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 Since then some of the information may be out-of-date depending on how far back you're reading.

December 2001

Soon, A.D. 2001 will be history, and I can't say that I am sad to see it go. But I still believe in hope and the promise of the future. This world's so big and so wonderful that the actions of a few hateful men can never keep the rest of us from moving forward, secure in the knowledge that people are essentially loving and good.

If you need proof, you saw it in the faces of the firemen and police at the sites in New York and in Washington. You heard it from people from every corner of the globe, and in the countless acts of charity and compassion performed by men, women and children in the aftermath of the attacks.

And the message they sent was simple: love thy neighbor as thyself. And as we enter the new year, it's the one thought that we need to help guide us as we enter the new year.

I wish you all a merry Christmas, and a very happy New Year. This year and in countless years to come.

1847 USA.

1847usa.com is all about classic American issues, and if you go there, you may never collect anything else again. I don't know if that was the intention, but this site has such a great amount of helpful data in an easy to use, nicely illustrated, uncluttered format that all I wanted to do was get my hinges and tongs.

The "Indentification Guide" area has quite a few detailed sections with lots of illustrations and charts to sort though the many incarnations of the classic definitive issues, as well as the early commemoratives.

Covered in detail are the following: the 1847 classics, 1869 Pictorials, the Banknotes and Baby Banknotes, the Columbians, the 2d Bureau Series, the  Washington-Franklins, and the 1922 - 1931 definitives. Where needed, identification pages go deeper and deeper.

But what really got my attention was the use of the page-linking in the Washington - Franklin Worksheets. Simply put, you identify your stamp's variety simply by clicking your choice, and when you're done, you have correctly ID'd your stamp.
The selection menus to determine Washington - Franklin types is likewise simple and easy.

All of the ID sections are very well thought out, well illustrated and a good use of basic interactive Web pages. I knew something was happening at this site when I got several e-mails about it back in early fall, and still enjoy just being there on the site.

1847 USA
http://1847usa.com

Bureau Second.

The U.S. Second Bureau Issue came along in 1902 and only lasted until 1909, but this early 20th century set is one of the nicest the US Bureau of Printing and Engraving (BEP) ever put out. And if you're not sure, just visit Geoff Dutton's site and see for yourself.

The site covers the stamps and postal history of the U.S. Second Bureau Issue with scans and facts from all the issues, along with covers, mail rates and special situations, such as mail returned for additional postage, etc.

Under Dutton's "The Issue" section, each issue has it's own information page showing the design, listing varieties, common uses, and solo uses. Dutton also has a link to his favorite stamp on cover.

In the "Collections" section of the site, Dutton's postal history of the Second Bureau is arranged by foreign destination, domestic mail and combination covers.

You'll find The U.S. Second Bureau Issue site easy to use, packed with stamps and details.

The U.S. Second Bureau Issue
http://rtt.colorado.edu/~duttong/1902/

Top 10 and more.

America is hooked on lists, and TV and magazines love lists of the top 10, top 500, or top sellers. Lists don't impart a lot of wisdom or perspective, but they are handy to settle bets, win arguments, or make us appear more well versed than we really are. Besides all that, they can be fascinating, and that's why you'll probably like "Price's List of Lists."

It's one long Web page of links to lists of every shape and size, official government and investment lists, as well as goofy, entertaining lists. This is the sort of URL you'll find yourself looking for again and again to help you settle bets and make you appear as knowledgeable as we already know you really are.

Price's List of Lists
http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~gprice/listof.htm

The compiler, Gary Price, asks that you e-mail him information on a lists to include.

What's new?

The Scout Project is a Web service originating at the University of Wisconsin's Department of Computer Sciences. Now in it's seventh year of release, it's a Web site notification service that you can get by e-mail or read by visiting the Scout Project URL.

It's non-commercial and reports on the more noteworthy sites of the week in four broad categories. The research and education sites feature URLS such as "The World Biodiversity Database" and "The Labor Research Portal." The general interest  category features such offerings as "Woody Guthrie and the Archive of American Folk Song" and "The 2001 Nobel and Ig Nobel Prizes." Rounding out the bulletins are sections on network tools and "In the News."

The Scout Project (current report)
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/sr/current/

For your fix of new Web sites with a decidedly commercially-hyped flavor, one of the best is the equally venerable service at Yahoo!

Yahoo! Picks
http://docs.yahoo.com/picks/

Stamp software suggestions.

Bryan N. Wright heads a three-person software development team that's looking for suggestions. They are starting to build a new stamp collecting software program.

Current plans call for the program to work with the user's scanning software so that users can scan stamp or cover images and place them in their program without ever leaving the GUI. A thumbnail view of all images along with Scott numbers is also on the must-have list.

