[press release]
CHICAGOPEX 2018 Features Two Convening Societies, NPM Chief Curator of Philately Dan Piazza

CHICAGO, Sept. 23, 2018 – CHICAGOPEX 2018 will feature two convening societies and a speaker from the Smithsonian National Postal Museum at the show, which takes place Nov. 16-18 at the Westin Chicago Northwest, 400 Park Blvd., Itasca, Ill.

The annual philatelic exhibition and stamp show, celebrating 132 years of the Chicago Philatelic Society, features two convening societies: the France and Colonies Philatelic Society and the Society for Czechoslovak Philately. These groups will present special exhibits of stamps and postal history as well as hold meetings open to the public.

On Saturday afternoon, Dan Piazza, chief curator of philately at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in Washington, will be giving a talk entitled “25 Years of Stamps and Stories: The National Postal Museum’s Silver Anniversary.” Attendees will have a chance to receive an autographed NPM cover, a set of postcards and a catalog from a past NPM exhibit.

On Friday afternoon, the Executive Director of the American Philatelic Society, Scott English, will hold a town hall event where he will take questions from the attendees. The Library Director of the American Philatelic Research Library, Scott Tiffney, will also be attending the show.

On Friday and Saturday of the show, at 12:30 p.m., Rodney Juell, one of the authors of the Encyclopedia of United States Stamps and Stamp Collecting, will be signing copies of the book in the Atrium. Copies of the book will also be available for sale.

The following groups are also meeting at the show (all free and open to the public):

• Chicago Philatelic Society (Saturday)
• Germany Philatelic Society Chapter #5 (Saturday)
• American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors – Open Forum on Exhibiting (Saturday)
• Illinois Postal History Society (Sunday)
• North Shore Philatelic Society (Sunday)

Many of these groups feature expert guest speakers giving talks open to the public. The full schedule will appear in the show program, which will be available at the hospitality desk in the hotel’s atrium.

On Saturday and Sunday mornings, the APS Committee for National Exhibits and Judging (CANEJ) will be presenting sessions on the title page and synopsis, and exhibit treatment, respectively.

This year’s show theme is “Honoring the 200th Anniversary of Illinois Statehood and the 100th Anniversary of the End of World War I.” The theme is featured on the show postcard and the cover of the show program. The U.S. Postal Service will likely have the stamp for Illinois’ 200th anniversary available for sale at the show.

There will be nearly 300 frames of philatelic material on display with something of interest for all attendees. On Saturday, the 2018 also marks the 52nd anniversary of the philatelic literature competition with the books and other materials on display. CHICAGOPEX judges also evaluate electronic literature such as websites, blogs and online articles.

The show bourse will feature at least 75 dealers from the United States and Europe. They will offer a vast array of material to interest everyone: from the beginning collector to the advanced collector and exhibitor. The U.S. Postal Service and the U.N. Postal Administration will also attend.

The show includes a youth booth with free stamps and supplies, including a giveaway from Mystic Stamp Company.

Attendees are asked to contact the hotel to make reservations and to mention CHICAGOPEX for the special room rate. Admission and parking are free. Show hours are: Friday and Saturday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturday night will also feature a catered awards banquet. Tickets must be purchased in advance ($60 each) and dress is business casual. Please see the CHICAGOPEX website for the reservation form. Special diets can be accommodated upon request.

Foster E. Miller III of Maryland will chair Americover 2019, the American First Day Cover Society’s annual show, convention and celebration of first day covers. Miller previously handled scheduling for the Americover shows.

Americover 2019 will be held July 26-28 at the Renaissance Saint Louis Airport Hotel. The official Americover room rate is $104, and the show will again feature exhibits, dealers, cachetmakers, auctions, meetings, seminars and social functions.

The appointment was announced by AFDCS President Lloyd A. de Vries, who also appointed Phil Sager, also of Maryland, as bourse promoter for Americover 2019 and as a member of the AFDCS Convention Planning Committee. Chris Lazaroff, who chaired Americovers 2015 through 2018, will remain on the committee. Other members are Pete McClure of Iowa, who handles registration, and AFDCS executive secretary Doug Kelsey. De Vries is an ex officio member of the committee.

Miller is also a member of the AFDCS board of directors and serves on the executive committee as Membership Chair. He has attended every Americover since the shows began in 1993, and every AFDCS convention dating back to 1986.

