Sno-King Stamp Club Philatelic News

Transcription

1 Everett, 2 nd Wednesday, 7:30 PM 9 PM Snohomish County PUD 2320 California Street Sno-King Stamp Club Philatelic News Edmonds, 3 rd Friday, 7 PM 9 PM South County Senior Center 220 South Railroad Avenue Volume 22 May, 2016 Number 5 Online at: copies of these newsletters available there, too! Everett Meeting - Wednesday, May 11 th, 7:30 PM - Presentation by Steve LaVergne - North Vietnamese government issued stamps celebrating its successes against the U.S. military - These stamps tell a story of the Vietnam War, as seen from Hanoi. They offer a fascinating and intriguing glimpse into North Vietnam's use of wartime stamp issues as propaganda and as morale boosters for a population called upon to make significant sacrifices in the fight against South Vietnam and its American allies. Most meetings also include show-and-tell, along with time to buy and sell stamps Edmonds Meeting - Friday, May 20 th, 7 PM - Buy, Sell, Trade, Show-and-Tell, and Visit Come and enjoy some good company try it out if you haven t made it to one in the past Club Officers President: Steve LaVergne ; stampingsteve42@hotmail.com Vice President: Terry Ferrell, ; tbferrell@juno.com Treasurer: Ray Anderson, ; rand37@frontier.com Secretary: Ruth Stevens, ; wastevens@frontier.com Program Chairman: Webmaster & http: //sno-kingstampclub.freehostia.com/ Newsletter Editor: Kurt Lange, ; ktk.lange@frontier.com Everett meeting dates at the PUD: (2 nd Wednesday of each month) 5/11, 6/8, 7/13, (Aug BBQ), 9/14, 10/12, 11/9, (Dec dinner) Edmonds meeting dates at the South County Senior Center: (on the 3 rd - or sometimes 4 th - Friday of the month) 5/20, 6/17, 7/22, (Aug BBQ), 9/23, 10/21, (none in Nov), (Dec dinner) May, 2016 Sno-King Stamp Club Philatelic News 1

2 President s Notes for this Month During the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese government issues stamps celebrating its successes against the U.S. military. I will present these stamps as May's program for the Everett meeting. Twice, I displayed these stamps as an exhibit at our annual stamp show. Years have passed, and we have many members who did not see the exhibit. Those who may have seen it are in for a refresher. This will be the first time these stamps have served as the focus of a program, not merely an exhibit. These stamps tell a story of the Vietnam War, as seen from Hanoi. They offer a fascinating and intriguing glimpse into North Vietnam's use of wartime stamp issues as propaganda and as morale boosters for a population called upon to make significant sacrifices in the fight against South Vietnam and its American allies. Programs for future months include another dealer night and another session with circuit books from the American Philatelic Society. One dealer expressed interest in being part of dealer night. He was not available for the May meeting. In August, the club will hold its annual picnic. It is not too early to identify the location of the picnic. It should either be at the home of a member or in some centrally located public park. I received many compliments on the feature that appeared in the April newsletter. This was Kurt Lange's well-researched compendium of paper used in the printing of stamps. I, for one, didn't realize there were so many varieties of paper used by postal administrations over the last 176 years. Thank you, Kurt, for an impressive contribution. (Ed. Note : well thanks for the compliments but as mentioned at the top of the article I was only responsible for finding the info online. To be clear, I did not actually make the article. But, thanks! KL) Some scammer failed in an attempt to help the club dispose of its healthy bank account. Treasurer Ray Anderson alerted me to an ostensibly originating with my account. Assuming my identity, the messenger instructed Ray Anderson, as treasurer, to remit a thousand dollars and more to a party in Texas. I confirmed that I sent no such . I could find no record of this in my out-box. The club's financial affairs are simple enough that we have expenses which rarely vary from year to year. We write checks to the same parties we sent funds to last year and the year before that. Evidently, the scammer opened the club's web site and noted the addresses of the president and treasurer. He is proficient enough to create an that appears to originate from someone else. As a pre-teen collector, one of the first stamps hinged in my Majestic stamp album was a low-value British Guiana pictorial depicting Kaieteur Falls. So, I appreciated a feature on this tourist attraction which appeared in the travel section of the Seattle Sunday Times of May 1. Among the fascinating details I learned was that the falls was named for a tribal chief who sacrificed his life by going over the falls in a boat, this to propitiate a great spirit. At 741 feet, Kaieteur Falls is no place for even the hardiest of daredevils. Recently, it required the spirit of a daredevil for any tourist to reach the falls. To get there, you have to travel through Guyana's capital, where you risk becoming a crime victim, even in daylight. May, 2016 Sno-King Stamp Club Philatelic News 2

