My first full summer of employment at the APS was wonderful. In June, I “attended” Summer Seminar on its outskirts as the event’s photographer and videographer. I talked to attendees about their collections over lunch, sat in on courses for a few minutes at a time, met young members of the Young Philatelic Leaders Fellowship class, and soaked up stray bits of knowledge.
A few weeks later in July, I joined the APS staff in welcoming volunteers for Volunteer Work Week. I met Charlie and Paula Belair, Kathy Maxwell, Tom and Laurie Bieniosek, Dick Colberg, and many others with whom I have since had the pleasure of meeting again, some while working on articles in the AP. You could not have asked for a more pleasant crowd of people to flood the building, and their high spirits were infectious.
In August, I attended my first APS StampShow in Omaha, and was buoyed by the generosity of the people I met there, who guided me through the bourse and exhibits, introduced me to their friends, and talked to me about their philatelic plans. My first “summer of philately” showed me the true spirit of organized philately – where sharing and collaboration are priorities and one person’s actions can do a great deal of good. And every year in April we celebrate and recognize this again.
Scott English has shared in “Our Story” the impact that you have had on the APS in 2021, and the annual development report beginning on page 350 of The American Philatelist goes into even more detail on the subject. I will not attempt to say it any better. You deserve our sincere thanks.
In this issue
We welcome to our pages Raymond Burby, whose article, “Natural Disaster Philately,” shows just a portion of the material available to collect related to natural disasters. For any collector, but especially those who collect topicals, Burby demonstrates how creative thinking can expand the bounds of your collection far beyond stamps alone.
Nancy Clark returns to the AP with “An Oddity Uncovers a Short-Lived Registry Plan.” While Nancy begins with the purchase of a lead-sealed registered package sack tag, she makes stops at the Ogden & San Francisco railway and its creation, the well-known final spike driven at Promontory Summit, a small mining town in Nevada, and registered mail reform in the early 1900s. Meanwhile, she found resources to identify this unusual “sack-jacket” tag from all around, including Frank Scheer of the Railway Postal Museum, attesting again to the time and knowledge generously offered by many in this hobby.
Five U.S. stamp designers – some of whom are at cross-purposes – create a design for the 350th anniversary of shipbuilding in Maine. The original designer – modernist painter Marguerite Thompson Zorach – ends up with little credit and major gripes with the finished product, which was voted “the least necessary new issue of 1957” by Linn’s Stamp News. Charles Posner returns to his survey of the U.S. issues of the 1950s with an odd tale and an odder stamp.
Fine art and paintings must be a sub-theme of this month’s issue, as Tim Huxley contributed a book review of Samuel Raybone’s Gustave Caillebotte: Worker, Collector, Painter. I personally was delighted to learn the extent of my favorite painter’s contributions to philately, which readers can check out from the APRL just as soon as I’m finished reading it.
Finally, by now many of you will have heard that Gini Horn, former APRL librarian, passed away in February. Scott Tiffney has written a heartfelt memorial to her and her great impact on all of us here, and on the library today. While I only met Gini a few times after her retirement, I know that many of you got to know her well in her 25-year tenure at the APS. She will be greatly missed by all.
A fresh coat of paint for the PLR
The first quarter issue of the Philatelic Literature Review is wheeling towards subscriber’s mailboxes now, and features some changes, both cosmetic and structural. The result is a quarterly journal with much more space for articles on conducting research, hidden gems of resources, the future of digitization, and important records of philatelic history. This particular issue continues the theme of January’s Stamp Catalogs special issue, including a “how-to-use” guide to Stanley Gibbons catalogs and a set of catalogs published by APS-affiliated specialty societies, among many other topics.
There’s never been a better time to become a subscriber to the PLR. All are welcome! Find out how to join us at www.stamps.org/library.
Please keep your feedback coming and share your views. Remember: if you wish to see an always-improving American Philatelist, you – our readers and APS members – must become a part of this exciting journey. Reach out with your questions, concerns, and suggestions. Write a letter to the editor ([email protected].) More importantly, volunteer to participate. This is your American Philatelist. My email is [email protected]. Letters by regular mail are always welcome and will be responded to in kind.