Sager is a long-time cover dealer under the trade name “Geezer’s Tweezers.” Lazaroff is immediate past president of the AFDCS. Kelsey is also an elected member of the board.

For more information on Americover 2019 and the American First Day Cover Society, visit www.afdcs.org , send e-mail to showinfo@afdcs.org or write the AFDCS at PO Box 16277, Tucson, AZ 85732.

The new Frozen Treats stamps will be dedicated during the Americover 2018 stamp collecting show, Friday, August 3, at the Hilton Atlanta Northeast, 5993 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Peachtree Corners. The ceremony is at 11 a.m. and is free and open to the public. The Forever stamps, showing frosty, colorful ice pops on a stick in a variety of shapes and flavors, went on sale earlier this summer, and are the first scratch-and-sniff stamps ever issued by the U.S. Those attending will be able to come away with these stamps, and possibly sticky fingers, too.

Americover 2018 is the annual show and convention of the American First Day Cover Society, a not-for-profit international stamp collecting organization. Americover is held in a different part of the country each year. This is the first time it is in Georgia. Last year it was in Ohio, and next year Americover will be held in Missouri. The AFDCS also held a dedication ceremony for the Soda Fountain Favorites stamps two years ago in Virginia.

Besides the dedication ceremony, Americover 2018 features dealers, exhibits of rare material, seminars and meetings. There is also a youth table with hands-on activities, including making first day covers. Admission is free, as is parking.

A “first day cover” (FDC) is an envelope postmarked on the date that a stamp goes on sale. Many modern collectors add decorations to their FDCs, which are called “cachets.”

The three-day show’s hours are 10 to 5 on Friday and Saturday and 10 to 4 on Sunday. There is also a second marketplace on Saturday from 3:30 to 7:00 p.m., featuring just recent first day covers and cachets.

For more information on Americover 2018, visit www.afdcs.org/show or e-mail showinfo@afdcs.org

[press release]

The proposed pictorial postmarks for Americover 2018, the annual show, convention and FDC celebration of the American First Day Cover Society, were designed by Dani Leviss. The New Jersey woman is part of the Young Philatelic Leaders Fellowship program of the American Philatelic Society, in the design track. Her mentor is professional artist Chris Calle and her sponsor is Ann Duncan.

The theme of the show, which is being held August 3-5 in the Atlanta area, is “Georgia On My Mind.” The postmarks show a peach, the state fruit; civil rights demonstrators; and symbols representing singer-songwriter Ray Charles, who recorded the best-known rendition of “Georgia On My Mind.” (The song was written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell in 1930, the year Charles was born.)

Americover 2018 will be held at the Hilton Atlanta Northeast, 5993 Peachtree Industrial Blvd. Peachtree Corners, GA 30092, just 20 miles from downtown Atlanta. There are two bourses at the show (commercial dealers and cachetmakers), a banquet, meetings, award-winning FDC exhibits, a youth table, a hospitality suite, live and silent auctions, seminars, and a forum by a U.S. Postal Service official involved with first day covers.

Leviss is also a first day cover cachetmaker and has in recent years had a table at the cachetmakers bourse. (The photo here is from Americover 2015.) She is the daughter of the late Gerry Leviss, co-founder of Barry & Gerry Covers, and her mother Donna often operates the BGC booth at Americover.

“I’ve always been running around stamp shows, sleeping under the table, looking through other dealers’ stock,” Dani Leviss says.

There is a special Americover room rate of $99 at the Hilton Atlanta Northeast, which includes Wednesday and Sunday nights.

For more information on Americover 2018 and the AFDCS, contact the AFDCS at P.O. Box 16277, Tucson, Ariz. 85732-6277, email showinfo@afdcs.org or visit www.afdcs.org.

[press release]
Americover 2018 Tour Offers Everything From Football To Fish

The American First Day Cover Society’s pre-Americover 2018 tour will provide an opportunity for participants to visit some of Atlanta’s best tourist attractions. It will drop off the Americover attendees within two blocks of the College Football Hall of Fame, the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca Cola, the Center for Civil and Human Rights museum, and CNN World Headquarters.

