2024-Q2 StampEd

bluegrass stamp blues

2 It Takes Two (to Make a Crypto Stamp) by Christina Tang-Bernas

10 High Lonesome Stamp

An interview with Heather Moulder, printmaker and bluegrass musician by Susanna Mills

16 The Gallery featuring Margarete Miller

20 The Topical Collector: Cartophilately by Phil Coop

StampEd is published quarterly by the American Philatelic Society, Inc., 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823.

Opinions expressed in articles in this magazine are those of the writers and are not necessarily endorsed by the society and/or the magazine. StampEd cannot be responsible for the accuracy of any information printed herein.

©2024, The American Philatelic Society, Inc.

The

First Postmaster of Earth

by Sarah Giavedoni

28 Road to the

by Jeff Stage

34 Out and About by John Hotchner 36 Screentime featuring James Gavin (The Digital Philatelist)

40 Make It Stick by Jessica Manack

44 The Feed

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF APS PUBLICATIONS

Susanna Mills, 814-933-3803 ext. 207 smills@stamps.org

SENIOR EDITOR Jeff Stage, ext. 221 • jstage@stamps.org

DIGITAL EDITOR Nora Bryson, ext. 256 • norab@stamps.org

46 Death and Taxes

A brief introduction to patent medicine private die proprietary revenue stamps by Nora Bryson

52 Investigating Covers

E.F. Carter and the Stampless Era by Mike Wilson

59 No Bad Questions by Ken Martin

60 Stamp Apprentice by James Taylor

62 Stamp Trek: The United Nations by Curtis Gidding

64 APS Today

GRAPHIC COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST Chad Cowder, ext. 223 • ccowder@stamps.org

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By Susanna Mills, Editor-in-Chief of APS Publications

INmy personal life, I have a lot of interests, but you couldn’t call me an active contributor to any fellow hobby communities. I enjoy my favorite books and podcasts, but I won’t usually get on Reddit and discuss my fan theories, or make videos about the characters on TikTok. I’m a watcher, a “lurker” to use internet terms – I enjoy seeing what's happening, and then quietly engaging with my hobbies by myself. My attitude has always been "happy to stay on the sidelines," especially since I didn't know what I'd gain from joining in or if I'd be welcome.

So how do you go from enjoying your hobby by yourself to joining and actually being part of a community? For me, it was a difficult step until it wasn't. All it took, really, was a heartfelt invitation from someone who cared.

The first stamp club I joined was Gay and Lesbian History on Stamps. I attended my first meeting, where I learned about the club’s history (it was reforming at the time after being inactive for years) and met some of the original members. I was barely a member for five minutes before I started to feel a deep connection and investment in the club’s success, and started wondering how I could help them – no, not “them,” us! – and began thinking about writing articles and sharing ideas. That’s how quickly it works.

In this issue, many of our contributors share a message that comes back to this: it feels good to be involved in your community. Whether it’s Jeff Stage and John Hotchner (page 28 and 34), who want you to feel comfortable checking out a stamp show. Or Jessica Manack (page 40), who talks about the connections you can make by joining Postcrossing. Or James Gavin (page 336), who says to get your collection out of your closet and share it online!

You have so much to give. Come join our community – we can’t wait to see what you’ll do!

Tang-BernasByChristina

Postal services have always embraced new technologies in postage stamp design (often for security reasons, like tagging or barcodes). One such recent innovation is the integration of blockchain and non-fungible token (NFT) components with stamps. While this article will focus specifically on physical postage stamps that have a digital NFT “twin” connected to them — a.k.a. crypto stamps — there are also NFTs with images of postage stamps (no physical component), postage stamps with a cryptocurrency counterpart, and many other iterations.

What Even Is the Blockchain?

If you’re not familiar with blockchain technology, here’s a quick, nitty-gritty explainer to orient you. It’s easiest to think of blockchain like an online bank transaction – when you sign on to your online bank account and transfer money from your account to someone else’s, there’s no actual cash being carried between places. Instead, your bank records the transaction by subtracting money from one account and adding money to another account via an electronic ledger.

The blockchain is a similar online ledger, or database. However, instead of a centralized authority (like the bank) managing the transactions and verifying everything, those actions are done by all the computers connected to the blockchain in a decentralized and public manner. Each transaction (or block) is added on the end of another like links in a chain, and once that link has been timestamped and verified, it can’t be changed. As each block contains a connection to the previous block, no block can be altered later without affecting all the subsequent blocks in the chain. And since all

DEEP DIVE

The USPS, working with CaseMail, was the first postal authority in the world to produce and use blockchainsupported postage labels. Think of this as the next step of certified mail (which allows senders to verify an object’s mailing and delivery), but with a higher level of verification and the added benefit of document encryption. Since the launch of CaseMail ePostage labels in 2021, the service has mainly been used by law firms and by the U.S. courts as a bankruptcy notice provider.

the computers connected to the blockchain have copies of this ledger, if the affected chain doesn’t match the other stored copies, it’s deemed fraudulent.

This type of ledger can be used for any type of data, such as recording votes in an election or tracking a item’s route from origin to delivery, through, for example, the postal system.

visual representation of blockchain technology. Image by Shubham Dhage on Unsplash.

Image courtesy of CaseMail, an ePostage label that uses blockchain for security and encryption purposes.

The four Stamps of Maybe. Left to right: spring (air), summer (fire), autumn (earth), and winter (water). Courtesy of Posta.

In April 2021, the United States Postal Service partnered with CaseMail to produce blockchain-generated ePostage labels. When a document is mailed with a CaseMail token digitally stamped on these labels, all data about the shipment and mailing history is recorded on a blockchain, as is verification of the authenticity of the document itself. This can be important for court cases that need to present certified proof of legal correspondence.

Items, both digital and physical, can be represented by non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the blockchain, which are unique and not interchangeable (or fungible) with anything else. A dollar bill is fungible because you can exchange it with another dollar bill and it would still have the same financial (and emotional) value, while an original painting would be non-fungible — you can create as many replicas of the Mona Lisa as you want, but the original painting still holds its unique value. Each NFT has a unique identifier when it’s created (or “minted”), and its blockchain keeps track of all its owners.

Stamps of Maybe

Crypto stamps are physical postage stamps that have a digital NFT “twin” linked to them. Österreichische Post (Austrian Post) issued the first crypto stamp in June 2019 with a

FUN WITH METAPHORS

The StampEd team was debating different metaphors to explain fungible versus nonfungible. Here’s one we think might work pretty well, directly related to our favorite topic. The Inverted Jenny is one of the most famous U.S. stamps, a rare error of the 1918 airmail stamp (yeah, the plane isn’t actually supposed to be upside down). There are only 100 examples – all from a single sheet of the errors which a savvy collector bought from under an unsuspecting postal clerk’s nose. Each one is unique and has its own provenance (meaning that we can track its former owners and how much it was worth over the years). If I have a Jenny (I don’t) and you have a Jenny (you probably don’t), we probably can't do a one-to-one trade, because our unique Jennies have different histories and market value. And if you put one on an envelope to mail it, you would be ostracized by all collectors for eternity. QED, it’s non-fungible – it has unique value. Meanwhile, the USPS reprinted the Inverted Jenny in 2013, using printing plates that were made from the original 1918 dies. With more than 12 million stamps printed, each $2, if you have a new Jenny (much more likely) and I have a new Jenny (I do), we could easily do a one-to-one trade. And then put them on our mail and send a letter. QED, it’s fungible.

The 1918 airmail stamp with an inverted color printing error is lovingly known as the Inverted Jenny. This unique example belongs to the

American Philatelic Research Library.

The 2013 reprints of the Inverted Jenny are a dime a dozen… or, $12 for a souvenir sheet of six, more accurately.

DID YOU KNOW?

Crypto and Blockchain Stamps

While Austrian Post was the first to issue a blockchain stamp in June 2019 (i.e. a crypto stamp with an NFT twin in the blockchain), Gibraltar actually gets the prize for first “crypto” stamp, with its cryptocurrency sheet issued in May 2018. The sheet of four includes four QR codes, which the owners can scan once to collect crypto tokens. The Gibraltarian issue beat the crypto trend by more than a year, but was viewed by most philatelists as a gimmick. Even after Austrian Post followed suit in 2019, it would take the global boom of NFTs in 2021 for other postal services to take note of the crypto stamp possibilities.

Gibraltar’s 2018 crypto stamps were issued with QR codes, allowing owners to redeem 200 crypto tokens. The stamps themselves are valid for postal use at 50p each. Only 50,000 sheets of four were issued.

Seventeen postal authorities have released crypto stamps. Swiss Post’s first, released in November 2021, crashed its website due to the high demand. Most crypto stamps sell out within days of their release.

More crypto stamp images have been compiled on the Digital Philatelist website.

The Swiss crypto stamp (issued November 2021), consisting of a physical stamp worth 8.90 francs and a connected digital image with one of 13 possible designs of varying rarity, stored in a blockchain. The most common digital design has 65,000 copies and the rarest just 50.

Austrian Post is one of the most active crypto stamp issuers today, taking the lead with more than 10 stamps released since 2019. The crypto stamp 4.0 Bull pictured was the first international joint issue of a blockchain stamp (Austria and the Netherlands, September 2022). Courtesy of Austrian Post and PostNL.

The packaging for Stamps of Maybe. Courtesy of the author.

unicorn motif. Since then, many other countries have followed suit. In June 2023, the Faroe Islands’ Posta was the first organization in the Nordic region to issue crypto stamps, dubbed “Stamps of Maybe.” According to Lea Leitisstein Sørensen from Posta, the postal authority “had to really define and specify what [the] product should be and how the technology should work in relation to [the] stamps.”

The chosen theme for the Stamps of Maybe, the four seasons and the four elements, “just went perfectly along with using weather data for the blockchain oracle,” integrating real-time

DEEP DIVE

NFTs and the Environment

Blockchain technology comes with a massive environmental price, using an energyintensive “proof-of-work” system. Essentially, “proof-of-work” relies on “mining,” i.e. computers doing trillions of computations per second. The scale of this computer server operation is gigantic: Bitcoin, the largest crypto platform, uses as much energy as the Philippines. The creation of an average NFT using proof-of-work requires a carbon footprint “equivalent to driving 500 miles in a typical

data from a weather station in Tórshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands. After receiving the physical stamp, the collector needs to go online to open, or “activate,” their NFT. At that exact time, specific weather conditions (the spring stamp measures wind force, summer is temperature, autumn is humidity, and winter is the amount of rain) are recorded. Based on one of five possible levels of measurement, different elements of the digital version of the stamp change size, creating a slightly different design. The relative rarity of each specific design, key to the value of any NFT, changes depending

American gasoline-powered car” (NYT). (And �� I �� would drive 500 miles, and �� I �� would make an NFT!)

There’s another system available that has a much lower environmental impact, “proof-ofstake.” Ethereum (the second-most-popular crypto platform after Bitcoin), “went green” in 2022, transitioning to proof-of-stake and lowering its direct energy consumption by 99%. Austrian Post and Posta (Faroe Islands) both use Ethereum to create their crypto stamps.

on when other owners activate their crypto stamps.

When the Faroese post office approached Heiðrik á Heygum — an artist, musician, and filmmaker from the Faroe Islands — with the task of designing stamps representing the four seasons, he decided to incorporate the signature flowers and seasonal animals “inspired by the traditional Faorese national costume, often adorned with flowers on black fabric. This choice not only pays homage to [Faroese] heritage but also allows the colorful flowers to stand out vividly, reflecting a traditional Faroese aesthetic.” However, the artist still had to design within certain guidelines, such as incorporating the prominent scan code on the stamps for the NFT component, which can be sizable.

Collector Concerns

The Stamps of Maybe issue carries a message of environmental awareness, which some collectors might find ironic given that a major source of concern about blockchain technology is its use of massive amounts of computational power — and thus, energy — to validate transactions. While there has been a shift toward harnessing renewable energy for these processes and a move toward different algorithms that significantly reduce energy consumption, work is still ongoing.

These and other concerns can be hindrances in convincing collectors to purchase NFT stamps. Though they are often touted as a bridge between traditional collectors and potential collectors that may be younger or interested in crypto technologies, there can be a disconnect.

According to Molly Jane Zuckerman, crypto journalist and opinion editor at Blockworks, “While it seems like a natural fit for NFT collectors to become interested in NFT stamp collecting, I haven’t seen any real interest at all in my coverage of the crypto space.”

And for those who collect traditional postage stamps, not only is the technology of NFTs difficult to figure out (even for those with crypto experience), but also the idea of a digital stamp may not appeal. This was evident in Zuckerman’s recounting of her stamp collector father’s crypto stamp experience in her article “NFT stamp collecting is a dud.” In the end, Zuckerman said that her father “[felt] underwhelmed, and would rather have a physical stamp to put into his physical stamp collection book.”

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5,666 editions of this USPS Day of the Dead NFT were created, earning the NFT rating "rare." Image courtesy of VeVe Collectibles.

Philately or Nah?

James Gavin of The Digital Philatelist argues that crypto stamps with a physical component and a digital NFT twin would be considered philatelic, while the NFT alone might not be since it specifically doesn’t serve a postal purpose. In his view, however, the NFTs are worth philatelists’ attention as a part of the history and study of postal technology.

But what about stamp art NFTs? In 2021, the USPS partnered with VeVe, which itself works officially with Marvel and Disney, to create digital collectibles. Together they created Day of the Dead NFTs using the artwork from the postal service’s Day of the Dead stamps. But the new NFTs aren’t directly linked to a physical stamp, nor do they have a postal usage.

Stamp art NFTs aren’t technically philatelic, but maybe we could consider it “philatelic ephemera,” like a poster of a stamp released by the USPS.

What do you think? Is this philatelic? Does it even matter? Let us know @stampedpub.

Bursting the NFT Bubble

At the peak of the NFT market in 2021, NFTs reached a trading volume of $17 billion. Today, 95% of NFTs “wouldn’t fetch a penny,” according to Rolling Stone, with 23 million investors holding tokens with no value. But surely, you might say, surely the top collections –the pieces that sold for millions in 2021 – are still worth something. Surely not: “Less than one percent [of the most expensive collections] are listed at more than $6,000.”

The NFT market’s bubble may have burst, but crypto stamp collecting may be an exception. While “projects that lack clear use cases, compelling narratives, or genuine artistic value [find] it increasingly difficult to attract attention and sales,” many argue that crypto stamps have uses beyond ownership of a token, enhance a collection, and offer the potential of future innovation, either as collectibles or in the postal technology sphere.

This sentiment was echoed repeatedly in a short survey that was sent to members and supporters of the American Philatelic Society and StampEd, with responses such as “I like to hold my stamps, place them in an album, etc.” and that “part of the attraction of philately is the tangible, physical object of a stamp, postcard, or other piece of postal history.” Even crypto stamps, which have a physical component, often come in packaging that makes them difficult to display in traditional stamp albums, or come with scratch-off areas that can lessen a stamp’s visual appeal.

While a quarter of survey respondents who currently own crypto stamps would consider using them as regular postage, the blockchain and NFT aspect doesn’t increase the practical use of the stamp and actually seems to hinder the collection aspect of it. The focus of the creators of crypto stamps seems to be too much on the rarity of a stamp — the resale value, which can lead to higher-than-usual initial sale prices — without understanding that many stamp collectors are more interested

The video “Charlie bit my finger – again !” sold as an NFT for over $700,000 in 2021, paying for the tuition of the two boys, now college-aged, in full. Don’t worry – this video is still free and available to watch on Youtube.

in a stamp’s topic or connection to history. As one self-identified Gen Z collector noted, “I think the way to get young people into stamp collecting is connecting it to history and art.” For such collectors, crypto stamps can seem like a passing fad.

Another spanner in the works is the concept of ownership of a crypto stamp. If a collector were to sell only the physical stamp or only the digital NFT and retain the other, who owns the stamp? Is one element more important to ownership, or are there now two owners? It’s like a car and the title of ownership for said car; it’s possible to give someone a car while retaining the title, or vice versa, but these two items are still linked, legally speaking. However, unlike with cars, there’s little legal precedent currently on how to enforce the ownership of crypto stamps – and collectors may not be ready to take the risk.

And if you’ve ever forgotten your computer password, you know how easy it is to get locked out of an account – and crypto stamps don’t have the option to reset your password if you forget it. It’s entirely possible to lose access to crypto wallets that contain your stamp NFTs if you lose your “keys” to the wallet, and an unexpected death might mean loss of access for heirs – and a wasted investment.

Looking to the Future

That said, there does seem to be some interest in crypto/NFT stamps among the philatelic community. While the majority of respondents reported they had not and did not intend to purchase stamps with NFT components, 30 percent said they would either would consider purchasing these stamps (18 percent), or had already and would again (12 percent). Of those who would consider purchasing NFT stamps in the future, more than half were enthusiastic about both new stamp technologies and new designs, saying that “this appears to be heading into a new collecting space for philately and that is exciting” and that “while [NFT stamps] definitely fall into a different class of philately, I still consider them part of my stamp collection and something I’ll pass down at some point.”

For his part, Heiðrik á Heygum is “optimistic that advancements in the field will lead to smaller [scan] codes or even transparent solutions in the near future” as the technology evolves, as well as the simplification of processes that can streamline the mailing process and make it more user-friendly. Perhaps this will lead to more interesting postage stamp

designs as well as more innovative uses of the blockchain technology that may be of greater practical use for consumers rather than being solely focused on collectors.

All new technologies seem to have a period of time where they seem to be used in everything, whether or not they’re appropriate in the context in which they’re applied. Whether it’s the blockchain and NFTs or artificial intelligence or whatever new idea lies just beyond the horizon, eventually they all find their niche, the place where they have the most usefulness or an audience that truly appreciates them. Only time and interest will tell whether NFTs and blockchain-based technologies will find their home in philately.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all those who took the time to respond to my questions, and I would especially like to send a big thank you to the more than 200 people (from 25 countries and every continent except Antarctica!) who took the time to respond to the survey and provide thoughtful, insightful answers on this topic. While I wasn’t able to include all of your thoughts in this article, they informed the piece greatly.

READ MORE

Castor, Amy. “Ethereum moved to proof of stake. Why can’t Bitcoin?,” Technology Review (February 28, 2023).

Gavin, James. “Opinion: Philately and NonFungible Tokens (NFTs),” The Digital Philatelist (Accessed May 2024).

Hayes, Adam. “Blockchain Facts: What Is It, How It Works, and How It Can Be Used,” Investopedia (December 15, 2023).

Klee, Miles. “Your NFTs Are Actually – Finally – Totally Worthless.” Rolling Stone (September 20, 2023).

Sharma, Rakesh. “Non-Fungible Token (NFT): What It Means and How It Works,” Investopedia (January 28, 2024).

Tabuchi, Hiroko. “NFTs Are Shaking Up the Art World. They May Be Warming the Planet, Too,” The New York Times (April 13, 2021).

“USPS Certifies CaseMail as First Blockchain Generated ePostage.” PR Newswire (April 13, 2021).

Zuckerman, Molly Jane. “NFT stamp collecting is a dud.” Blockworks (November 23, 2023).

High Lonesome Stamp

An Interview with Heather Moulder, Printmaker and Bluegrass Musician

Back in March, the USPS released a Forever stamp honoring a distinctly American music style: bluegrass. The stamp, which features the four key instruments of the genre (guitar, banjo, fiddle, and mandolin), was designed by Tennessee native Heather Moulder. Heather, a.k.a. Lordymercy, is a graphic designer, printmaker, and musician steeped in the local music scene. She took a break from her busy schedule as a designer and printer at the famed Hatch Show Print, White Oak program coordinator for the Arts Center of Cannon County, and running her own print-making studio to talk with us about the Bluegrass stamp, her designing process, and the Nashville music scene.

What was the process of designing the stamp like? Did the USPS give you free reign to design it?

The bluegrass theme had already been chosen, and naturally lent itself the woodcut style I like to work in. USPS art director Antonio Alcalá was great about letting me choose most of the direction, which upped the pressure a bit as I tried to come up with imagery that would make the community of fans and performers of this music proud. I wanted it to feel representative, celebratory, and authentic – a lot to pack into such a small canvas!

Many of the show posters, flyers, and advertising materials created during the emergence of bluegrass used the process of

Heather says that the USPS requested that “High Lonesome Sound” (a phrase widely associated with bluegrass by fans due to the sound and feeling you get as you listen to the music) be included in the design, which also features instruments that are essential to the style.

CULTURE WAVE

First day ceremonies are events hosted by the United States Postal Service and other postal services to launch the “first day” of issue for new stamps. Today, not all new stamps get ceremonies and celebrations, but ones with cultural or social interest usually get some extra effort! For example, the new Dungeons & Dragons stamps from the USPS will be issued this year at GenCon, the largest tabletop game convention in the U.S. Should be fun!

The first day ceremony for the Bluegrass stamp was a big to-do at the Bluegrass Hall of Fame and Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky. Ricky Skaggs (bluegrass’s “elder statesman” according to the Hall of Fame) performed a concert after the stamp’s dedication. Skaggs, a 15-time Grammy winner, was inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 2018, and is also a Country Music Hall-of-Famer.

I

letterpress – I took a lot of inspiration from the simple, striking imagery, bold wood type, and the vibrant color shifts that showed up in those designs.

Many of the edits along the way had to do with adapting for scale – being primarily a poster artist for most of my career, I had to adjust from working in a rather large format to a very tiny one.

You attended the first day ceremony for the stamp, and then a more personal ceremony in your hometown. Can you tell us about those and what it was like to attend both?

The first day ceremony in Owensboro, Kentucky [on March 15] was a real treat to witness. I was proud to have so many folks who cared deeply about bluegrass in attendance, and it was an honor to have Ricky Skaggs there as part of the ceremony.

The stamp ceremony in my hometown of Readyville, Tennessee, happened almost exactly a year after a tornado struck our area – after a year of rebuilding, our small community needed a reason to celebrate, and we seized the opportunity. It was a joyous event – a little bit because of the stamp, but greatly due to the

CHECK OUT OUR PLAYLIST

SALLY GOODEN Eck Robertson

RAILROADIN’ & GAMBLIN’ East Nash Grass

FOGGY MOUNTAIN BREAKDOWN

Flatt & Scruggs

HIGH ON THE MOUNTAIN

Ola Belle Reed, David Reed

POLLY ANN’S HAMMER

Our Native Daughters, Amythyst Kiah, Rhiannon Giddens

Examples of Heather’s letterpress work include an illustration for Nashville’s mobile stage, the "Nashville Show Truck," and the album artwork for Revival by The Fairfield Four.

BLUEGRASS PLAYLIST

stamp ceremony

enthusiasm and support from the neighborhood.

What kind of things do you have to keep in mind when designing a letterpress print?

Letterpress has technical limitations, which in this case worked nicely for stamp design – I had to consider imagery at a level of detail I could actually carve by hand. Each color was hand mixed and printed one color at a time, so I also had to consider how each layer would interact and align with the previous one. You’ve said that you prefer letterpress printing to computer-based designing. Can you comment on that, and about keeping alive centuries-old skills and printing processes like hand carving and letterpress?

Letterpress and bluegrass go hand-in-hand in that way – they both stem from longstanding traditions, and while there is plenty of written information on both, they are largely passed down through experience and interaction among generations of artists. There is a feeling of authenticity to both of these art forms, and I think it comes from that sense of tradition and human connection.

You’re a musician as well – can you tell us about your music?

I play piano and sing, and really gravitate towards old timey stuff – I play in support of a few bands in the Nashville area playing honkytonk, ragtime, and early blues styles.

The

in Heather’s hometown of Readyville, Tennessee. Photographed by Daxton Patrick.

Do you feel like there’s a thread that connects your work as a designer and printer, and your life as a musician?

One hundred percent. Musicians always need posters, album art, and visual elements to represent them, and I have met so many clients just by actively playing music in the Nashville area. If you have the luxury of really getting to listen and connect with the music that you’re designing for, I think it really shows in the final work.

As a bluegrass fan who is involved in the Nashville music scene, who are the artists we should be looking out for? Do you have thoughts about what bluegrass means in the modern world?

There are countless huge names in bluegrass that call Nashville home, but personally I think my friends in East Nash Grass are doing a great job of representing traditional bluegrass music. Conversely, I think Hawktail and Sierra Ferrell are a couple of groups that have some roots in bluegrass, but are taking it to really interesting new places. I think having a range of representative artists like this helps with keeping longtime fans interested, as well as bringing in new listeners.

If you have the luxury of getting to connect with the music, I think it really shows in the final work.

Do you have advice for young (or aspiring) artists?

Always keep making work, whether you think it’s “good” or not. Consistency really helps me figure out what I enjoy, and what styles I gravitate towards. I also recommend finding community when it comes to making art–there is nothing like having a solid support group when it comes to feedback, encouragement and bouncing ideas!

From the Readyville stamp ceremony, Heather plays with the band Birds on the Wire, featuring Ian Craft, Frank Rische, Ben Plasse, AJ Fox, and Milly Raccoon. Photographed by Daxton Patrick.

DEEP DIVE

Letterpress Printing – Heather’s Process

Letterpress printing (a form of relief printing) was the main printing method for nearly five centuries, from mid-15th century (hats off to you, Johannes Gutenberg, for your great printing press!) until the 20th century, when offset printing dethroned letterpress for printing books and newspaper. Of course, the method predates Gutenberg and European influence by several centuries and has been seen in Chinese woodblock printing on silk pre-220 AD (you don’t get full credit, Gutenberg!).

Letterpress printing is a pretty simple process and fairly self-explanatory. The technique involves pressing raised, inked wood or metal type (or designs) onto paper, which leaves the impression.

In the simplest terms, the first step is to create a printing plate (typically from wood, linoleum, or metal). In Heather’s case, before she started carving, she made a digital mock-up of the stamp design and worked with USPS art director Antonio Alcalá to finalize it. Then, Heather carved the design by hand, transferring it backwards to multiple wood block printing plates. There were four printing plates to this process, as the design has multiple colors and therefore required multiple passes. The first wood block has the stamp text, “High Lonesome Sound / Bluegrass” and a few minor details carved out. The “background” of the design is raised (meaning that once it is inked, the stamp text is the only part of the design not in color). The second wood block/plate shows the instruments, the designs of which are raised (and were inked in a darker color).

The light blue fill color of "High Lonesome Sound" and "Forever USA" layers finish out the design.

The first wood block is laid face-up and locked into the press bed, and ink is applied (Heather hand-brayered carefully selected shades of ink to the surface of the wood block).

Then, using a hand-cranked proofing press, the paper is rolled over the block with careful, even pressure, leaving the impression on the paper.

The same process is then done again with the second wood block, applying the instrument design to the same sheet. Heather did multiple tests to make sure the designs were aligned and colors transferred appropriately. All images shown here are courtesy of Daxton Patrick. To

Margarete Miller Collage Artist

Acollage artist from the San Francisco Bay Area, Margarete Miller started out making collage art and gluebooks as a hobby, using the artform as a creative outlet when her children were young. Today, her hobby has become her passion; through her website, collage classes, and the Vintage & Collage Club, Margarete teaches and inspires others to unleash their creativity via ephemera and glue – and more often than not, stamps!

On how she got started in correspondence art and her process

I discovered an artist in my area who created “correspondence art.” It was fascinating! I never could have imagined that there was an entire branch of art dedicated to 1) creating art that has a postal theme, and 2) creating art with the intention of using the postal system to connect with other artists, to exchange and share art.

There are so many things that inspire design, but often it comes down to the stamp itself. Here are some points, not in any particular order: z The age of the stamp: Is it visibly discolored or faded?

Putting art out into the world is an important part of growth as a creative person.

z The theme: How does it complement the rest of my collage?

z The color: Same – how does it work with the rest of the elements in my collage?

z Multiples: Can I add more than one, or even many stamps?

On the materials she uses

I love vintage papers. I enjoy collaging with papers that have been used for something in the past. It’s nice to be reusing these things and bringing them to another audience instead of it sitting in a drawer somewhere

For stamps, I am a member of my local APS chapter, which is the San Jose Stamp Club. SJSC President Brian Jones is familiar with my work and is very encouraging. He lets me know when materials (mainly low value stamps, covers that are not of interest to collectors, old duplicate catalogs, etc.) are available. I make a contribution to the organization, and the club lightens their inventory.

