Stamp Collecting for Beginners and Philatelists
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Stamp Column Archives
Glassine Surfer February 2004
In Canada and in the winter states of the USA white snow and black ice continue to exact their toll and make life miserable. The only saving grace for this dark and gloomy month is that February is a shorter than most. Thankfully. And if we don't sneak out to Florida for two weeks or get our Prozac prescription refilled, no one will begrudge us spreading out our stamps in the dining room for the duration and acting loopy when we find the proverbial mis-perfed needle in the haystack. Yes, philately was the original psychotropic treatment, though some may say stamp collecting is only a 19th century version of Zen.
Match and Medicine
The private die proprietary stamps were first issued by the US to pay for the Civil War. They were also applied in 1898 for the Spanish American War.
Bob Hohertz, who we already know for his "Revenue Stamped Paper" website, now has "Match and Medicine" to his credit. It is one of the easier to navigate sites around.
The main sections are listed on the right-hand side. There is a general info page, a thumbnail page, and several category pages, such as matches, canned fruit, and perfume. Click your favorite and you're off.
The thumbnails are stamp album pages that lead to full size scans when clicked. They then lead to annotated pages when the individual stamp on the page is clicked. The simple logic of the organization is elegant and something I wish we all could do with our collections.
When you click a category, you'll get a list of manufacturer's which will lead you to a page about their issues, well illustrated. For instance under "perfumes," the "Young, Ladd & Coffin" page reveals seven of their issues along with descriptive text.
Hohertz knows that some of the files are large, but as more and more of stamp collectors move to DSL or cable, it'll be less and less of a wait.
Though the site is fully fleshed out, this like all sites, will grow with additions, and a collection of 1898 Provisional Labels could soon be grafted on.
Match and Medicine
http://www.rdhinstl.com/mm/mmb1.htm
Glassine Surfer 2.0 beta
This column started in 1998 in the halcyon days of the wild wild Web, but five years later, things have changed. This column will now be a quarterly, and I'll have to change the focus to accommodate the switch from 12 to four installments.
Though I'll try to keep current with new and upcoming stamp site happenings, such as the "Match and Medicine" notice, that might wind up being a secondary focus, as more overview material becomes primary. I think software and web tools and developments may have to be shelved entirely for lack of space.
But all that aside, I need your e-mail input now more than ever. I've always relied on your comments to guide me, and now I need to know what directions would better serve you.
After dinner in your moment of reflection send me an e-mail about what you want in the Glassine Surfer column. Don't be shy, and if you have harsh opinions just let me know.
Do you want news and announcements of new or improved stamp sites? Do you want Web tips and tricks? Do you want to read what dealers are thinking? Do you want me to stop mentioning oddball websites? Do you read GS just for stamps and don't care for the software notices?
The bulk of the old Glassine Surfer was about half stamp collecting content sites (as opposed to sales and dealer URL's) and about half helpful free software and Web sites to make using the Web easier and/or safer.
Would it work out better for you, if the printed column was plain reading and all the links were hosted online only? Would it be valuable to you, if there was a slimmer web-only version online as compensation for nine
Thanks for reading the “Glassine Surfer.”
