Tree by Hilton - Madison East, 4402 East Washington Ave., Madison. *B* Contact: Michael Mules Email: msdastampshow@gmail.com Website: http://www.msdastamp.com

MSDA Indianapolis Stamp Show, Midwest Stamp Dealers Association, Lawrence Community Park District, 5301 N. Franklin Road, Lawrence. *B* Contact: Michael Mules Email: msdastampshow@gmail.com Website: https://msdastamp.com/

Virtual

ARIPEX, Arizona Federation of Stamp Clubs, Mesa Convention Center, 201 N. Center St., Mesa. *WSP* Contact: Kevin Lesk Email: kwkual@aol.com Website: http://www.aripex.org/

December 8

The Christmas Philatelic Club: Where it is always Christmas, Virtual Course via C3a. *APS* Email: education@stamps.org Website: https://stamps.org/learn/c3a-onlinelearning

Wisconsin

January 15-16 2022

MSDA Milwaukee Stamp Show, Midwest Stamp Dealers Association, Crowne Plaze Milwaukee Airport, 6401 S. 13th Street, Milwaukee. *B* Contact: Michael Mules Email: msdastampshow@gmail.com Website: https://msdastamp.com/

Florida

January 21-23, 2022

Sarasota National Stamp Exhibition, Sarasota Philatelic Club, 801 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. *WSP* Contact: Liz Hisey Email: lizhisey@comcast.net Website: https://www.sarasotastampclub.com/ the-exhibition/general-info/

Georgia

January 28-30, 2022

Southeastern Stamp Expo, Southeastern Federation of Stamp Clubs, Hilton Hotel Atlanta Northeast, 5993 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Peachtree Corners. *WSP* Contact: Steve Swain Email: sestampexpo@gmail.com Website: http://www.sefsc.org

Arizona

London

Ohio

February 18-20, 2022

February 19-26, 2022

LONDON 2022, Business Design Center, London. Contact: U.S. Commissioner: Jack Harwood Email: jharwood222@verizon.net Website: https://www.london2022.co/

New York

Ohio

February 20-20, 2022

March 5-6, 2022

McKinley Club Stamp Show, McKinley Stamp Club, St. George Serbian Orthodox Social Hall, 4667 Applegrove St. NW, Canton. Contact: David Pool Email: lincolnway@sssnet.com Website: https://mksc.webs.com/

Illinois

March 11-13, 2022

ASDA Stamp Show, American Stamp Dealers Association, Holiday Inn Chicago Oakbrook, 17 W 350 22nd Street, Oakbrook Terrace. *B* Contact: Dana Guyer Email: dana@americanstampdealer.com

We 10/1/21 are nowwe offering a monthly listaofmonthly world stamps. Therestamps. will be two diffwill erent On will begin offering list of world There be lists two available. different “Theavailable. Classic Period” for stamps 1840-1940. “The Modern for Period” stamps 1941 lists “The Classic Period” for stamps 1840-1940. “ThePeriod” Modern for on. Or 1941 you can request c lists for lists either period.period. If youIf you are are interested in stamps on. Or you cancountry requestspecifi country specific for either interested receiving one in receiving oneororboth bothlists, lists,simply simplyletletususknow knowhow howyou youwould would like like to to receive receive them, via mail or oremail email(international (internationalrequests requests only email). regular mail cancan only be be sentsent via via email). You You can can contact us mail by mail SPSC, Box91306, 91306,Tucson, Tucson,AZ AZ85752; 85752; via via email email at: contact us by at: at: SPSC, P.O.P.O.Box sanpedrosc@gmail.com; 589-9740; oror viavia faxfax @@ 520-900-7426. sanpedrosc@gmail.com;via viaphone phone@@(520) (520) 589-9740; 520-900-7426.

ISBN 978-0-578-

90937-0

90000 >

9 780578 909370

March 26-27, 2022

SPRINGPEX 2022, Springfield Philatelic Society, John R. Lewis High School (Formerly R.E. Lee H.S), 6540 Franconia Road (VA Rte 644E), Springfield. Contact: G. Frazier Email: frazierg@cox.net

Wisconsin

April 9-10, 2022

WISCOPEX 2022, Fond du Lac Stamp Club, Hotel Retlaw, 1 North Main Street, Fond du Lac. Contact: Clarence Davis Email: davisclarence@gmail.com Website: https://wfscstamps.org/WISCOPEX/

California

April 22-24, 2022

WESTPEX, WESTPEX, Inc., San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront Hotel, 1800 Old Bayshore Highway, Burlingame. *WSP* Contact: Daryl Reiber Email: Chairman@westpex.org Website: http://www.westpex.com

NEW BOOK AND CATALOG

Cheryl R. Ga nz

San Pedro Stamp & Coin, LLC

March 25-27, 2022

St. Louis Stamp Expo, Area Clubs, St. Louis Renaissance Airport Hotel, 9801 Natural Bridge Rd., St. Louis. *WSP* Contact: Fred Boatwright Email: stampooh@centurylink.net Website: http://www.stlstampexpo.org

U.S. Zeppelin and Airship Ma il Flights

ATTENTION! SIGN UP NOW!

