Dragon Cards will have a double booth Saturday at the Cachetmakers Bourse of Great American Stamp Show in Hartford. I’m going to try to bring almost everything!

Order now at www.dragoncards.biz or the eBay Store www.ebay.com/str/dragoncardsfdcs and and pick up at the Bourse (Saturday only) and I will refund your P&H charges.

But today is the last day to order that I will be able to mail out orders before the show.

The Americover 2024 Silent Auction has more than 250 lots this year! Americover is the American First Day Cover Society’s component of Great American Stamp Show 2024, which is being held August 15-18 in Hartford, Conn.

The lots may be viewed and bid upon in the AFDCS Hospitality Suite during GASS 2024, 8 p.m. to midnight Wednesday through Saturday nights, in the Marriott Hotel’s Capital Ballroom. Admission to the Hospitality Suite is free and open to the public. Some refreshments will be available.

Nothing beats seeing these amazing covers and cover lots in person, but you can also see the lot descriptions online here and send bids to silent@afdcs.org Bidding both at the Suite and online ends at 10:30 pm EDT Saturday the 17th.

AFDCS Post-GASS Sunday Dinner: We’re going to Plan B. Literally. That’s the name of the restaurant, Plan b Burger Bar, about a five-minute walk from the convention center and Marriott. We’ll meet in the Marriott lobby at 6 p.m., and we will have a private room. You can find the menu here.

As always, the post-show dinner is “Dutch treat:” We’ll each get separate checks. Spouses, partners and friends are welcome, whether or not they are AFDCS members.
Want to check the location on Google Maps? It’s at 35 Front Street in Hartford. Its website is headlined, “burgers. beer. bourbon.” so make sure you have a Designated Walker!

There will be at least two pictorial postmarks for each day of Great American Stamp Show 2024 in August 15-18 in Hartford, Conn., and sometimes more.

One set of postmarks for each day of the show are for the “GASS Station.” A second set, for the “Americover Station,” was created by the American First Day Cover Society, one of the co-sponsors of the show. The only “official” show cachets for GASS are from the AFDCS.

You can click on any of the illustrations to see a larger version.

All eight postmarks were designed by Martin Kent Miller, editor of the journals of GASS co-sponsors the AFDCS and the American Topical Association and a professional marketing and graphics consultant.

Here are the four GASS Station postmarks:

When Americover was the independent show and convention of the AFDCS, a different pictorial postmark was available for each day of the show, and that tradition has continued now that Americover is part of GASS.

The Thursday, August 15, Americover postmark is “Celebrating Public Art in America,” in concordance with the American Philatelic Society’s “Stamp Soiree” at the Wadsworth Atheneum art museum that evening. The postmark, which measures 2.83- by 1.71-inches, may also be used on first day covers of the U.S. Pinback Buttons stamps that are being issued that day.

The GASS 2024 show cachet, by award-winning professional artist and Connecticut native Chris Calle, will show a variety of the pinback buttons produced since the first Americover in 1993.

Friday August 16’s postmark honors Hartford’s Charter Oak, the legendary tree that is a symbol of American independence. The U.S. Postal Service is issuing its Autumn Colors stamps that day, and no doubt, before it fell in an 1856 storm, the Charter Oak’s leaves turned colors in the fall. That postmark is 2.95- by 1.56-inches.

Calle’s cachet for Friday also depicts the Charter Oak tree, and the 1935 stamp and commemorative coin that honored it.

On Saturday, when the GASS Cachetmakers Bourse will be held, the Americover Station postmark notes National Cachetmakers Day. This one is 2.91- by 1.69-inches. The show cover cachet by Calle commemorates the 250th anniversary of the First Continental Congress (for which a stamp will be issued in September) and Connecticut’s delegate to it, Roger Sherman. He also was a member of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence, and a key Founding Father of the U.S.

