I don’t usually promote the sale of something I don’t even own, but there’s something located about an hour south of Chicago that I want you to know about: an antique pinhole perforator!
I suspect this Monitor Perforator (by Latham) probably belonged to the late Jim Czyl; don’t know it for a fact, but based on the location, it makes sense. And from the couple of photos in the estate sale listing, it really appears to be in fine condition.
Monitor Perforator (image from EstateSales.NET)
This is far too big and heavy and far away for me to have any serious interest, but it would be a shame to see this piece end up in a dusty corner of some antique store—or worse yet, at a scrap yard! The estate sale is being held March 12–13, and the asking price for the perforator is $500, so if you’re in the market for a perforator and within a few hours’ drive of Chicago, check out the listing for contact information.
Traffic was jammed up on the Interstate this evening, so I was late getting home and don’t have time for a full post. Instead, I’ll wish you a good weekend with this bit of philatelic foolishness.
Big-eyed George
(In case you’re wondering, the eyes are from one of the “Bright Eyes” stamps issued in 1998.)
Purgatory Post remembers Queen Victoria, jazz greats
We’re only a couple of months into 2015, but Purgatory Post’s Scott A. has been a very busy local poster! Scott recently sent this cover bearing four of his newest stamps to me.
Purgatory Post cover
The top pair of stamps pay homage to the world’s first postage stamps, Great Britain’s Penny Black and Two-Penny Blue. Scott tells me he issued these a bit in advance of World Local Post Day, but his is the only stamp I’ve seen that recognizes the 175th anniversary of the Two-Penny Blue. Everyone else (including Philosateleian Post) focused exclusively on the Penny Black.
One interesting characteristic of these Purgatory Post stamps, which I’m calling the Quarter Black and Two-Bit Blue, is that they feature the year and issue number in the scroll work on along the sides of the stamps. At least one popular classic British issue had plate numbers in a similar location.
Purgatory Post Quarter Black and Two-Bit Blue
The other two stamps on Scott’s cover picture jazz musicians Les Paul and Billie Holiday, both of whom were born in 1915.
A couple of weeks ago, the shipping manager at work gave a stamp off of a piece of incoming mail from Iceland to me. The stamp features a photo of Eyjafjallajökull, a volcano located near Iceland’s southern coastline.
If you follow world news, you might remember Eyjafjallajökull from 2010. The volcano erupted that year, and the resulting ash that was spewed into the atmosphere grounded passenger planes across much of Europe since ash can do a number on aircraft engines.
Eyjafjallajökull
So, back to the stamp. When I first looked at it, I thought to myself, “Somebody spilled glue on this thing.” That’s really what I thought it was because I could see several shiny patches on the face of the stamp.
Further sleuthing, however, revealed something a bit more exciting than spilled glue. It seems that Iceland’s postal authorities decided that the stamps issued to commemorate Eyjafjallajökull’s activity should include tiny amounts of ash from the volcano. The shiny spots on the surface of my stamp are not glue spots, but the spots where microscopic bits of ash were attached to the stamp.
Is this a bit gimmicky? Absolutely, but I love it because even though I live in the United States, I can say that I own a small piece of Iceland.
