Last week, I received a mailing from Christopher that contained two covers bearing some of his local post stamps. One features an American Air Mail Society cachet, and the other a Washington Stamp Collectors Club cachet, both of which Christopher created for Boston 2026.
Columbia Pike Express Company 75¢ airplane stamp on coverColumbia Pike Express Company $1 Great Smoky Mountains stamp and 95¢ mail train stamp on cover
Although I do create my own local post stamps, I don’t consider myself much of an artist, but Christopher’s cachets are very, very nice indeed. And it’s always nice to receive “stamp mail”!
Bat’s Private Post celebrates 20th anniversary of operations
Beverly Hills-based Bat’s Private Post earlier this month celebrated its 20th anniversary with the release of a set of 11 commemorative stamps.
Each of the stamps issued August 18 features the local post’s namesake bat. The face values ranging from 5¢ to $10 are intended to meet various Bat’s Private Post fees.
Bat’s Private Post 20th Anniversary stamps
According to an accompanying announcement, the new stamps were printed and perforated by The Portland Stamp Company.
Bat’s Private Post is not the first private local post to reach 20 years—my own Philosateleian Post reached that mark in 2024, and New Hampshire’s Purgatory Post celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2021—but it’s quite a milestone. Congratulations to Bat’s!
Talking local posts on the Birth. Stamps. Death. podcast
I’ve been operating Philosateleia for a long, long time—over 20 years, in fact. Philosateleia got a write-up in Linn’s Stamp News nearly a decade ago, and there have been a couple of blog posts mentioning my site, but for the most part, it has just been communications between you (my reader) and me.
Earlier this month, however, I was honored to be a guest on the Birth. Stamps. Death. podcast episode titled The Wonder and Whimsy of Local Posts. Podcast cohost Christopher Putney (whose Columbia Pike Express Company I mentioned in a a July blog post) invited me to discuss local posts in general and how I got started with Philosateleian Post in particular.
I had a blast.
Seriously, it’s not unusual if I mention that I create my own local post stamps to get a quizzical look and a, “Why?”—and that’s from a lot of stamp collectors, not just from the general non-collecting public. But the local posting bug has bitten Christopher hard. He and his guest cohost Sydney were excited to talk about this little corner of the hobby, and I was, too.
I want to thank Christopher and his regular cohost Sam for giving me the opportunity to participate in their podcast. Please check out the podcast and the previous Birth. Stamps. Death. episodes. Neat stuff!
Summer Sunset Nonprofit Org stamp showing up on incoming mail
My daughter and I made our weekly pilgrimage to check out post office box today. Most of what was in there was unremarkable, but there were two envelopes mailed using copies of the new United States Summer Sunset Nonprofit Org stamp issued June 25.
The stamp’s design is based on an oil painting of a scene on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. It fits absolutely delightfully into my collection of landscapes on stamps, and I’ve already updated my Massachusetts page to accommodate one of the copies of the stamp I received today.
While I’m still receiving plenty of nonprofit mailings with copies of the past three Nonprofit Org stamps, it’s nice to have something new showing up, and I think this stamp is rather more vibrant than typical for a nonprofit definitive.
Operation Smile business reply envelope features frog, heart, sun
I have one more business reply envelope to share from the month of July.
This bright yellow BRE arrived late last week in a mailing from Operation Smile. The three preprinted stamp-sized designs on the envelope’s front picture a frog, a heart, and a smiling sun, respectively.
Operation Smile business reply envelope with preprinted frog, heart, and sun designs
As I’ve mentioned many times before, I find these business reply envelopes with faux postage far, far more interesting when the designs are printed on labels rather than printed directly on the BREs; however, so far as the preprinted varieties go, this one at least has the positive attribute of being smaller than a #10 envelope.
