Westmoreland County Philatelic Society

MEETING DATE

Next Meeting will be on April 11

The next meeting of the stamp club will be April 11. Please bring cookies for the table. The hall is open from 1 pm, the meeting starts at 2:15 pm.

Favorite Stamp Balloting

At our February meeting we voted for our most and least favorite stamps of 2009. The ballots were sent to Linn’s for inclusion in their poll. The results are:

Commemorative:

Best Design: Lighthouses and Thanksgiving Day Parade

Worst Design: Thanksgiving Day Parade

Most Important: Abraham Lincoln

Best Design: Redwood Forest and Wedding Rings

Worst Design: King & Queen of Hearts and Kwanzaa

Most Important: Wedding Rings

Best Design: Redwood Forest and Seabiscuit Stamped Envelopes

Worst Design: Miami University Postal Card

Most Important: Lighthouses Postal Cards

Favorite Stamp: Great Lakes Lighthouses

News From The February Meeting

WESCOPEX CANCELED

The club decided to not hold a show in 2010 because of dwindling attendance, rapidly rising hall rental costs and the increase in the number of other stamp shows in the area. Instead we have begun planning an open house at the Norwin Library in September.

Garfield Perry Trip

At the February meeting we decided to carpool to the Garfield Perry Show on March 20. Contact Jim Vaughn if you are interested in going. We will meet at the Park & Ride at the Irwin Turnpike interchange.

Garfield-Perry March Party – Friday March 19, 11AM-6PM; Saturday March 20, 10AM-5:30 PM; Sunday March 21, 10AM-4PM; Masonic Auditorium, East 36^th Street and Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH; 50+ dealers. Website address: http://www.garfieldperry.org/marchparty.html

TRIPEX Stamp Show – Saturday March 20, 10:00am - 4:00pm, Tri State Stamp Club, St. Ambrose Church, 14923 Winchester Road Southwest, Cresaptown, MD - 6 dealers plus USPS - Contact: Jeff Hutter, 301-777-0379 evenings and weekends. jeff.hutter@twrcommunications.com

The Quarterly Wilkinsburg Stamp Show – Sunday, March 21, 2010; 10:00am to 4:00pm; Churchill Borough Building, 2300 William Penn Highway. (take the Churchill Exit - building is about 2 blocks on the left). For more information contact James J. Reeves at 800-701-7091.

WILKPEX 2010 - Saturday, April 17, 10AM-5PM; Sunday, April 18, 10AM-3PM; Garden City Hall Inc., 600 Garden City Drive, Monroeville, PA. 15146. Directions: Take Rt. 22 West to Monroeville. From Turnpike Monroeville Exit: Turn right at first traffic light Rt. 48 north. Stay north on Rt. 48 to the first traffic light and turn left onto Old Wm. Penn Hwy. Continue to the second stop sign and turn right onto Garden City Drive. Stay on Garden City Drive. Parking for Garden City Hall is after the third stop sign, just before you get to the hall in the Garden City Plaza. Contact Tom Donohue, 412-373-8697, wilkinsburgstampclub@yahoo.com.

On March 31, 2010, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Postal Service will issue a 44-cent Bill Mauldin commemorative stamp in one design in a pressure-sensitive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps. The stamp, designed by Terrence W. McCaffrey, goes on sale nationwide March 31, 2010. The U.S. Postal Service honors Bill Mauldin, one of America’s favorite cartoonists. During World War II, military readers got a knowing laugh from Mauldin’s characters Willie and Joe, who gave their civilian audience an idea of what life was like for soldiers. After the war, Mauldin became a popular and influential editorial cartoonist. U.S. Postal Service Art Director Terrence W. McCaffrey chose to honor Mauldin through a combination of photography and an example of Mauldin’s art. The photograph of Bill Mauldin is by John Phillips, a photographer for Life magazine; it was taken in Italy on December 31, 1943. Mauldin’s cartoon, showing characters Willie and Joe, is used courtesy of the 45th Infantry Division Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. First day address:

Flags of Our Nation Set 4 - Apr. 16

On April 16, 2010, in New York, New York, at the Mega Stamp Show, the Postal Service will issue the 44-cent definitive stamps Flags of Our Nation in ten designs, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) coil of 50. Designed by Howard E. Paine of Delaplane, Virginia, the stamps go on sale nationwide April 16, 2010. The U.S. Postal Service continues its Flags of Our Nation series with ten more stamp designs. These stamps will feature the Stars and Stripes stamp that depicts the “purple mountain majesties” inspired by the opening lines of “America the Beautiful” by Katharine Lee Bates (1859–1929), plus the states of Montana through North Dakota. Artist Tom Engeman, Bethany Beach, Delaware, created the highly detailed flag portraits on the stamps, reproducing as accurately as possible such complex elements as intricate state seals and coats of arms. In addition to the flag art, each stamp design includes a “snapshot view” of the state or other area represented by a particular flag. This artwork, also by Tom Engeman, usually shows an ordinary scene or activity, or a typical plant or animal, but occasionally it depicts something less commonplace. First day address:

Cowboys of the Silver Screen - April 17

On April 17, 2010, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the Postal Service will issue a 44-cent, Cowboys of the Silver Screen commemorative stamp in four designs in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps and a booklet of 20 stamped postal cards. Designed by Carl T. Herrman, North Las Vegas, Nevada, the stamps go on sale nationwide April 17, 2010. With the issuance of the Cowboys of the Silver Screen stamps, the U.S. Postal Service honors four extraordinary performers who helped make the American Western a popular form of entertainment. Film stars from the silent era through the singing era are featured on the stamps: William S. Hart, Tom Mix, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers. First day address:

Love: Pansies in a Basket - April 22

On April 22, 2010, in Kansas City, Missouri, the Postal Service will issue a 44-cent, Love: Pansies in a Basket commemorative stamp in one design in a pressure-sensitive (PSA) sheet of 20 stamps. The stamp, designed by Derry Noyes, Washington, DC, goes on sale nationwide April 22, 2010. The 2010 Love: Pansies in a Basket stamp features the image of a white woven cart filled with deep and light purple pansies and green foliage. The floral design is a detail from a watercolor created by the late Dorothy Maienschein, an employee of Hallmark Cards, Inc. Introduced as a Mother’s Day card in 1939, Hallmark reissued the design as a friendship card in 1941. Since Hallmark began tracking sales in 1942, almost 30 million cards with this pansy cart design have been purchased; more than any card in history. The word “LOVE” adorns the left side of the stamp. First day address:

Three Canadian Olympic souvenir sheets have been overprinted "Vancouver 2010" in gold, silver and bronze respectively. The sheets are:

Canada post is selling the three overprinted sheets together for the face value of $8.73CN with a limit of two sets.

Canada has also issued a 57 cent gold medal stamp in a souvenir sheet of two stamps and a booklet of 10 stamps.

In the vault of the National Postal Museum is a rarity which is neither a piece of postal operations history or philately. This relic of the 1973-74 oil crisis has never been displayed, It is a block of 16 gasoline rationing coupons which were transferred from the Treasury Department in 1984.

These coupons were among the almost five billion gasoline rationing coupons which were produced in response to the 1973-74 gasoline shortage at the direction of the Federal Energy Office. But national gas rationing never happened and the coupons were never used. On October 18, 1973, the Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) stopped the flow of oil to the United States in response to the United States’ support of Israel during the Yom Kippur war with Syria and Egypt. Prior to this the United States, like other industrialized nations, had become accustomed to and dependent on cheap and abundant gasoline. A gallon of gasoline cost about 35 cents.

After October 18, the price of gasoline rose immediately and its supply became uncertain. There were long lines at service stations to buy gasoline. In some cases, service stations themselves could not acquire gas. Theft of gas by siphoning from vehicle fuel tanks became common. To restore order, state legislatures in those states most affected by the shortage implemented a simple form of rationing. Drivers whose license plates had an odd number could purchase gas on the odd-numbered days of the month and those whose plates had an even number could purchase gas on the even days of the month. This helped, but the shortage worsened as time went on.

The government then proposed nationwide gasoline rationing, as had occurred during World War II. On December 28, 1973, William E. Simon, head of the Federal Energy Office, announced the Bureau of Engraving and Printing would print gasoline rationing coupons. The Bureau, aware it would need assistance, signed contracts with the US Bank Note Company and the American Bank Note Company to print a portion of the coupons and furnish them with engraved dies. Printing began on January 25, 1974.

The Bureau halted their regular currency and postage stamp printing work to focus on printing the coupons. Coupons were printed using intaglio plates in 96 subject sheets. They were printed, perforated, inspected, cut into 16 subject panes, shrink-wrapped and boxed. Three series of coupons, “A” “B” and “C” were produced. “A” coupons were printed from January 25 to February 25, 1974. “B” coupons were printed from March 17 to March 27, 1974. “C” coupons were printed from February 24 to March 20, 1974.

Almost five billion coupons were printed in less than four months—an impressive achievement. The cooperation of the Federal Reserve Board and the US Postal Service was essential as these agencies had to agree to reduce their normal demands on the Bureau for currency and postage stamps, respectively.

The embargo ended in March 1974 when Israel began to negotiate with Syria and the Arab nations were convinced that the fighting was over. The gasoline shortage eased and the coupons were no longer needed.

In June 1984 the Energy Department was about to shred and bury 4.8 billion of the gasoline rationing coupons at the Pueblo Army Depot in Pueblo, CO. According to former National Philatelic Collection curator James H. Bruns, the Department of the Treasury contacted John Fleckner, Chief Archivist of the National Museum of American History, to ask if the Smithsonian Institution would like to keep a sample. Fleckner approached Bruns, who agreed. The transfer was made on September 6, 1984 from the Department of Energy’s Idaho office. The National Philatelic Collection became the repository of the coupons since these were initially presumed to be rationing stamps like those of World War II. Another multiple of coupons was sent to the National Archives. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing has three multiples and at least three examples are known to be in private collections at this time.