[The AFDCS got an “offer too good to refuse” for special programs at the National Postal Museum, and has revised its pre-Americover Tour. This is the revised press release]
AFDCS REVISES AMERICOVER TOUR TO CONCENTRATE ON POSTAL MUSEUM
Group Will Attend Special Sundman Lecture On Parks
The American First Day Cover Society’s pre-Americover tour will include special presentations at the National Postal Museum.
Americover 2016 will be held in Falls Church, Va., August 19-21, just outside Washington, D.C. On the way to the museum, the bus will drop participants off at the National Mall for several hours to see whichever monuments and museums they choose.
At the NPM, former National Park Service interpretive planner Paul Lee will present a special Sundman lecture, “Parks, Postmarks, and Postmasters: Post Offices Within The National Park System.” The program combines real-life drama and human interest.This year is the centennial of the National Park Service.
The Maynard Sundman lecture series at the Museum features talks by authors and expert philatelists on stamps and stamp collecting. Lee has worked at parks in the U.S., American Samoa and Northern Mariana Islands.
After lunch, NPM Chief Curator Daniel Piazza (left) will give a guided tour of “Trailblazing: 100 Years of Our National Parks,” followed by a tour of the rest of the facility. Members of the group will have a chance to see their own cachets in the Owney the Postal Dog FDC exhibit.
“This tour gives our members and guests both a chance to explore some of Washington’s most famous sites and to attend a private tour and lecture at the National Postal Museum,” said Chris Lazaroff, chair of Americover 2016.
Membership is not required to take the tour.
The price, which covers bus transportation and a box lunch provided by Donald Sundman of Mystic Stamp Company, is $50 per person if purchased before July 1st, and $55 after that date. 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 request a copy of the Americover 2016 event order form by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope to the AFDCS, PO Box 44, Annapolis Jct., MD 20701-
0044..
Each year, a group from Americover tours local sites the day before the show opens. There is also a Sunday evening event involving dinner; this year, it will be at P.J. Skidoos, a local restaurant favorite.
There is a special Americover room rate of $99 at the Falls Church Marriott Fairview Park Hotel, which includes Wednesday and Sunday nights. There also will be two bourses (commercial dealers and cachetmakers) at the show, a banquet, meetings, a youth table, a hospitality suite, live and silent auctions, seminars, a dedication ceremony on Sunday for the Soda Fountain Favorites stamps, and a forum by a postal official involved with first day covers.
For more information on Americover 2016 and the AFDCS, contact the AFDCS at P.O. Box 16277, Tucson, Ariz. 85732-6277, email showinfo@afdcs.org or visit www.afdcs.org.
New York City Subway
Central Park Zoo
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Number of stamps: 20
The New York Collector’s Strip – GB Version
Rates – 1st up to 100g, 1st Large up to 100g, Euro 20g/World 10g, Europe 100g, Worldwide up to 20g, Worldwide up to 100g. This product will feature the ‘World Stamp Show NY2016’ overprint and only be available from Tallents House by mail order. Price: £7.75 per strip Code: ZS044
On April 28, 2016, in Dulles, VA, the U.S. Postal Service® will issue the USA nondenominated, nonprofit organization stamp (5-cent value), in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) coil of 10,000 (Item 777500).
On April 28, 2016, in Dulles, VA, the U.S. Postal Service will issue the USA nondenominated, nonprofit organization stamp (5-cent value), in one design in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) coil of 10,000 (Item 777500).
The Bridge of Strings in Jerusalem was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava so this makes for a most fitting visual image to express the bridge of friendship developed over 30 years between Israel and Spain.
Our stamp for Spring stands out in this collection with its stunning red wildflowers. What a great season that symbolizes blooming and renewal!
by Natan Yonatan, “The Sand Will Remember”.
BELLEFONTE, PA – Construction of a new $2.6 million library caused a roof leak at the American Philatelic Center, headquarters of the American Philatelic Research Library (APRL) and the American Philatelic Society (APS). During a rainy weekend, water leaked into the recently-completed George Turner Rare Book Room threatening some of the hardest-to-find philatelic literature in world. Quick action by the library staff, with assistance from Penn State University Libraries, minimized the long-term damage to books and other material.
