VFW, American Lung Association distribute new BREs
Inbound nonprofit mailings over the past two or three weeks have brought a couple more business reply envelopes with faux stamp designs my way. I found the envelope shown here from Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States sitting in one of the recycle bins at my local post office, while the American Lung Association BRE arrived in my PO box last week.
Veterans of Foreign Wars business reply envelope with preprinted poppy stamp-sized designsAmerican Lung Association business reply envelope with preprinted bird and flower stamp-sized designs
The single design picturing poppies that appears five times on the VFW envelope is interesting in that its borders have an irregular look to them, almost as though they were imperforate stamps that had been roughly torn apart. It’s not even a simulated die cut look. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that particular effect used on one of these preprinted business reply envelopes.
The ALA cover has five different designs depicting various songbirds with flowers, and each design is slightly rotated giving them the appearance of being stamps that were somewhat haphazardly applied to the envelope. I occasionally receive BREs with real stamps applied to them, but that work invariably appears to have been done by a machine with the stamps more or less perfectly aligned. I would rather like to have seen the bird and flower designs here applied in a straight line as well, but that’s just me.
Purgatory Post issues stamp picturing Prentiss Bridge
Purgatory Post continued its series of stamps commemorating New Hampshire covered bridges with the release on February 2 of a 19-sola stamp picturing Prentiss Bridge in Langdon. The design features a black vignette of the bridge set within a blue frame of a type used for the 1901 Pan-American Exposition issue of the United States.
19-sola Purgatory Post Prentiss Bridge stamp
At less than 35 feet long, Prentiss Bridge is the shortest covered bridge in the state of New Hampshire.1 The bridge is the third known to have existed at the site; the first was replaced in the late 18th century, while the current structure was built in 1874.
If you’re new to this blog, Purgatory Post is a private local post based in New Hampshire.
Marihuana tax, consular service fee album pages added
As part of my continuing effort to expand The Philosateleian U.S. Stamp Album, I’m happy to announce that album pages for marihuana tax stamps and consular service fee stamps are now available in my Special 2022 supplement. I uploaded that package this morning, and it’s ready for you to download and print at your convenience.
Real life responsibilities have prevented me from making quite as speedy progress on pages for fiscal stamps as I would like, but I’m still working on pages for other revenue categories and will share those as I finish them.
My next regular update for The Philosateleian should be ready in early March. Stay tuned!
Philosateleian Post LPCS FDC postmarked, but on reverse
Last Monday, I began using my new Philosateleian Post Local Post Collectors Society stamp, putting approximately 20 pieces of mail in the mailbox. When I went to the post office on Friday to check my PO box, my first day cover was there, and at first glance, I thought the USPS failed to postmark it.
Philosateleian Post Local Post Collectors Society FDC
But flip it over and hey! There’s the January 24 San Antonio postmark, on the back and upside down.
Philosateleian Post Local Post Collectors Society FDC (reverse)
I would have preferred the postmark on the front of the cover, but at least the postmark is there, evidence that the envelope was in the mail on January 24.
As you can see, my stamp did sustain some surface damage near its right edge, as did the 22¢ Bison stamp. This seems to be very common these days whenever a stamp with water-activated gum is used; in contrast, self-adhesive stamps don’t generally seem to suffer that sort of damage. I’m not quite sure why that is.
As I’ve mentioned previously, the Local Post Collectors Society this year is celebrating its golden jubilee. New Hampshire-based Purgatory Post on January 4 issued a pair of stamps celebrating that 50th anniversary.
Purgatory Post Local Post Collectors Society 50th Anniversary stamps
Purgatory Post has been issuing stamps since 2001, making it one of the longest-running extant private local posts that I’m aware of in the United States. I’m looking forward to seeing other local posts’ stamps issued to commemorate the LPCS anniversary.