Americover 2018 will be held August 3-5 at the Hilton Atlanta Northeast, 5993 Peachtree Industrial Blvd. Peachtree Corners, GA 30092, just 20 miles from downtown Atlanta. The tour bus will depart from the hotel Thursday morning, August 2, and return in the afternoon. Participants will be able to choose any of the nearby venues, or even spend time in Centennial Olympic Park.

The price for the tour includes the hassle-free bus transportation, and is $25 if purchased on or before June 30, and $30 after that date, if space is still available.

Tickets may be purchased online at www.afdcs.org/register or by mail, using the insert in the March-April issue of First Days, the official journal of the AFDCS. Non-members are welcome on the tour and can use the website or request a copy of the Americover 2018 event order form by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope to the AFDCS, PO Box 44, Annapolis Jct., MD 20701-0044.

Americover 2018 is the AFDCS’ annual show, convention and celebration of first day cover collection. Each year, it is held in a different part of the country. In 2017, it was in the Cleveland area; in 2019, it will be in Saint Louis. Americover is part of the American Philatelic Society’s World Series of Philately, and the winners of its competitive exhibitions are automatically entered in the annual Champion of Champions competitions.

There is also a Sunday evening event involving dinner; this year, it will be at The Crossing, a steakhouse in the former train station of Norcross, Ga.

As is customary, those attending the Americover tour and food events receive special cover souvenirs designed by leading cachetmakers.

There is a special Americover room rate of $99 at the Hilton Atlanta Northeast, which includes Wednesday and Sunday nights. There also will be two bourses at the show (commercial dealers and cachetmakers), a banquet, meetings, award-winning FDC exhibits, a youth table, a hospitality suite, live and silent auctions, seminars, a forum by a U.S. Postal Service official involved with first day covers, and possibly a U.S. first day ceremony.

For more information on Americover 2018 and the AFDCS, contact the AFDCS at P.O. Box 16277, Tucson, Ariz. 85732-6277, email showinfo@afdcs.org or visit www.afdcs.org.

Compex has a new weekend this year, and its theme will be the Illinois Bicentennial.

The American Philatelic Society will no longer sponsor a winter stamp show. They’ve never really lived up to their potential. Instead, elements such as the special exhibits and meetings will be hosted at other stamp shows.

Americover 2020 will be held in conjunction with APS StampShow 2020. Meanwhile, the American First Day Cover Society has big plans for Americover 2018.

[press release]
COMPEX 2018 Theme – “Honoring the 200th Anniversary of Illinois Statehood”

COMPEX 2018 will be held on its new weekend of June 1, 2, and 3, and new location at Guerin College Prep, a large high school facility located at 8001 West Belmont Avenue, River Grove, IL 60171. River Grove is an adjacent suburb of Chicago on the northwest side. This location is easily reached by major roadways and public transportation and is about 6 miles from O’Hare Airport. Also, Guerin College Prep has a large parking lot (free, of course!) and the building is air conditioned!!!

Hours of the show are: Friday and Saturday – 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission and parking are free!!!

COMPEX 2018 (Combined Philatelic Exhibition of Chicagoland) is comprised of 7 Chicago area clubs holding their individual exhibits under the same roof at the same time. Member clubs of COMPEX will present a wide variety of exhibits for the viewing pleasure of all in attendance.

This year’s theme is, “Honoring the 200th Anniversary of Illinois Statehood.” A new stamp in honor of this milestone anniversary has been issued by the U. S. Postal Service and will be used on the show cachets. Cachets and a show cancel will be available in keeping with the show’s theme.

In addition to our normal member club exhibits, the prestigious Collectors Club of Chicago will have a special section of exhibits by its members, many of whom have received high awards nationally and internationally.

Once again, COMPEX will have its traditional Youth/Beginners Booth with free stamps and activities for young collectors, whether they are new to the hobby or already working on collections. Information about collecting is also available for those wanting to get started in the hobby, regardless of age.

A bourse of approximately 35 dealers, including a few postcard dealers, will be participating to fill the needs of all levels of collecting interests. The United States Postal Service and the United National Postal Administration will participate with their respective postal products available for purchase. We will also welcome post card and coin dealers. Contact Charles Berg for details (see below for contact information).

In addition to exhibits and dealers, several local area clubs will be holding their society meetings during COMPEX, including the Chicago Philatelic Society with a program still in the planning stages, and the Chicagoland Chapter No. 5, Germany Philatelic Society. Other societies have not finalized their plans as yet and details will be announced at a later date.