Established in 1950 - Members: APS, NSDA, IFSDA, ATA

Missouri

Virginia

2022 Hilton Stamp Show & Philatelic Open House, Western Monroe Philatelic Society, Hilton Exempts Club, 135 South Ave., Hilton. *B* Contact: Dave Bombard Email: dbombar1@rochester.rr.com

March 18-20, 2022

Garfield-Perry March Party, Garfield-Perry Stamp Club, Best Western Plus, 15471 Royalton Rd., Strongsville. *WSP* Contact: Rocco Caponi Email: rocco.caponi@gmail.com Website: http://www.garfieldperry.org

U.S. Zeppelin and Airship Mail Flights

Cheryl R. Ga

U.S. Zeppelin and Airship Mail Flights by Cheryl R. Ganz

order from APS: classic.stamps.org/Publications Book signing at Chicagopex 2021 NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1067

Massachusetts

April 29-May 1, 2022

Philatelic Show, Northeastern Fed. Of Stamp Clubs, Boxboro Regency Hotel & Conference Center, 242 Adams Pl., Boxborough. *WSP* Contact: Jeff Shapiro Email: coverlover@gmail.com Website: http://www.philatelicshow.org

Oregon

April 29-May 1, 2022

PIPEX, Northwest Federation of Stamp Clubs, Holiday Inn Portland Airport, 8439 Ne Columbia Boulevard, Portland. *WSP* Contact: Mark Loomis Email: mmloomis1@gmail.com Website: http://www.pipexstampshow.org/

Pennsylvania

May 13-14, 2022

Butlerpex, Butler County Philatelic Society, Tanglewood Center, 1 Austin Avenue, Lyndora. Contact: Tom Sivak Email: tomsstamps@zoominternet.net Year 2020 2019

VATICAN CITY YEAR SETS Mint $90.00 $100.00

Year 2018 2017

Mint $105.00 $91.00

Entire Vatican catalog is stock; 1929 to today Please add 3% postage & shipping minimum $0.75 FREE price list.

PENNY BLACK STAMP COMPANY P.O. Box 78, Dexter MI 48130-0078 Phone: (734) 424-3043

www.pennyblackstamp.com

Nik & Lisa Oquist 208-546-9070 – contact@oquiststamps.com

WWW.OQUISTSTAMPS.COM eBay User: DOCNIK

1068 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Switzerland

May 18-22, 2022

HELVETIA 2022 - Lugano, Switzerland, Padiglione Conza, Lugano’s fairground and convention centre, Switzerland. Contact: U.S. Commissioner: Michael Peter Email: mpetertwins@gmail.com Website: https://www.helvetia2022.ch/

Website: http://www.napex.org

Ohio

June 10-11, 2022

ROPEX, Rochester Philatelic Association Inc., The Greater Canandaigua Civic Center, 250 North Bloomfield Rd., Canandaigua. Contact: Tom Fortunato Email: stamptmf@frontiernet.net Website: http://www.rpastamps.org/

Pennsylvania

June 19-23, 2022

Virginia

New York

May 20-21, 2022

June 3-5, 2022

NAPEX, National Phil. Exhibitions of Washington D.C., McLean Hilton at Tyson’s Corner, 7920 Jones Branch Dr., McLean. *WSP* Contact: Bill Fort Email: wcfortiii@aol.com

Auctions Stamp Shows Retail Store Internet sterlingstamps.com auctions.sterlingstamps.com Sterling Stamps• Mark Vervaeke 455 E Grand River, Suite 103 Brighton, MI 48116 810-220-6000

mark@sterlingstamps.com APS Dealer, ATA, MSDA

Colopex, Columbus Philatelic Club, Doubletree Hilton Worthington, 175 Hutchinson Ave, Columbus. *WSP* Contact: Van Siegling Email: info@colopex.com Website: https://www.colopex.com/

APS Summer Seminar. *APS* Email: education@stamps.org Website: https://stamps.org/learn/on-the-roadcourses/summer-seminar

Indiana

July 9-10, 2022

MY STAMP STORY

Harry M. Freeman

ike many of you I suspect, I began my stamp collecting as a youngster when I received a beginner’s stamp album and a lot of canceled U.S. commemoratives. My fondly-remembered first album was the Minkus My First Stamp Album. The cover had five cute kids and their dog parading with a banner and signs touting stamp collecting. That was in the mid-fifties. I was soon into learning all about hinges, perforations, watermarks, glassine envelopes and exotic approvals (like those beautiful triangular stamps from San Marino, wherever that was). And, I began wondering about the people on the U.S. stamps like Juliette Low and Will Rogers, the events like the landing of Cadillac in what became Detroit and the Puerto Rico Election, the places like Mt. Rushmore and the Grand Coulee Dam and the organizations like the American Bankers Association (?), the Poultry Industry, and the Railroad Engineers of America. Pretty heady stuff for a kid who at the time had not been outside the states of Mississippi and Alabama! I got my Boy Scouts Stamp Collecting merit badge and some investment advice from the merit badge counselor. He pointed out that if you buy a stamp for 3 cents and sell it at 6 cents, it is an impressive 100 percent return on your investment. Following his advice, I began purchasing plate blocks. That turned out not to be very enlightened. I should have been buying fewer plate blocks and more baseball cards, but I digress. Of course, back then all U.S. stamps were just one color, had a border, and a boldly stated “U.S. Postage.” So, since my philatelic socialization happened in those years, I have always been just a bit uncomfortable with these new multicolored stamps with no borders. By the way, how did we get from Washington, Franklin and the final reunions of Civil War veterans to Bugs Bunny and frozen treats as the subjects of commemorative stamps? My collection has evolved after several stops and starts into its current version, which is not particularly valuable but fun to look through. I mean, what’s not to enjoy about reflecting on the American Bankers Association or the American Turners Society? My favorite series are the Prexies and the 1940 Famous Americans. (Yep, all one color, a border and “U. S. Postage” prominently stated.) A stamp story – one day in 1962 I was at the post office continuing my ill-advised project to accumulate plate blocks when lo and behold there was the 4¢ Mercury Project stamp that had just been released that day. I felt like I was somehow 1070 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