Along with putting the library materials out to dry, Murray contacted Sue Kellerman, head of the Penn State University Libraries Preservation Department. Kellerman and members of her staff were soon on site to assess the damage and provide expert advice. They even lent the APRL equipment, including fans to circulate air and hygrometers to measure humidity.
As long as the emergency conservation measures are effective, the monetary impact for the APRL will be small and related to treatment of rare books. The library will attempt to replace unsalvageable auction catalogs through donations. For a list of the catalogs lost and information about donating replacement copies, see http://blog.stamplibrary.org/?p=3106.
United States Postal Headquarters
United States Postal Headquarters
OTTAWA, March 1, 2016 /CNW/ – With spring just around the corner, Canada Post continues its perennially popular flower series with two new stamps featuring the billowy and showy hydrangea cultivars beloved by Canadian gardeners. A celebration of beauty to come, these beautiful blossoms continue a long tradition of flower stamps often sought after by gardeners, plant enthusiasts and brides.
The stamps illustrate yet another attractive quality of hydrangeas. While white is a common colour, some species develop flowers of different colours, depending on the pH of the soil. Acidic soil creates blue flowers, neutral soil creates cream-coloured blossoms, and alkaline soil produces purple or pink, as exemplified by the stamp image of Endless Summer.
The stamps measure 26 mm x 32 mm and are available together in booklets of 10 stamps and coils of 50 stamps. They were printed by Canadian Bank Note Company and use lithography in six colours. The souvenir sheet of both stamps measures 120 mm x 84 mm. The Official First Day Cover bears the cancellation site of Sunny Corner, NB. Designed by Benny Corrigan, with art directed by Karen Satok and David Sacha of Toronto’s Sputnik Design Partners Inc., the stamps were illustrated by Montréal artist Marie-Élaine Cusson.
One postcard is illustrated with a close-up image of two species of hydrangea. The white flower featured on the stamp is the cultivar Annabelle, a selection of smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea aborescens). Native to the United States, Annabelle is one of the most cold hardy hydrangeas. The pink flower on the second stamp is Endless Summer, a cultivar of bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla). Native to eastern Asia, this species will also produce blue or lavender flowers, depending on soil acidity or alkalinity.
The other postcard features two selections of hydrangea, aligned in an alternating pattern of diagonal lines. The pink flower featured on the stamp is Endless Summer, a cultivar of bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla). Native to eastern Asia, this species will also produce blue or lavender flowers, depending on soil acidity or alkalinity. Endless Summer is unique among hydrangeas in that it flowers on both old and new growth. On the second stamp is the snow-white flower of Annabelle, a cultivar of smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea aborescens). Annabelle, native to the United States, is one of the most cold hardy hydrangeas.
OTTAWA, March 8, 2016 /CNW/ – Canada Post today issued a new stamp that pays tribute to the women who fought and won the right to vote 100 years ago in this country. While the suffrage movement began to form nearly four decades earlier, the struggle to secure the vote did not significantly advance until the First World War, when women worked in hospitals, factories and offices, and often raised families alone, spurring demands for equality. In 1916, women in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta became the first in Canada to win the right to cast provincial ballots.
The Official First Day Cover features one of the most important figures of the women’s suffrage movement, Nellie McClung. Her portrait is set over an image of the 1915 petition to the Government of Manitoba that helped secure full political rights for women in that province. At the bottom is a black and gold banner reading “Votes for Women,” one of several artifacts currently on display in a women’s suffrage exhibit atWinnipeg’s Manitoba Museum.
After Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan, women gained their voting rights in British Columbia and Ontario in 1917, Nova Scotia in 1918, New Brunswick and Yukon in 1919, Prince Edward Island in 1922, Newfoundland in 1925 (before it became a Canadian province), Quebec in 1940 and the Northwest Territories in 1951. However, it wasn’t until 1960 when all Canadians, including Inuit and First Nations, were eligible to vote regardless of race or ethnicity.
5036 (49¢) Quilled Paper Heart
The cost of mailing a letter in the U.S. went up three cents two years ago, but it was a temporary measure because the U.S. Postal Service was in serious financial trouble. The deal was the rate hike would last two years.
Not surprisingly, the USPS is crying the blues (and how appropriate the Sarah Vaughan stamp will be issued three days before the reduction). Here’s the USPS press release:
