It’s not often that I can stump Google, but as of this writing, the search engine has nothing to offer concerning a first day cover that I received late last month. The envelope postmarked in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on January 22 bears a copy of a $1 Oklahoma Bicycle Local Post stamp featuring a star with the number 46 inside—an obvious reference to Oklahoma’s status as the 46th state to join the Union.
Oklahoma Bicycle Local Post first day coverOklahoma Bicycle Local Post star stamp
The sender, whose return address I’ve obscured for privacy purposes, included a small sampling of stamps but no note or other information. Although it seems obvious that Oklahoma Bicycle Local Post is a private local post, I have not found any references to it online, so that’s about all I know at this point. I’ve written a reply to the sender, and if I receive a response, I’ll share further details here.
Philosateleian Post FDC bears copy of World War II stamp
I feel like I’ve been running wide open with little to no time for blogging, but I didn’t want to get too far down the road without sharing an image of a first day cover bearing Philosateleian Post’s World War II stamp issued on January 27.
Philosateleian Post World War II first day cover
The cover has a surprisingly legible San Antonio cancellation, and both the United States stamp and my Philosateleian stamp made it through relatively unscathed. As you can see, the Philosateleian stamp did suffer a surface scrape near the top right corner during processing, but I’ve seen much worse. It’s not unusual for lick-and-stick stamps to show up in my mailbox with a long strip coiled up into a little scroll, so I’ll call this one a win.
14¢ American Indian cracked plate variety discovered
It has been a while since I last added a 14¢ American Indian plate flaw to my collection, so I’m very excited about my latest acquisition: a mint single of Scott 565 with what appears to be a plate crack running from the top of the latter “S” in “STATES” across the foot of the “P” in “POSTAGE,” and then down from there to touch Hollow Horn Bear’s headdress in the stamp’s vignette.
14¢ American Indian stamp with plate crack14¢ American Indian stamp with plate crack (close-up)
The presence of the selvage along the bottom edge of the stamp leads me to believe this stamp is from the bottom row of one of the bottom two panes of 100 from a sheet of 400 stamps; however, I have no idea what plate number was used to print this variety.
Plate scratches comprise the majority of the other American Indian plate flaws that I’ve found, so finding an example of a cracked plate—a variety not listed in Loran French’s Encyclopedia of Plate Varieties on U.S. Bureau-Printed Postage Stamps—is a real treat.
Update (2020-02-09)
I previously identified this stamp as coming from the bottom row of one of the top two panes of 100 from a sheet of 400 stamps; however, as Scott A. pointed out in an email, the stamp in that case would have a straight edge at bottom due to how the sheets of 400 were cut apart. He’s absolutely correct, and I’ve updated this post accordingly.
Boys Town starts 2020 with preprinted faux stamp images
The first Boys Town mailing of 2020 that I’ve received continues the Nebraska-based non-profit’s trend of including business reply envelopes bearing stamp-sized images. In this case, the designs are not on distinct labels, but are instead once again pre-printed on the envelope. Each of the designs pictures a flower.
Boys Town business reply envelope with faux flower stamp designs
As I think I’ve mentioned previously, BREs with preprinted designs like this don’t stand out to me quite as much as stamps with labels affixed; they just don’t feel quite as close to cinderella territory as the labels do. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting marketing approach, and I hope to see more of these in my post office box soon.
Update (2020-01-26)
A spare copy of this envelope is now listed on my online shop if it looks like something you would like to add to your own collection.
Local post stamps feature reindeer, military service medal
I’ve received a couple of local post stamps for my collection over the past few weeks.
Alan B. of Adanaland fame recently shared an interesting 12p Salisbury & South Wiltshire Scouts local post stamp picturing a reindeer. As does the USPS in the United States, Royal Mail essentially has a monopoly on mail delivery in the United Kingdom, “but the rules are relaxed at Christmas for charity services run locally by groups like the Scouts,” writes Alan. Such groups deliver Christmas cards locally, and “some of them issue adhesive stamps and make a bit of extra revenue from collectors.“
Salisbury & South Wiltshire Scouts reindeer stamp
I have to admit never having run across any of these, or even knowing of their existence prior to receiving Alan’s note, but this sort of operation sounds like a genuine local post service to me, and arguably with more reason for existence than my very own Philosateleian Post!
The other local post stamp I’ve received is Purgatory Post’s World Local Post Day issue, a 2-sola stamp picturing the World War II Victory Medal and bearing the caption “Remembering Our World War II Veterans.” The stamp is printed on a gold-colored paper.
Purgatory Post World War II Victory Medal stamp
The World War II Victory Medal was awarded to individuals who served in the armed forces of the United States between December 7, 1941—the date of the attack on Pearl Harbor—and the end of 1946, when President Harry Truman officially declared an end to the hostilities.
Purgatory Post issued this stamp on January 6, a few weeks ahead of World Local Post Day (which takes place on January 27 this year) but in time to go on operator Scott Abbot’s local stamp club’s January newsletter. Interesting stuff all the way around!
