Stamps on Paper Towels

A "tip of the tongs" to Ellen Peachey who reports via Facebook that ‎Brawny® paper towels has a postage stamp design in its 6 big roll package. Ellen points out, however, "Not all the rolls in the package have the stamp design." To see the other designs and to find a store near you that has them, click here.

Happy Labor Day!

Shown here is the best cachet for the year 1934 as voted on by the readers of Stamps.

In an article that appears on the Philatelic Database website, John J. Haag, P.J.A., Cachet Editor of that publication pens, "Each Labor Day sees many cachets issued. However, this year collectors selected the cachet sponsored by Russell R. Sheets, U.S.C.S. member 456, as the best cachet for the year 1934. The cachet was applied to 550 covers in red, green and blue."

To read the entire article, click here.

Pay Your Price for Your Stamps, Not the Dealer's

John Finch, About.com Stamp Collecting Guide, asks,"What's the difference between dealers and collectors?


Give up?

"A 200 percent markup."

John also offers some other insights for collectors who are trying to get the stamps they want, at a price they can afford.

These are....

- Haggle
- Buy More Stamps
- Get Personal
- Trade Your Stamps
- Go Late To a Stamp Show
- Buy on The Internet
- Consolidate Your Search
- Be Nice

To read the entire article, click here.

World's First 'Intelligent' Stamp Goes on Sale

BBC News reports the Royal Mail has launched what it claims is the world's first "intelligent" stamp.

According to the piece, "Those viewing the stamp part of the Royal Mail's latest Great British Railways edition, [on a smartphone] via the Junaio app will be directed to a short film showing Bernard Cribbins reading Auden's famous poem The Night Mail.

Cribbins points out, "WH Auden wrote the Night Mail poem in 1936 for the Post Office's own blockbuster film of the same name, which has for years remained in the hearts and minds of many."

The Royal Mail's Philip Parker is also quoted as saying,  "This is the first time a national postal service has used this kind of technology on their stamps and we're very excited to be bringing intelligent stamps to the nation's post.

"Through intelligent stamp technology, our stamps will open up to a whole new world of information, interest and fun to collectors and the millions of people who will receive them on letters in the coming months alike."

To read the entire article, click here.

'Horse and Dragons' Set Chinese Stamp Record

The Wall Street Journal reports, "A sheet of 25 green horse-and-dragon stamps, along with a sheet of a similar design but in red, sold for $1.3 million at auction Saturday in Hong Kong, setting a new record for a set of Chinese stamps."

According to reporter Jason Chow, "The horse-and-dragon stamps were originally commissioned by the Chinese Empress Dowager in 1886 for Taiwan when the island first established its postal service. But the stamps were never put to use in the mail because the island was sparsely populated at the time and the postal service had so little business. Instead, they were used as railway tickets (the railway company would stamp their own logo and information on the stamp). Many of the stamps used as tickets are considered collectibles today."

He goes on to pen, "What made the green set so interesting to collectors is that they're a full, unmarked sheet in mint condition—the only one known to exist. The red set, also rare, is one of only two known to collectors. The last time the green stamps came to light was in the early 1980s, when a Taiwanese collector bought them at an auction."

Shown here, "Horse-and-Dragon" stamps.

To read the entire article, click here.

Simon Wiesenthal Exhibit Online

According to an entry on its blog, the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum has launched a new online exhibit, “Hunting for Wiesenthals: Postmarks from the Simon Wiesenthal Collection.”

It goes on to say, "This unique online exhibit explores postmarks from towns in Austria-Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Germany. The postmarks are a part of Wiesenthal’s larger stamp collection, which he started in the late 1940s to occupy himself at night when he couldn’t sleep. The exhibit also features Wiesenthal’s own collecting tools, which were donated to the Postal Museum by his family.

"The memory of Wiesenthal’s lasting enthusiasm for stamp collecting is also a legacy for philatelists, as his interest in stamp collecting was well known during his lifetime and was a peaceful pursuit to contrast the violence he documented during the day."

On June 14, 2010, Isreal and Austria jointly issued a stamp issue honoring Simon Wiesenthal (shown above). Wiesenthal is portrayed in a frame in the form of the Star of David with text in both German and Hebrew.

Click here to view the exhibit.

