American flags appear on BREs distributed by The Fellowship
Only a couple of months after my most recent post about a business reply envelope enclosed in a mailing from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, I have another example to share from the same organization.
A mailing I received from The Fellowship last week contained three envelopes with four preprinted stamp-sized designs depicting American flags, one of which is illustrated here.
International Fellowship of Christians and Jews business reply envelope with preprinted stamp-sized designs
The other two envelopes were identical except for being labeled “June” and “July” instead of “May” and having different codes printed on the left side of their fronts.
While I’ve received other BREs in mailings from The Fellowship, the stamp-sized images on those have had imagery related to Israel or to the Jewish people. These are the first examples I’ve seen with purely American designs on them.
Minnesota’s Como Park Post is one of the latest local posts to issue a new stamp. The Saint Paul-based local post recently released a bicolored 3¢ stamp, and I received a copy on a cover postmarked April 22.
Como Park Post 3¢ stamp
The stamp has a woodcut design containing the letters “CCP” in the same color as the frame, while the value printed in the center of the stamp is a darker shade of blue.
As I’ve mentioned a number of times before, Como Park Post operator Tom B. carves the printing blocks for his stamps by hand. I can only imagine that is a time-consuming process, but you can’t argue with the results!
Project HOPE BRE bears five preprinted faux stamps
When I checked my post office box last week, it contained plenty of mail but not much of great interest. There were a couple of items worth mentioning, however, the first of which is pictured in this post.
This is a business reply envelope distributed in a fundraising mailing from the nonprofit Project HOPE. The front of the envelope features five preprinted simulated stamp designs picturing some of the organization’s volunteers and aid recipients.
Project HOPE business reply envelope with preprinted stamp-sized designs
The designs have fuzzy edges intended to roughly simulate stamp perforations, but the designs themselves are a bit smaller than what you would expect out of genuine stamps.
There was one other interesting piece of mail that arrived last week, and I plan to write about it next time.
I’ve been a bit slow about mentioning this, but the American Philatelic Society earlier this year released the first issue of its newest publication, StampEd.
StampEd is a quarterly publication the APS says is aimed largely at younger stamp collectors, and as such it’s available only online. I browsed the first issue a few weeks ago, and I must say I’m favorably impressed. There were articles about younger collectors and their interests, sure, but there was also a lengthy write-up about modern United States postal counterfeits.
Although I’ve been collecting stamps for roughly 30 years, and consider myself very much in the “middle-aged” category, I still found the publication interesting and informative and worth browsing.
The best part of all is that unlike the American Philatelist, the APS’s monthly journal that’s a benefit of membership, StampEd is free, and you don’t even have to sign up for anything to view the magazine.
What do you think of this new publication? I hope you enjoy it as I did, and I look forward to seeing what the APS’s editorial staff has planned for future issues.
Purgatory Post marks 250th anniversary of Boston Port Act
New Hampshire-based Purgatory Post recently commemorated the 250th anniversary of the Boston Port Act, also known as the Trade Act of 1774, with the issuance of a 2-sola local post stamp. The stamp was released April 1.
The stamp, which has a blue frame reminiscent of the 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposition commemorative issued by the United States, includes an illustration of British warships in Boston Harbor as its vignette.
Purgatory Post 2-sola Boston Port Act stamp
The British Parliament passed the Boston Port Act on March 31, 1774. The law, which went into effect June 1 of that year, enacted a blockade closing Boston Harbor to trade.
While the measure was intended to punish the people of Boston for the actions of the individuals who participated in the Boston Tea Party, it, along with the other four so-called Intolerable Acts, was one factor that helped unify the American colonies.