On the community space she created for collage artists

I started the Vintage & Collage Club, which is a membership where we work on a new collage-related project every month. If you enjoy collage and working with vintage style papers, including postage stamps, then come and check it out.

Though we work with all kinds of vintage papers, postage stamps are an important part that we incorporate into our projects. We also exchange small pieces of art every month, which is a part of correspondence art.

Her advice for newcomers to collage art

First, find some sources for inspiration. There are many great artists on Instagram, for example, who

Second, when you’re ready, find people you can exchange art with. Putting art out into the world is an important part of growth as a creative person. It also allows you to start collecting what people send you. They become treasures that remind you of the joy you get out of this kind of art.

On her philosophy of using stamps and ephemera for art I think most traditional stamp collectors realize that the hobby is not what it once was when they started years ago. They understand that the number of hobbyists is declining significantly, which impacts participation in clubs and events among other things. It’s increasingly necessary – vital, even, to think of creative ways to attract interest in stamp collecting, and to be more open to non-traditional enthusiasts. In the end we all have the same goal, which is to promote interest in stamps.

Plus, there are so many “worthless” stamps out there! I love using old stamps that are not whole because a piece has broken off over time or was torn when someone tried to remove it from paper. These are considered worthless by collectors, but they can contain so much character and be perfect for what I would like to do with them.

IFThe Topical Collector

By Curtis Gidding

cartographers draw maps, what do cartophilatelists do? They love collecting stamps that feature maps. Why this fascination with maps on stamps? For much the same reason that people love collecting maps themselves – for the beauty or intricacy of the design, for insights into the past, for the history behind the maps and their creation, for the fascination with the varied ways cultures choose to map things.

The first appearance of a map on a stamp is generally agreed to be in 1876, with the French Peace and Commerce issue featuring a globe depicting the Atlantic Ocean between France and North America. Since then, the number of map stamps has increased inexorably, and new map stamps continue to be issued today.

Maps can be included on stamps to:

Publicize the existence and location of a territory following independence – whether peaceful or disputed. Commemorate an event which is best illustrated by a map, such as the agreement to establish the Prime Meridian or the centenary of a newly acquired region like the Oregon Territory.

Stake a claim to a contested territory or maritime area – famous past disputes are well illustrated by map stamps, as well as continuing contests, such as the Essequibo region disputed by Venezuela and Guyana. Publicize a territory for reasons of national pride, the promotion of tourism, or to make a political statement such as island states like Mauritius illustrating its large maritime zone.

2 1 3 4 5 2 1 3 4 5

The Cartophilatelic Society (CPS) is an association of people who collect maps on stamps, with a wide international membership. It was founded in 1955 and provides a forum with specialized resources for collectors interested in maps and stamps. Check out www.mapsonstamps. org for more information.

For a stamp collector who is also interested in maps, world history, geography or politics, cartophilately is a great way to combine your passions. 6 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Show major transport routes or infrastructure, such as highways, railways, bridges, canals, flight routes, etc.

Promote the location of interesting features like national parks, cultural objects or major landforms, such as the fault line through the center of Iceland.

Illustrate traditional forms of maps or charts such as the stick charts of the Marshall Islands.

Cartophilatelists tend to have an inclusive definition of a map, sites and building plans, globes, surveying instruments, and historical cartographers and surveyors. An antique map on a stamp is a frequent focus of cartophilatelists, as these stamps reflect the interest, historical significance, or beauty of their subjects. The Cartophilatelic Society’s publication America on the Map is specifically focused on the famous Waldseemüller Map.

Cartophilately is not limited to collecting stamps issued by national postal authorities recognized by the Universal Postal Union (UPU). There are many unique stamp-like issues that contain maps, such as revenue stamps or labels issued by local authorities, stamps from breakaway or secessionist territories not recognized by many or any countries, stamps representing uninhabited islands, stamps from non-existent countries issued for protest and/or or amusement, or even labels issued to give publicity for events.

By Sarah Giavedoni

Many “firsts” in postal history are well known. The first postage stamp was the Penny Black. The first postmaster general of the fledgling United States was Benjamin Franklin. America’s first official postage stamps were the 5-cent Franklin and 10-cent Washington issues of 1847.

But who was the first postmaster of Earth? The very first Earthling to distribute mail, supervise carrier routes, and hire and fire postal clerks. And when did they serve?

Unless you’re familiar with rural Texas community history, you may be surprised.

This is the story of my (metaphorical) journey to Earth and my quest for one particular snippet of knowledge. I’ve only been dipping my toes into postal history research for a couple years, but the most important lesson I’ve learned is that philatelists are experts in research and record-making — and sometimes having access to the right resources makes all the difference. I share my trials and tribulations with you in hopes that as fellow fledging philatelists (say that three times fast!), you’ll be able to skip the hard work and go straight to the core of your web search.

A brief history of Earth

One of the most interesting aspects of stamp collecting is happening across an item that makes you stop, pause, and scratch your head. For example, I once happened across a cover and was charmed by the town listed on its cancellation mark and return address: Earth, Texas.

I live near towns named Mars Hill and Jupiter, but I’d never heard of Earth, Texas. Turns out, there’s not much of national note going on in this tiny Lamb County town. Today, Earth has a population of 900 residents (down from a high of 1,512 in 1980) living within its 1.2 square miles. The people of Earth enjoy recreating at Earth City Park, featuring the Earth Babe Ruth Baseball/Softball Field, and nearby Earth City Pool. Visitors to Earth, no doubt drawn in by the Earth Rodeo Grounds, stay at the Earth Motel & Cafe. Earth traces its modern history back to 1901, when William E. Halsell bought up 185,000 acres of the old XIT ranch for $2 an acre. He devoted the land to raising cattle under the name “Mashed O Ranch” until 1923, when he decided to subdivide and sell the land. By August 1924, he had a square town site plotted and began selling lots.

After a series of town names were rejected by the U.S. Post Office Department (Fairlawn, Fairleen, Tulsa, and Good Earth), one name

finally stuck. According to stories posted in Texas Escapes magazine, when the proposed postmaster was filling out the application for the town’s name, a sandstorm blew in. The postmaster described the storm in his application, and Washington replied, “Since the earth seems to move in that country, the post office shall be named Earth.”

That’s a great story, but it made me wonder: Is it just a story? And if not, who was the postmaster so integral to the creation of this tiny town?

Finding the first postmaster

You would think a town whose history hinges on the actions of its first postmaster would remember him by name. But while several locally focused webpages tell more or less the same story about Halsell, they each name a different “first postmaster.” In fact, the deeper I dug into Earth (pun absolutely intended), the more potential postmasters I found.

Where did I look? Where every good millennial starts their research: my go-to search engine. There isn’t a ton of information out there about Earth, but there are regional and state historical sites that each tell a different Texas has a number of extraterrestrially named towns, including Mercury, Mars, Saturn, and Pluto. But a basic internet search leads this author to believe that there is no other town — in Texas or across America — simply named “Earth.”

DID YOU KNOW?

Views of Our Planets: Earth (2016).

American Revolution Bicentennial cover postmarked Earth, Texas, July 2, 1976. Featuring Flag over Independence Hall stamp (1975).

to Earth” town sign.

DID YOU KNOW?

The American Philatelic Research Library has resources to help you learn more about post offices and postmasters from your hometown!

To see what is available, go to stamplibrary. org and click on the David Straight Memorial Union Catalog. Choose the advanced search option along the top of the page.

Change two of the main dropdown menus to either “All fields” or “Subjects”, then try a few combinations of the following subject headings, each in a different search bar.

• Your state (if inside the US) or country (if outside the US)

• Post offices

• Postal officials

• Post office employees

• Postal service

version of the town’s creation. The Texas State Historical Association listed one C.H. Reeves as Earth’s first postmaster, but I could find no evidence that he even existed. Another local site listed Frank Wesley Hyatt, the son-in-law of Ora Hume (O.H.) Reeves, a prominent hotel owner.

Meanwhile, the town’s very own historical marker places “Marshall Kelley” behind the postal counter. According to his gravestone, Marshal Edwin Kelley began his position as Earth’s postmaster in 1926 and served until 1960. But if Earth was founded in 1924, how could Kelley be the first postmaster?

My next research stop was the National Archives. Personnel files for postmasters did not go back far enough, but I was able to find records of site locations and postmaster appointments. According to the site, from 1837–1950, the U.S. Post Office Department’s Topographer’s Office would send report forms to local postmasters. These forms record new post offices that were created during this time frame, as well as any that moved locations. I rolled through the microfilm scans for Lamb County, Texas. And then I rolled my eyes.

Yes, there was an application for a new post office filed in late November 1924 (and approved on May 26, 1925). And yes, as mentioned in the town’s origin story above, the proposed town name of “Tulsa” was crossed out and “Earth” was penciled in. But the name on the line labeled “Signature of Applicant for Postmaster” was

For example, if you search for Subjects = post offices and Subjects = Nebraska, it will pull up all of books and articles available on Nebraska post offices from 14 different philatelic libraries in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain.

If you are a member of the American Philatelic Society, be sure to choose Library = APRL, and you can borrow the books that interest you.

If you are not an APS member we can still help you! Take a look at our catalog to see what you might want, then email library@ stamps.org to learn more.

“Welcome

none of the three contenders listed above. It was O.H. Reeves, owner of the town’s first hotel.

So, here I was, several months into my casual research, with no fewer than four different contenders for the first postmaster of Earth. I scoured Newspapers.com in vain for definitive answers. I reached out to the Lamb County Public Library to find that the local historical society had recently lost many of their records. The records of the Lamb County Leader-News only went back to the 1930s. Surrounding area newspapers did not respond to my pleading emails.

Surely, I thought, there must be early records of this post office. After all, philatelists keep meticulous records of everything related to postal history. “That’s it!” I thought.

Finding answers in philately

Still using basic internet search techniques, I managed to track down an old philatelic book published in Texas in 1974 by one James Lynn

An extended version of this article, with additional details about each of the potential postmasters of Earth, appears on the author’s blog at armchairphilately.com/first-postmaster-of-earth.  READ MORE!

Earth, Texas historical marker. Photographed by Bill Kirchner, June 7, 2017.

National Archives: Post Office Reports of Site Locations, 1837–1950 | Roll 582: Texas, Lamb – Liberty Counties | Image 12.

Wheat: “Postmasters and Post Offices of Texas, 18461930”.

Wheat’s collected data is based on his own microfilm research from both the National Archives and Library of Congress. That gave me high hopes in the accuracy of his research compared to the other regional history sites I search. Google Books didn’t offer a preview, but luckily, RootsWeb hosts a full copy of the book.

POSTMASTERS & POST OFFICES OF LAMB COUNTY, TEXAS 1889–1930

EARTH (Lamb)

Hyatt, Frank W., 25 May 1925

Kelley, Marshal E., 23 Feb 1926

So, there we have it! The honor of serving as Earth’s first postmaster goes to Frank W. Hyatt, son-in-law of O.H. Reeves, the man who applied for the town’s post office. Hyatt only served for 274 Earth days, compared with his successor’s nearly 35 years in the position. But we can say officially that he was the first postmaster of Earth.

There must be a better way

As I mentioned at the start, my labyrinthine search occupied me for months (off and on). But this article is

supposed to help you jump ahead with your research, so I’ll share the ace up my sleeve. Unfortunately, I didn’t discover the ace until after I had done all the above research.

If you Google “who is my postmaster?”, this URL is the first result: https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/postmaster-finder/

THE USPS HAS A WHOLE SITE DEDICATED TO LISTS OF POSTMASTERS!!

Did you know about this? Because it was news to me. As a test, I popped “Earth” into the city field and chose “Texas” from the dropdown menu of states. Yep, there it is. Frank W. Hyatt, followed by Marshal E. Kelley. One quick search, three clicks of my mouse, and I could have found the same information in a matter of seconds.

Promise me, dear readers, that we’ll share resources like this with each other from here on out. And let’s be sure to check this site before we commission any inaccurate historical markers.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Sarah Giavedoni lives in Asheville, NC, where she runs a literary walking tour of town. She has been exploring her family’s stamp collection — and building one of her own — since 2020, and is a proud member of the century-old Asheville Stamp Club, APS, ATA, JAPOS, and Society for Hungarian Philately. Sarah shares her amateur philatelic explorations on Armchair Philately, an Instagram account and blog at armchairphilately.com.

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Road to the Stamp Show!

Your guide to navigating a national stamp show safely and confidently

By Jeff Stage

So, you’re about to attend your first big stamp show. Hooray!

But now what?

It’s time to heed the (alleged) words of our country’s first postmaster general, Benjamin Franklin: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

A national show, no matter the size, can be a bit overwhelming to a first-time attendee, and the Great American Stamp Show (the United States’ largest stamp show, 9 years out of 10) is no exception. If you come to the show in Hartford, Connecticut this August 15-18, we promise you’ll have fun, but you’ll have an even better time if you lay the groundwork before making the trip.

Spend $1 & pick up a stamp card

Planning Your Trip

Your visit to the show starts at home. Whether you’re looking to buy, take in the exhibits, meet up with societies and clubs, or all of the above, take the time to remind yourself of your prime interests and goals for building your collection and your philatelic knowledge. Then (and you can write this on your hand for the show if you need to) you’ll need to remember to FOCUS! There’s never enough time to take in everything at a big stamp show like GASS, especially if you’re not planning on staying overnight, so having a plan is crucial.

Many shows include information about what to expect on their websites or in other publications. If you are going to GASS, you can find lists of what dealers, clubs, and societies will attend the show; what first day ceremonies and other events are happening; and other key details that can help you plan. Most stamp shows don’t require registration, though GASS does. When registration is required, plan to register in advance to save time at the door.

When the day of the show arrives, you can finalize the last details of your plan. Once you hit the show floor, take a close look at the program (away from the entrance, of course!). Yes, it’s a lot; a large show like GASS usually has a very substantial program, with as many as 150 pages. The program will contain just about everything you need to know about the show: important information about dealers (names and specialties), times and places for any special events or meetings, and listings for any specialty societies that may be on hand. In the GASS program, you can find a floor plan on the middle two pages, showing the locations of dealer booths, specialty societies, the U.S. Postal Service, philatelic and special exhibits, the

presentation stage, youth area, meeting rooms, restrooms and refreshment areas. Depending on the size of the show, the program may also feature a detailed schedule of events, a list of exhibits, more info about dealers and societies, and greetings and invitations from prominent sponsors.

Get What You Want

Probably the most important thing you can bring to a stamp show is your want list. Stamp collectors have been creating want lists since the hobby was in its toddler phase in the late1800s, and it’s a helpful way to make sure you remember to find the last stamp for an album page and avoid wasting money on duplicates.

Along with a want list for stamps and covers, you might include a side list for supplies and ephemera. Something like: Local picture postcards, PARKS … mounts (sizes X-by-27 and X-by-57) … pocket pages, sizes 3 and 4.

So, what are you looking for first? Everything, right? Forget it; unless your purse is bottomless or your want list is very short, that’s going to be impossible. You’ll probably want to break your list down into a few columns with headings like: Must Have; Would Like to Have; Wow – That’s Cool – but Maybe Later If I Have Extra Cash; and Only at Rock Bottom Price.

When I’m making my want list for shows, I take a look at what areas I’m working on and focus on those first. An example list for a show like GASS might include: Canada, hometown covers, Ireland, Laos, and cinderellas in my topical areas.

Then, I might break a country like Canada down further (noting Scott or other catalog numbers, years, and mint or used) to something

Some convention centers offer free Wi-Fi in public areas, but not in the exhibition space or conference rooms. Others have free Wi-Fi everywhere, but it might be slow due to the many users accessing it at once. All to say, don’t assume that you’ll have easy access to the internet at the show. If internet access (and a safe, private internet connection) is important to you, consider bringing a mobile hotspot. That way, you’re in control.

like: Bluenose (Scott 158; 1929; used); George V Medallion (195-200, except 198; 1932; mint) Floral Emblems (417-429A, except 420-421; 1963-1966; mint only), and Historic Land Vehicles 4 and 5 (1604-1605; 1994; mint).

If you don’t want to write up your own list, you might be able to find small, commercially printed books or booklets listing stamps of your favorite countries, where you can check off what you have and make notes. I have one published by Scott catalogs for Canada that is just over 100 pages and that lists stamps (including provinces) through 2020. Topical collectors may want to purchase a checklist from the American Topical Association.

Many times, in addition to my want list column safeguards, I set a dollar amount that I want to spend at a show. Then, it’s best to add a bit more (maybe 15 percent) for all of those “Gotta-Have-That” purchases. This method really does help keep spending in check.

What if you don’t have a want list, but just want to find some fun things? I have found myself at small shows without a want list so that is when I might focus on searching covers for any areas I collect – topics, towns, specific stamps, anything fun.

One time I decided I would start a new country – in that case it was Finland – and I bought a whole bunch of the cheaper stamps from the era I was interested in.

Or, if I’m working on my topical collection – breakfast, in my case – I would look for stamps and covers that matched that theme. Yes, you might wind up buying a duplicate or two,

Outbid Goauction!at back 4 spaces

OUR ADVICE

Some convention centers are picky about allowing outside food and drink on the show floor – they really want you to spend your money at the concession stand or food court area, where prices are artificially hiked. You’ll have to make a choice between seeking greener pastures for food, thus sacrificing precious time at the show, or spending a bit more $$ at the food court. I know which I’d choose.

WANTS: Cameroun USED

* have/found

Values used $1.50 or less except otherwise noted

282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 297A, 302A, 314A, 296, 333*, 334*, 335, 336, 337*, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 352 ($7), 353 ($11), 354 ($32), 355 ($160), 356 ($160), 357 ($160), 358, 359*, 360*, 361, 362, 363, 364*, 365, 366, 367, 368*, 369*, 370, 371

WANTS: Czechoslovakia (Topics)

* have/found

*218-226 – Castles (1936)

*380-382 – coach, bus, ship (1949)

401-403 – skier/efficiency badge (1950)

540-543 – Relay Race (1952)

588 – Cycling (1953)

611-613 – Javelin and motorcycle (1953)

*720 – Motorcycle (1955)

747-749 – Sports (1956)

766-767 – grapes (1956)

796-800 – Sports and Rescues (1957)

815 – motorcyclist (1957)

887-889 – children, skier (1958)

890-895 – vintage cars, bus, truck (1958)

955-960 – sports (1960)

*965-966 – hockey (1960)

*967-969 – sports (1960)

but most of the material you pick up will be new and different.

On top of philatelic purchases, be sure your budget includes money for transportation and parking, meals, and lodging, if you’re staying over. Depending on the size of the show (and how early you make your plans), there may be local hotels with specially priced blocks of rooms for attendees, or special deals on parking or city transport.

What to Pack

So, you’ve planned your visit, made a budget, and your want lists are in hand – what else should you prepare for the show? In general, you’ll want to travel light, but here are a few must-haves. Have a bag or satchel that is lightweight and easy to carry to hold your gear and purchases. If you use a tablet or phone to keep track of your collection or want list, be sure it is charged and bring a charger for backup. If lack of charging ports at the event is a concern, consider bringing a portable power bank and charging cable with you.

I like to bring a handful of different sized glassine envelopes to safely store and separate my new purchases. Sharpened pencils and/or ballpoint pens of different colors are useful, as is some scrap paper or a small notebook.

If I only plan a handful of small purchases, I bring a hardcover book – the thinnest I can find – and use that to secure new purchases (particularly stamps) between the pages to keep my new fragile goodies from getting bent or wrinkled. You can substitute a presentation folder; those are the heavyweight types with interior pockets or a

A pocket-sized United States Postage Stamp Catalog (2007).

Club meeting! Skip your next turn & pick up 2 social cards

OUR ADVICE

I’ve met most of my stamp collecting friends (both my age and much older) at shows. The great thing is that it’s much easier to strike up a conversation when you know you have a shared interest! And I’ve found, as a rule, that people are really eager to chat and make new acquaintances at shows. Yes, shows are about buying and selling stamps, but primarily a show is supposed to be a social event!

Do you have collector friends who you’ve only met online? Consider arranging a meet up at a show to see them in person. It’s wonderful to put a face to the name (or the username).

- Susanna Mills, Editor

First day ceremony! Pick up 2 stamp cards

plastic type with a tie clasp along with a couple pieces of stiff cardboard stuffed inside.

Bring some sheets of clean unused printer paper that make a nice clean surface if you need to do any sorting.

Although most dealers are happy to lend you tongs, a table could be busy and you might have to wait, so I try to remember my own favorite tongs. Carrying a loupe or small fold-in magnifying glass will allow you to take a close look at potential purchases.

Stamp shows can be about networking. Bring business/personal cards to hand out to dealers and all your new friends.

There are still some stamp dealers who might only take cash or specific charge cards, so don’t forget to carry some good, old-fashioned dollars.

If you are hoping to sell material to a dealer at the show, give some thought to what you bring on the show floor. Space can be at a premium, and it’s also easier to walk around

GASS 2024

Thinking about joining us in Hartford for GASS 2024? Here are just a few of the highlights of the show that have been announced – more are being added all the time, so be sure to check the show page regularly!

Ceremonies and special events

First day of issue ceremonies are scheduled for 11 a.m. on August 15 and 16 to celebrate the issue of the USPS Pinback Buttons and Autumn Colors sets of stamps. Even if you don’t collect modern stamps, you should stop by to experience the event. Other stamp celebrations at GASS include those for the new United Nations stamps (Korea World Heritage), cinderellas from the annual National Duck Stamp Collectors Society, Boston 2026 World Expo labels, and the 2024 issue from Rattlesnake Island Local Post.

First day ceremonies usually involve featured speakers from the USPS, sometimes including the artist or designer of the stamp or someone who can personally share about the importance of the stamp issue. After the ceremony and the unveiling of the stamp, usually the featured speakers will gather at a table to offer autographs, whether on the ceremony program, a first day cover with the new stamp issue, or any other keepsake.

APS Booth! Jump forward 3 spaces

without your material weighing you down – but for low to mid-range items, dealers will be more predisposed to buy if they can do it quickly, and a trek back to your hotel room or car to collect the goods might scupper the deal. One exception to the rule is high-value items: you can reasonably stash your material in your hotel room safe and bring well-focused images on a smartphone or tablet for the dealer to evaluate.

Perhaps the most important things to bring, though, are your enthusiasm and your best stamp show manners. A show is a great opportunity to meet philatelists from around the country (and even the world) and make personal and professional connections – which

Exhibits

Awards ceremony! Detour to exhibits hall & roll 6 to get out

means you want to put your best foot forward! Whether you are at a dealer’s table, a lunch table, or awaiting or finishing an event, be sure to talk with and actively listen to dealers and other attendees. More experienced collectors are often willing to offer advice, education, and a friendly ear to a newbie. Just be sure to follow one of the cardinal rules of stamp shows: do NOT loiter at an active dealer’s table. If you’re finished conducting your business and the dealer has other customers to assist, it’s time to yield your chair or spot at the booth and move on to the next – or finish your conversation with your fellow attendees in a quieter locale.

Whether you have plans to exhibit in the future or not, you should take some time to check out these top-level examples of collecting with a purpose. The previous 12 months’ best from more than two dozen shows are in the elite Champion of Champions competition. Some exhibits focus on a single topic, like the U.S. Virginia Dare and the Polish Millenium stamps. Others are more sweeping, like the Machins of Great Britain or 63 years of early philately from the Fiji Islands. I guarantee that you will learn about and see things you never imagined. If you want to get more out of the experience, the APS sponsors tours of the exhibits at set times throughout the show.

Don’t forget to look for rarities on display, including the APS’s Inverted Jenny and a George Washington free frank.

Specialty societies

Want to know more collecting first day covers or penguins on stamps? What about philately from Germany or Scandinavia? Classic U.S. stamps or ship cancellations? Duck stamps or sports philately? More than three dozen specialty societies will have booths and representatives at GASS.

Meetings and presentations

The GASS schedule includes plenty of society meetings and presentations – so you’ll definitely want to review the schedule in advance on the APS website and then double check everything once you are at the show. (Locations or times could change).

Out and About

By John Hotchner

Get the Most out of Visiting a Show – A Mini-Guide

Awhole new philatelic world awaits you at stamp shows. There are three basic types of shows, but all will offer enjoyment, excitement, and opportunities for you to add to your collection:

The stamp-dealers-only event, often called a “bourse.” Usually one or two days. Either does not include exhibits, or the exhibits are not formally judged. Normally sponsored by a group of dealers or a local stamp club. Can be monthly, quarterly, annually, but the larger the town/ city, the more often held. There may be as many as a thousand of these across the U.S. in a year.

The local or regional stamp show with judged exhibits, a bourse, speakers on stamp collecting, and perhaps a national specialist society meeting or two. Sponsored by a stamp

club, usually two days, and usually an annual event. Likely a couple of hundred in the U.S. each year.

The “national” stamp show, of which there are about 30 across the U.S. Has all the features of the local/regional show, but more events, often a U.S. or UN First Day ceremony, meetings of specialist societies, social events, and high-level exhibits that compete for a Grand Award that allows them to compete in the annual Champion of Champions exhibition as part of the annual APS convention, the Great American Stamp Show. This year, GASS will be in Hartford, Connecticut, August 15-18.

Finding one or more of the shows with exhibits near you is easy. Go to the APS website’s Events Calendar (www.stamps.org/events/ events-calendar) and search by your location. Bourses may be a bit more difficult to find, but your local stamp club will know of what is going on in your area, and The American Philatelist lists many bourses in its monthly “Show Time” section.

What does the stamp show and bourse offer? There will be dealers selling stamps and covers from inexpensive to scarce/expensive. Whether you buy anything or not, and chances are you will see things you want, an afternoon of looking at what dealers display is a trip around the world, as well as a chance to see wonderful philatelic material you have only seen as catalog pictures.

To get started, all you need to do is walk up to a dealer table and look at what is displayed. You can also tell the dealer what you are looking for, or put that information on a piece of paper, perhaps with your email address, that can be given to dealers.

Keep in mind that dealers have to buy in order to have stamps and covers to sell. So, if you have material to sell, take that along. Have an idea what you want for it, and see if you can make a deal.

There is usually at least one dealer that sells collector supplies such as stamp tongs, glassine envelopes, stock cards, catalogs, and

albums. This is especially useful if you don’t have a nearby stamp store.

As you enter the show/bourse, keep an eye out for the free literature table. There you will find handouts about local clubs, publicity about events in the future, information about national specialty societies and sometimes examples of their journals, and offers of recent philatelic literature.

If the show has exhibits, take a few minutes to look at the frames to see if there is a subject that matches your collecting areas. This and the other exhibits will expand your view of the world of philately and might even inspire you to take up a new collecting area.

If you like a challenge, read the guidance to judges and exhibitors on the APS website. As you look at exhibits, try to anticipate what medal they have earned. Once the judges’ decisions have been posted, see whether they agreed with you.

Speakers and society meetings are generally open to all who have an interest. These are good places to get your questions answered and to meet other collectors who can be mentors as you get more deeply involved in your collecting.

Sometimes there will be an auction associated with the show. Since auctions are a great way of adding to your collection, attending a show auction is a good way

to see how they work and get an idea of price levels for things in your interest area.

If a show/bourse is out of town for you, there will be other attractions beyond the show. Take the opportunity to make it a mini-family vacation. Stay an extra day. See the sights. Visit a museum. Build a family memory!

Bottom line, there is lots to see and do at shows and bourses (and 99% of them are free of entry fees). Before you know it, you might enjoy them so much that going will become a habit!

DiScovER 5,000 or more items to choose from each week.

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INJune 2020, Australian philatelist James Gavin launched The Digital Philatelist, an online index of philatelic resources aimed at helping the modern philatelist find useful information about the hobby more easily. Today, the award-winning site directs visitors to everything from society websites to philatelic Etsy shops to instructional YouTube videos – all resources either gathered by James himself or submitted by users. James joined editor Susanna Mills for an interview and shared his thoughts about the hobby today.

What should people know about The Digital Philatelist website?

Prior to The Digital Philatelist [beginning in 2013], I was the publicity officer for the Rhodesian Study Circle (RSC). I took on managing their website, established their Facebook page, and then I watched the metrics, what was happening and who was joining.

When COVID hit, everyone was going online… I was putting a lot of effort and time in managing their site because RSC members are extremely active contributors. You want to encourage that, but at the same time, it became a bit too much for me.

