Philosateleian Post celebrates opening of new post office
In early May, Philosateleian Post relocated its base of operations from San Antonio, Texas, to a newly-built facility in Floresville, Texas. On Monday, July 18, the Texas-based private local post is scheduled to issue a new stamp picturing and commemorating the opening of its new post office.
Philosateleian Post New Post Office stamp
The 1-stamp stamp’s vignette features a view of the front of the stucture in green, while the stamp’s frame is being printed in a dark gray.
“We are very excited to have moved into our new home,” says Philosateleian Post’s proprietor, Kevin Blackston. “Our new office features a larger surface area for mail processing than our previous facility did, and I’m pleased to be continuing Philosateleian Post’s operations here in the Floresville area.”
The new post office, which measures just over 1,100 square feet in size, boasts a metal roof. In addition to housing Philosateleian Post’s mail operations, the building features a full kitchen, restroom facilities, and sleeping quarters for staff. It is affectionately known to its occupants as The Green House and La Casa Verde.
In addition to Floresville and San Antonio, Texas, Philosateleian Post previously operated in Jacksonville, Florida, and Valdosta, Georgia.
Technical Specifications
Format: sheets of 55. Design size: 36×21 mm. Separation method: perforated 12. Adhesive: water-activated dry gum. Printing method: inkjet.
Philatelic Services
To receive a mint single of Philosateleian Post’s New Post Office stamp, or for first day cover service, send either $2 or a self-addressed stamped envelope and your request to:
Kevin Blackston
Philosateleian Post
PO Box 217
Floresville TX 78114-0217
United States of America
If you collect postal history, there’s no question that standard covers with their various markings can tell quite a story, weaving together geography and history and culture in a tidy little package. But it isn’t just letters that get sent through the mail; sometimes packages do, too.
Most people don’t hang on to pieces of material used to package a gift or purchase, but we can be grateful that someone saved this parcel label used to mail a “souvenir cocoanut” from Miami, Florida, to Oley, Pennsylvania, in the 1920s.
14¢ American Indian parcel label mailed from Miami, Florida
Naturally, my particular interest in this piece was due to the solo use of the 14¢ American Indian stamp that paid postage. If you’re interested, I’ve written up a short piece explaining the likely postage rate paid.
In recent years, I’ve added nothing to my 14¢ American Indian collection other than on-cover or on-piece solo uses of the stamp. This one turned up in an auction listing earlier this year, and I was happy to snag it.
As I mentioned in the May issue of the Philosateleian Post Horn, my family and I recently moved from the house we had been renting for the past few years to our very own home. It’s something we would not have been able to do without our family’s generosity, but here we are.
The past few months have been an absolute whirlwind of activity, and it has only been within the couple of weeks that life has slowed down enough for me to begin catching up on correspondence and blog posts, which is why you may have noticed I went quiet for a while. It’s not that I didn’t want to do those things; there were simply too many other tasks of greater priority on my to-do list.
The torrential flow of activities that goes along with a move seems to be slowing a bit now, though, and I’ve been working my way through responding to letters and emails. If you’ve sent me a note within the past three months and not yet gotten a response, you should receive one soon. My new address, should you need to send a note via the mail, is:
Kevin Blackston
PO Box 217
Floresville TX 78114-0217
United States of America
Likewise, I’m nearing the point of having shared with you all the local post stamps and other material that had piled up in the weeks leading up to and immediately following our move. I do still have a rather interesting parcel post piece from the 1920s to write up, but I need to do a little bit of research on it first to make sure I have my facts straight. All in good time.
I appreciate your patience while I was “out of pocket,” and hope to get back to a more normal schedule as we finish up the last of the big-ticket items that need addressing. Happy collecting!
Bat’s Private Post issues seals, postal tax stamps
Bat’s Private Post, a local post based in Beverly Hills, California, this spring released two large sets of stamps that I have not previously mentioned here.
The first is a set of non-denominated official stamps or seals that will be used to seal packets of letters being transported between different Bat’s Private Post facilities. Each of the eight seals issued on March 27 is die-cut with scalloped corners, with the following subjects on the seal for each location:
San Diego: San Diego Mission Palm (illustration from vintage postcard)
Bat’s Private Post Inter-office Post stamps
On April 11, Bat’s Private Post issued a set of six postal tax stamps intended to raise funds for relief efforts related to the Yemeni Civil War, which began in 2014, as well as two postal tax due stamps. Between April 15 and July 4, and again from September 15 to December 31, all mail carried by Bat’s Private Post is being taxed according to the following structure:
Letters and large envelopes: 10¢
Parcles: 20¢
Freightsheets: $1
The set includes these stamps:
10¢: Mother and child
20¢: Dar al-Jahar (museum)
50¢: Early Yemeni stamp
$1: Yemenis searching through rubble
$2: Military aircraft dropping bomb
63¢ + $1: Yemeni Arabian Nights stamp (semipostal with postal tax included in price)
10¢ & 20¢: postal tax due
Bat’s Private Post Yemen Relief stamps
Official seals and postal tax stamps are, in my experience, uncommon in the local post world, so kudos to Bat’s Private Post operator Scott Z. for his creativity.
For more information about any of these stamps, you can write to:
Bat’s Private Post
PO Box 11175
Beverly Hills CA 90213-4175
United States of America
Pink rose used on Boys Town business reply envelopes
Sometime in late April or early May, I received a fundraising mailing from Boys Town containing another in their ongoing run of business reply envelopes bearing stamp-sized images. In this case, there are five examples of a design featuring a pink rose that are arranged along the top edge of the envelope to the left of the “No postage necessary if mailed in the United States” message.
Boys Town business reply envelope bearing stamp-sized designs picturing a pink rose
As with most of the Boys Town BREs I’ve received, the images in question are printed directly on the envelope rather than being stickers or labels applied to it. They would seem far more like cinderella stamps if they were individual labels like some of the earlier envelopes of this type that I saw had on them. Nevertheless, it’s a colorful design that might appeal to you if you like flowers.