part of the successful space project. And then, of course, I shrewdly bought eight plate blocks, which I still have, waiting for the market to turn up. Most of my pre-1920s stamps are canceled. Of course, one reason is because canceled stamps are less pricey, but another reason is that they were actually used as postage. I like to think that in, say, 1861 with a war going on, somebody somewhere stuck a stamp on a letter. And not just any stamp, but that particular 2¢ Washington stamp that is today in my Scott’s Minuteman Album. I hope that one of these days it will be in another album, being enjoyed by a collector who will continue to preserve it. And then there are my signed Duck Stamps. I wonder who Earl L. Fries – apparent duck hunter – was. In 1934, he signed his Duck Stamp. Earl is almost certainly not with us anymore, but now some 87 years later his memory lives on through his signed Duck Stamp in my collection. Kids today may have the internet for learning all there is to know about the subjects of some of those 40s commemoratives like the Palomar Mountain Observatory, the Gold Star Mothers, or Fort Bliss. That’s great, but I know that those of us of a certain age even without the internet sure had fun learning by looking at those stamps and wondering what they were all about. WOULD YOU LIKE TO TELL YOUR STAMP STORY? Please send us yours, in 500 words or less. Please include a picture of yourself and your stamp collection. Email your submission to aparticle@stamps.org Attn: Stamp Story

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New U.S. Issues BY Jeff Stage

Celebrations Abound in September’s Stamps

ew United States stamps issued in September focused on tradition, celebrations and whimsy, areas that some collectors may find frivolous, but others – including the casual customer – may see as pure fun. Presented in this issue are extracts on each of these new issues – to read the full articles, see stamps.org/news. There were three releases with nine new face-different postage stamps. The issues are Happy Birthday, which is a single stamp, and two sets of four: Message Monsters and Day of the Dead. All of the stamps are first-class domestic, self-adhesive Forever stamps and all are being sold in panes of 20. September also was a month for cross-border acknowledgment, with connections on these new stamps to Mexico and Canada. There’s a strong link to Mexico with the Day of the Dead stamps along with a wink to Mexican culture in the Happy Birthday stamp. There are no maple leaves, vast woodlands or hockey pucks on the Message Monsters stamps, but the monsters were created by a Canadian illustrator and children’s book author. These not-particularly scary monsters might not look like a comic-book villain or the Wolfman, but they come with some add-ons that help make them very cool and entertaining for mailers. However, the first stamp I will cover is the bicentennial tribute to our 24th state, Missouri, issued in mid-August.

Missouri Statehood “Humble,” is how award-winning landscape photographer Charles Gurche describes the image – a river, a covered bridge and a Civil War-era grindstone mill – that appear on a new Forever postage stamp honoring his home state of Missouri (Figure 1). “This is just a tiny slice, but if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find out about all sorts of interesting things people were doing back when this mill and the covered bridge were made,” Gurche said about his photo, which graces the stamp, issued August 10. The U.S. Postal Service officially released the stamp 200 years to the day that Missouri became the 24th and westernmost state in the Union. The stamp art is Gurche’s photograph taken of Bollinger Mill State Historic Site. His comments were part of a virtual dedication ceremony presented by the USPS on its Facebook page (https://aps.buzz/MissouriFDCVid). Peter Pastre, USPS vice president of government relations and public policy, explained how Missouri played a key

Figure 1. For purchasing information and technical details on the Missouri Statehood stamp, see https://aps.buzz/MissouriUSPS. 1072 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Figure 2. The 1960 Pony Express stamp, U.S. Scott 1154.

geographical role in the development of the nation and expanding postal services. “The history of Missouri is closely linked to the history of the Postal Service,” Pastre said. “As settlers moved westward, they needed a secure, reliable way to exchange information and deliver correspondence. This led to the expansion of post offices and post roads, which strengthened our democracy by fostering the flow of ideas and increasing access to our free press.” The use of landscape and nature photography continues the Postal Service use of such images to commemorate statehood on recent stamps, which include Maine (2020) and Alabama (2019), Nebraska (2017) and Indiana (2016). Greg Breeding served as art director for the pressure sensitive stamp, which is being sold in panes of 20. The issue was printed by Banknote Corporation of America and the Gallus RCS press. Humans have inhabited the Missouri area for several thousand years. The first French permanent settlement was

