Volume 23, Number 10

December 2009

US New Issues

Olympic Winter Games – January 22  - Single 44 cent commemorative stamp in a pane of 20 at Park City, UT 84068. 

Year of the Tiger – January 28  - Single 44 cent commemorative stamp in a pane of 12 at Los Angeles, CA 90052.

 Canada – Vancouver 2010

Olympic Games

 Canada will host the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia.  The games are scheduled for February 12 to February 28.  Canada has issued 8 stamps in celebration of this event.

This booklet of ten PERMANENT (Forever) domestic rate Sports of the 2010 Winter Games stamps showcases five exciting Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games sports: curling, snowboard, freestyle skiing, bobsleigh and ice sledge hockey.

Inspired by British Columbia's iconic geography and rooted in Aboriginal legend, the three whimsical Vancouver 2010 mascots beautifully capture the spirit of Canada and the Olympic Games. This U.S. rate stamp features Miga, an adventurous sea bear who can transform from orca whale to white Kermode bear. The stamp design depicts an energetic Miga showing off her exciting abilities on the ski slope.

This Oversize rate stamp features Sumi, one of the three mascots of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Sumi, who is the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic mascot, is an animal guardian spirit who, according to Aboriginal legends, lives in the mountains of British Columbia. The stamp was issued to celebrate Canada's role as host of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

This International rate stamp features the mascot Quatchi, a shy yet adventurous Sasquatch who likes to play hockey. The background of the stamp includes the official Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games emblem, an inukshuk.

Christmas Pictorial Cancels

Listed below are three of the pictorial cancels approved by the USPS for use during December.  See the USPS Postal Bulletin for a complete list. 

Famed Inverted Jenny Locket in Heritage Auctions

This renowned locket will be one of the highlights of the Heritage/Bennett Signature New York Rare Stamps Auction, taking place at The Four Seasons Hotel, 57 East 57th Street, in New York City, this Dec. 11-13.

Colonel E.H.R. "Ned" Green (Aug. 22, 1868 - June 8, 1936) was famously the son of notorious miser Hetty Green, also known as "The Witch of Wall Street," the richest woman in America at the time. Upon her death in 1916, Green inherited her $150 million fortune. He was already plenty famous and wealthy in his own right for his personal exploits and business acumen, and as the President of America's most prosperous short line railroad, the Texas Midland. Green, incidentally, also made the first long distance automobile trip in Texas, a journey of just more than 30 miles.

With the death of his mother, and a substantial new fortune, Green quickly became the most important collector in the nation, assembling a stamp collection that was rivaled only by the King of England, George V. One of his most important acquisitions occurred when he bought the unique sheet of the "Jennies." Green purchased the complete sheet for $20,000 from Eugene Klein who had, in his turn, acquired it from the discoverer of the printing error, William T. Robey.

"Col. Green correctly understood the enormous value to stamp collectors," said Bennett, "He broke the sheet into blocks and singles, which he intended to sell, and held on to a few large multiples - plus the straight edge copies - for himself. One of those examples he had encased in this gold locket for his wife Mabel."

Green had given his wife many valuable gifts, such as the $625,000 he gave her on their wedding day. The locket, however, must have held some significant sentimental value. Although the rest of Green's stamps were sold upon his death in 1936, Mabel saved the locket until her own demise in 1950.

While Col. Green "Jenny" Locket is the highlight lot of the Heritage Auctions Dec. 11-13 Rare Stamps auction in New York City, collectors will quickly note that it is not the only #C3a in the sale, as Heritage/Bennett has secured another rare and important "Inverted Jenny," this one position #73, for the auction, making this a rare day in Philately indeed when two different copies of the most famous collectible in the world will cross the auction block.

December 7 – Pearl Harbor Day

The National Postal Museum has two hand-held cancellation devices from the U.S.S. Oklahoma. This traditional Navy three-bar cancel device still bears the date “Dec 6, 1941 PM,” the day before the ship capsized and sank early Sunday morning during the attack on Pearl Harbor. It shows evidence of water damage, and possibly even ash, hallmarks of its tragic past.

Since 1913, Navy ships have used postmarks with three killer bars with slots for removable type that could be used to spell out the ship’s location. As World War II progressed, ships’ locations were omitted and the three-bar cancel became unnecessary.

The battleship U.S.S. Oklahoma was designated BB-37, keel laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation in New Jersey on October 26, 1912. The ship was launched in March of 1914, and commissioned to the U.S. Navy in May of 1916. Among her earliest duties, the Oklahoma escorted President Woodrow Wilson to peace negotiations in France in 1919. From 1927-1929, the ship was modernized and made more battle worthy. In 1940, her homeport was shifted from San Pedro, California, to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

At 6 am on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a wave of fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes took off from a series of Japanese warships located 230 miles north of Oahu, Hawaii. The Japanese aircraft reached Pearl Harbor just before 7:55 am. Within twenty minutes, the Oklahoma had been hit on the portside a number of times and capsized, trapping several hundred crewmembers. Thirty-nine men were rescued through the hull as rescue workers cut through where they could hear tapping from within. Of the ship’s full complement of 2166 men, 415 were listed as either killed or missing in action and 32 wounded.

This canceling device was recovered from the capsized ship and made its way to the Smithsonian Institution. Where it remains a valuable reminder of the tragedy and resilience of that day that has, indeed, lived in infamy.

Airmail Service Flag

On May 15, 1918, the Post Office Department began the nation’s first regularly scheduled airmail service. The Department using Army Air Corp pilots and borrowed airplanes directed the first three months of the service. On August 12, post office pilots replaced the army pilots.

The first airmail flag sported the symbol of this early airmail service, a pair of wings on either side of a globe that sports the phrase U.S. Air Mail. While the service’s reach that May morning in 1918 was limited to trips between Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and New York City, the service’s symbol indicates the Department’s intentions to develop the service not only nationally, but internationally as well.

Army Major Reuben H. Fleet had been charged with setting up the first U.S. airmail service. Six army pilots were picked for the service, including Lieutenant George Boyle, who was selected to fly the mail out of Washington on the first day. As President Woodrow Wilson and several prominent politicians and citizens stood to witness the occasion, Boyle tried, but could not start his plane. It had not been fueled.

After Boyle’s Curtiss Jenny airplane was gassed up, he took off for Philadelphia. Boyle’s selection had not been based on his flying skills (he had fewer than 60 hours of flight experience), but because of his engagement to the daughter of Interstate Commerce Commissioner Charles McChord. The novice pilot got lost and low on gas, crash-landed in rural Maryland, less than 25 miles away from Washington. Fortunately, the other flights operated smoothly that first day.

C5 Issued in 1923

The Department had to prove the economic advantages of airmail service for Congress to continue its funding. A critical segment of the plan was the connection of the two leading U.S. business centers, New York City and Chicago, Illinois, to be followed by the establishment of a trans-continental flyway.

Four stamps issued in the 1930’s used this design

The Department had its share of successes and setbacks over the next few years, but the airmail service continued to grow. By 1920, although airmail was being flown across the country, no infrastructure yet existed to facilitate nighttime flying. So as airplanes full of mail landed in late afternoon, the mail was transferred to trains to continue onto the next airmail station, where airplanes picked it up and carried it during the day.

Night flying was considered dangerous, even impossible. Early pilots feared they would not be able to find their way without relying on landmarks, or even distinguish up from down.

In preparation for the service, the Post Office Department built a series of guide beacons and field lights over part of the route. The newly lit national flyway became a success, establishing airmail service as here to stay.