James Gavin The Digital Philatelist

GET SOCIAL

Website: https://thedigitalphilatelist.com/

Twitter: @DigiPhilatelist

Instagram: @thedigitalphilatelist

YouTube: @thedigitalphilatelist

Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/thedigitalphilatelist

So, I decided that I was gonna focus on my own collection. And at the same time, I was thinking, “Oh, you know what? I really want to make sure that I don’t lose access to the data of what social media platforms people are using.” It had been like two separate communities –traditional stamp collectors and philatelists, and then this quickly growing online community of people who were also collectors.

That all changed with COVID, when a lot of those traditional clubs and societies had to transition over to Zoom or online meetings. They started looking at [the online world] and going, “Oh, well, hang on. This is actually useful.” New people were starting to appear out of the woodwork, and so I created The Digital Philatelist mainly to show that there are all these social media platforms and here are the people who are using them. And most of these people do not belong to your club or organization. So, that’s really how the Digital Philatelist website was born. That’s what I did during the extreme lockdowns here in Melbourne, Australia. Do you feel like it helped your own collecting or put it on pause further?

The work that I did with the RSC definitely advanced how I collect. I think for most collectors, you get your stamp, you put it in an album, the album goes into a bookshelf. There’s nothing really further there.

But what I saw when I was working for the RSC, was that we have tons of material on that website that reached out to not only stamp collectors but also non-stamp communities. So, I thought, “I could do some of this.”

So, I began collecting the Bahamas. My goal there was to put every stamp and postcard that I acquired onto the website, and it’s going to be available to everyone. No paywalls or anything silly like that, or having to join – just open source. Every item that I’ve got from Bahamas has gone onto that website, mainly postcards, advertising covers, postal history, and stamps.

And I also did it to say, “You know what? We don’t have to exhibit on a piece of paper in an exhibit frame where there’s thousands of frames that all look the same.”

There’s a different way to do it. You can make it completely interactive. I can put YouTube videos on there. I can link to resources if someone wants to read more. People can see high-res images of the stamps without needing a magnifying glass. If they want to learn something, they can.

Now that you're a few years out from starting The Digital Philatelist website, how do you feel about how it’s grown?

The biggest challenge I have at the moment is there’s too much content for me. It’s very difficult for me to keep up with it, compared to a few years ago. When I started, I reckon there was probably about, let’s say 10 YouTube channels. Now I monitor about 120. And that’s probably not all of them.

I get about a hundred thousand visitors a year, at the moment, and I’m three or four years in. That’s good.

The top two drivers of traffic really are nontraditional, anyway. They’re software and apps and crypto stamps. They’re the two biggest things that people come to the website for. One thing that we’re talking about a lot is preserving born-digital knowledge, because there are all of these small, very niche websites in the hobby. And sooner or later that information is going to be lost.

I mean, you have the Wayback Machine where you can go and look at old websites, and some go back to the ‘90s these days. But [losing the websites] is actually a threat to the information. I guess it’s no different to someone

DID YOU KNOW?

TheDigitalPhilatelist.com is a treasure trove of information for stamp collectors of any level. By selecting any of the main categories at the top of the homepage, you can browse for philatelic information by country, theme, social media platform, and more.

Want to see the latest content from online philatelists? You’ll find recent posts from James highlighting his own research and others’ videos and blogposts on the homepage. You can also peruse selections from James’ own collection, including materials from the Bahamas, Rhodesia & Nyasaland, Malawi, and Zambia, under the “My Philately” tab.

Looking to learn about a particular collecting interest, like aerophilately? Just pop over to “Collecting (A-K)” and click the link for aerophilately, which will take you to a page with basic information and links to society websites, blogs, and videos related to the topic.

Interested in building your own philatelic community? Use the “Community” dropdown menu to find other philatelists on Facebook, online forums, Patreon, and more.

A Bahamian postcard featuring The Montagu Beach Hotel from James’ collection.

who knows so much about a stamp and then they die without ever having written a book or article about what’s in their head. So, how do you capture all this?

This is why I always try to tell people, you should join a club or society and definitely contribute articles where you can, because they are valuable at the end of the day. Create your website and everything...but at the same time, contribute some of that work back to the organizations that are actually putting it into print, which will last forever. Hopefully. Endorsement of print was not something I was expecting to hear from you, but I love it.

A Montagu Beach Hotel cover from 1968, featuring Bahamian stamps issued the year before. The stamps feature the then-new currency of the Bahamian dollar, which replaced the Bahamian pound in 1966.

That’s probably because it really frustrated me that a lot of these organizations didn’t take digital seriously.

DEEP DIVE

James on Crypto and NFT Stamps

During COVID, when people were pulling out stamp collections they hadn’t touched in decades and were getting back into it, they didn’t go to a club and say,

When all this crypto stuff came out, Graham Beck (Exploring Stamps), myself, and Gerard (The Punk Philatelist), we all went and bought separate things. I bought from VeVe. Graham bought crypto stamps as well, and Gerard went with part ownership of the Stanley Gibbons British Guiana 1-cent Magenta. We all did that to say, “Okay, what’s gonna happen with this?”

I said, it’s a new arm of the hobby. The hobby doesn’t have millions of collectors waiting at its door to join clubs and take up stamp collecting, right? And so you’ve got to say, “Okay. Here’s a potential new market where we may be able to draw in new collectors or draw them into the hobby. What they’re collecting may not be used on mail, but it’s kind of related to that. It shouldn’t mean we just automatically exclude them.”

Crypto/NFTs are a driver of traffic on my website, so it means that people are out there looking for it. There’s also a website called Bitter Grounds, and they catalog all the crypto stamps that have come out, the official releases, and they get a lot of traffic as well.

Crypto stamps are selling out in record time. So, there are people out there who are collecting these stamps and are pretty passionate about being stamp collectors. If you are not interested in crypto stamps, that’s fine. Don’t collect them. I don’t collect every stamp in the market because a lot of them don’t interest me. But bring crypto stamp collectors on board if they want to join.

It’s not traditional collecting at all, but it’s still part of the hobby. And those little subcultures have massive followings. So... why would you exclude them?

“Hey, I’ve got a collection. Can I join and learn about it?” They went online and started posting. There were so many Facebook comments like, “Oh yeah, look, I’ve got this, what is it? And is this worth anything?” Stuff like that is all part of our conversation. It’s all part of our hobby, whether we like it or not.

So, digital is so important, but the other important thing is the long term. We’ve got to get the information out of here [taps head] somehow. That’s the first challenge. You’ve got to preserve some of that information that’s really, really good, with other contemporary sources. The thing that traditional collectors always say is “We need new collectors, we’ve got to go to the youth.” Should we be shifting the emphasis or do you think youth are the future of the hobby?

I have a big problem with the word youth, because the way that “youth” are treated in traditional philately is as children, anyone under 18. And I think if someone called me a child at 18, I’d tell them where to go jump.

I get that when you’re talking children under 12 years old, there’s a different approach, different learning patterns. But some of those teenage collectors are quite knowledgeable. They’re not working, they’re not raising families, so they can devote a lot of time to just reading material. They actually have quite a lot of knowledge... They’re thinking critically. It’s an adult way of thinking, so we can’t really treat them as kids.

Get your material out of your closets. Stop. No one enjoys them in a closet.

In February’s AP, we published two articles by teens, and they were easily at the level of any other author who writes for the magazine. Very thoughtful, diving into sociopolitical context. They’re dialed in.

Yeah, they are. It’s just like, “You know what? They’re a collector. Treat them as an adult.” One-on-one, they might need a little bit more guidance, but they could contribute more new information than what you might think.

Is there anything that you’d like to talk about that you think the readers of StampEd should know or even our more traditional collecting audience, that you’d like them to know?

One is to get your collection out of the cupboard, out of the closet and get it online. It doesn’t matter how, whether it’s Insta or Twitter, X or whatever it may be, get it out there and put it up. The benefits are just amazing long term. But also, contribute to stamp magazines or journals or whatever, find a story, write a story with your stamps, and then submit that. Just get it out there.

But really, just get your material out of your closets. Stop. No one enjoys them in a closet. Get them out. Let everyone enjoy them.

And the other thing that I would also recommend highly, is that people like and subscribe to content creators that they like, because a lot of content creators, they’re not making money from it, and it takes a lot of time to do some of the social media stuff. So, subscribe and follow people and recommend people and share content among groups and with friends.

A selection of postcards from James' collection of Bahamas philately.

It Stick

By Jessica Manack

Postcrossing: Opening Mailboxes Around the World

Those of us who grew up in a certain era may remember having pen pals as children. They might have been a friend from summer camp you wanted to keep up with throughout the year, or one who moved to another town. Some people even sent their information to pen pal matching services, waiting for someone who had the same interests to choose them and start up a correspondence.

These days, social media and email allow much quicker communication, which most people prefer. But what if you still like sending mail, only you don’t know who to send it to? Enter Postcrossing.

Two decades of fun in the post

Created in Germany in 2005, Postcrossing is a website that helps the postally-minded exchange postcards with strangers. All you need to do is create an account and fill your profile with basic information about your likes and interests. The real fun happens offline, as your mailbox fills with postcards (and stamps!) sent from people all around the world – the site boasts members from more than 200 countries (including special regions and dependent territories).

You can set your own pace when you join the site. You’ll start by getting a recipient’s address, and can request up to five addresses at a time. Once the recipient(s) report the successful delivery of your card, then you can send more. The slow start can be frustrating, especially with global mail delivery sometimes taking weeks, but this is how the site weeds out scammers. After some

successful exchanges, you can increase the quantity of cards you send at one time.

Postcards don’t leave a ton of room for conversation, and sometimes you want to share your enthusiasm in person. Since there are so many users all over the world, periodic meetups happen in cities around the globe –dozens every month. You can look for one near you, or even can find one while traveling. As an added bonus, getting to talk to locals in a new country is a great way to make sure you know the postal regulations, and how many stamps to add to your vacation mail.

A great way to build a collection – or fill in gaps

Do you collect postcards or stamps along certain topical lines? You can state these preferences in your Postcrossing profile information, which is given to each

Some of the stamps Postcrossing user Grace Dobush has received on cards.

DID YOU KNOW?

Security Is Built Into the Site

Postcrossing is a safe way to communicate with people you don’t know. Your address is shared with the person mailing a postcard to you, but is not otherwise available on the site. You send to a new person each time you mail a new card. This keeps things interesting! For those especially concerned about security, renting a P.O. box is one way to maintain and share a postal address without divulging the location of your home.

member as they prepare to send their mail to you. Some people collect stamps featuring animals or lighthouses. Some collect cards featuring artists and artworks, or something specific, like a card showing a landmark from the sender’s location.

A recent group of cards I received was a mix of styles: an inviting landscape, a photograph of the customary textile crafts of a region, and a homemade card featuring a collage of automobile postage stamps.

This is where a collection of unused vintage postage comes in handy, as you can stamp postcards with mini-collages along themes like space, world leaders, singers, flowers, or anything you can come up with. You can group stamps along a color or design theme. You’ll want a collection of stamps of various values – a postcard offers limited real estate for a stamp

GET SOCIAL

Binders and vinyl pages specially designed for postcards are a great way to organize and share a growing collection. Depending on the size of the pockets, photo albums may also be used.

collage, and you won’t get there with a lot of single-digit values, no matter how inviting the designs are.

Postcrossing is not just fun, it’s educational. It can be a great way to learn about geography, history, culture – even currency, exchange rates, and math – making it a great supplement to a traditional or homeschool curriculum. The statistics the site compiles are a great way to track the distance your cards have traveled, and the number of days each has spent in transit. Print a world map, and color all the countries you’ve received mail from. See which country’s mail service is the fastest, or which country charges the most, or least, to send a postcard.

What are you waiting for? Get out your stamps, or buy a sheet of Global Forevers, and get writing!

Meeting in the mailbox is fun, but would you like to greet other Postcrossers in real time?

The APS and Linn's Stamp News are hosting two Postcrossing meet-ups this summer at the Great American Stamp Show in Hartford! Bring some of your favorite cards and stories to share with other Postcrossers, and pick up some of our special meet-up edition postcards celebrating the new USPS issues Autumn Colors and Pinback Buttons.

Place: Great American Stamp Show at Connecticut Convention Center - Room 21, 100 Columbus Blvd., Hartford, Conn.

Time: 12 noon - 2 p.m. Eastern Time, both Thursday, August 15 and Friday, August 16

RSVP Here: https://community.postcrossing.com/t/15-16-august-2024-meetup-at-hartfordct-great-american-stamp-show/813417

A recent group of cards received by the author.

Direct Messages

StampEd: It’s Not Just for Millennials

I just spent several hours reading the first issue of StampEd and it was such a pleasure! It was easy to read and navigate on my iPad and the articles were concise, to the point, and full of really interesting and informative bits of knowledge. As an 81-yearold stamp collector of over 50 years, I appreciated the “less stuffy” writing styles and the colored inserts were eye catching and chock-full of supporting information.

You are to be congratulated for a truly valuable tool to attract new collectors and entertain and inform all collectors. Thank you for your efforts.

Karen Spiess

Turning Up the Heat

Further to your issue on thermochromic stamps here are few more issues from different countries: https://aps.buzz/PhilaquelyMoi

Hope you like them. Thanks for exploring new themes for the new collectors.

Kenneth Chang

A Lighter-Than-Air Prank

Speaking of mailing cheese… Here’s a post office prank that I thought of but never had the courage to execute. Find a very light but moderate-size cardboard box, maybe a cake box. Put a helium-filled balloon in it such that the box weight is zero, or even less — if it rises slowly, all the better. Put an address on it and take it to a post office clerk.

With a straight face, you can actually tell them that you are mailing a birthday balloon to your friend.

If it actually rises, just insist that they pay you for the privilege of delivering it.

If it can be done when there are no customers waiting, perhaps several people will have a laugh (as they try to figure out how much to pay you).

Larry Rosenblum

What I Collect: A Phonographic First

I have the most unusual stamp in the world – a phonographic stamp of Bhutan!

One of a set of seven released as the very first in the whole world & is highly unusual! It plays a short history of Bhutan in English at 33 RPM on a phonograph.

