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 Since then some of the information may be out-of-date depending on how far back you're reading.

Octobver 1998

[Tongs for Kids]

Stamps are a gateway to the realms of human experience and open doors to learning and exploration to all collectors, most especially for children.  The simple act of figuring out a stamp's homeland takes a child around the world, and after that curiosity takes over.  

Stamps are a wonderful way to find out things about the world and its people, their past, present and hopes for the future.  Ideally school stamp clubs would present students with a gateway to the world, and there are many resources for parents and teachers to check out on the web.

One group has online advice for teachers to mark October as "National Stamp Collecting Month" and tips to use stamps as a teaching tool in lesson planning.  The site is at:
http://library.advanced.org/10320/lessons.htm

Further classroom ideas are available at "Philatelists in the Classroom" at:
http://mailhost.infi.net/~blueagle/Pages/TeachingIdeas.html  

And of course, the APS has a collection of stamp collecting reccomedations for children listed at their web site. Just click over to:  
http://www.west.net/~stamps1/apsjoe/youthlnk.html

In addition to these sources, many local stamp clubs are happy to lend a helping hand, and their knowledge and experience would help enrich the childrens' experience, which is the heart of stamp collecting.

For a list of online links to local stamp collecting clubs, email me at the address below.

2

[PC Pictures on Exhibition]

The web is a visual medium, and a perfect way to display a stamp collection to the entire world.  Online stamp galleries can show you upclose and personal tiny engraver's marks and countless other things.  They can also inspire.

A fascinating part of the Internet for stamp collectors is the steady growth of online stamp galleries, also known as online albums.  With a site, and a scanner, any collector can display her gems to the entire world.  Where else can you view extensive varieties, sometimes 12 times their original size?

There are many sites devoted to highlighting the art and beauty of stamps, and here are a few of them.

AEIOU is supposed to mean the "Annotable Electronic Interactive Oesterreich (=Austria) Universal" information system, though Frederick III never said what it really meant. It could be "Austria erit in orbe ultimo" (Austria will outlast all other powers in the world), or "Alles Erdreich ist Österreich untertan" (The whole world is Austria's subject").  But the gallery of all Austrian commemoratives from 86-96 is a sight to behold.

http://www.aeiou.at/

On the American side of the pond, head on over to a collector's site for poster sized renderings of classic American stamps.  You can trace the interior rivers of the US on the 15 cent C8.  I daresay that web artists could also put in some spawning salmon or meadow deer.

http://members.xoom.com/markforest/

And last but not the least is one of my favorite galleries.  Old Berg's Waterfalls.  This is a topical collection of high, cool waters that grace some of the world's classic designs.  Again, they are rendered in startling clarity and richness.  Just take a look:
http://members.aol.com/oldbeeg/H2Ofalls.html

3

[I hate to ask, but...]

Will your PC expire on New Years 2000?  It's the "Millenium Bug" or "Y2K fever."  Depending on who you read its either a programming bug or a math problem, either the 'Net will end or no one will notice.  (Sounds like Oppenheimer's quandry at Alamagordo in '45.)

Many PCs and software programs date the year with only the last two digits, so that 1900 looks just like 2000 to many PCs.  This two digit dating format is found in hardware, the BIOS, the operating system (of which Windows 95/98 is the most popular) and in software programs.  And when AD 2000 rolls in some your PC might travel back in time to 01 Jan 00, unable to calculate, function or be of much use.

To be 2000-ready, you have to check everything; the hardware, the BIOS, your system and your programs.  You can check your PC hardware and ROM BIOS with the free YMARK2000 program from National Software Testing Laboratories.  This little diagnostic temporaily sets your PC clock to AD 2000 minus 10 sec and then logs your PC's actions as its clock rolls into the pseudo-Millenium.  

(Oddly enough, the vanishing Macintosh was born 2000-ready.
By the time their owners have to scramble for Y2K-type patches and tweaks we may have moved well beyond computers.  Apples have to wait for AD 29,940 for such nonsense.)

The National Software Testing Laboratories is at
http://www.nstl.com/html/ymark_2000.html.

Microsoft help is at
http://www.microsoft.com/year2000.

A stack of links for this PC affliction sits at:
http://www.y2klinks.com/

4a

[FOP, I Love You.]

Ah without the beholder, where'd beauty be?  The US "Flag Over Porch" series is an overwhelming and befuddling mass of issues, varieties, printings and paper, and it shows no sign of letting up.  But for everything on God's green earth, affection abounds for even the ugliest ducklings.  Thus, there is a web site, for and about FOP.  I shall say no more, but hardy souls are invited to drop in and visit at:  
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/7314/

4b

[Carl Sagan once said...]

Victoria's Penny and Tuppence have one thing in common with the FOP: they multiplied in the billions.  Each plate of the Penny Black and the rich Tuppence Blue had 240 individual stamps, and each had a unique code etched into it to prevent forgery.  The Printing Office then used 480 plates.  (Get a calculator if you must know.)  The pre-1864 stamps had code letters punched into the bottom left and right of frames, and then after '64 letters were punched into all four corners.

If you want to see what I mean, you must click over to this site for the magnified pictures, illustratons, tabled and clear explanatory texts.  It makes me wish I had a bag of Penny Blacks to plough through right now.