SESCAL One Month Away

The Federated Philatelic Clubs of Southern California (FPCSC), a consortium of 27 clubs, societies and chapters from throughout the southern California region, a 51-year member of the American Philatelic Society, will present the SESCAL 2010 (Stamp Exhibition of Southern California) stamp show October 1-3 at the Hilton Los Angeles Airport Hotel.

An APS class on the “Philatelic Marketplace” will be presented September 29-30, 2010 (Wednesday and Thursday prior to SESCAL) by Clark Frazier.

An online registration form is available at http://stamps.org/education/edu_Courses.htm

Thanks to the sponsorship of the course by the Philatelic Society of Los Angeles, the fee for the 2-day course has been substantially reduced and is just $20 for APS members and $35 for non-members.

The bourse (sales area) will include 40 dealers from across the United States with a wide variety of philatelic material for sale. The United States Postal Service and the United Nations Postal Administration will have booths at the show. The SESCAL exhibition will also include more than 150 frames of philatelic material.

Show hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is free and reduced $7.00 self-parking is available with validation.

To learn more, click here.

25,000 Kilos of Postal Covers Up for Bid in Finland

Yosemite Postmaster Moonlights as a Pianist

The postmaster of Yosemite Post Office is also an accomplished pianist who has entertained tourists, celebrities, royalty and others  in the dining room of Yosemite's Ahwahnee Hotel.

Carroll landed the year-round gig playing several nights a week in the prestigious hotel's dining room in 1997.

Since then he has entertained United States Postmaster General Pat Donahoe and has accompanied folk singer Joan Baez during her mother's 85th birthday celebration according to an article that appears on the Sierra Star website.

Carroll is quoted in the piece by guest columnist Laura Dvorak as saying"One of my best memories was sitting in the Ahwahnee's great lounge with CIA Director Leon Panetta, listening to a Christmas concert."

Carroll went on to say, "Sometimes waiters mention my other job to guests. Then they visit the Post Office and appear surprised that I really am the postmaster."

To read the entire article, click here.

Stamp Illustrator Departs from African-American Themes To Create Mother Teresa Stamp

The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune reports Colorado Springs artist Thomas Blackshear, who typically specializes in African-American themed art, illustrated the Mother Teresa stamp scheduled for release Sept. 5.

Blackshear has illustrated nearly two dozen stamps. Among them are stamps honoring Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable, Patricia Roberts Harris, Ida B. Wells and others for the Black Heritage series.

Other stamps with Blackshear illustrations include portraits of Joe Louis, Jelly Roll Morton and Thelonious Monk for the Jazz Series, and illustrations for stamps commemorating James Cagney, The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Beau Geste and Stagecoach for the Classic Hollywood Movies series, as well as several stamps for Classic Movie Monsters.

Reporter Steve Rabey of the Religious News Service writes, "The stamp, like Mother Teresa, hasn't been without controversy. Atheist groups, including the Freedom From Religion Foundation, complained about a religious figure being featured on a stamp. Postal officials said she was chosen for her humanitarian work, not her religious affiliation."

Rabey interviewed Blackshear and asked him, "How was the image chosen and created?"

Blackshear responded, "The Postal Service sent me a number of photos, and I created pencil drawings based on three of these photos. One drawing showed her as somewhat somber. Another one was more pensive. After the smiling image was chosen, I created the final 5- by-7[-inch] image by using water colors. I kept building up the layers over three or four days until I got the look I wanted."

Click here to read the entire article.

The "Phonopostal"

Reporter Paul Nolan writes on the Radio France Internationale (RFI) website, "France’s post office is often held up to illustrate what’s best and worst about state ownership. But La Poste is about much more than banking and delivering letters. It is also an important patron of the arts."

According to Paul, "The postal museum in Paris's Montparnasse district was inaugurated shortly after World War II. It has become not only a museum of the history of the county’s postal services but also a major cultural institution offering world-class exhibitions."

The museum has also been at the forefront of new technologies. It uses social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare to raise its profile and publicize its collections.

One of the more unusual items to be found at the museum is the “phonopostal” (shown above).

"The strange hand-held gramophone enabled people to record sound by an engraving process onto small cards that could be sent in the post. Even though the experimental device did not take off, it was testament to the French creative and innovative spirit," according to the write-up.

To read the entire article, click here.

[Editor's Note - While you're there, check out the radio feed. Great world music to collect stamps by!]

Retired Mountie Solves Canadian Postal Mystery

Reporter Katie Bartel of British Columbia's Chilliwack Progress pens, "Cecil Coutts has finally achieved some closure on a 111-year-old mystery that had dogged the retired police officer for 17 years.