Make your plans now to attend COMPEX 2018 on the weekend of June 1, 2, and 3. There will be something of interest for all attendees!!

For further information regarding COMPEX 2018, please visit our website at compexstampshow.org, or by calling Charles Berg at 773-775-2100.

by Lloyd A. de Vries
The Virtual Stamp Club

At the American Philatelic Society’s board of directors meeting, executive director Scott English told the board he was not seeking a location for an APS-sponsored winter show in 2020.

Later during AmeriStamp Expo 2018, in response to a question from a member, he confirmed that it is unlikely there will be any more APS-sponsored winter shows.

“Only 6 of the 20 [winter shows] made money,” he said, and the APS has “lost substantial sums in the past five years.”

Two of the previous APS winter shows were subsidized by a vendor.

English said the APS is now looking for another show in which to hold the single-frame and most-popular “Champion of Champions” competitions. He sees a “market opportunity” for another show to host those events, as well as a similar draw for a show to host the APS winter board of directors meeting. Interested shows held in late winter and early spring should contact him.

The name “AmeriStamp Expo” actually belongs to the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors. In fact, one year since “ASE” became the regular APS winter show, AAPE held AmeriStamp Expo in Toronto while the APS winter show was conducted elsewhere.

When I was on the board (1997-2005), the concept for the winter show was to hold it in a warm location that would attract collectors who wanted a break from winter weather. Unfortunately, the hotel and tourism industries in such locations didn’t need the business from a relatively-small “convention” to fill their rooms, restaurants and recreation, and it was hard to find attractive cities in which to hold the show.

English said the decision is “not about the hobby, but the way we do business.” Attendance at the 2018 show was sparse; at its high point Saturday, it was only moderately busy. If it had been busier, would dealer Irv Miller in the purple shirt below be chatting at another booth?)

The last APS-sponsored AmeriStamp Expo will be held February 15-17, 2019, in Mesa (Phoenix), Arizona. “We have fantastic room rates for the ‘high season,'” said English.

But the APS “can’t bounce from a failing show like this to a state of excellence at StampShow,” he added.

[press release]
AMERICOVER 2020 TO BE HELD WITH APS STAMPSHOW
The Most Fun Stamp Collecting Show in North America Joins with the Country’s Biggest

The American First Day Cover Society, the world’s largest non-profit organization of FDC collectors, will hold its Americover 2020 stamp and cover show in conjunction with the American Philatelic Society’s StampShow 2020 in Hartford, Conn., August 20-23.

All the familiar features that make an Americover show special will be included: A strong emphasis on first day cover exhibits, dealers specializing in FDCs, a pre-show tour of sites and attractions in the Hartford area, a post-show dinner, the AFDCS President’s Banquet, announcement of the annual cachet contest winners, a hospitality suite, FDC auctions, and a busy program of meetings and seminars.

“The AFDCS hopes to share the fun of Americover with the larger audience that attends StampShow, while taking advantage of all that a large convention center show has to offer,” said Americover programming chair Foster Miller. “We look forward to a successful joint show in 2020.”

“I hope the AFDCS will bring a unique social experience [to StampShow] that we don’t usually get at a stamp show,” said APS executive director Scott English.

For the past decade, the Americover show has often been held the weekend before or after StampShow, allowing collectors to take a “road trip” between the two events. However, some could not afford the time or money to go to both shows. This arrangement solves that problem for 2020.

The agreement between the AFDCS and APS, announced at the APS’ General Membership Meeting at AmeriStamp Expo in Birmingham, Ala., on February 24, 2018, is only for 2020. It is similar to the one between the APS and the American Topical Association for 2018, when StampShow and National Topical Stamp Show are held jointly in Columbus, Ohio, August 9-12.

The AFDCS has been holding its own standalone show and convention continuously since 1992. The event’s name was changed to “Americover” the following year. It is held in a different part of the country each year. Americover 2018 is being held in the Atlanta area August 3-5; 2017 was near Cleveland, and 2019 will be held in Saint Louis.

The Americover exhibitions have had full World Series of Philately status since 2005, and emphasize exhibits with predominantly first day covers.

For more information on any of the Americover shows, visit the AFDCS website at afdcs.org/show, send e-mail to showinfo@afdcs.org or write the AFDCS at PO Box 16277, Tucson, AZ 85732-6277.