Rattlesnake Island stamp pictures Lake Erie vessel
The most famous modern local post in the United States is, without doubt, Rattlesnake Island Local Post. Rattlesnake Island Local Post was established in 1966 to transfer mail to and from Rattlesnake Island, which is located in Lake Erie several miles from the Ohio shore, and remained in continuous operation until 1989, and then again from 2005 until 2010.
In 2022, collector Dave Gill relaunched Rattlesnake Island Local Post with the release of three triangular stamps. I recently received a cover bearing a copy of one of those, a 75¢ stamp picturing the Jet Express II, a vessel sailing on the waters of Lake Erie.
Rattlesnake Island Local Post 75¢ Jet Express II stamp
The stamp on the cover shown above is imperforate, but also exists perf. 12 and rouletted 24.
Earlier this year, Rattlesnake Island Local Post issued an additional set of stamps commemorating the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie. We can look forward to seeing what other new issues are forthcoming as we move into next year!
New Hampshire-based Purgatory Post on November 16 issued a pair of stamps commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Skylab 4 mission.
The 4-sola stamps picture astronauts Gerald Carr, Ed Gibson, and Bill Pogue along with the launch of their spacecraft. The other stamp pictures the Skylab station along with the Skylab 4 mission patch.
Purgatory Post 4-sola Skylab 4 stamps
The Skylab 4 crew launched from Cape Canaveral on November 16, 1973, and did not return to Earth until February 4, 1974. According to Purgatory Post operator Scott A., the astronauts remained on Skylab for 84 days, setting an endurance record not broken until 1978 when a Russian crew recorded a 96 day mission.
Although additional Skylab missions were planned, Skylab 4 turned out to be the last. NASA turned its attention to development of the Space Shuttle program, and Skylab itself eventually burned up in Earth’s atmosphere in July 1979.
This small update includes spaces for all United States stamps issued since early September.
If you use The Philosateleian’s annual update track rather than the quarterly track of which this update is a part, I plan to have my full set of pages for 2023 available in early January. Stay tuned!
First off, loyal reader, Happy Thanksgiving. It has been 20 years since I launched Philosateleia, and I never cease to be amazed at how many folks have taken an interest in my website. Thank you for your support.
Now, for today’s featured item, we have a new stamp from Como Park Post out of Saint Paul, Minnesota. The 3¢ design is printed in green on yellow paper, and was issued November 13.
Como Park Post 3¢ stamp
As I’m mentioned before, Como Park Post operator Tom B. handcarves the wood blocks he uses to print his stamps. It’s an approach that hearkens back to some of the earliest postage stamps created in the 19th century, and one can’t help but be impressed!
Bat’s Private Post issues stamp picturing The Boy on the Seahorse
Bat’s Private Post out of Beverly Hills, California, recently issued a new official stamp. Although the first day of issue was September 8, a postcard bearing a copy of the stamp arrived in my post office box only within the past week.
This postcard was mailed from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and the stamp pictures a sculpture there: The Boy on the Seahorse by Rafael Zamarripa. The stamp is tied by several Bat’s Private Post postmarks and cancellations.
Bat’s Private Post The Boy on the Seahorse stamp
The new stamp is labeled “Inter-office Post,” indicating its intended use for official business, and it appears to be die cut with scalloped corners.
