January 2024 AFDCS Cachetmakers Directory Available Free

[press release]
Free AFDCS Current Cachetmakers Directory Updated

A new edition of the American First Day Cover Society’s AFDCS Directory of Current Cachetmakers is now available. The January 2024 version can be downloaded for free. Printed versions are available for $5.00 postpaid from AFDCS Sales, PO Box 44, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701 or may be ordered from the AFDCS website.

Compiled by John White of North Carolina, the directory seeks to list every individual or company currently producing cacheted first day covers, whether or not they are members of the AFDCS. There is no charge for listings; cachetmakers who wish to be included in a future edition should fill out the online form at www.afdcs.org/cmform.php

New editions of the directory are published when there are a number of additions or changes, so the next version may be next month or next year. The link to the latest edition — whatever it is — is on the AFDCS home page. The January 2024 edition adds 11 cachetmakers, removes 14 and updates six.

The American First Day Cover Society is a not-for-profit educational organization, with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status granted by the IRS. Established in 1955, the AFDCS also publishes handbooks, catalogues and its award-winning bimonthly journal, First Days. It also promotes first day cover exhibiting, both at Great American Stamp Show and at other stamp shows, and holds an annual cachetmaking contest.

For more information about the AFDCS, visit www.afdcs.org, e-mail afdcs@afdcs.org or write the AFDCS at Post Office Box 27, Greer, SC 29652-0027

McClure FDC Collection Donated to AFDCS

[press release] [click on any of the pictures for larger versions]
McClure FDC Collection Donated to AFDCS

The extensive first day cover collection of the late Peter McClure — more than 35 boxes — has been donated to the American First Day Cover Society, and parts of it will begin appearing in AFDCS Fundraising Auctions in the near future.

“Pete” died in May 2023 at the age of 75 after a long illness. He designed many cachets, both for himself and for the AFDCS, and often serviced new issues on the first-day at his local Iowa Falls, Iowa, post office. He also collected Iowa-related issues and those for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair stamp (Sc. 1196), Roy Rogers (Sc. 4446), Janis Joplin (Sc. 4916) and the cachets produced by the AFDCS’ Graebner Chapter in Washington, DC, of which he was a member. He talked about some of these topics in Zoom presentations he made for the AFDCS, which can be seen on the AFDCS YouTube Channel.

The AFDCS runs two of these mail/online bidding auctions a year and a “silent” auction at

Pete McClure in 2016

its annual convention, all containing material donated by its members. The sales often contain one-of-a-kind covers.

All proceeds of these sales go to the AFDCS General Fund, and help support the many AFDCS activities, including video and print publishing, advocacy and encouragement of FDC collecting and exhibiting, and cosponsorship of the big annual national stamp collecting show, Great American Stamp Show, which is next scheduled in 2024 in Hartford, Conn., August 15-18. The AFDCS also publishes its award-winning journal First Days six times a year. The American First Day Cover Society is a not-for-profit 501c3 educational organization.

For more information about the AFDCS, visit www.afdcs.org, email afdcs@afdcs.org or write the AFDCS at Post Office Box 27, Greer, SC 29652-0027.

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AFDCS Zoom Talk on Weird FDCs Oct. 16

AFDCS Zoom Program: Unusual FDCs
Free Online Presentation October 16

A first day cover may be just a stamp and postmark on an envelope, with maybe a design on the envelope, but FDCs can be so much more. Lloyd de Vries will present some of those possibilities live on Zoom on Sunday, October 16, at 8:00 pm EDT, in a program titled “Weird Stuff FDCs.” It will be offered afterward on the American First Day Cover Society’s YouTube Channel.

De Vries recently presented some of his collection in an exhibit at the Great American Stamp Show 2022, where it won a large silver medal. It includes FDCs with moving parts, materials seldom used in FDCs, and unusual artistic techniques. Shown here is a “cover-cover.”

The president of the AFDCS, de Vries writes the first day cover column for Linn’s Stamp News and manages The Virtual Stamp Club, a philatelic news and information website. Before retirement, he was a writer-producer for network radio, television and website news operations: ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR. He also hosted and produced a nationally-syndicated philatelic radio feature for CBS News from 1997 to 2017.

