One of the top railroad museums in the country is a short trip from the site of Great American Stamp Show 2022: The California State Railroad Museum. It documents the role of the “iron horse” in connecting California to the rest of the nation. According to Wikipedia, the museum features 21 restored locomotives and railroad cars, some dating back to 1862. Sacramento was the western end of the Transcontinental Railroad, completed in 1869. Exhibits show how railroads changed American society, influencing travel, commerce and daily life. This museum is a focal point of the American Topical Association/American First Day Cover Society joint post-show tour on Monday, August 29th.And, of course, the railroads helped deliver the mail. According to the museum’s website, it is open daily 10 to 5, and it offers excursions along the Sacramento River on weekends.

The sights at Old Sacramento State Park — about a mile from Great American Stamp Show — aren’t just above-ground.After several devastating floods they decided to raise the city by hauling in dirt. The project began in 1868 and finished in 1873.  This basically made the first floors of many buildings become the basements and the second floor became the first floor. Today, there are tours of Sacramento underground.There’s even an underground (or mostly underground) passageway back to the convention center area.

No, no, this isn’t a photo of a stamp collector in the hotel bar after TurkeyPex 2022 (or 1872, for that matter). It’s one of the displays from Old Sacramento State Park, a little over a mile from the convention center where Great American Stamp Show 2022 will be held August 25-28. You might want to leave some time in your trip to visit Old Sacramento. It looks as if it will be worthwhile.

About a mile from the convention center where Great American Stamp Show 2022 is being held is Old Sacramento State Park. Shown here is the B.F. Hastings Bank Building, built in 1852, which served as the western endpoint of the Pony Express. It’s part of a 28-acre state park that was Sacramento’s waterfront during the Gold Rush.And just to give you an idea of where it is in relation to the stamp show at the SAFE Convention Center:

Please note these important announcements May 4^th on hotel rooms and exhibit frames.

Meanwhile here are some of the messages and pictures we’ve posted on tourism opportunities in Sacramento during Great American Stamp Show 2022, August 25-28.:

• • The Bridge in the Show Logo
  • The State Capitol Museum
  • The Crocker Museum
  • Old Sacramento State Park
  • More Old Sacramento Photos
  • Dig Deeper for more of Old Sacramento
  • Top railroad museum
  • Great Rate for a Great Show

One site you might like to visit while in Sacramento for Great American Stamp Show 2022 is the Crocker Museum: It began in the mid 1800s as a personal gallery of the wealthy Crocker family and is still one of the leading museums in California today.It is about 1.4 miles from the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center where the stamp show is being held, or about 25 minutes by mass transit.

Just a half mile from the site of Great American Stamp Show (SAFE Credit Union Convention Center) is the State Capitol Museum, which is both a museum and California’s working seat of government. Google Maps says it’s an 11-minute walk. It’s even closer to the main show hotel, the Sheraton Grand.

You may be wondering what that bridge is in the Great American Stamp Show logo: It’s the Tower Bridge, a vertical lift bridge which was built in 1935 to connect Sacramento to West Sacramento. It has also been known as M Street Bridge, according to Wikipedia, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

The public chose the color in 2001, and it was repainted the following year. It isn’t due for repainting until 2032.

It is located about a mile and a half from the convention center where GASS will be held.

The following is an update on the Americover/Great American Stamp Show (GASS) to be held August 12-15, 2021 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. Please check the AFDCS (afdcs.org/show) and APS (stamps.org/great-american-stamp-show) websites on a regular basis as new information is being added on almost a daily basis.

Show hotels: the first two show hotels, the DoubleTree and Embassy Suites, are sold out. An additional block of rooms has been added at the Hilton Rosemont Chicago O’Hare hotel. See stamps.org/great-american-stamp-show/travel for details. All show hotels are connected to the convention by a sky bridge.

Registration and Volunteers: all show attendees must register. Pre-registration is strongly recommended to avoid lines when the show opens. Pre-register at https://stamps.org/great-american-stamp-show/preregistration. Register to volunteer at the show at https://stamps.org/great-american-stamp-show/volunteer; it takes a lot of volunteers to run a show.

Safety: GASS will follow State of Illinois and Stephens Convention Center rules at the time of the show. If masks are required, they will be provided by the convention center. The bourse area will feature wider aisles and six-foot gaps between dealer booths.

Wednesday tour: due to uncertainty over what venues may be open in August, we will not have a pre-show tour this year. For those arriving early, the Rosemont C.T.A. subway station is a five-minute walk from the show hotels and provides service to the Chicago area attractions.

Hospitality Suite: we will have our usual hospitality suite Wednesday night through Saturday night. Location has not yet been finalized. We will again have our hospitality suite silent auction. Thanks to a number of generous donors, we already have the 128 lots of material. Due to time constraints, we will not hold a Live Fundraising Auction this year.

AFDCS Board of Directors meeting: the Board of Directors will meet at 8PM Wednesday August 11 at the Embassy Suites. This meeting is open to the public.

AFDCS Show Booth: as one of the host societies, the AFDCS will have a 10×42 foot booth immediate inside the show entrance. We will have AFDCS covers and publications for sale, including a new catalog of Carol Gordon first day covers written by Sue Jones.

Dealer bourse: 76 dealers and 4 postal administrations have signed up for the dealer bourse. This includes booths offering $1.00 covers. Booths are still available. Details at stamps.org/great-american-stamp-show/dealer-booths.

Societies: in addition to the AFDCS, ATA and APS as show hosts, there are 30 society booths representing 40 societies. Over 50 societies will sponsor seminar and meetings at the show.