"But it's not the kind of case you would think would capture a cop's attention — no missing person or murder or theft.

"Rather, the mystery involved postage stamps and postal history, a hobby in which the 78-year-old Coutts has been heavily involved for more than 55 years."

Coutts got stuck on stamp collecting when he was a 22-year-old rookie cop at Royal Canadian Mounted Police headquarters in Saskatchewan.
According to the write-up, "While attending an international conference of stamp collectors in Portland, Ore., Coutts happened to pick up a free copy of La Posta: A Journal of American Postal History. Days after he returned home, he cracked open the magazine, and six pages in, his police instincts started vibrating.

"A headline, 'Mystery Cover,' with a photo of an envelope dated 1899 caught his eyes.

"The envelope, which was addressed to a "Miss Lobdell" in Connecticut, had no postage stamp or postmark of origin but it did have a forwarding stamp from Vancouver and a notation that read, "Lost In Fraser River... 1 July Recov'd 22 J'y."

"The owner of the envelope, a Seattle resident, posed the question to La Posta readers: How did this cover get into the Fraser River?"

To find out, click here.

Shown above, Cecil Coutts and the mystery envelope.

Stamp "Inspires" New Zealand Wine Label

New Zealand's Marlborough Express reports, "The first independent New Zealand postal stamp from 1898 was the inspiration for boutique Marlborough winery Walnut Block Wines' award-winning label. The stamp is about as old as the Wairau Valley wine company's namesake walnut tree that stands at the heart of the vineyard."

Acdcording to the article by Michael Berry, "Director Clyde Sowman said he was no stamp collector, but had seen the stamp before and had always loved the design. Mr Sowman took the concept to Blenheim graphic designer Alex Lloyd, who designed the label."

"I thought it was very New Zealand and we were looking for a stamp that represented some New Zealand history and also tied in with the age of the [walnut] tree," Sowman is quoted as saying.

Shown above, wine label and the stamp that "inspired" it.

To read the entire article, click here.

APS StampShow 2010 Winners

Richard C. Malmgren’s exhibit on Hawaiian Postage Stamps won the World Series of Philately Champion of Champions at APS StampShow 2010 held August 12–15 in Richmond , Virginia . The exhibit, focuses on the purpose, design, production and usage of postage stamps issued by three successive Hawaiian governments — the Kingdom of Hawaii , the Provisional Government, and the Republic of Hawaii .

Since 1968, the World Series of Philately (WSP) competition has consisted of Grand award winners from national stamp shows held in the United States from July to June the previous year. This year’s competition welcomed the inclusion of two Grand award winners from Canadian National shows as well.
The StampShow 2010 Grand award winner — Carrier Service in the Major U.S. Cities 1842–1863, by Larry Lyons — is eligible to compete for the WSP Champion of Champions at StampShow 2011, to be held in Columbus, Ohio. Vince King’s exhibit, Texas During the Confederate Period, How Mail Was Handled 1861–1865, won the Reserve Grand award.

The most popular exhibit, taken by a vote of show attendees, was won by Brian, Maria & Alexander Green for their family exhibit Confederate Postal History, CSA Generals’ Mail 1861–65. This award is sponsored by the National Stamp Dealers Association.

Shown above, Richard C. Malmgren (right) receives his award from Wade Saadi, APS President.

To view a complete list of winners, click here.

Dirty Laundry and the Post Office

"Back to school supplies included laundry mailing boxes for many college-bound students in the early twentieth century," according to a write-up on the National Postal Museum's website.

It goes on to say, "From the 1910s into the 1960s, mailing laundry was an attractive option for anyone without the time, means, or resources to do the chore themselves. It suited undergraduates, summer campers, military personnel, and others."

Thanks to the introduction of Parcel Post Service in 1913 rates that were affordable and the allowable mailing weight for packages was increased.

Types of containers varied, but they all needed to be made of durable materials; able to withstand repeated opening, closing, and sealing; and be of a manageable size according to the article.

According to the article, "The labor transformation led some students to take care of themselves and travelers found the new laundromats introduced in the 1930s came in handy. More people could fit laundry chores into their lives. At the same time, fewer people could fit much of their wardrobe into a mailing container. With more clothes in the closet and better washing equipment at hand, exchanging laundry by the post had all but vanished by the 1970s."

Shown above, postman with laundry cases.



To read the entire article, click here.