It feels like this week has been especially busy—with work, with family, and yes, with stamps. Oddly enough, I don’t have much of anything to show off when it comes to the last of those.
I did prepare a few first day covers for Philosateleian Post’s upcoming Penny Black issue, and I have a few more of those to ready either Saturday night or Sunday.
I also went through a box of surplus covers and rounded up those that were too far gone to have philatelic value, and mailed them this evening to mail artist Linda W. Linda says she may be able to turn those old bits of paper into something worthwhile. I hope she’s right!
And that, dear reader, is about all I have for you for now. How was your philatelic week? Leave a comment below.
When I stopped by the post office this evening, I found this post card from the Letter Writer Alliance’s Donovan Beeson in my box.
Post card with sparkly stuff in plastic wrapper
It doesn't show especially well in this scan, but Donovan used some sort of sparkly material to make it look like it “snowed” inside the plastic wrapper that contains the post card. A nice treat at the end of a busy work day!
With the books finally closed on 2014, I can say with certainty that it was a record-setting year for Philosateleian Post! The Post carried just more than 400 pieces of mail last year, an increase of roughly 67% over 2013.
The jump in volume was nearly across the board. The only mail category in which I did not send more items in 2014 was packages. All other groupings (letters, business mail, international, etc.) saw marked increases.
My efforts to sell more excess material on eBay certainly contributed to the busy year, but I also wrote more real letters, something I hope to do again this year.
I received this delightfully-franked envelope from the American Philatelic Society in the mail yesterday:
American Philatelic Society cover
There are 10 stamps on here, which is no small feat! The envelope even caught my wife’s eye; she recognized Whistler’s Mother on the purple 3¢ stamp.
At any rate, the envelope contained a letter from the Young Friends of the American Philatelic Society, which is made up of collectors ages 20–49. The group is planning activities for the 2015 Ameristamp Expo being held in Riverside, California, February 13–15, and the organizers are trying to get a feel for how many people in that age bracket are planning to attend.
If you’re part of the under-50 crowd but you missed out on previous news about the Young Friends of the APS, let me know. I’ll be happy to put you in touch with the folks in charge.