The Zoom address for “Weird Stuff First Day Covers” is https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88594826222?pwd=RVQ5SEFTeDlwODJ6ei9zMkFHdkJQQT09 or the meeting ID 885 9482 6222 with a passcode of 724390.

Membership in the AFDCS is not required to attend the seminar, but with memberships starting at $24 for Internet-only access or $35 with the printed magazine, it is very affordable and a good asset for any first day cover collector, anywhere in the world.

The AFDCS publishes handbooks, catalogues, directories and a bimonthly award-winning journal, First Days. The society also advocates for first day cover collecting and exhibiting, and is a co-host of Great American Stamp Show, which next will be held August 25-28, 2022, in Sacramento, Calif.

For more information on the AFDCS, visit its website www.afdcs.org, email afdcs@afdcs.org or write to the society at Post Office Box 246, Colonial Beach, VA 22443-0246.

Churchill FDC Exhibit Presentation April 3

AFDCS Zoom Program: U.S. Churchill Stamp FDCs
Free Online Presentation April 3

Todd Ronnei, whose exhibit on the 1965 Churchill stamp has won top honors on many occasions, will guide a tour of his exhibit live on Zoom on Sunday, April 3, at 8:00 pm EDT. It will be offered afterward on the American First Day Cover Society’s YouTube Channel. During the seminar, he will explain what is included and why and provide tips about exhibiting in general.

“The U.S. Winston Churchill Memorial Stamp and Its First Day Covers” has won 13 Gold and Large Gold awards, three of them Reserve Grands. The most recent of those was at the Americover 2021 exhibition at Great American Stamp Show.

Ronnei’s exhibit began in 2007 with five frames, and has since grown to ten. It is a traditional FDC exhibit. Reflecting Churchill’s stature on the world stage, Scott 1264 was a five-cent stamp issued less than four months after the British statesman died. A memorial issue for a non-American issued so quickly after death was, and remains today, nearly unprecedented.

Ronnei is a paralegal in Minneapolis. He is also Exhibits Chair of Minnesota Stamp Expo and Exhibiting Chair and webmaster of the AFDCS. Other recent exhibits include first day covers for 1967’s Urban Planning (Sc. 1333) and the Fort Snelling stamp of 1970 (Sc. 1409), and stamps and FDCs for Churchill’s centenary in 1974. He has also written articles for First Days, Scott Stamp Monthly and others.

The Zoom address for the tour of “The U.S. Winston Churchill Memorial Stamp and Its First Day Covers” is here, or the meeting ID 879 5273 7174 with a passcode of 974882.

Membership in the AFDCS is not required to attend the seminar, but with memberships starting at $24 for Internet-only access or $35 with the printed magazine, it is very affordable and a good asset for any first day cover collector, anywhere in the world.

The AFDCS publishes handbooks, catalogues, directories and a bimonthly award-winning journal, First Days. The society also advocates for first day cover collecting and exhibiting, and is a co-host of Great American Stamp Show, which next will be held August 25-28, 2022, in Sacramento, Calif.

For more information on the AFDCS, visit its website www.afdcs.org, email afdcs@afdcs.org or write to the society at Post Office Box 246, Colonial Beach, VA 22443-0246.

Computer Cachetmaking: AFDCS Zoom Jan. 16

[press release]
AFDCS Zoom Program: Computer Cachetmaking Made Easy
Free Online Presentation January 16

Peter McClure, the designer behind most of the first day covers produced the AFDCS Cachetmakers Series, will tell how he does it, and how you can do it, too, in a free American First Day Cover Society online video presentation, “Computer Cachetmaking 101:  The CEC Method.” It will be offered live on Zoom on Sunday, January 16, at 8:00 pm EST, and available afterward on an upcoming AFDCS YouTube Channel.

McClure has been making cachets as “CEC” — short for “Cuv Evanson” — since 2011. Although he no longer produces CEC FDCs for commercial sale, he is the “CEC” found on recent AFDCS covers. (The “FM” is AFDCS Sales Chair Foster Miller, who handles the business aspects.) “Cuv Evanson” was a joke used for family business telephone calls.

