See the thread at the top of this Forum for what's going on!

These are the participation gifts available leading up to the meeting for February 26. 

Make your post, reply or comment in the proper forum and then come here and "Reply" to this post, say where you posted and claim one of the following gifts for delivery at the club on February 26, 2026. Webmaster (Roy) will put it aside with your name on it. Pick it up at the club. If you miss the meeting, so sorry, gift goes back into the pool. (We want you at the meetings too!)

More than one of each of these is available, but supplies of each are limited. Webmaster may not get to posting "This Gift is gone" in time, so it is possible you may be asked to pick an alternate.

#1
   
Ireland Complete Booklet 

#2
   
Canada Youth Exhibition souvenir sheet FDC

#3

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US 1978 CAPEX souvenir sheet - animals

#4

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Rhodesia Trade Conference FDC

#5

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1981 BNAPS Convention Souvenir Cover

#6

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Bermuda Map Maximum Card

Roy

There are no longer Tariffs on Philatelic Materials and Revenue stamps and documents Being sent to The U.S. We still have to use the app Zonos Prepay. After you send picture it comes back Zero Tariffs.Thanks to the APS.

Scott 279A on cover with APS cert Registered as only one to date to be registered very fine condition  asking $25,000. email me if interested in making an offer.

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1851 Dark Blue Scott #3 Og very fine small thins balanced margines. Cv $3000 for OG. Email me if interested for a great deal.

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Two of Roy’s 50 cent covers with great slogans and an opportunity to learn a little Canadian manufacturing history:


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First, the slogans

Stamped Envelopes Save Time And Money - a great endorsement of postal stationery. This slogan is S-1285 in the Coutts database. My example is neither the earliest recorded date (ERD) used for Walkerville, ON nor the latest recorded date (LRD).

Post Your Mail When Ready And Ensure Early Handling - This is P-0565 and within the recorded date range.

Next, the sender

Studebaker Automobiles in Walkerville, Ontario manufactured cars from about 1910 to 1936 for use in Canada and other British Empire markets. They used parts shipped from the main plant in Indiana. The factory was closed in 1936, after the Canadian government introduced duty on parts not sourced from Commonwealth countries. This sounds like a bad decision, but in fact encouraged a great deal of investment in Canada by the US auto companies.

Finally, the recipient 

Motor Wheel Corporation in Lansing, Michigan was founded in 1920. At one time they were responsible for the wheels on one- third of the cars in the US. They are still in business, but are now known for brake drums and brake adjusters for use on heavy duty trucks. Their headquarters is in Tennessee.

Sources

Thank you to Google for the crash course in automotive history.

The Coutts Slogan Cancel reference is a printed book that was transformed into an online database, which is free for members of the Postal History Society of Canada (PHSC). A digital membership costs just $15 per year and provides hours and hours of entertainment! I am hoping to find slogans that are earlier or later than recorded dates. How cool would that be?

www.postalhistorycanada.net

This may be why it takes Hugh so long to get his work done! Motley the former feral cat is asserting his rights to rule our colony …


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This is a wonderful piece of mail for so many reasons! It has Machins, a customs declaration, a customs acceptance stamp, and advertising with product samples. Even better, it is an artifact that connects international trade from Victorian England to present day, and illustrates industrial mechanization in the textile industry. This was an envelope stuffed with history! And although I would like to keep the contents intact, I doubt I will be able to resist my urge to incorporate them in a quilted or collaged fibre art project!


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The business, Metro Textiles Corner in London, England was founded in 1968 and is still operating. They serve retail and wholesale customers, and they specialize in selling to west Africa. One of the manufacturers they represent is Vlisco, a Dutch company founded in 1846. Vlisco specializes in wax-based batiks, and acknowledges that their company history reflects “complex historical and cultural connections.” That is an understatement. 

In 1846 the company was called van Vlissingen & Co. The Dutch were colonizing Indonesia and van Vlissingen discovered traditional “wax resist” hand blocked textile design methods that dated back to the 11th century. He noted that the fabrics were used for women’s traditional dress but were not affordable to the masses. He developed the “Dutch wax” process to mechanize manufacturing. The Indonesians considered his fabrics to be poor quality and didn’t buy them. But - riflemen from Ghana, who were part of the Dutch colonial army in Indonesia, took home large quantities of the bright, colorful fabrics. Then, between late Victorian and Edwardian times, the missionaries arrived in Ghana and told women to cover themselves, increasing demand for inexpensive textiles. By the time this package of samples was mailed, Vlisco was manufacturing “wax fabric” in Africa and China was producing cheap knockoffs of Vlisco’s fabric. China has captured about 90% of the wax fabric market. Vlisco’s products now represent high quality. Traditional African fabrics have been pushed into the background.

Now, 180 years after their founding, Vlisco specializes in creating fabric for the west and Central African market, and Metro Textiles Corner sells their fabric to Africans in England and around the world. 


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Thank you, Roy, for the wonderful history lesson!

So I go to our meeting yesterday with Good Intentions, and yet when I get home...

   

Sigh... so as seen in the pic:

- an American Philatelist and an interesting piece of postal history, to wit a letter marked Manual Sort Mail by Canada Post (thanks Richard!)
- some Titanic Stamps (thanks Mark!)
- a lovely Brittannia 10-pound high value stamp and some Canadian stamps (thanks John!)

STOP IT, PEOPLE! I'm trying to cull my collection LOL!

THEN I find out that Leon (who lives about 6-8 houses from me on the same street) is ALSO selling Stuff I Don't Need, so you KNOW I'm going to have to wander over there to have a look, RIGHT?

One of the questions people often ask is, I signed on to the forum, now what? What should I post about?

Great question. There are a lot of forums out there (not just this one) and the vast majority of people register, sign on once or twice and never return. 

Surveys suggest the one of most common reasons for this is that they don't know what to say. 

Here are a few suggestions:

1) Think of the forum as a place for show-and-tell ... something that is often hard to do at a club meeting. So, start off by showing us something from your collection. Anything will do. No deep analysis is required. It doesn't have to be a perfect example. If you want, no pressure, you can add a line or two about why you like it ... the design? It's a new acquisition, it's something I've had for a long time, It evokes a memory. Anything at all. If you feel so inclined, tell a story. But that's up to you. Start out simple. Show us somethig you like. 

2) Play a game or start a theme .. show us a stamp with, for example, a train and invite others to join in. 

3) Post a cover or stamp that has a postmark from today's date.

4) Start a thread called, for example, Korean Stamps ... and then post a stamp from your collection every day. 

Have fun. Jump in. Just pretend we're all your houses guests and you're showing us your collection. We're all happy to pull up a chair. 

And, if you see something others have posted, feel free to comment on it. Do you like it? Do you have something similar? Did it make you think of something? Do you have a question? This is a friendly and supportive space to let your inner stamp collector out to play. 

Cheers, Hugh

My first stamp order from tusass, Greenland’s post office, has arrived. It included this mini sheet with a semi-postal from 1995 celebrating the 10th anniversary of the flag of Greenland. It is said to be the only country or territory flag in Scandinavia that doesn’t have the Nordic cross. I have to do some research to find out what cause the funds raised supported.


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When you order from the post office in Greenland, your order is fulfilled in Denmark, I suspect by Nordfrim, and then mailed through the German post office. Like Nordfrim, tusass includes a small package of cancelled Greenland stamps to make up for the cold mechanical postage label - which is a collectible, if you like stark postal markings with no soul. 

Their website includes downloadable copies of the Greenland equivalent of Canada Post’s “Details” magazine.

Definitely worth checking out at https://www.stamps.gl/en/greenland-collector .