Sociable Stamp Society

This is our blog for current stamp news and views of interest to the philatelist and beginner. Daily updates provide items on shows, new issues, events, what's selling, and timely facts.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

They're all Quacks

For all my talk yesterday about the nature of "what's new" here's a tidbit that I overlooked.

Ducks

The Federal Duck Stamp turns 75 with the 2008/09 issue and to mark the event they are holding the judging of entries for the 75th anniversary issue down in Florida, at the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island during "Ding" Darling Days, Oct. 8-14. (Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling is the father of the Duck Stamp, which raises money through their sale for the protection of wild life and waterfowl.)

This time artists depicted one of five waterfowl: the Mallard, American Green-winged Teal, Pintail, Canvasback, or Harlequin Duck. A panel of five judges with expertise in waterfowl biology, stamp design, and artistic detail will select the winner.

Luckily for us, the Ft. Myers, Florida, News-Press has a slide show of all of the entries, and more info is online at the Federal Duck Stamp Contest site.

How Much?

And in response to all the questions I get regarding the value of this or that stamp found inside Aunt Clarabell's old book or some kid's school lunch box, I say "What is the value of an entire kingdom when the king says, 'A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse.' On the other hand, if you want to know what somebody else will pay you for your stamp, look it up in your catalog."

St. Rowlands School of Hinge Sticking
The answer to yesterday's stamp question:

Q: In an auction, what's a shill?

A: A "shill" is a phoney bidder. The shill works with the seller or the broker to help drive up the price on an item.

Today's New Stamp Question

Q: The motto "Damus Petimus Que Vicissim" appears on the world's most famous stamp. What does it mean?

"This novel is not to be tossed lightly aside, but to be hurled with great force." - Dorothy Parker

W/ Da Buzzz

Buzzzing StampUniverse

This is the day of the week known as hump-day and a time to look back and plan ahead. And ask the question "So, what's new?" And the answer, in the universe of stamps is "not much, and you?" because the stamp universe has defined and closed in on itself, like the world of antiques.

They don't make them like they used to anymore and they stopped making collectible stamps for all intents and purposes somewhere in the 1960's. New stamp issues themselves have ceased to be relevant. The 1869 US issues are still better than anything else in the last 40 years.

(There have been interesting oddities here and there since then, but they're spurious and singular, bearing little resemblance to the now-antiques that moved the world's thoughts and information in the heyday of stamps.)

Today, what's new in stamps can only be what's new with the people and techniques surrounding the stamps: not in the stamps themselves. Paper archival techniques. Discoveries and stamp archeology. New methods of presentations for collections. Re-configuring hobby communications for the Web. Publishing new handbooks or reprinting the old.

So, what's the buzzz?

To me, it's the Web's collecting boom. Online auctions are everywhere: the world is really for sale. And while this is great for all concerned with buying and selling, finding and acquiring, the boom from the stamp-info-explosion hasn't been quite as loud. To me, it seems as if philately is at a point in time such as when a few confused Europeans saw their first Chinese fireworks show.

And I'm looking for the stamper who takes the tools of the Web and sets about to make the first stamp-info-explosion. That's be really something. That'd be a big bang.

In the meantime, I'll keep watching the Web for hints of life in the StampUniverse, but if you've seen something you want to talk about, add it here by adding a COMMENT.

St. Rowlands School of Hinge Sticking
The answer to yesterday's stamp question:

Q: Who was Jean Sperati?

A: He was a master forger. He made imitation stamps of many 19th century classics. He mailed an expensive stamp from France to a collector in Portugal without paying customs. In order to avoid jail, Sperati confessed that the stamp was not genuine, but one of his own works and was valueless. Today some of his stamps are more valuable than the originals he forged. "The Work of Jean Sperati" exposes and tells how to identify his forgeries.

Today's New Stamp Question

Q: In an auction, what's a shill?

"Mediocrity requires aloofness to preserve its dignity." - Charles G. Dawes

Short & Sweet

St. Rowlands School of Hinge Sticking
The answer to yesterday's stamp question:

Q: What part of the "Inverted Jenny" is upside-down? The frame or the vignette?

A: The central blue vignette. The red frame was printed first on the white paper, so that the sheets were turned around and incorrectly fed into the press for the second printing of the blue Jenny biplane.

Today's New Stamp Question

Q: Who was Jean Sperati?

"If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin." - Charles Darwin

the lanai guy | 6:49 AM | 0 comments |

Monday, September 24, 2007

Mitä kuuluu?

Mitä kuuluu?

The weekend was sunny, blue, breezy, and warm in Vermont, but it's just a last tease before the cold, wet days of stick season. I spent much of the evenings watching DVD's from Netflix, and yes, one of them has a stamp collecting angle, if you'll just follow my drift.

The movie was "Mother of Mine," a 2005 telling of a Finnish boy evacuated from Suomi to Sweden during World War Two. (PBS is rehashing the Big One on PBS too.) Briefly, this is a small story told with direct emotion and artistry, and I definitely want to see more of Maria Lundqvist, who plays the foster mother.

This is either the second or third Finnish movie I've gotten from Netflix, and it's all due to that day long ago when I was sorting stamps and wound up with a pile of Saarinen Lions, the 1918 Finnish definitives.

I like large sets and good design is important. From that basis, I focused on the postmarks, being someone who appreciates the details they add to the stamp's story. Naturally, if you're a natural detective, like me, you need maps and local geographic information to help complete the story.

In short order, I was reading Finnish history to sort out the reasons for events and stamps of 1905, 1918, 1939, etc. It was a short leap to covers, censorship markings, and war post. I read about the civil war, the winter war, the continuation war. Mannerheim, sisu, Helsinki.

The stories of events soon led to the stories of myth: the Kalevala, the national epic formulated when the Russian Tsars ruled the country. From there I delved into Finnish music. A friend in Helsinki sent tapes of 1940/50's popular music and Sibelius, a perennial favorite of mine. I listened to the kantele, rustic folk, and tunes from the war radio.

The next step was the blasted language barrier, and I took lessons with a Finnish woman who interspersed each evening with stories about Tooloo (neighborhood of Helsinki), Mannerheimintie, and growing up in Finland. At that time I was steeped in this Finnish-thing. (My favorite t-shirts had Finnish lions on them.)

Today my passion for Finland has cooled. I'm not immersed in it like I used to be. I don't pursue it, but whenever it finds me or whenever I catch of glimpse of it, I pay attention. I seek out DVDs like "Aideista Parhain" (Mother of Mine) or "Mies Vailla Menneisyyttä" (Man Without a Past).

Last night, I pulled out a box of unsorted maxim cards, postcards, and ephemera to see what I was missing.

Hyvää päivää.

St. Rowlands School of Hinge Sticking

The answer to last Friday's stamp question:
Q: The inscription "Ultramar" denotes what country?"

A: Cuba

Today's New Stamp Question

Q: What part of the "Inverted Jenny" is upside-down? The frame or the vignette?

Remember, it's not the principle of the thing... it's the money! - Daffy Duck

the lanai guy | 7:36 AM | 0 comments |