founded along the river at Ste. Genevieve in 1735, first on the east bank and later on the west side of the Mississippi. St. Louis was founded in 1764. As the 19th century began, most settlers were still French, but after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Americans from the east, particularly Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, began flooding the area in search of land. Missouri was also notably the muster point for the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition, which began an exploration up the Missouri river in 1804 to the territories acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. Bollinger’s Mill was built along the Whitewater River shoreline in the early 1800s. Spanning 140 feet across the river, the Howe truss framework of the Burfordville Covered Bridge began in 1858. Both structures were completed in 1868. The Burfordville Covered Bridge is Missouri’s oldest covered bridge — one of just four remaining in the state. “I really wanted to promote that area and to take another look at that area,” Gurche said. “The rivers and springs and bluffs down in that area were so magical. I wanted to photograph that. This image (on the stamp) was taken with a 4-by-5 camera, so the film size is 4-by-5 inches. It’s the kind of camera that has a bellows and you have a hood over your head. The image on the ground glass [a type of glass for imaging used in a large camera] is upside down and you’re focusing with a loop on the ground glass. So, it’s a pretty slow process.” The photo was shot at sunrise, said Gurche. “The sun is lighting up the four-story Bollinger’s Mill and that’s right on the other side of the Whitewater River and then there’s the Burfordville Covered Bridge right there. These three subjects kind of intersect together in the morning light.” Several other U.S. stamps have featured Missouri in one form or another. “One of the most legendary chapters of postal history

Figure 3. Technical details and purchasing information for the Happy Birthday stamp can be found at https://aps.buzz/ BuyBirthdayUSPS.

also was written partly in Missouri,” Pastre said in the virtual dedication. “From 1860 to 1861, the Pony Express carried mail between St. Joseph, Missouri, the western-most point reached by railroad, and Sacramento, California in just 10 days, cutting the regular transit time by more than half.” The Pony Express is featured on a 4¢ 1960 stamp (Figure 2).

Happy Birthday Elements of a birthday celebration – including confetti, ribbons and bright colors – make the design of the new Happy Birthday stamp pop with delight (Figure 3). And, for those counting, there is likely a first appearance of a specific topic on this U.S. postage stamp. Ironically, the stamp meant for celebrations was issued September 9 without benefit of a live or virtual first day ceremony. Appropriately, though, the official first day location is Toast, North Carolina, a community of 2,000 in the northwest part of the state, west of Mt. Airy and near the Virginia border. The Happy Birthday stamp is offset-printed in panes of 20 by security printing contractor Ashton Potter USA Ltd. This is the first first-class Forever stamp issued at the new 58¢ rate. The word “HAPPY” appears most prominently in capital letters on the stamp, with each of the five letters inspired by a different party decoration: a red and green piñata for the “H,” an orange and yellow striped birthday hat “A,” a red piece of frosted cake for the first “P,” a green birthday candle for the second “P” and an orange balloon sculpture for the “Y.” Even though there was no first day event, the USPS created pictorial first day cancels for use on collector-prepared envelopes and on its own first day covers (Figure 4). So, what’s the possible first on this stamp? The piñata. I

Figure 4. The USPS special first day cancellation for the new Happy Birthday issue. NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1073

Figure 5. A 2005 holiday piñata stamp drawn by a child, one of more than a dozen Christmas stamps from Mexico showing piñatas Scott 2510.

cannot find a piñata on any previous U.S. stamps, though maybe one of you has sharper eyes. My search found piñatas only on a little more than a dozen modern stamps, all Christmas stamps from Mexico, where piñatas are part of the traditional annual festivities. The earliest stamp showing a piñata that I found was on a 1978 Christmas stamp from Mexico (Figure 5). The new Happy Birthday stamp was designed by Lisa Catalone Castro and Rodolfo Castro, with artwork by Rodolfo Castro. Ethel Kessler served as art director. As the stamp appears simple in its design, I asked Kessler if there were any specific design elements that were difficult. “The whole creation and assembly was a challenge,” said Kessler, who took time to discuss the stamp in an email interview. Her insights appear at the end of this section. Figure 6. The first U.S. stamp wishing The Catalone de- a Happy Birthday was the 22¢ sign group previously stamp depicting a slice of birthday worked with Kessler to cake, part of the 10-stamp Special Occasions booklet of 1987, Scott create designs for the 2272. four 2001 Love stamps that use handwritten love letters by John and Abigail Adams as a backdrop to a single rose and the four 44¢ Supreme Court Justices stamps issued in 2009. The U.S. Postal Service’s history of Happy Birthday stamps began in 1987. The booklet of ten 22¢ stamps (eight designs total) included one duplicated stamp showing a cake topped by one lit candle and a “Happy Birthday” greeting. A Congratulations! stamp was the other repeated design (Figure 6).

Ethel Kessler – Art Director You have worked twice before with these designers on stamps: The Adams Love Letters and the 2009 Supreme 1074 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Court Justices. Those stamps and this new one all seem so different in concept and design. Why did you think of calling on them for a Happy Birthday stamp? It’s not that I look for a certain style. I look for creative thinking when subject matter is unique and needs to be focused on our target audience. Lisa Catalone was the designer for the LOVE stamps. Her passion for stamps as a collector influenced her interest in working with me. Can you clarify, did Lisa and Rodolfo work on all three issues? Rodolfo was the main designer for Happy Birthday. Though, I must say, Lisa Catalone is very collaborative, and they figure out methods and directions as a team. Rodolfo was refocusing his design talents into dimensional and motion graphics, so they wanted to explore how that could change the art from a 2-dimensional approach to 3-dimensional. I really like this design with each letter comprised of a different birthday element. It’s both fun and thoughtful. Can you explain how it came about? Who thought of this design? The first question in the design process is to ask, “What is an American birthday celebration?” Lisa did many sketches until we decided on the design you see now. Were there other elements other than the five used that were tried and rejected? (Like, did you try a wrapped present for “P” or an “H” made of confetti?) Many elements we juggled around until the right balance was achieved. We always say that stamps are very tiny canvases, so items need to go out unless they add to the story. You might have liked a chocolate cake better, but at stamp size it’s just a lot of brown. Is there anything else interesting you’d like to add? We tried to light the candle, but it just didn’t work well. It was a fun project that was more challenging than you would think.