Plans call for the program to be built upon Microsoft’s MSDE and to let users export their collection data to Excel or to a text file. The project's Web site is still in the works and the software release date hasn't been set.

If you know of any features that you think good stamp software ought to have, drop them an email.

Bryan N. Wright
bwright96@dotplanet.com

Web school.

From time to time I try to encourage stamp collectors to share their stamp knowledge by building Web sites, but I know that the main impediment is that many haven't learned what it takes to put those little pages on the Web.

One of the best places to learn Web tricks is a site called W3Schools because, not only does it spell things out in plain English, it also has interactive sections where you can write and test commands online.

W3school covers basic html with a good intro and goes through what's needed to get a page up and running, as well as advanced topics, with examples, quizzes and references.

In addition to html, w3school also teaches XML, JavaScript, CSS, DHTML, SQL, and a slew of other tools for the Web, with each subject is divided into four working sections.

A "school" section teaches the subject, and is followed by an "example" area, where users can edit and test their own code with an online edit screen. Then there's a "quiz" section, and rounding out each subject is a "reference" area.

This site is one of the best when it comes to explaining what html and related codes are, how they're done, and how to learn them. Of course if you don't know the trick, it may seem hard, but once you get the knack, you'll see it's all a matter of typing, copying and pasting text.

http://www.w3schools.com/default.asp

The site above is not to be confused with The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which is the home of the Web's creator Tim Berners-Lee, and is engaged in promoting an open Web of common protocols, specifications, and guidelines. You will also find lots of choice freebies on this site if you're building a Web site.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
http://www.w3.org/

Learn stamps online.

A fundamental rule of Web surfing is: If you want to learn something, find someone who already has launched the site. And for stamp collectors, the best sources about individual stamp topics are stamp clubs and societies online. Who else could tell you about a stamp's non-standard usages or obscure postmarks than a group that hordes and studies the stamp with a passion?

The American Air Mail Society (AAMS) Aerophilately site is the contact point for US air mail and the home of the "The Airpost Journal" and the American Air Mail Catalogue. The society features auctions, sales, translations, slide presentations, an advance bulletin service and 16 chapters around the country, as well as nine study units.

The American Air Mail Society
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/aams/

The American Society for Netherlands Philately publishes the illustrated "Journal" three times a year with original and reprinted articles. Their quarterly newsletter features news and information, new issues, library acquisitions, advertisements, collector penpal addresses and member ads.

You can learn about them and other member benefits by visiting their Web site. They also hold auctions and have established a superior library on Netherlands and related area philately.

The American Society for Netherlands Philately
http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/rvr/NL/neth_philately.html

Similarly, the American Belgian Philatelic Society is a US-based group fixated on philately abroad, and serves as a hub for activities and information for collectors with an interest in Belgium and their colonies.

The American Belgian Philatelic Society
http://groups.hamptonroads.com/ABPS/

The United States Stamp Society is the new name of the Bureau Issues Association and focuses on all U.S. classic and modern issues. Their monthly "The United States Specialist", covers all aspects of U.S. philately

Always strong on stamp production and plate varieties, specific issues and the latest data on plate numbers for sheet, coil and booklets receive full coverage.

The USSS has many committees and study groups. Aimed at research and philatelic education of members, the groups are open to all in the USSS. You've probably heard of some of their study groups like the Washington-Franklin Head Issue, and the Presidential and Liberty Study Groups.

The United States Stamp Society
http://www.usstamps.org/

These are just a handful of the many society and club sites online. If you're area of interest isn't shown here, check the APS's list of clubs and societies. You'll be glad you did.

Afghani News

Information about and from Afghanistan can readily be found on the Web. Here are some selected choices if you're looking to delve deeper into the crisis.

Afghan News
http://www.afghannews.net

The Afghan News Network
http://www.myafghan.com/

Afgha (news)
http://www.afgha.com/

Azadi Afghan Radio
http://www.afghanradio.com/azadi.html

ClandestineRadio.com
http://www.clandestineradio.com/intel/afghanistan.htm.

Afghani Proverbs
http://sulimankhel.tripod.com/matal/proverb.htm

Stamp Christmas Tags

If you've finished you're Christmas and Holiday shopping, you've done very well, and can sit back by the fireplace and relax, while the rest of the world goes crazy trying to fill stockings and find wrapping paper.

But while you relax, you could print out some Christmas gift tags and install a Christmas lights screensaver on your computer to get into the mood.

Christmas Gift Tags
http://www.glassinesurfer.com

Christmas Lights screensaver
http://www.ncn.com/~tjohnson/lights.htm

Lots of Christmas screensavers
http://www.christmasscreensavers.net/