Navigators updates stamp-sized designs used on envelope
Not quite a year ago, I wrote about an oversized Navigators envelope that both had three stamp-sized designs printed on it and contained a business reply envelope bearing additional stamp-sized designs. The nonprofit in late November sent a similar envelope, but unlike last year’s, which pictured a train, the one my family received last month pictures a church.
Navigators envelopeStamp-sized designs of a church on Navigators envelope
Although Navigators updated the artwork used on the container envelope, the BRE inside looked just like the one mailed last year.
Any cover of this size tends to get banged up traveling through the mail, and as you can see from the scan, that was certainly the case for this one. And it’t not exactly something that would be easy to store, either, but it’s an interesting example of modern nonprofit mail.
The United States Postal Service has finished issuing stamps for 2024, and it’s time for the final quarterly update of the year for The Philosateleian U.S. Stamp Album. The Winter 2024 Supplement (136 KB, 3 files, 7 pages) has spaces for the United States postage stamps issued in September and October plus the Philosateleian Post stamps I released in 2024, and you can download and print the pages at your convenience.
If you’ve previously switched to The Philosateleian’s annual update track where you print an update only once a year, my 2024 annual page set should be available in early January.
Mick’s Local Post issues stamp honoring Woofles Cat
Mick’s Local Post of Portland, Oregon, recently issued a new stamp commemorating the life of Woofles Cat (?–2024). The Class A local post stamp features a photograph of Woofles against a black background.
Class A Mick’s Local Post Woofles Cat stamp
Mick writes that he adopted Woofles when the cat was estimated to be around 10 years old, and that he thought of Woofles as his “best friend, because that is exactly what he was.”
The text on the stamp, which reads “Woofles Cat (??–2024)”, “Mick’s Local Post,” and “Class A,” would have benefited from significantly more contrast with the background. The subject matter, on the other hand, is in my opinion just great.
The topic is very much of relevance to the issuing entity unlike a lot of stamps produced by many countries including, I’m sorry to say, the United States. And it doesn’t matter that most people seeing this stamp probably never met or even previously heard of Woofles Cat; Mick produced the stamp anyway in honor of his furry friend. This is exactly the sort of thing I love about local post stamps, and I’m glad Mick made this one. Well done!
Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch distributes BRE for the birds
Since I have only one of these to share this go around, we’ll call it the “business reply envelope of the week.” This one comes from a mailing I recently received from Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, and bears three stamp-sized designs picturing various birds.
American Bible Society business reply envelope
It looks like this is the sixth different BRE I’ve received from Boys Ranch this year. That’s the highest number of distinct BREs I’ve seen from any one nonprofit in 2024. We’ll see if they add to that total before the close of the year!
Como Park Post issues Ukraine surcharge, wooden stamp
A mailing I received earlier this month from Como Park Post in Saint Paul, Minnesota, contained a couple of interesting new local post stamps.
The first is a “Support Ukraine” stamp picturing a woman and child on a background comprised of the flags of the United States and Ukraine. I initially reported on this stamp’s initial release in June 2013, but the 3¢ + $1 semipostal stamp has been surcharged to give it a new local postage face value of 5¢. The portion earmarked to support various Ukrainian relief organizations remains the same.
Como Park Post Support Ukraine stamp
A surcharged local post semipostal stamp is an unusual thing, but the other stamp I received is even more unusual: it’s a 7¢ stamp printed on a thin layer of wood! You can even see the wood grain when you look at the reverse.
Como Park Post 7¢ wooden stampComo Park Post 7¢ wooden stamp (reverse)
Pretty neat stuff, right? Various postal administrations around the world have experimented with producing stamps using unusual materials, but for local posts, this is very much out of the ordinary. It will be interesting to see how many of these show up on cover!