The site is at:
http://www.kernunnos.com/Philately/GBQVLE.html

5a

[Conspiracy Deciphered.]

Wondering about the secret marks on the bottom edges of your daily mail?  Is the USPS sending your dog messages?  Is "The X-Files" on to something?  Well find out, before it's too late.  You can decipher the Postnet barcodes online, and learn the secrets of robots and optical character recognition.  At the site you can enter the barcode, press enter and, voila, gibberish becomes a ZIP.  All will be revealed.

The Internet Online POSTNET Barcode Decoder by Douglas Boynton Quine is at:
http://users.aol.com/drquine/postnetj.html

5b

[Inscriptions not Heiroglyphics]

The "SCV Stamp Identifier" by S.C.Virtes Stamps is an extensive searchable database of the inscriptions found on stamps. Type in the inscription in question, and the answer returned tells you where the stamp is from.  It also lists the years in which the inscription was used, and even how many stamps were issued with this inscription.

The site address is:
http://www.scvs.com/stamp/ident/

The same problem is solved in a more straight forward way.  The International Society of Worldwide Stamp Collectors has a list of words, phrases and other identifiers compiled from 10 sources.  It's an online page of text, so once it loads, press Ctl-F to find the words you want.

http://www.frontiernet.net/~stamptmf/iswsc/iswsc_ident.html

5c

[Online Watermarks]

Now you can identify watermarks online. This web page has pictures of most watermarks found on stamps and they're cross-referenced.  Click and go to:  
http://www.stampguyz.com/Watermarkmain.htm>

5d

[And in real money?]

Money makes the world go-round. A drachma, penny, franc or a yen; a mark or a pound.  Whatever your affection, sometimes you have to convert, and this little on line calculator does it in a flash.  Select the currencies you're exchanging from the drop down lists and type in the amount. (Of course, the rate is updated daily.)The site is at:
http://www.xe.net/currency/

6

[Connie Francis might have guessed!]

6a

[38%: TV News]

The "media elite" are in trouble.  A study from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press says that in 1998 only 38% of Americans over 18 watch TV network news.  In contrast five years ago 60% claimed they watched the network anchormen.  The culprit: the net, where 20% of adults now say they get their news online at least once a week.

6b

[64.6%: Salt Lake City, UT]

And the top US computer town is probably not what you thought.  Utah's Salt Lake City has the highest percentage of household PCs than any other American city, and the reason is genetic.

Many Mormons are fervent genealogists and the net and PCs have revolutionized the collection of genealogical information.  Check out GenWeb or Roots to see the vast electronic archive.

This study was compiled by "Scarborough Research" who ranked the top 60 cities and found that an average of 49.4% of
American households in the 60 top markets surveyed have a PC in the home.  Salt Lake City scored 64.6%, but San Francisco (San Jose and Silicon Valley) was right behind at 63.8%.  Washington, DC, was next at 60.2% and then it was Seattle-Tacoma at 59.5%.

The last three on the list were Wilkes Barre-Scranton (37.0%), Louisville (36.3%) and Charleston, W.V. (35.2%).   You can read the whole list:
http://www.kcsa.com

6c

[52% US PC]

The U.S. Commerce Department says US PC ownership grew by 52% from '94-'97, and 36.6% of US households have a PC.  Of this 40.8% of households classed as white (non-Hispanic) have a PC, compared to 19.4% classed as Hispanic and 19.3 deemed to be African-American.  

The gap between information "haves" and "have nots" alarms Commerce Secretary William Daley, who said, "The study exposes a growing problem in our economy, one that must be taken seriously:  too many Americans are not able to take part in the growing digital economy."

7

[Tasty Trick 'r Treats]

Halloween and Stamp Collecting month.  Two great things for kids (and adults, too.)  This year, help the little tricksters at your door to more than sugar and snacks.

Take a clear glassine, slip in a cut-to-fit index card and then fill it with as many American and foreign commemoratives as you think right.  Obviously, a US "Movie Monster" commemorative or an Irish Dracula hits the right note.

You can Scotch tape candy to the outside of the glassine or toss them in loose.  Your index card can carry a printed message with the name of the local philatelic club or something similar.  Maybe the APS website address.  

You might even consider using some sort of collectable trading card, what I used to refer to as "baseball cards," in lieu of the index card.  Kids like 'em, too.

If the little devils ask what you're handing them, tell 'em the candy's for their tummy, but the stamps are a treat for their mind.

8a

[21st Century Penny Post]

E-mail is a hybrid, a written paperless answering machine, creating a world of electronic notes, expanding horizons for millions of people every day, bringing people closer together, finding buyers for sellers and vice versa, helping people learn about themselves and their world, keeping people in touch, moving thoughts, ideas and information among people, between continents with wings faster than Rowland Hill could have ever imagined.  It's the 21st Century Penny Post.

[But Some Things Will Never Change]

The net has generated a very active auction environment, where sellers offer their stamps to online bidders.  Once matched by the web host, successful bidders and sellers, complete their transaction via private contact.  But some things never change.  

One very large internet firm with an active stamp collecting auction block shows such acumen as to decorate their stamp collecting section with a crisp graphic of a 1937 Canadian King George VI postmarked 1949 in San Jose, California. And as she said, "And so it goes."  Thankfully, there's no ZIP code in the indicia.

END