Philosateleian Post accordion stamp on first day cover
I began using Philosateleian Post’s new accordion stamp on May 30, and to mark its release, I prepared a first day cover bearing the stamp that I mailed to myself. That arrived in my post office box the next week.
Philosateleian Post Accordion stamp first day cover
To pay United States postage, I used one of the Ansel Adams stamps issued in May, the one picturing Monument Valley in Arizona. It’s tied to cover by my mailer’s postmark for Floresville, Texas.
Overall, the cover survived its journey just fine except for one thing: most of the lower quarter of my Philosateleian stamp was scraped and curled up by mail processing equipment! I was able to uncurl the scraped portion of the stamp and used some glue to affix that strip back to the envelope so that it doesn’t look so bad at first glance, but it’s too bad it didn’t make it through unscathed.
Fourth example of registered 14¢ solo use added to collection
A few months had passed since I added anything to my 14¢ American Indian collection, but I recently had the opportunity to pick up another cover that fits right in. This envelope, which was mailed from Los Angeles to San Diego in October 1924, bears a single copy of the 14¢ stamp.
14¢ American Indian cover mailed to the Union Trust Company of San Diego, California
This is a fine example of the 14¢ stamp paying postage on a registered two-ounce piece of mail. I’ve long suspected that rate, which was in effect from the stamp’s release in May 1923 until the middle of April 1925, should be the “easiest” solo use of the American Indian stamp, and my collection is finally beginning to show that. This is my fourth such usage!
I continue to look for other solo uses of this stamp. If you have anything you think might be of interest, please send me a note.
San Diego, Angeles City Local Posts release joint issue
San Diego Local Post and Angeles City Local Post recently released a very unusual joint issue: setenant 15p local post stamps issued April 26.
The San Diego Local Post stamp pictures the famous “Inverted Jenny,” while the Angeles City Local Post stamp pictures a stamp produced by the Philippine Revolutionary Government. I recently received a postcard bearing copies of the stamps.
San Diego Local Post & Angeles City Local Post 15p Stamp stamps on postcard
The stamps are imperforate but are separated by a column of simulated printed perforations.
I don’t even begin to claim to know all there is to know about what local post stamps have been issued over the years, but this is the first time I can recall seeing setenant stamps from local posts on completely different continents! Quite an interesting production, and one worth looking for on your incoming mail.
American Kidney Fund inserts bear faux stamp designs
I’ve written many times over the past few years about receiving fundraising mailings containing business reply envelopes bearing preprinted stamp-sized designs. That’s a little touch a lot of nonprofits appear to have adopted in an effort to improve response rates.
A May mailing from the American Kidney Fund contained something similar but ultimately different: two printed inserts designed to look like airmail envelopes, each with a preprinted stamp design.
American Kidney Fund insert with preprinted stamp-sized lantern designAmerican Kidney Fund insert with preprinted stamp-sized lantern design (reverse)American Kidney Fund insert with preprinted stamp-sized backpack designAmerican Kidney Fund insert with preprinted stamp-sized backpack design (reverse)
Unlike the BREs, these inserts were obviously never intended to be mailed, but the graphic designer responsible for creating them still have them a philatelic flair.
This sort of material obviously falls well outside a normal stamp collection’s boundaries, but one of the great things about our hobby is that we can collect whatever we like. At any rate, these are certainly among the more inventive fundraising mailing contents I’ve personally received.
We’re less than three weeks away from the official start of summer, and we’re feeling it here in South Texas. We’ve already had some high temperatures in the triple digits with “feels-like” temperatures 10 to 15 degrees hotter than that! Not exactly the sort of weather that encourages spending a lot of time outside during the middle of the afternoon.
Whether you’re also experiencing hot weather, or perhaps preparing for the winter months if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, the Summer 2024 Supplement (96.1 KB, 2 files, 7 pages) for The Philosateleian U.S. Stamp Album is now available for download. This update includes spaces for all United States postage stamps issued from early March through May, and you can print it at your convenience.
Please let me know if you have any comments or questions about this update, and thank you for your continued support!