Message Monsters Four playful, frisky monsters ready to send cards and letters throughout the country appear on stamps that the U.S. Postal Service says are its “most playful, participatory postage stamps ever — stamps that welcome you to customize a collection of cute and crazy critters.” The illustrations on this pane of 20 stamps (Figure 7) invite interactivity with dozens of self-adhesive accessories on the selvage. The monster-ific accoutrements include cartoony voice balloons and thought bubbles with exclamations and salutations, hats and crowns, hearts, stars, crazy daisies and other fun flair. Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the pane with original artwork by Gravel, a Canadian author and illustrator of popular children’s books. The colorful characters populating the pane include a roundish, rosy rascal with a sunny tummy; a silly, striped imp waving a four-armed howdy; a squiggly, squid-ly yellow critter with enough eyes to go around; and

Figure 8. Royal Mail released its Fruit and Veg stamps in 2003. Senders could choose from great variety of stickers – from goofy eyes to hats – in the selvage to decorate the stamps, Scott 21082117.

Figure 7. Technical details and purchasing information for the Message Monsters stamps are available from https://aps.buzz/ BuyMessageMonstersUSPS.

a reddish rapscallion in short shorts. Whimsical, wacky and inviting your inventiveness, these creatures appeal across generations. Alcalá said in an email interview, “Elise was an easy choice (as the artist) as she had experience creating, fun, lovable, inventive creatures. Plus, she had written several books so she knew how important it was to create memorable characters.” “They’re not perfect,” Gravel said about the monsters on the stamps in an interview in the third quarter of the Postal Service’s Philatelic catalog. “My monsters also have no gender and no race, and they all have different body shapes, so they can be used to promote diversity and to show that we’re all weird in our own way, but we all deserve love.” A first day of issue event was held September 24 at Redbud Park in Topeka, Kansas. The dedication event falls during “Thinking of You Week,” which ran September 20-26. It was first launched in the United Kingdom in 2014 and brought to the United States in 2018 by the Greeting Card Association. There have been other issues in which stamps could be dressed up. In 2003, Royal Mail issued a set of 10 fun Fruit and Veg stamps in both a presentation packet and on sheets, which included as many as 93 stickers and 20 labels, according to the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue (Figure 8). Mailers could dress up a basic eggplant or strawberry with everything from googly eyes and moose horns to a mustache and bow tie. The stamps were rebranded a Smilers set and reissued in 2006 in a different format. Great fun was had by all. Gravel said in the Philatelic catalog that she enjoyed creating the new stamps. “I knew that a lot of kids were going to see the stamps so it was a lot of fun.” she said. “I can pretty much draw monsters with my eyes closed. I’m a child inside

and they’re what my inner child finds cool.”

Message Monsters – Antonio Alcalá We would love to hear the origins on this one. Did the USPS stamp directors say something like “blobby monsters, we must have?” Or more like “do something young people would love?” Or, what? I was showing some artwork to Bill Gicker for a different assignment when he noticed some inventive, fun looking creatures among the samples and thought they might have potential for a fun set of stamps that might be attractive to kids and adults. OK, we have a two-part project here, monsters and messages. Let’s start with the monsters. Did you or the artist choose the shapes? Did any change along the way? No, those were invented entirely by Elise Gravel to fit the shape of the stamp format. They are all done in a somewhat subdued tone. How did you settle on that tone as opposed to something explosive and vibrant? Ms. Gravel provided the color palette and everyone loved them during our review process. No one asked for “punchier” or brighter colors. I love the “Hi” and “xoxo” and hearts in the selvage. Who added that and what was the inspiration? The pieces in the selvage were developed by Elise and me in collaboration. The inspiration probably comes from sending letters where you want to say “Hi!” and then close with a XO. They’re friendly and loving, and will make a letter that NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1075

much more special to mail/receive. How did you come up with the specific labels in the selvage to add to the message? Did you get any inspiration anywhere for all of those tags? The specific selvage items are a combination of what will look fun and appropriate with each message monster, and what will fit in the limited area allocated. Is there anything else interesting you’d like to add? The pane title was all done with hand lettering. It is intended to be friendly, playful, and kid-friendly, but also clear and legible. I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Day of the Dead Luis Fitch started asking U.S. postal authorities if he could design a postage stamp when he was a teenager. Fitch was born in Tijuana but moved to San Diego when he was 18. “Every two days, I would go to the post office downtown and ask, ‘how do you design a stamp?’ Fitch wrote in the 2021 fourth quarter of the Philatelic catalog from the U.S. Postal Service. “They finally gave me a pamphlet stating the rules, which are that you have to submit a portfolio and that was the end of it.” Fitch, a stamp collector as a youngster who started designing logos at the age of 14, went on to study art and start his own design firm, UNO Branding, of Minneapolis, a firm that specializes in cross-cultural Latino branding. Thirty-seven years later – now an accomplished artist and designer with a portfolio, from art exhibits to diverse commercial clients such as Bungalow Flooring, Hallmark Cards and Thermo-Serv Ltd. – Fitch got the call. U.S. Postal Service Art Director Antonio Alcalá discovered his work while visiting an exhibition at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago. “Luis had a few large, graphic, bold prints on display within this show. I noted his name and looked him up later.” The result: When Alcala was assigned to create a stamp commemorating the Day of the Dead – Día de los Muertos, in Spanish – he knew who to call. Fitch finally got to design a U.S. postage stamp and the mailing public has its first-ever tribute to a traditional Mexican holiday that has a growing following in the U.S. If you take a look at Fitch’s “Drawing Blood” series of artworks (https://luisfitch.com/art/) you can see why he was a natural fit for these stamps. An estimated 36.6 million Hispanics of Mexican origin lived in the United States in 2017, according to a Pew Re-