It is an official stamp that can be stuck on an envelope & mailed out too. Designed by an American [Burt Todd], who was a college friend of the Queen of Bhutan, to raise funds for Bhutan’s coffers.

I got it when I was 15 years old from Bhutan. Praveen K. Sontha

I’m Doing My Part: Blowing the Post Horn

In your most recent StampEd newsletter, you asked what we’ve been doing to spread the word about StampEd, and I realized I hadn’t even mentioned it to my own readers!

To correct this, I included a blurb in my monthly newsletter, the Philosateleian Post Horn, which I distributed to 400-plus subscribers on Sunday.

Want to Advertise in StampEd?

Contact Fox Associates to place an ad at: adinfo.theamericanphilatelist@foxrep.com or call 800-440-0231 x114

What’s Black and White and Red All Over? APS member Michael Jones kindly answered our call for a valentine exchange with this lovely card

thanks Michael!

I also wrote a short post about the launch of StampEd on my blog: https://aps.buzz/Philosateleia

Was very impressed with the first issue of this publication, and I look forward to seeing what your team comes up with for future issues!

Kevin Blackston

TALK TO US

We encourage readers to send their comments, questions and feedback to StampEd. Submission of a message implies consent to publish, unless specifically prohibited by the sender. The decision of whether to publish is made by the editorial staff of StampEd

Generally, letters will be published unless determined to be offensive, disrespectful, libelous, or not chiefly related to the stamp hobby.

The opinions expressed in a Direct Message are those of the author and not StampEd. We do not publish or accept requests for the publication of anonymous messages.

To allow more Direct Messages, we respectfully request submissions of 500 words or less. If your submission is longer, the editorial team will ask you to resubmit a shorter version, or provide you a copy of an edited version to review prior to publication. Submit your letters to StampEd@stamps.org or mail a typewritten copy to:

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The University of Iowa’s Special Collections shared the tiniest stamp book we’ve ever seen.

On Our Playlist

Why not take a tour of Stampex 2023 with Graham Beck via his Exploring Stamps YouTube channel?

Irish rock band Dea Matrona put stamps on show with their song “Stamp On It” in 2021 – what other philatelic songs are on your playlist?

Make Friends on Discord

There are a few stamp collecting communities on Discord and other forums. The International Philatelic Promoters currently has over 1,000 members, with discussion areas for buying/selling/ swapping, stamp identification, general help, and collecting regions.

HOT

Stamp Issues

France has philatelically cemented their love for baguettes with a new stamp – and friends, it’s scratch and sniff.

PostNL’s AI-illustrated “Typically Dutch” stamp series has kicked off a lot of debate in the StampEd office – what do you think?

Give Us a Holler

What do you collect? Send us a photo to share in StampEd! Tag @StampEdPub or email StampEd@stamps.org.

Become a Digital Member of the APS

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A brief introduction to patent medicine private die proprietary revenue stamps

Hoofland’s Spikenard Ointment. Boyd’s Galvanic Battery. Bull’s Worm Destroyer. Centaur Liniment. This isn’t a shopping list for the wizard you play in your D&D game (though it certainly could be, if your DM is brave enough) – it’s a collection of weird and wonderful patent medicines.

Patent medicines, which take their name from the patent process but which were rarely actually patented in the U.S., typically refer to over-the-counter “medications” sold without a prescription. The term brings to mind snake oil salesmen, traveling medicine shows, and con artists – and not without reason. More scientifically minded professionals proved time and time again (sometimes in a court of law) that patent medicines were, at best, near useless, and at worst, poison in a bottle.

Nevertheless, the creators of these concoctions continued to shout from the rooftops that they had invented, discovered, or bottled a product that could cure any ill, from pimples and sniffles to consumption and cancer. While their medical knowledge and general bona fides were certainly in question, patent medicine makers were remarkable in one regard –they were marketing geniuses.

On top of the thrilling yarns they’d spin from stages across the country of every ailment amazingly alleviated by their eminently affordable wares, patent medicine hawkers popularized tricks and techniques that are still used today, from free samples to branded merch. They also pioneered solicitation through the mail, national newspaper campaigns, testimonials, and sponsorship of publications like almanacs as a way to shove even more advertising in front of their potential customers’ faces. They employed “exotic” imagery to enhance the authenticity and desirability of their products to their primarily white, middle-class custom-

Centaur Liniment

Centaur Liniment, obviously, isn’t for a mythical creature. But in its heyday, it was used to treat both animal and human complaints (albeit with slightly different recipes) so isn’t that close enough?

Per Charles Oleson’s Secret Nostrums and Systems of Medicine, the animal version contained (approximately) oil of spearmint, oil of mustard, oil of amber, black oil, soap, caustic soda and water. The human edition of the liniment was thicker and contained oil of pennyroyal, oil of thyme, oil of turpentine, soap, caustic soda and water.

Author's note: Looks like it comes from an alternate universe where centaurs are a regular part of society and require salves for their leg sprains. Wonderful.

It can be difficult to track down intact private die proprietary stamps, like this one from Dr. John Bull’s Preparations. The stamps were required by law to be placed in locations where they would be ripped or sliced through when bottles or boxes of medicines were opened to prevent reuse.

Hunt’s Remedy

First printed in 1880, this is a classic example of patent medicine revenue stamps and of the supreme marketing sense of their creators. On the stamp for Hunt’s Remedy – a concoction of unknown composition that “separated after standing, and thus ordinarily required a thorough shaking before being used” –is an image of a man holding a bottle, presumably of the medicine itself, preparing to beat back an advancing skeleton. Yes, he is literally beating death with Hunt’s Remedy, and Clarke is (gloriously) beating us over the head with the metaphor.

Editor's note: My favorite for obvious, skeleton-related reasons. Some might find the metaphor heavy-handed, but I appreciate it… especially considering the irony of this stamp appearing on a product that has been described as having “a sediment the consistency of road tar.” Appetizing!

This stamp for “Herrick’s Pills & Plasters & Harvell’s Cond’n Powders” features the image of a stooped alchemist at his studies – a not unusual motif for private die proprietary stamps, which wanted to invoke an air of wisdom, authority, and arcane secrets. The overprint of “H.F.M. 1877.” stands for “Herrick’s Family Medicines” and suggests the stamp was applied in 1877.

During the height of the patent medicine craze, theories were flying about the use of both electricity and magnetism in the treatment of diseases. Patent medicine creators took advantage of this uncertainty by including buzzwords like “magnetic” in their advertisements and revenue stamp designs.

ers, drawing on racial stereotypes to invoke the image of mystical powers or ancient secrets around their “cures.” Even the medicines themselves were a type of marketing ploy; often mixtures of opiates and alcohol that were “prescribed” as miracle cures for complaints as simple as the common cold, they likely caused sales-boosting addictions.

But this isn’t a magazine for the next generation of medical historians or marketing executives – so where are the stamps? We’re so glad you asked.

Though philately is primarily concerned with postage stamps, a popular subcategory of the hobby is the collection of revenue stamps. U.S. revenue stamps look similar to postage stamps from the era, but were used to indicate that a special tax had been paid on an item. That item might be a document, like a will (requiring a documentary stamp), or it might be a commodity, like canned fruit, cigars, or playing cards (requiring a proprietary stamp).

Despite all evidence to the contrary, the average U.S. citizen believed patent medicines to be perfectly effective products produced by perfectly valid businesses. So when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Revenue Act of 1862 to help fund Union military operations during the Civil War, that meant patent medicines were treated like any other commodity, and their makers were required to purchase and adhere revenue stamps to each box and bottle.

To profit-oriented businessmen like patent medicine vendors, the tax was highly unwelcome. Yet, like the true entrepreneurs they were, they soon found a way to spin it to their advantage.

Dr. L.R. Herrick (of Herrick’s Pills and Plasters, manufacturer of Herrick’s Sugar Coated Vegetable Health Pills, among others) was the first to request permission to create his own design for the stamps that would adorn his products.

The official printer for the general-use federal revenue stamps, Butler & Carpenter of Philadelphia, approved his request in October of 1862, just three months after the bill was passed and days after the first revenue stamps were issued for use. The firm wrote to Herrick in October: “Your stamp will be the first private proprietary die printed: and, in this respect, you will enjoy an advantage over your equally afflicted brethren in trade.”

Again, in November, they assured him of his stamp supremacy: “We have seized the first opportunity to get your stamps out and you

are far ahead of all other private proprietary stamps.”

Much to Herrick’s (no doubt considerable) chagrin, however, this injustice was corrected in January of 1863, when the privilege of using federal tax stamps for the advertising of quackery (and matches, perfumes, and other luxury items) was extended to all by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

Those who chose to design their own stamp had to foot the bill for the creation of the die, and the designs were subject to the approval of the Internal Revenue. Once approved, the patent medicine makers received a discount on the taxes paid – “on amounts purchased at one time of not less than fifty nor more than five

DID YOU KNOW?

Patent medicine: A patent medicine, also called a proprietary medicine, is a medicinal preparation that does not require a prescription to purchase. They differ from today’s over-the-counter medicines because their composition was rarely entirely disclosed and their claims to cure various diseases were not proven by a government authority, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Often containing opiates and alcohol alongside various botanical supplements, some patent medicines were nebulously effective for certain conditions. Others, such as radioactive elixir Radithor, contained ingredients that only served to cause the untimely death of consumers. In the U.S., patent medicines were advertised relentlessly by their makers and sold and prepared with little oversight until 1906, when the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed in large part to combat the unethical and unsafe practices of the industry.

Nostrum: Another name for a patent medicine, from the Latin term nostrum remedium, meaning “our remedy.”

Die: The engraved image of a stamp on metal. In stamp printing, the die is used to make multiple impressions in another sheet of metal, creating the printing plate.

Revenue stamp: A revenue stamp, also called a tax stamp, duty stamp, or fiscal stamp, is a label used to show that tax has been collected on items like documents, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, medicines, and playing cards. Businesses selling these items purchase the stamps from the government and affix them

hundred dollars, five per centum; on amounts over five hundred dollars, ten per centum.”

The savings, while not huge, were complemented by the additional advertising opportunities and the chance to strengthen their brand. Private die proprietary stamps went a long way towards proving that Collins’ VoltaicElectric Porous Plasters were actually Collins’ Voltaic-Electric Plasters, and not just a forged label on a box of gauze sold by some even more devious ne’er-do-well – sadly, a common occurrence in the era. And while the stamps were never meant to authenticate the medical claims of the product, to a trusting populace, it may have seemed like they did. No regulatory body had approved the contents, but the

to the items before sale or use, indicating to all that the tax has been paid via the purchase of the labels. In the U.S., revenue stamps were briefly used during the colonial period (see the Stamp Act of 1765, one of the inciting incidents of the American Revolutionary War), then reinstated by Abraham Lincoln in 1862 to raise funds during the Civil War. Broadly, the use of revenue stamps in the U.S. ended in 1967, but some, like the federal duck stamp, persist today.

Proprietary stamp: A proprietary stamp is one of two types of revenue stamps (the other being documentary stamps). A proprietary stamp was used for commodities like perfumes, cigars, playing cards, photographs, and medicines, while a documentary stamp paid taxes due on legal documents, stock transfers, and mortgage deeds, among other things.

Private die proprietary stamp: A private die proprietary stamp is a proprietary stamp that is printed by the government but designed by the business being taxed. Designers famously used the stamps as additional advertising space, highlighting their other offerings and ingeniously getting a return from a tax they were not pleased to pay. The category is sometimes referred to as “match and medicine stamps” after the two most common types of private die proprietary stamps. While we might instinctively think to categorize private die proprietary stamps as the revenue equivalent of a cinderella stamp, they are official (and very collectible) revenues.

Some companies used overprinted Battleship stamps, like these from the Emerson Drug Company, until their private dies could be designed and used to print revenue stamps. Courtesy of Ron Lesher.

official stamp emblazoned “U.S. Internal Revenue” provided an implicit government endorsement.

The tax on proprietary items was lifted in 1883, following the return of the national debt to acceptable levels ($1.9 billion, amounting to $58.5 billion in 2024 dollars, which itself is approximately 0.17% of the U.S.’s current national debt), but the break for businesses didn’t last long. By 1898, taxes were again levied on commodities like patent medicines, cosmetics, and chewing gum to finance the Spanish-American War. Some companies created new dies for the occasion, while others were content to use the famous Battle-

Schenck’s Mandrake Pills

Employing mysticism from the days of yore, Joseph H. Schenck produced, along with his Pulmonic Syrup and Sea-Weed Tonic, these Mandrake Pills for “Liver Complaints, &c.” Mandrake root does have hallucinogenic and narcotic properties, and can also be used as a laxative. The pills were created because “persons who keep their insides clean, as nature intended, are less susceptible to these ailments than those who allow their system to become clogged with toxic poison, which is preventable.” Once purely vegetable in nature, these pills had a sugar coating added afterward to make them more palatable to the consumer.

This example, with original revenue stamp intact, appears courtesy of the Boalsburg Heritage Museum in Boalsburg, PA, which features a collection of antique patent medicines and other commodities as part of its country store exhibit.

Editor's note: Do you know how uncommon it is to find a revenue stamp still attached to the product? (Depends on the product, really, but it's not often.) Also, the reason mandrake root can be used as a laxative is because it’s POISONOUS!

That’s God’s way of saying “spit that thing out!”

ship proprietary stamps designed and issued by the federal government that depict the USS Maine.  These new taxes were repealed in 1902, but the death knell had already sounded for patent medicines – sort of. The American populace was catching on to the repeated frauds perpetrated upon them by the alleged doctors and miracle-workers behind the bottles of cures; years of campaigning for transparency and truthful advertising along with stunning exposes in national magazines and the staunch support of President Theodore Roosevelt paved the way for the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. The Pure Food and Drug Act banned

foreign and interstate traffic in “adulterated or mislabeled food and drug products,” required drugs to list their active ingredients (a.k.a. any ingredient meant to treat disease or pain) on their labels, and mandated purity levels for drugs – so while patent medicines could rebrand and reformulate in 1906 (with some remaining on our shelves to this day), the new regulations meant the end of the “golden age” of patent medicines, and of their private die proprietary stamps.

