Stamp Column Archives

The Glassine Surfer Column Archive

This column originally appeared in the American Philatelic Society's monthly magazine, "The American Philatelist." Since then some of the information may be out-of-date depending on how far back you're reading.

July 2001

In the early 1990's explorers at universities told tales of the New World of the Internet.  In 1992 Columbus, actually Berners-Lee, creates the code of html.  In 1995 AOL and Windows 95 brought pioneers to the New World of the Internet, and by 1998 settlers successfully colonized the land.  Traders invented e-commerce.  

In 1999, investors in the Motherland of bricks and mortar poured millions into wilderness gold mines, and in 2000 the Internet gold fields went bust.  The proverbial bubble burst.  Yet in '01 the 'Net's farmers, miners and towns people are reaccessing, picking up the pieces and moving forward.

Just as San Francisco survived after Sutter's Mill closed down, and England weathered the South Sea Bubble, the 'Net is just changing its colors like the chameleon it really is.

Though the 'Net of '97-'00 may be the only experience some have had with the Web, it was a very different place before '96 and will be again after '01, and luckily for us stamp collectors we all have drawers full of real face-value postage just in case we need a backup.

Treasures

Bob Ingraham's site is a philatelist's personal stamp and postal history site.  As Bob says, it's a broad-ranging website that he calls "Ephemeral Treasures," which are stories told through stamps and covers.

Under "Stamps & Covers of the World Wars" you'll find: Baby Elizabeth Ann Morgan and D-Day; a Jerseyman's philatelic protest against Hitler; the German occupation; the US's Allied Nations issue; and "Joe Hicks and the Battle for Europe."

This last study follows the tragically brief career of a bombardier in the Royal Canadian Air Force through postal history that came to Ingraham's attention from a post card found in an antique shop.

In Ingraham's "Propliner Postcard" section he covers his love of vintage commercial air travel.  There's a section for the Lockheed L-188 Electra II and the Douglas Sleeper Transport.

Ingraham was a journalist and an educator, who learned html about two years ago, and has used those tools to publish and share his growing research.  Visit and enjoy this site.  I'm sure you will.

If this site were a book, I'd read on vacation at the beach and again in my easy chair over the winter.  

Ephemeral Treasures
http://www.ingraham.ca/bob/

Ukrainian Update

In April's column I mentioned an online Ukranian stamp catalogue and immediately heard from Ingert Kuzych, the President of the Ukranian Philatelic and Numismatic Society, who called my attention to another Web site.

The Ukrainian Electronic Stamp Album is far and away the best online source for an online catalog of Ukrainian stamps, so make a point of inserting this URL in your browser and enjoying some virtual stamps.

The Ukrainian Electronic Stamp Album
http://www.compusmart.ab.ca/vesna/

And if you find a source that should be mentioned, or of you, like Ingert Kuzych, use a superior resource, please pass it on.  E-mail me so we can help share these great stamp resources.  

Encyclopedia

Some stamp auction houses do an enormous amount of research describing the lots in their sales, and sometimes auction catalogs are more important to collectors than many standard catalogues.  Just check out eBay's stamp publications category for auction catalogs for sale.

The Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries has a notable section on their Web site called the "Encyclopedia of Stamps," which contains a wide range of material on classic US stamps.