search Center analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Mexicans are the largest population of Hispanic origin living in the United States, accounting for 62 percent of the U.S. Hispanic population in 2017. Since 2000, the Mexican-origin population has increased 76 percent. The pane of 20 Forever stamps has five identical rows of four stamps featuring several iconic elements of a traditional Day of the Dead offering (Figure 9). Stylized, decorated “sugar skulls” are personalized as family members — a child with a hair bow, a father sporting a hat and mustache, a mother with curled hair, and another child. The stamps were issued September 30 in a ceremony at the El Paso Museum of Art in El Paso, Texas. The annual Mexican Day of the Dead celebration on November 1 and 2 “is a time when families gather to honor and remember deceased loved ones,” according to the Day of the Dead Festival website. “It is believed that the souls of the dead return to visit the living families in homes, businesses and cemeteries. The Aztec honored their dead with fiestas and rituals during the harvest season. They viewed death as the beginning of the cycle of seasons and life.” For those of us still uncertain about the concept behind these stamps, I recommend a fun way to catch up would be to watch Coco (2017), the animated flick from Disney. “Día de Muertos has begun!” Abuelita Elena, a character in Coco, explains. “It’s the one night of the year our ancestors can come visit us. Tonight is about family!” Often, remembrance altars – filled with symbolic items – are created to honor the departed. Among the items placed are sugar skulls, candles, drinks of various types and marigolds. Music in honor of departed is played at home and in ceremonies. “The sugar skulls represent the people who have passed and who are receiving offerings at the altar,” says Silvia Natalia Islas, promotional director of La Casa del Artesano, a consortium of artisans located in historic Tlaquepaque, a municipality of Guadalajara, whose members created a massive outdoor altar in remembrance of other artisans who have died. It is believed that the scent of the marigolds’ bright orange blooms help attract souls to the altar. Favorite drinks of deceased honored individuals are included on the altar, as are salt (to help quench the thirst of souls), photographs (to draw souls to the altar to help them cross over) and special bread (to feed the soul) shaped like skull and crossbones. The Day of the Dead stamps certainly have a jarring presence to those who might not be familiar with the holiday. The U.S. has a couple of other stamps showing a skeleton;

Figure 9. Technical details and purchasing information for the Day of the Dead stamps are available from https://aps.buzz/BuyDayoftheDeadUSPS. 1076 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

one is a 19th century revenue stamp and the other a modern postage stamp based on the design of the revenue stamp (Figure 10). The Smithsonian National Postal Museum website offers the following on the original stamp: Figure 10. The 15 stamps in the “From 1872 1900s Celebrate the Century set to 1881, William E. issued in 1998 includes a design recreates a 19th-century Clarke of Providence, that medicine revenue stamp showing Rhode Island manufac- a deathly skeleton battling a man tured and sold Hunt’s holding a bottle of a cure-all drug, Remedy, a cure-all Scott 3182f. wonder drug known in New York and New England since at least 1850. He used colorful, dramatic trade cards to advertise his product, including one that inspired a match and medicine stamp long popular among revenue collectors. “The image on the front of the card shows a hale and hearty male patient wielding a bottle of Hunt’s Remedy against death, personified as a skeleton with a scythe and hourglass. The reverse lists no end of ailments against which the wonder drug has ‘never been known to fail,’ including back pain, kidney problems, and ‘female diseases.’ “It was Clarke himself who first translated this masterpiece of Victorian trade imagery into philately. In 1879 or 1880, he commissioned the National Bank Note Company to engrave and print 9,000 copies of the 3-cent private die medicine stamp. It paid the federal excise tax on a 75¢ bottle of his miracle cure and, like all private die stamps, afforded a terrific opportunity to advertise at the same time.” More than a century later, Postal Service art director Carl T. Herrman created another stamp from the image. It commemorates the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act,

Figure 11. Mexico started issuing Day of the Dead stamps annually in 2009. It wasn’t long before sugar skulls became prominent on the stamps, such as this one issued in 2012 , Scott 2801.

Figure 12. Skeletons – part of a work by Mexican artist José Guadalupe Posada – appeared on this 1963 stamp from Mexico , Scott C278.

passed in the wake of a public outcry caused by Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906), as part of the 1900s set in the Celebrate the Century series issued in 1998. Mexico started issuing Day of the Day stamps with a pair in 2009 (Figure 11) and have issued such stamps annually since. The year 2009 did not mark the first time Mexico issued a stamp with skeletons (Figure 12). On November 9, 1963, Mexico issued a 1.20-peso airmail stamp commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of illustrator José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913). The stamp shows a rendition of a skeletal Don Quixote astride his skeletal horse with several other skeletons being tossed about in their wake.

