Bat’s Private Post issues Happy New Year souvenir sheet
I wrote last week about how Rocking Horse Farm Local Post and Purgatory Post had issued the last couple of new local post stamps in 2024, but it turns out I was wrong. While those two operations released some of the last local post stamps for the past calendar year, Beverly Hills-based Bat’s Private Post slipped in under the wire with a souvenir sheet released December 31. The theme was “Happy New Year.”
Bat’s Private Post Happy New Year souvenir sheet
The souvenir sheet contains six stamps ranging in value from 10¢ to $3. I suppose the fireworks stamp is “happy” (so long as you’re not a dog or a horse), but “happy new year” carries with it a darker undertone for the other stamps because there’s some truly horrible stuff going on in the world. And this souvenir sheet was issued before the New Orleans terror attack or the California wildfires!
At any rate, Bat’s probably wins the last local post stamp of 2024 award; there certainly can’t be any released any later than December 31!
Philosateleian Post sets record for second consecutive year
For the second consecutive year, Floresville-based Philosateleian Post in 2024 once again set new records for the total number of mailpieces processed.
In 2023, Philosateleian Post carried 525 pieces of outbound mail. Last year, the total was 575 pieces of outbound mail, an increase of nearly 10% over the previous year. Philosateleian Post also dealt with nearly 20 pieces of mail misdelivered by the United States Postal Service or addressed to unknown recipients.
The grand total included all-time single-year highs in the number of mailpieces processed in the letter, business mail, postcard, and international categories.
Rocking Horse Farm, Purgatory Post end 2024 with new stamps
My first post office box checking of 2025 brought with it the last couple of new local post stamps of 2024.
First is a Christmas stamp issued by Minnesota’s Rocking Horse Farm Local Post. The $1 stamp picturing a snow-covered Christmas tree was issued December 23.
Rocking Horse Farm Local Post Christmas 2024 stamp
I previously mentioned this local post in a January 2024 blog post, but I didn’t know much about it at the time; however, the local post’s operator included some additional information with his most recent stamp.
Rocking Horse Farm is a historic farmstead in Saint Cloud, Minnesota, and in addition to an 1850s log building hosts a music school and craft and sewing shops among other things. Rocking Horse Farm Local Post was established in 1999 and has released more than 130 different stamps since then, but over the past 15 years, the local post has issued only Christmas stamps.
The other local post stamp I received is from a more familiar issuer, New Hampshire’s Purgatory Post. The latest in Purgatory Post’s series of stamps commemorating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, this 6-sola stamp celebrates the semiquincentennial of the Yorktown Tea Party of 1774. Purgatory Post issued the stamp December 27.
Purgatory Post Yorktown Tea Party
While I, like many other kids in the United States, learned about the Boston Tea Party, the Yorktown Tea Party didn’t sound familiar. It turns out it was a very similar event that took place in Virginia in November 1774 when a group of patriots boarded the ship Virginia and dumped two half chests of tea into the York River. From this stamp, I learned something new!
With 2025 under way, it’s time to show off the first three business reply envelopes of note for the new year.
First is the latest offering from Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch. This envelope features three stamp-sized designs featuring artwork depicting various birds in snowy settings.
Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch business reply envelope with stamp-sized bird designs
Second, my family has already received a couple of copies of this BRE from Shriners Children’s Hospitals. The envelope has three preprinted stamp-sized designs featuring an illustration of a hand with a heart in its palm.
Shriners Children’s business reply envelope with stamp-sized hand and heart designs
Finally, here’s an example that arrived in the mail just today: an envelope distributed in a mailing frrom Operation Smile. This one has three images picturing hot air balloons in a variety of colors and was accompanied by a sheet of hot air balloon return address labels.
Operation Smile business reply envelope with stamp-sized hot air balloon designs
As you can see, it looks like 2025 could be a busy year for BREs, so stay tuned!
2024 annual supplement available for The Philosateleian
2025 is well under way now, and I’m happy to announce the the 2024 annual supplement for The Philosateleian U.S. Stamp Album is now available for you to download and print. This update includes spaces for all United States postage stamps issued last year.
This update is provided as an alternative to The Philosateleian’s recommended quarterly update track. If you’ve already taken advantage of the quarterly updates provided during 2024, you already have spaces for everything, and there’s no need to download and print the annual supplement.
Although I haven’t quite reached The Philosateleian’s 20th anniversary—that’s coming up next year—2025 does mark the 20th consecutive year I’ve offered downloadable U.S. stamp album pages for free. Whether you’ve been using my pages for a month or for nearly two decades, I thank you for your interest, and I thank all those who have supported my project.