Patent medicines and the stamps used to tax them are a reminder of the general scientific ignorance of the era in which they were created, the staggering greed of some distinctly bad actors, and the horrific physical ramifications to unsuspecting patients. And yet, we still find ourselves drawn to them. The detailed engraving, the fascinating history, and the objectively funny names – names like McClane’s Celebrated American Worm Specific, Fowle’s Pile & Humor Cure, and Duponco’s Golden Periodical Pills –together offer a unique and amusing collecting area that delights.

[The Pure Food and Drug Act] meant the end of the "golden age" of patent medicines, and of their private die proprietary stamps.

Dr. Williams Pink Pills for Pale People

OUR ADVICE

• The American Revenue Association

• The State Revenue Society

The British Medical Association analyzed these pink sugar-coated pills in 1909 and found them to be composed of sulphate of iron (a.k.a. iron (II) sulfate, your garden variety iron supplement), potassium carbonate (mainly used in the production of soap and glass, though it does have food-safe applications), magnesia (often used as an antacid or a short-term laxative), powdered licorice, and, of course, sugar. While this recipe is on the less harmful side of patent medicine concoctions, the BMA reported that the pills were “carelessly made,” and that in their samples at least a third of the iron sulfate had oxidized. After several formula changes, the pills were finally removed from the market in 1970.

Author's note: The design actually doesn’t do much for me, but the name gets me every time.

Interested in starting your revenue collecting journey? These organizations and resources can speed you on your way.

• “Collecting: Revenue Stamps” – resources curated by The Digital Philatelist

• Patent Medicine Tax Stamps by Henry W. Holcombe

• Revenue Stamps of the United States (a.k.a. The Boston Revenue Book) by George L. Toppan, Hiram E. Deats, and Alexander Holland on behalf of the Boston Philatelic Society

• “Private Die Proprietary Stamps” by Bob Hohertz

Want to learn more about patent medicines? Check out:

• Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine “Heroes” of Patent Medicine” Volumes 1-3

• The Quack Doctor

• Balm of America: Patent Medicine Collection at the National Museum of American History

Investigating Covers: E.F. Carter and the Stampless Era

By Michael L. Wilson

FIyou collect U.S. stamps, you’re likely familiar with the “classic period,” usually defined as the time between 1847 and 1893. In 1847, the U.S. Post Office issued its first adhesive postage stamp, and all the stamps issued until 1893 were designed, engraved, and printed by private firms.

But did you know there was a period preceding the classic period called the “stampless era?” The forerunner of today’s U.S. Postal Service, the United States Post Office, was founded in 1775, and it ensured the delivery of mail throughout the 13 colonies, well before anyone thought about printing and issuing postage stamps. The stampless era lasted until 1855, when the use of postage stamps on mail became mandatory.

Folded stampless letters are fascinating to collect; in addition to their postal history, they are ideal for the social historian because the contents and the cover are one and the same. During most of the stampless era, people would write a letter on a sheet of paper, fold it into a rectangle, seal it with wax, and take it to a post office. Sometimes the sender would pay

DEEP DIVE

Franklin’s many claims to fame, he was the first postmaster general of the United States.

A stampless folded letter mailed from Fort Winnebago to New York City. The letter is postmarked March 22, 1833, and arrived in New York about a month later. The letter was addressed to Rev. Absalom Peters, the head of a missionary society. It was sent by an Army surgeon named Dr. Richard Satterlee, who requests help securing a minister for the fort.

Beginning in 1792, postage rates were set by an act of the U.S. Congress. Rates were complex, varying by the number of pages – and after 1827 by weight – and distance traveled. They were also very expensive. Consider the folded letter shown here. This item was mailed in March 1833 by an Army surgeon serving at Fort Winnebago (about 120 miles southwest of Green Bay, Wisconsin) to New York City. It arrived there about a month later. Since this letter was traveling more than 400 miles, it was subject to the highest rate, which was 25 cents, or “two bits” as it was then called. That would be equivalent to paying $10 to send this letter today. Of course, with today’s system, you could mail that same letter for 68 cents and it would arrive in a matter of days instead of a month. The concept of a “bit,” equivalent to 12 1/2 cents, is important when trying to understand postage rates during the stampless era because in addition to a rate of 25 cents, there were also 12 1/2 cent and 18 1/2 cent rates for letters traveling 81 to 150 miles and 151 to 400 miles, respectively. It gets even stranger in 1825, because the 18 1/2 cent rate was changed to 18 3/4 cents.

Two copies of the first U.S. adhesive postage stamp issued in 1847, featuring Benjamin Franklin. Among

was 18 3/4 cents (approximately $6.20 in 2024 dollars). That was the rate for this single sheet of paper weighing about a quarter ounce. The back of the folded letter shows that it was sealed with wax.

We don’t know when this letter arrived in Augusta, but it likely traveled by horse and/or coach and probably took a week or more to travel the 160-plus miles from Boston to Augusta. There were some railroads in New England at this time, but that mode of transportation was in its infancy in the mid-1830s, and the lines that existed covered very short distances.

That’s the postal history of this item. Now let’s delve into its social history based on what we know about the letter writer and recipient. This is where deduction and detective work come into play.

when you consider the cost of mailing a letter. Every now and again, however, you will come across a stampless letter with a very poignant, personal story.

The letter on the adjoining page was sent from Boston, Massachusetts to Augusta, Maine. The circular Boston postmark is clear, and from the date of the letter, we know it was postmarked on July 31, 1837. Because of the “PAID” handstamp just to the left of the red scribble, it is likely that the sender paid the postage, but it is also possible that handstamp was applied when the recipient paid for and collected this letter at the post office. That scribble is the amount of postage paid, which

We know from the front of the letter that it was sent to “Miss Susan Fisher” who lived in Augusta, Maine. Jumping to the end, we see that that the salutation is, “Yours, E F Carter.”

Carter starts the letter by profusely apologizing for taking so long to write given Miss Fisher’s “favors, kindnesses [and] civilities both to me and to my beloved departed companion. To Sarah who loved you kindly and tenderly and to the end.”

Carter continues:

A few hours before her pure spirit took its flight, she bore you on her prayers to the throne of grace, grateful to Him that ordereth all things for the many kindnesses she had received at your home and for the many joyous moments she had spent in your society.” He said Sarah told him to tell Miss Fisher and her other friends that “they have been and I trust are my best dearest friends that ever in the agonies of death. My prayers can testify of my affection [for] them. There were none on Earth save her own sister so dear to her as her friends in Augusta.

Carter then writes a bit about Sarah’s last moments. He says “her mind was remarkably clear. … All was clear – all was right and glorious beyond the grave. Unusually so. Said a clergyman one Sabbath addressing his congregation, ‘I never felt that I was so near Heaven as when I was at her bedside.’”

Carter then notes another participant. “A few days before her death Amelia was brought in to see her. She took her into her bed, kissed her, bid her goodbye forever and calmly said with a tearless eye and an unruffled brow, ‘She is an interesting little creature’.”

As the end neared, Carter says:

[Sarah’s] mind did not appear to be the least impaired. She did not suffer intensely from pain till about 48 hours before her death. She gradually wore out. … She had a desire to die alone. … I think she was gratified for at the time of her death I was at another part of the room. … I turned to her and she was sweetly breathing her life away. … She had not a struggle but an involuntary motion of one of her limbs. … She now rests at Mt. Auburn at least her body. Her soul I am confident rests in a far more glorious above.

In the rest of the letter, Carter talks of his financial struggles since Sarah’s passing. He went into debt to pay for her care, and he was unable to work for four months. He seems confident that he will be able to pay off his bills since he expects some teaching opportunities to come his way.

After reading the letter (and wiping the tears from my eyes), I set about trying to bring E.F. Carter, Sarah, Amelia, and Miss Fisher to life. Here’s what I knew and deduced from the letter:

z The writer was someone by the name of E.F. Carter who lived in Boston in 1837 and was a teacher.

z His late wife’s name was Sarah, and she was buried at Mt. Auburn Cemetery, which was dedicated in 1831 and is considered the first garden or rural cemetery in the U.S.

z The couple had a daughter named Amelia.

z There also was a connection to Maine given that the recipient, Miss Fisher, lived

in Augusta and that “Bridgton” is mentioned in the letter, which is a town in Maine.

I then went to my two go-to online resources: Ancestry.com and Newspapers.com. Both are subscription services but are worth the cost for anyone interested in social history. Another fine online resource is findagrave.com.

I started with a search on Ancestry.com for “Carter” in Boston with the first initial “E” but with no success. I then went to Newspapers. com and searched for any mention of Carter in Boston newspapers between 1836 and 1837. One lead came in the Boston Post of October 4, 1836, where an “Carter Emerson F” was listed as having unclaimed mail at the post office.

I then searched for “Emerson Carter” on Ancestry.com and came across a record for Emerson Faulkner Carter. As I perused his background, I quickly realized that I had identified the principals mentioned in the letter.

Emerson was born in Waterford, Maine in 1810. In 1832, in Bridgton, Maine, he married Sarah Tipley. The couple had one child: a daughter named Amelia born in Augusta in 1835. Sadly, Sarah, who was born in North Bridgton in 1810, died from “consumption” or tuberculosis at age 26 on December 2, 1836, in Boston and was buried in Mt. Auburn Cemetery. Her death occurred about eight months before Emerson

A folded letter sent from E.F. Carter of Boston, Massachusetts to Susan Fisher of Augusta, Maine.

Excerpt from the Boston Post of October 4, 1836, showing the “List of Letters” column in which Emerson Carter’s name was found. The list took up an entire page in the 4-page edition.

penned his letter to Miss Fisher, which explains his profuse apology for taking so long to write.

Emerson was indeed a teacher (that was his occupation listed in the U.S. Censuses of 1860 and 1870) and a prominent one at that. The well-documented genealogy History of the Hamlin Family with Genealogies of the Early Settlers of the Name in America 1639-1894 states that “Professor Emerson Faulkner Carter…was educated in the common school and Bridgton Academy; taught school, Boston, Mass.; Kinderhook Academy, N.Y.; Principal of Young Ladies Seminary, Albany, N.Y., 1845; Associate Principal Temple Grove Seminary, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; established Carter’s Commercial College, Pittsfield, Mass.”

The motto of Carter’s Commercial College was “Teach Boys and Men What They Will Need to Practice in Every Day Life.” It was a business school of sorts, instructing “men and boys” in bookkeeping, grammar, and penmanship. Emerson founded the school in 1864 and ran it until his death in 1879. It continued in operation under the leadership of one Benjamin Chickering until his death in 1889.

DEEP DIVE

Online newspaper archives are wonderful primary resources for postal and social history research. For national and international news – like the Graf Zeppelin’s 1930 Europe-Pan American flight celebrated on a set of three U.S. airmail stamps from that year – The New York Times' “TimesMachine” and The British Newspaper Archive are excellent.

Some local newspapers maintain their own online archive, but Newspapers.com and NewspaperArchive.com provide ready access to thousands of newspapers. Newspapers.com, for example, hosts nearly 1 billion newspaper pages from the United States and nine other countries. Using Newspapers.com is straightforward. You can browse papers by location or name, but it is simpler to use the search feature: enter a keyword, a date range, a location and hit search. You can sort the results by relevance or in ascending or descending date order until you find what you need. Depending on how much information you have to start, it’s best to begin with a wide search and then narrow your parameters as you gather more information.

You can then save the news clip or the entire page as an image or PDF, which will include the newspaper’s name and date of publication.

In April 1838, about 15 months after Sarah’s passing, Emerson married Paulina Kimball in Portland, Maine. They had two children: a son, Charles (1841-1864), and a daughter, Elizabeth (1856-1924). Charles fought in the Civil War and died at his father’s home in the summer of 1864 from wounds he incurred a few months earlier at a battle in Louisiana. Amelia, the daughter he had with Sarah, passed away at age 72 in 1907. She never married.

Upon his passing in September 1879, The Berkshire County Eagle published a lengthy obituary on Emerson:

Mr. Emerson F. Carter, the well-known principal of Carter’s Commercial College, died at his residence on East Housatonic Street, on Saturday afternoon, aged 69 [author’s note: he was actually 68] Mr. Carter was born at

Waterford, Maine, in 1810, and his early life was spent in that place. After teaching for several years in his native state he removed to Boston, where, for a time, he was a sub master in the Eliot grammar school. About 40 years ago he went to New York state and taught successfully in Albany and other cities and towns, and finally established a school for young ladies at Saratoga, which won a fine reputation and was prosperous. He remained there until 1863, when he sold his interest in the school and came to this town, establishing soon after his commercial college, at which institution a great many young men received practical instructions in book-keeping, penmanship and business methods generally. In these departments he was a very competent instructor and his school, for years, was largely attended. In connection with this enterprise he taught penmanship at Maplewood Institute, Miss Salisbury’s school and in the high and first grammar schools, and was also a teacher in the evening schools. It was in attempt ing to do so much that he broke his health, and though he gave up a number of these engagements it was then too late. He never recovered from the effects of his overdoing, though he has [sic] continued to receive a few pupils even so late as the present sum mer. Latterly his mind failed as his physical weakness increased and for some months he has been but a wreck of his former self. He was a member of the Baptist church, had been superintendent of the Sunday school, and by all who knew him he was greatly respected. Mr. Carter leaves a wife and two daughters. His son, Capt. Charles Carter, was wounded at New Orleans, and died in consequences his injuries immediately on arriving here.

What of the letter’s recipient and Sarah’s dear friend, Miss Susan Fisher? I found a likely candidate in the U.S. Census of 1870, which lists a Susan Fisher, milliner, who was born circa 1800. The Augusta city directories from that timeframe list a “Miss Susan Fisher” who was a worsted goods dealer. She ran occa sional ads in the local newspapers, including a “going out of business” sale in 1876. Her obituary in the March 5, 1879, nal reads:

Miss Susan Fisher, for many years well known by our people as a milliner and fancy goods dealer, died last Thursday night, at Litchfield, where she was visiting relatives

An ad for Carter’s Commercial College, The Pittsfield Sun, November 29, 1866.

Cemetery.

and friends. Her age was 82 years. She was a long a resident of Augusta, and a most respected lady.

I found nothing else online about Miss Susan Fisher. I might be able to learn more about her if I visited the local historical society in Augusta, but that is no guarantee. Although Ancestry.com and Newspapers.com are rich online resources and local historical societies can be immensely helpful, there are many people from the 19th and even 20th centuries for whom there is scant information available. That seems to be especially true for unmarried people who left no family to carry on their legacy.