The 10-cent stamp shown in the cachet is one of four issued by the U.S. Postal Service in 1974 as part of its Bicentennial celebration

Sunday’s Americover Station postmark, measuring 2.92- by 1.69-inches, is “Celebrating Heroes of the Batter’s Box.” Calle’s cachet artwork honors Hartford resident Samuel Clemens, better known as author Mark Twain, who was an avid baseball fan and supported local teams. The Hartford Dark Blues were a charter member of the National League in 1876-77, a few years after Clemens moved to the city. (The Hartford Yard Goats, a professional minor league (Double-A) baseball team affiliated with the Colorado Rockies, will be playing at home during GASS 2024.)

Both Miller and Calle will be at Great American Stamp Show for all four days. Calle, in fact, has a station at the AFDCS booth where he will be available to chat with collectors and sign autographs. Miller will be splitting his time between the ATA and AFDCS booths.

In addition, the U.S. Postal Service has its own postmarks for the two issues that will be released during the show, Pinback Buttons

And Autumn Colors

Thursday’s show postmarks may be used on first day covers of Pinback Buttons, and Friday’s on Autumn Colors FDCs, but Friday’s may not be used on the stamps issued the day before (that is, creating a bogus “early release” FDC for Pinback Buttons).

The AFDCS will be selling unserviced cacheted envelopes and already-serviced covers like this one, both at its booth and, after the show, by mail.

Latest news from Great American Stamp Show 2024:

A tentative schedule will go online soon. However, the show is running out of time slots (there is a limited number of rooms), especially the better ones. Also, the printed program will go to press soon, and you’ll want your event in that. Fill out this form.

Also, have you pre-registered yet? It only takes a minute, it’s free and there’s no obligation — no one will be taking attendance! Then you won’t have to wait in line to get your badge and the badge itself will look so much nicer than the handwritten ones. That link is here.

There are only a handful of dealer booths and society tables left for Great American Stamp Show 2024 (August 15-18 in Hartford, Conn.) Societies that aren’t sure whether to take a table (which involves a commitment to STAFF it) should consider sharing with another society. The same is true if all the society tables are gone: Share. You’ll find the links for societies, dealers and more here.

Don’t think this is a fluke because the show is in the Northeast. Next year will be even tighter: It’s a smaller space. Moral of the story: Book early, whether it’s booth space, hotel rooms or anything else. (Some may call me “Lloyd the Late,” but I made my hotel reservation in mid-November.)

The third block of rooms at a special rate obtained by the American Philatelic Society for Great American Stamp Show has now sold out. The APS does not plan to try to obtain another block for its August 15-18 show in Hartford, Conn.

However, the Capitol Hotel at 440 Asylum Street (part of the Choice group and shown on the right here) may have rooms available; it did as of March 22nd. It is located near Stop #6 of the free dash shuttle bus service and a few blocks from Amtrak’s Union Station.

Hartford is Connecticut’s capital city and has an abundance of hotel rooms for when the legislature is in session, so it should still be possible to obtain accommodations for GASS 2024.

[press release] [click on any of the pictures for larger versions]
Calle To Design Great American Stamp Show Cachets
Popular Artist Will Be at AFDCS Booth To Sign Covers, Meet Collectors

Professional artist Chris Calle again will design the official show cachets for Great American Stamp Show 2024. He also will be at the American First Day Cover Society booth during the show to autograph covers and stamps with his designs and chat with collectors. He is shown on the right at last year’s GASS.

During his 20+ years as an illustrator his artwork focused on historical subjects and the theme of Space Exploration produced in paint and pencil for publications, advertising, coins and FDCs. Chris has designed more than 35 postage stamps for the United States and hundreds more for countries as diverse as Sweden and the Marshall Islands, as well as designs for the United Nations. Chris’s US postage stamp design work includes the two stamps celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the first Moon Landing jointly designed with his father Paul Calle who designed the iconic #C76 First Man on the Moon stamp in 1969. Perhaps Chris’s most well-known solo artwork is the $2.40 Priority Mail stamp design of 1989 (Sc. 2419, shown here), which depicts Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planting the American flag on the Moon.