First day ceremonies: four first day ceremonies are scheduled for Thursday August 12. At 11AM, the USPS will issue eight stamps showing Backyard Games (the AFDCS will have a Dave Bennett designed cachet for the issue). At 1PM, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Denmark will issue souvenir sheets honoring famed engraver Czeslaw Slania. The souvenir sheets are engraved by Martin Morck, probably the best engraver today. Morck will be at the show to sign autographs. At 2PM, the Boston 2026 international stamp show will unveil a Cinderella honoring the show (with a cachet designed by Chris Calle). Finally, at 3PM, the United Nations Postal Administration will issue a $1.80 stamp honoring Mother Teresa; the stamp is also designed by Morck.

Exhibits: the Americover competition has 25 exhibits totaling 168 frames. The National Topical Stamp Show (NTSS) competition has 32 exhibits totaling 139 frames. The StampShow competition has 92 exhibits totaling 554 frames. Exhibits will also include the World Series of Philately and Most Popular Champion of Champions competitions. The Royal Philatelic Society of London will show 50 frames in the Court of Honor. Finally, there are 80 entries in the literature competition. Most award winners will be announced at a reception at 4PM Saturday August 14.

Seminars and Meetings: the AFDCS will host seminars on the Carol Gordon FDC catalog, FDC Show and Tell, Isle of Man FDCs, An FDC Exhibitors Wish List: Cachet Images that Tell the Story, 2021 First Day Ceremony Update and ACPS Catalog Update, and Collecting FDCs Topically. Meetings include the American Ceremony Program Society (ACPS) annual meeting and auction, Colorano collectors, 7-1-71 Affair chapter meeting and the annual cachet contest discussion. A schedule will be available on the AFDCS and APS websites shortly.

AFDCS President’s Banquet and Cachet Contest Results: the AFDCS President’s Banquet is scheduled for 7PM Thursday August 12. The winners of the 2020 AFDCS Cachet Contest will be announced during the banquet. Details are still being finalized; check the AFDCS website for updated information.

Co-host food events: The ATA President’s Reception will be Friday August 13 at a local restaurant. Tickets will be available on the ATA website shortly. The GASS Celebration Banquet is Saturday August 14 at 7PM at the Embassy Suites. The Americover, NTSS, and StampShow Grand, Reserve Grand, and Single Frame Grand awards will be announced at this event along with the World Series of Philately, Single Frame Champion of Champions and literature Grand/Reserve Grand awards winners. AFDCS, APS and ATA lifetime achievement award winners will be recognized. Tickets are $70.00 each and are currently available at classic.stamps.org/SS-Function-Tickets.

AFDCS Business and Membership Meeting: the AFDCS business and membership meeting will be held on Friday August 13 at 9AM. Depending on available connectivity, this meeting and other AFDCS events may be available via Zoom.

Cachetmaker Bourse: the cachetmaker bourse will be held on Saturday August 14 from 10AM to 4PM on the show floor adjacent to the USPS sales area. At present, ten cachetmakers have signed up with additional tables available. Signup information can be found at stamps.org/great-american-stamp-show/cachetmakers.

Post-Convention Dinner: we will have our usual Sunday night dinner at a local restaurant. Details have not yet been finalized.

Foster Miller
Americover Show Chair
showinfo@afdcs.org

Below is a FDC collector-centric floorplan for the show, subject to change. Click for a larger view:

Let’s Do This!
Great American Stamp Show: Chicago 2021
Statement from Scott D. English, American Philatelic Society Executive Director

In March, we announced that we were moving into the next planning phase for the Great American Stamp Show. To make the show financially viable for both dealers and the American Philatelic Society, we needed to meet specific benchmarks. I am pleased to announce we’ve completed those benchmarks, and the Great American Stamp Show will happen.

We called on our philatelic community to make plans to attend, and the response has been overwhelming! Good news and bad news: Our hotel blocks are filled for both the Embassy Suites and the DoubleTree hotel. If you haven’t booked your room yet, we will get additional rooms for those planning to attend.

To the collectors, exhibitors, societies, and dealers who made commitments to attend the show: You made this possible. On behalf of the American Philatelic Society, American Topical Society, and the American First Day Cover Society, thank you for rising to the occasion!

I would like to thank the APS Board of Directors for their faith in our fantastic team here at the APS. There have been so many developments over the past three months, and they’ve proven agile and responsive. Thank you to our partners at the American Topical Association and the American First Day Cover Society for their trust and support throughout this process. We promise to deliver a show to remember. Thanks to our partners at American Stamp Dealers Association, especially our old friend and colleague, Dana Guyer, for rallying the dealers.

Most importantly, I want to thank Wendy Masorti and Sarah Myers, our Shows team, for their tireless work in planning the show, responding at all hours to questions and concerns, and getting us across the goal line. It’s hard to believe this, the first show for both of them! Thanks to Ken Martin, our experienced hand at stamp shows, for his guidance and support to our rookie team.

To the dealers who have not committed to the show, look at the overwhelming response so far. We’re all planning to come to Chicago to support our dealer community after the challenging year. You will not want to miss this show!

The COVID pandemic has challenged all of us in the hobby, and we have emerged stronger from it. The response over the past two months is more proof of that. We’re not out of the woods just yet, so be vigilant, be safe, and be in Chicago in August for the Great American Stamp Show!

Show Details:

Dates: August 12-15, 2021

Location: Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, Illinois

Hosts: American Philatelic Society, American Topical Association, and American First Day Cover Society

Sponsor: United States Postal Service

For More Information click here