Antonio Alcalá – art director Is there any significance to the colors in the stamps – such as each character’s eyes are a different color – or was this simply the artist’s creativity? Orange marigolds are commonly associated with the commemorations. Beyond that I am unaware of any specific color “meaning” to the characters’ eyes. I’m assuming they are aesthetic choices. Did you consider a single stamp or was this planned as a group of four? How did you reach the end design of showing a member of a family on each stamp? The earliest concepts all included four different stamps. It was the illustrator who proposed designs representing four family members, as honoring and commemorating family is at the core of the Day of the Dead celebrations. Can you explain the process that the artist and you used to create these stamps? The process was fairly easy as the artist is MexicanAmerican and familiar with Day of the Dead. We mostly spoke about how this would be the first time USPS issued stamps commemorating Day of the Dead. The movie Coco really did a wonderful job creating a positive understanding of the celebration across the United States. We wanted to tap into that same, positive, happy experience. A nice element is that the stamps are interconnected at each margin by the flowers at the perforation. Did you come up with that after you saw the artist’s designs or did you ask him to make that an element of the design? Luis Fitch had this as part of one of his initial proposals. NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1077

New World Issues BY William Silvester

ANDORRA (SPANISH) - Hiking

Nestled in the Pyrenees Mountains between Spain and France, the Principality of Andorra has an active tourism industry centered around outdoor activities. On June 2, 2021, an €0.80 stamp was issued to advertise the sport of hiking (senderisme). The scene on the stamp depicts a hiker and part of the network of safe, well marked trails “that run through valleys and peaks and allow visitors to know the most incredible landscapes that the Principality offers.” Andorra is home to three natural parks, the Comapedrosa Valleys, the Sorteny Valley, and the World Heritage UNESCO site of the Madriu-Perafia-Claror Valleys. The stamp, issued in sheets of 25, is available online from https://aps.buzz/AndorraNov21.

CROATIA – 100th Anniversary of Croatian Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

A unique design was used on a stamp issued by Croatia on August 26, 2021, in sheets of 12, to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Croatian Association of the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing. Alenka Lalić, a designer from Zagreb, used the one handed alphabet to spell out the occasion. The organization was founded in the early 20th century by the first graduates of the Zagreb School for the Deaf, established in 1885 by the hearing impaired teacher, Adalbert Lampe. The 3,30 HRK stamp is available online from https://aps.buzz/CroatiaNov21.

FRANCE – Solar Impulse

A €1.08 denomination stamp issued June 21, 2021, depicts an Eloïse Oddos design, based on photographs, showing the Swiss-designed solar powered aircraft above the clouds. The experimental, single-seated monoplane Solar Impulse 2 completed a circumnavigation of the Earth in 16 months (due to delays from battery damage that took months to repair) becoming the first fixed wing aircraft to do so solely on solar power. La Poste offers a special complete decorative sheet to those who purchase 12 of the Solar Impulse domestic rate stamps available online from https://aps.buzz/FranceNov21.

GREAT BRITAIN – DC Justice League

On September 17, 2021, Royal Mail released an issue featuring DC Comics superheroes and villains. Shown here is the souvenir sheet depicting members of the Justice League on 1st denominated stamps: Batman, Green Lantern and The Flash, Wonder Woman, Superman, Aquaman and Cyborg, and finally Supergirl and Shazam! with the Hall of Justice in the background. The 12 1st Class stamps in the accompanying set, in two setenant strips, were designed by comic artist Jim Cheung and colorist Laura Martin. The images depict Batman, Batwoman, Robin, Batgirl, Alfred, and Nightwing in the first “heroes” strip and The Joker, Harley Quinn, Penguin, Poison Ivy, Catwoman and The Riddler on the “villains” strip. The stamps are available from https://aps.buzz/GBNov21.

GREENLAND – 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Czeslaw Slania

Czeslaw Slania (1921-1995) has engraved over 1000 stamps during his 50-year career. Greenland saluted the 100th anniversary of his birth with an engraved 33.50 DDK stamp and souvenir sheet. Born in Poland, Slania attended the Krakow School of Fine Arts in 1945 and his first engraved stamp was issued by Poland in 1951. Five years later he relocated to Sweden to work as a stamp engraver for Sweden’s postal service and expanded his services to over 30 countries by 1959. Slania continued engraving stamps until his death. The stamp shows Slania engraving a stamp with a Greenland landscape in the background. The souvenir sheet, souvenir folders and a rare black print of the stamp are available online from https://aps. buzz/GreenlandNov21. 1078 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

IRELAND – Irish Singer Songwriters at Glastonbury

An Post celebrates “four leading Irish artistes who have graced the Pyramid and Acoustic Stages at the famous Glastonbury Music and Arts Festival” with a €4.40 booklet of domestic N stamps featuring Irish singer/songwriters Christy Moore, Sinéad O’Connor, Lisa Hannigan and Andrew Hozier Byrne (Hozier), in live performances. The An Post website notes that “2% of the sale of each booklet will be donated to the Irish Music Industry Covid relief fund, capped at €50,000.” The stamps are available online from https://aps.buzz/IrelandNov21.

MARSHALL ISLANDS – In Remembrance of 9/11

The Oceanic Nation of the Marshall Islands has issued a souvenir sheet and sheetlet of four to honor the memory of the victims of the terrorist attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The IGPC website states, “We will never forget the 2,977 fallen victims, the countless injured, the heroic firefighters and law enforcement, and the brave men and women who continue to fight for our freedom.” The souvenir sheet features the New York City skyline at night with the spotlights of the National 9/11 Memorial Museum to the left beside a white rose on one of the name panels. The stamps are available from the issuing country or the IGPC website at www.igpc.com.