Some stampless covers are incredibly expensive such as those with rare postmarks, unusually high postage rates for heavy letters, or covers with advertising. But many can be

OUR ADVICE

“Going

had for a few dollars. This letter, for example, was one of 60 covers that I purchased for around $200, which means I paid about $3.25 for this cover. Quite a bargain for the story it tells.

Regardless of whether you pay a few dollars or a king’s ransom for a stampless letter or cover, treat it with respect and care. Treat every cover that comes into your possession as part of our collective history as a nation, whether it was written by someone famous or a simple teacher lamenting the passing of his young wife. As collectors, we are curators of historical artifacts. It is incumbent upon us to not only celebrate what we have in our collections, but also to safeguard those items for future collectors and historians.

The National Postal Museum is a wonderful museum to visit in Washington, D.C. Its website –https://postalmuseum.si.edu/ – is also a great resource for collectors of all levels. This section of its website describes the various eras in U.S. postal history: https://postalmuseum.si.edu/ exhibition/about-us-stamps.

For more information on the stampless era, you can’t go wrong with the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, which you can find online at https://www.uspcs.org/

To find stampless covers, visit local stamp shows, look into auctions through a website like https://stampauctionnetwork.com, or shop online at https://www.hipstamp.com or https:// www.ebay.com/. Just remember, caveat emptor – buyer beware! – when shopping online.

Emerson Carter’s tombstone at the Pittsfield

Miss Susan Fisher’s

Out of Business” Ad, Kennebec Journal, April 7, 1876.

No Bad Questions

By Ken Martin

Do you have questions about stamp collecting but you’re afraid to ask, or don’t know who to ask? If you’re wondering it, someone else is too.

Consider ourselves your stamp collecting “Dear Abby,” who’ll answer your stamp collecting questions with a minimum of judgement (who are we kidding, “Abby” doesn’t pull her punches!). Just write in to us at StampEd@stamps.org, subject line “No Bad Questions.” We’ll publish your question anonymously and respond as best as we can!

Why are there so many stamps cut off envelopes?

To save space. A box of 500 business envelopes will be about a foot long, 10 inches wide and four inches deep. Depending how closely cut the stamps are and whether or not they are still on paper, that same box could easily hold several thousand stamps. Most albums designed for smaller sized (6 ¾ inches) covers would not hold more than 100 covers, while a similarly sized stamp album might have space for 10,000 stamps. Scott lists around three quarters of a million postage stamps issued since 1840. While today few collectors try to collect every stamp ever issued by all the countries of the world, the space required if all the stamps were still on full original envelopes would be far greater than most of us could accommodate. Yes, postal history has grown into a significant collecting interest, as many collectors are interested in the rates, routes, and markings on envelopes, or in investigating the sender or addressees, but space prevents most of us from keeping all our stamps on their original envelopes. Can I wash my stamps if they’re dirty?

Yes, but be cautious. If the stamp is unused, “washing” may affect the gum and thus reduce

the value. If the stamp has been canceled, washing may affect the cancellation. A few postage stamps printed with fugitive inks may be severely damaged by washing. The APS website includes many pages on the care and preservation of philatelic material at https:// classic.stamps.org/Preservation-and-Care. This page includes links to information on both dry and wet cleaning of philatelic material.

My stamp has a cancellation but it looks like full gum on the back. How is this possible?

There are a few possibilities. In some cases, it may be down to careful removal from the envelope. Sometimes, stamps can be popped or peeled off an envelope and still retain most or all of their original gum. (Some collectors suggest that putting your items in a freezer for a few hours will make this more likely!) Stamps with water-activated gum can be put in a high humidity environment to “sweat” them off the envelope. An eye dropper may be used to moisten the stamp and remove it while retaining most of the gum. Depending on the type of the gum, some chemicals allow removal of a stamp without removal of the gum. This even applies to self-adhesives, for which an “orange citrus” product sold at some home improvement stores is often used.

Additionally, postage can be canceled but never go through the mail. A number of countries sell canceled stamps with their full gum, sometimes even printing the cancellation on the stamps as part of the stamp production. These stamps are often called CTOs, for Canceled-to-Order. And most post offices are happy to cancel any unused stamps at a window without a requirement that they be attached to a letter or package.

Finally, it is possible that the stamp has been regummed after being removed from a cover. This is the least likely scenario, however.

By James Taylor

Tools of the Trade: Organizing Your Collection

Every stamp you collect deserves care and proper storage. All collectors today (and actually, all collectors who came before us) are merely custodians of material that collectors will also want to collect decades from now. So whether you’re maintaining a collection of early stamps (and covers, too) from the 19th century or purchasing some of the newest issues, the same careful consideration should be given to all of them.

Here are a few options for storing and organizing your collection. The major rule to follow is to only use containers, albums, and other storage items that have been made of chemically neutral (archival-quality) materials.

Many collectors prefer stock books to store their collections, because stamps can be arranged on their pages in nice, attractive rows and can be moved from place to place on the stock pages at the collector’s leisure. Stock books are generally 8 ½” X 11” in size (though some stock books made outside the United States are larger, and I’ve seen mini stockbooks) and come in either a bound or loose-leaf format. They range in price from around $15 up

Stock books are a great option for topical collectors or collectors who haven’t settled on one particular area to collect yet. There are no rules about organizing a stock book –follow your heart!

to over $100, depending on the style, size, and type of binding.

Similar to a stock book, stock cards generally are available in two sizes (small, 3" x 5" , and large, 5" x 7"). Stock cards have horizontal rows of slots into which stamps can be placed. The old types of stock cards (still sold and used) are made of manila card stock with pockets that are not transparent. The newer kind of stock card (and the one preferred by most collectors)

OUR ADVICE

One good thing to have on hand, no matter what you collect, are glassine envelopes. Glassines are a staple in the stamp collecting world, but can be very easily found online, from a stamp dealer, or even at a craft store, due to their usefulness for packaging and storing all kinds of small items. Glassines can be a great temporary measure for storing and organizing loose stamps in your collection, but aren’t recommended for covers or stamp sheets, since they are easily bent. Look for high-quality #30 semi-transparent acid-free glassine paper (a non-transparent kind is sold on Amazon).

is made of either black or white card stock, and the slots are made of clear plastic so that when the stamps are placed into them, the entire surface of all stamps can be easily viewed.

Printed albums offer an illustrated space for mounting stamps of virtually any country. Printed albums are most used by the beginning to medium-advanced collector. Some people feel constrained by albums, because they offer spaces for most of a country’s stamps but not all (for example, there aren’t spaces for varieties, or duplicate copies, or covers). When purchasing a printed album, we recommend buying the best quality. The paper stock used for the pages will be heavy and of higher quality. Acid-free paper is also recommended – most albums printed today will use acid-free paper, but if you buy an old album, you may not have that guarantee.

Advanced collectors, often finding themselves too confined by standard album pages, will generally mount stamps onto blank pages, available from most supply firms or your local office supply store. Always ask for acid-free paper. Blank pages allow you to make up any arrangement of stamps and covers, and put your write-ups and notes on the pages. Many collectors use their imaginations and a word or

OUR ADVICE

You might consider sliding album pages into a safe plastic covering (like a clear page protector), but be careful which you choose. Particularly, plastic transparent sheet protectors made of DuPont Mylar or Milinex are preferred instead of PVC (polyvinyl chloride plastic). Then, if you have duplicates or covers, you could slide those down the back of the page.

image processor to develop pleasing arrangements for their stamps and explanatory text on these blank pages. Blank pages are also preferred for writing up stamps and covers for exhibitions.

No matter what method you use to store stamps – whether in glassine envelopes or some album of stock book – always keep them in a dry, cool area (from 55 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit) entirely away from direct light, especially sunshine. It’s okay to work with and study your stamps under a good light, but be wary of long exposure. Light is one of the chief enemies of stamps and covers. Almost all philatelic material will fade over time if left exposed to any kind of light. Humidity can also play havoc with stamps and gum.

WSTAMP TREK

hen you decide to collect stamps, it is a real serious decision as to how to start and what to collect. There are so many different countries and thousands of issues that it is easy to get discouraged. It is normal to decide to collect the United States issues but if you want to move over a bit, it is quite easy to collect the United Nations.

While the United Nations (UN) is not a country, it is the only worldwide organization that is allowed to issue its own postage stamps that are recognized by the Universal Postal Union (UPU). The UPU regulates the handling of mail all over the world and makes sure that mail services are conducted in an organized manner.

Collect the United Nations

At the end of World War II, the Allies determined it was important to create a universal organization that would promote peace, address worldwide humanitarian needs, and coordinate certain international operational areas between its member countries. The concept of the UN was developed by President Franklin Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Premier Joseph Stalin. From April 25 through June 26, 1945, a conference was held in San Francisco, California that resulted in the signing of the Charter of the United Nations. There were 51 nations in attendance at the meeting.

In the following years, the fledgling UN decided to establish their headquarters in New York City. Member nations also determined that the UN should issue its own postage stamps so that it could convey to the world its purpose and activities. In order to accomplish this, the organization had to have an agreement with the U.S., which would allow the U.S. Post Office Department to handle UN mail domestically and internationally. On October 24, 1951, UN stamps were issued and the organization began mail service in New York City.

This is only a very brief accounting of the beginning of United Nations stamps, which have a rich and complex philatelic history.

When you start collecting most countries, the early issues are the most expensive. This is not the case here, a big plus for new UN collectors. The UN has issued stamps and postal stationery from 1951 to date, and most of the early stamp issues are very reasonable in cost to obtain

By Curtis Gidding

and readily available, so you can start building your collection at a very nominal cost. Of course, as the face value of the issues has increased over the years, so has the cost of obtaining them.

If you live in the U.S., collecting the latest UN stamps will be much easier than you might think, because new issues can be purchased from the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) in New York City. After opening its headquarters in New York, the UN opened offices in Geneva, Switzerland and Vienna, Austria, so the UNPA also issues stamps for use in those countries – it is the only postal authority allowed to issue postage stamps in three currencies. Stamp issues denominated for Switzerland or Austria can also be obtained from the NYC office.

UN stamp issues can also be collected by topic. Early topics include human rights, refugees, the Universal Postal Union, international telecommunications, and world health. UN secretaries, famous peacemakers, world sports, and endangered species are more recent topics found on UN stamps, and the UNPA has also produced a series of stamp issues featuring the flags of each member nation. All of these can become specialized collecting areas, whether you collect UN or by topic.

There are several producers of albums for the stamps of the United Nations and there are also printable albums available on the internet. A very nice free printable copy can be found on theStampWeb's "Free User-Contributed Stamp Albums" page.

As you consider an area to start your stamp collecting activities, you might find that the United Nations can be an interesting, fun, and cost-effective choice. Enjoy!

Plenty to See for Free

You don’t have to be a member of the American Philatelic Society to reap the benefits of our knowledge and resources (though it does help, and will often save you some money). Here are some cool things we’ve done over the years that you should check out!

American Philatelic Research Library and Digital Library

The APRL and Robert A. Mason Digital Library are only getting cooler (seriously!). For one thing, the APRL works pretty much just like your local library, with friendly librarians who can help you with research (both online and in-person), books and journals you can borrow and have mailed to you if you’re a U.S.-based APS member, and exhibits in the works on topics like airmail and presidential free franks. Plus, we always have used books for sale that you can add to your personal philatelic library.

details of all of the stamps and the opinions offered by APEX, going back decades.

The Digital Library is expanding by leaps and bounds thanks to our new digitization team. You can read back issues of dozens of journals, view award-winning exhibits, and see photographs of items from the APRL archives – all totally free to access, and with no log in required!

Certificate Archive

The APS expertizing service, APEX, unites philatelic experts to offer opinions on whether submitted stamps or covers are genuine or not (and note things like condition). The searchable online certificate archive includes images and

Who We Are

The American Philatelic Society is proud to publish StampEd, a magazine for the new generation of stamp collectors.

The American Philatelic Society is the largest nonprofit organization for stamp collectors in the world. Founded in 1886, the APS serves collectors, educators, postal historians, and the general public by providing a wide variety of programs and services.

If you want to look at genuine examples of stamps that are hard to find and/or commonly forged, the APEX certificate archive is a great resource. You can compare items in your own collection to the ones in the reference archives, learn more about how stamps are evaluated, and check if a stamp you’re thinking of purchasing has been expertized recently.

APS StampStore

You don’t have to be an APS member to shop for stamps and covers on the APS StampStore on HipStamp. We have hundreds of thousands of items available for sale, all from APS members. Whether you’re looking for a specific stamp or a general topic, StampStore is a good first place to check.

Free Stamps

We know you want ‘em, and we’ve got ‘em – so now we’re giving them away! When you sign up as a new APS member and let us know that StampEd sent you, we’ll send you a big packet of free stamps! Just mark down “StampEd” when prompted to share where you learned about the APS, and we’ll include the stamps (and some other nice things) with your welcome letter.

HENRY GITNER PHILATELISTS,

HENRY GITNER

Austria

Autographed US Plate

Belgium Imperfs & Proofs

Belgium Parcel Post

Farley Special Printings

FDC Artwork & Plates

France

French & Spanish Andorra

French Imperfs

French Antarctic

French Polynesia

Germany • German Specimen

Overprints

Guyana • Iceland • Ireland

Israel • Kosovo

Liechtenstein

Marshalls, Micronesia & Palau

Monaco

Newfoundland

Ryukyus

St. Pierre & Miquelon

Switzerland incl. Swiss Officials

U. S. Classics

Bank Notes & Bureaus

Cut Squares • Commemorative Postal cards

Ducks • Errors

Essays & Die Proofs

Graf Zeppelins • Modern Imperfs

Photo Essays • Possessions

Postal Counterfeits

Savings Stamps

Worldwide Artist Die Proofs

UN incl. Personalized Sheets

Vatican City

Zeppelins & Aerophilately

UNUSUAL MODERN FOREIGN ISSUES

Editor-in-Chief, Susanna Mills • Senior Editor, Jeff Stage Digital Editor, Nora Bryson • Graphic Communications Specialist, Chad Cowder Publisher, American Philatelic Society

A print advertisement for Hunt's Remedy, "the life saving medicine" (1883). "Death and Taxes," p. 45.