3 Some time ago, I acquired a 1962 Scott catalog as part of an accumulation. I was piqued to notice that it once was the property of the library of Seattle's Roosevelt High School. This made me nostalgic for the days when stamp catalogs found a welcome home on the shelves of a high school library. In May, the long-awaiting election of officers for the American Philatelic Society will take place. Many of us have received mailings from competing slates of candidates for offices and board positions. All the candidacies have a common theme, which appears to be, "Make American Philately Great Again." Each candidate emphasizes the need to expand the hobby and increase APS membership. Most candidates tout impressive resumes. My quandary is that without personal contact with candidates, I don't know who is best qualified to achieve the goals that all of the candidates seem to agree on. Previously, I have spoken favorably of Kelleher's Collector's Connection, a monthly publication which promotes the Kelleher auction business and carries articles of interest to stamp collectors. The latest issue features an article about the collection of author Ayn Rand. Ayn Rand was a celebrated novelist in her 60s when she discovered philately through an encounter with Jacques Minkus, who operated a stamp counter in Gimbel's department store in New York. Her novels, "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged," celebrate an ultra form in individualism and condemn most forms of government interference. Conservative politicians from Ronald Reagan to Paul Ryan cite her as influences for their political philosophies. Ayn Rand's philosophy can be summed up in the title of a pamphletsized book she wrote. The title was "The Virtues of Selfishness." Among her writings was "Why I Like Stamp Collecting," which appeared in a 1971 issue of Minkus Stamp Journal. Philately relaxed her. The ability to relax eluded her until she opened her first Master Global album. She used her impressive gifts as a writer to laud the "infectiously irresistible enthusiasm" she discovered at Gimbel's stamp counter. She had an unusual, though perceptive, theory of the hobby's appeal. She commented that many philatelists have demanding careers. "Stamp collecting is a hobby for busy, purposeful, ambitious people," she wrote. Many collectors are professionals whose careers require a "ruthless discipline of total dedication." They are drawn to the hobby because "an hour spent on activity whose sole purpose is one's own pleasure, becomes such a restoring and invigorating life line." Busy people who work in "an isolated and stressed aspect of existence," she wrote, find in collecting stamps a refuge in a "clean, orderly, peaceful sunlit world." She went on to write, "When one turns to stamps, one enters a special world by a process resembling a response to art. The pursuit of the unique, the unusual, the different, the rare is the motive power of stamp collecting. It endows the hobby with the suspense and excitement of a treasure hunt." May, 2016 Sno-King Stamp Club Philatelic News 3

4 When Ayn Rand shopped for stamps, she did not use a want list or a catalog marked with stamps already in her possession. She had such a remarkable memory she made a mental note of every stamp in her collection. As of 1970, she had 46,000 stamps in eight Master Globals. For 1970, that was an impressive collection, especially for a collector new to the hobby just a few years earlier. One of her favorite possessions was the one-dollar Trans-Mississippi stamp. Who knows if she would have transferred her affections to the 33-cent stamp which bears her likeness. USPS - New Issues for May May _?_ Pets May 28 World Stamp Show NY-2016 Folio May 29 Repeal of the Stamp Act May, 2016 Sno-King Stamp Club Philatelic News 4

5 May 30 Service Cross Medals May 31 Views of Our Planets May 31 Pluto Explored! May, 2016 Sno-King Stamp Club Philatelic News 5

6 Club notes for the April Meetings We had a guest at the April 13th meeting. His name is Chuang Tong Lee. He is a resident of Surrey BC and attended our Show in the spring. He is Chinese and prior to retirement was a professor in China for 50 years. He is a collector of Chinese Stamps from the Communist period. He is in search of people who have these stamps, with the hopes of purchasing them. Jack Congrove is looking for volunteers for SEAPEX in September. There are many opportunities to be involved if you have a few hours to donate and are planning on attending. Steve LaVergne has the sign-up sheet and would like to hear from you if this is something you would be interested in doing. The Club got an APS Circuit book for us to shop in. It was quite successful with over $400 worth of materials being purchased by members to build their collections. We choose the topics for the Circuit and APS puts it together per that request. If you wish to be included in the next round, let us know what your interests are and join us in our treasure hunt. We are still in search of members that would be willing to put on a program for a meeting. We'd like to know what you're interested in and have you share it with the rest of the membership. It's always fun to leave a meeting with having learned something new. The meeting was completed with an Auction. Many attractive items changed hands. We had a guest at the meeting in Edmonds. He was a previous member of Sno-King and was searching for ways to determine the value of United States Stamps that he had inherited from his father. We also searched through some stamps that were brought by members. The Edmonds meeting is a great way to build on your collection and not break the bank. Come join us at either meeting -- we have a lot of fun! May, 2016 Sno-King Stamp Club Philatelic News 6