ROMANIA – Tokyo Olympics, Romanian Medalists

Romfilatelia proudly presented a set of four stamps on August 18, 2021, to celebrate the winning of four medals at the Tokyo Olympics. Represented on the 2-lei value are gold medallists Nicoleta Ancuţa Bodnar and Simona Geanina Radiş in the double rowing event that secured a gold medal as well as setting a new Olympic record. Shown on the 7-lei stamp is fencer Ana-Maria Popescu, winner of a silver medal. The 9-lei depicts Marius Vasile Cozmiuc and Ciprian Tudosă who won a silver in the men’s double frame event. On the 10.50-lei stamp is the four-frame event and the silver medal won by Mihăiţă Vasile Ţigănescu, Mugurel Vasile Semciuc, Ştefan Constantin Berariu and Cosmin Pascari. The stamps are available online from https://aps.buzz/RomaniaNov21.

UNITED NATIONS – Mother Teresa

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love” is the quote from Mother Teresa shown on a UNPA definitive stamp issued on August 12, 2021. The renowned nun ministered to the sick, orphaned, poor and dying from the age of 18. She guided the Missionaries of Charity for 45 years, expanding from India to many other countries. Her work was recognized with many awards and accolades including a Nobel Prize in 1979. After her death on September 5, 1997 (aged 87) the day was designated the International Day of Charity by the UN. She was canonized on the first anniversary of her death. The stamp can be found online at https://aps.buzz/ UNNov21.

• • • • •

New worldwide stamps images are presented for information and are not necessarily shown at the correct scale. The quality of images available at the time of release varies widely and we resize to achieve the best possible reproduction. NOVEMBER 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 1079

Worldwide in a Nutshell BY BOB LAMB • AP Columnist

ABKHAZIA

GEORGIA

Status: Secessionist Republic Population: 245,000 (2020 est.) Area: 3336 sq. miles Currency: Russian Ruble (100 kopeck = 1 Ruble)

bkhazia is a self-proclaimed republic on the Black Sea. It is about the size of Delaware, with about one-third of Delaware’s population. The Abkhaz people are ancient. Assyrian sources recorded their presence in the foothills of the Caucasus more than 3000 years ago. Throughout history, the Abkhaz have had close ties with their more numerous Georgian neighbors. Georgian became the language of the Abkhaz elite, though it never replaced Abkhazian as the language of the people. In 1810, as part of its conquest of Transcaucasia, Russia made Abkhazia a protector1991 illegal ate and in 1864 it was formally annexed to the Russian empire. Under the Czars, the tem- Abkhazia Michel overprint (Latin) perate Abkhaz coast was developed as part of “the Russian Riviera” – a role it continued #46a. of a Soviet stamp. to play under the Soviet Union with the Communist privileged replacing the Czarist elite on Abkhaz beaches and resorts. Russia administered Abkhazia as part of Georgia and used the same stamps as the rest of Georgia: Russian (until 1918), Georgian (1918-23), Transcaucasian SSR (1923-24) and Russian (after 1924). When Stalin’s constitution of 1936 redrew the borders of the Soviet republics, Abkhazia became an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) within the Georgian SSR. Throughout the Communist period, purges and deportation reduced the Abkhaz population to a minority in their own land. Its lost population was replaced by Georgians, Russians and others. As a result, the last Soviet all-union census in 1989 listed the population of the Abkhaz ASSR as 537,000, only 17 percent of whom were Abkhaz. The overwhelming majority was Georgian and Russian. After 1986, the Gorbachev reforms unleashed independence movements throughout the Soviet republics. To undermine the independence-minded republics like Georgia, the Soviets used the KGB to support secessionist ethnic minorities. The Abkhaz provided fertile ground for the KGB efforts. On February 21, 1992, Georgia officially broke with the Soviet Union. In response, on July 23, 1992, the Abkhaz Supreme Council declared their sovereignty. A bitter war ensued with Georgia. Russian military support enabled the Abkhaz to prevail against the Georgian army. More than 200,000 ethnic Georgians fled from Abkhaz territory. Russia recognized Abkhaz independence after the Russo-Georgian war of 2008. Only six other countries – Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, Syria, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, along with two Russian-backed secessionist states, Transnistria and South Ossetia – have recognized Abkhazia as an independent state. Tuvalu and Vanuatu Abkhazia subsequently withdrew their recognition. To most of the world Abkhazia is de jure a part of the Republic of Michel #1 Georgia. To Georgia, it is officially designated as Russian-occupied territory. Starting in late 1992, a variety of bogus stamps and souvenir sheets purporting to be from Abkhazia appeared in the philatelic market. All were privately produced, with no postal validity. Abkhazia does operate a modest postal service to meet domestic requirements. On June 25, 1993, Abkhazia issued its first postage stamps – four stamps in two designs. Abkhazia continues to issue a moderate number of stamps each year. Foreign mail is trucked to the Russian city of Solchi where it enters the international mail stream. One source says that Russian stamps are 1991 illegal required on international mail, but international covers exist overprint (Cyrillic) of a with Abkhaz stamps. It is uncertain which is correct. Abkhazia Bogus Souvenir Sheet

1080 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / NOVEMBER 2021

Soviet stamp.

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