For more than a decade Chris has designed the show cachets for the major U.S. summer stamp collecting shows as well as many regional stamp shows throughout the country.
Among other stamp and cover design awards, Chris’ first day cover cachets have won the top prize in the annual AFDCS contest several times and he has now passed the torch of cachetmaking to his children Arianna and Ian. Since they were five years old, Arianna and Ian’s entires in the youth category have both won many awards in the AFDCS contest. In fact, two years ago Arianna took first place in an adult category (right). She is now a sophomore in college!

His first U.S. stamp design, for the Harry S. Truman definitive, is shown here.

Today in his fine art career Calle’s oil paintings and pencil drawings focus on the history and future of manned space exploration.

As an official NASA artist, Chris covered two of the early Space Shuttle missions, producing artwork that is now in the collections of the National Air and Space Museum and NASA. His artwork is in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian museums, other space and science Museums throughout the United States, and corporate and private collections worldwide.

Chris is the author of Celebrating Apollo 11, the Artwork of Paul Calle, which details the elder Calle’s involvement in the NASA Fine Art Program and focuses on the on-the-spot artwork Paul created as the only artist present during the breakfast and suiting up of the Apollo 11 crew on the morning of their historic launch to the Moon.

Chris portrayed his father Paul in the 2018 movie “First Man,” the story of Neil Armstrong. Chris sketched Ryan Gosling and the cast during the breakfast and crew walkout, using the same sketchbook and pens Paul used in 1969.

The AFDCS is a co-sponsor of the Great American Stamp Show, which includes the Americover first day cover exhibition and announcement of the results of its annual cachetmaking contest. GASS this year is being held in Hartford, Conn., August 15-18, 2024. Admission is free.

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.

The question is, for how much longer will these rooms at the Capitol Hotel in downtown Hartford be available? And, if these sell out, will the APS be able to get a fourth block of rooms?

The Great American Stamp Show rate is $114. The Capitol Hotel (part of the Choice group) is about a mile from the convention center, but still on the free Dash shuttle route. It appears to be near Stop 6.

Click here to go right to the GASS/Capitol reservation page. It appears to work better with Chrome than with Firefox.

More hotel rooms available: The second block of rooms for Great American Stamp Show 2024 is now online: Click here or call Hilton at {800} 754-7941 and request the “APS Stamp Show” room block.

But this block at the Hilton was also getting snatched up. The APS is planning a third group of rooms, but at some point, the tap will run dry.

Remember that your credit card will not be charged until you check in and you can cancel your reservation at no charge until a few days before check-in. Never use a debit card for a hotel stay.

Stay Sunday night: The AFDCS again plans a “Dutch treat” post-show dinner at a local restaurant. It’s a great social event, a chance to unwind after the show and discuss your philatelic successes or your (grand)children. We’re still working on details.

No AFDCS events are planned for Monday, but travel in the summer is better during the day on a weekday during the summer anyway.

DASH around Hartford: The city has a free downtown shuttle bus service, called DASH. Normally it only runs Monday through Friday 7 to 7, but service is being extended for GASS 2024. Its stops include the convention center/Marriott, the Hilton, the art museum, the train station, and historic sites. Click here for a route map.

Inexpensive Airport Shuttle: It appears CT Transit has a $1.75 bus to and from the airport, the Bradley Flyer, with stops at the convention center and train station. We’re still checking it out. (If you’ve used it recently, please let us know how well it works.) Shuttle Information By the way, the airport’s code is “BDL” (Bradley).

Exhibit: Great American Stamp Show 2024 has a separate Americover 2024 first day cover exhibit of 156 frames. Entry forms are due May 3rd.

Also, there will be a discussion of where we stand on international exhibiting of FDCs on Saturday. The outlook is good!

Connect Online: While the AFDCS website is undergoing reconstruction, visit us on Facebook, either the Americover page (search for “Americover”) or the AFDCS group.

Also check out the APS’ GASS section.