For his cachets, Peter uses a desktop computer running Windows, a Canon inkjet printer and an obsolete graphics program, “Microsoft Home Publisher 99.” All the artwork is found on the internet, books and magazines. In his presentation, he will explain how he finds the material, processes it and, eventually, prints it onto first day covers.

A former high-end retail store manager, McClure has no formal art training, yet his cachets are among the best sellers for many issues. Many of the designs have a touch of whimsy in them. You can see the currently available FDCs he has designed at www.afdcs.org/afdcstore01.html [examples are shown here; click for larger versions]

The Zoom address for “Computer Cachetmaking 101:  The CEC Method” is https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85814568456?pwd=VUtCbktNM3J2WjVpYm9nMzVDb3pPQT09 or the meeting ID 858 1456 8456 with a passcode of 858603.

Membership in the AFDCS is not required to attend the seminar, but, with memberships starting at $24 for Internet-only access or $35 with the printed magazine, it is very affordable and a good asset for any first day cover collector.

The AFDCS publishes handbooks, catalogues, directories and a bimonthly award-winning journal, First Days. The society also advocates for first day cover collecting and exhibiting, and is a co-host of Great American Stamp Show, which next will be held August 25-28, 2022, in Sacramento, Calif.

For more information on the AFDCS, visit its website www.afdcs.org, email afdcs@afdcs.org or write to the society at Post Office Box 246, Colonial Beach, VA 22443-0246.

Emrick’s Palmer FDC Takes Cachet Honors

Emrick Cachets’ hand-painted/hand-drawn first day cover for the Arnold Palmer stamp took top honors as the best cachet of the year, in the American First Day Cover Society‘s annual cachetmakers contest. Bob Emrick‘s design was also the winner of the HP/HD category.

For the first time, a junior member of the AFDCS, 17-year-old Arianna Calle, won an adult category. In fact, Arianna won both first and second place in Category 3 Hand-Painted/Non-Original Art.

The results, announced at the President’s Banquet during Great American Stamp Show/Americover 2021, covered issues released during 2020. You can see all the winners here on The Virtual Stamp Club.

Emrick, who lives in a suburb of Dallas-Fort Worth, also creates hand-drawn pencil-sketch and printed cachets, all from original art. He also uses “the knowledge gained from a great career in commercial printing.” His printed covers make at least three passes through the printer which “creates a much fuller color gamut with deeper shadows and richer color,” he says. “I think the extra time and effort this requires is well worth the results.”

Bob was previously honored in the AFDCS Court of Honor in 2016, which each year features an outstanding cachetmaker’s work on a first day cover for the holiday issues. His first cachet was in 2005 for 50s Sporty Cars.

Arianna Calle is the daughter and granddaughter of professional artists Chris and Paul Calle, both of whom have designed U.S. stamps. Her covers have won first or second in the junior categories more than a dozen times previously, dating back to 2009. Her father Chris is also a past Top Cachet winner. [Arianna is shown below receiving her award from Contest Chair Rick Gibson, while AFDCS President Lloyd de Vries looks on.]

You can see the first- and second-place winners in each category here.

The AFDCS Cachetmakers Contest is held annually for the previous year’s issues, with more than fifteen categories. Besides media and production methods, they include Foreign, Events, Esoteric and Rookie of the Year. Three anonymous judges, representing collectors, dealers, and artists judge each category, then choose the best of the best for the Top Cachet honor. The cachetmaker, by the way, is not eligible for Top Cachet the following year.

The Society publishes its award-winning journal First Days six times a year, as well as handbooks and directories, sponsors philatelic exhibit awards, advocates for FDC collecting and co-hosts the big national stamp collecting show each summer. The 2022 Great American Stamp Show will be held in Sacramento, Calif.

For more information on the AFDCS, visit its website www.afdcs.org, email afdcs@afdcs.org or write to the society at Post Office Box 246, Colonial Beach, VA 22443-0246.