February 2015 Schedule

Here's the February schedule for the Slusser. You can also find this information in calendar form here.

Feb 2: Slusser Library reserved for field trip.

Feb 3: Slusser Library reserved for field trip.

Feb 4: Slusser Library reserved for field trip.

Feb 5: Slusser Library reserved for field trip.

Feb 6: Slusser Library reserved for meeting starting 10 a.m.

Feb 9: Slusser Library reserved for field trip.

Feb 10: Slusser Library closed in the morning; probably open in the afternoon.

Feb 13: Slusser Library reserved for Civil War Roundtable.

Feb 17: Slusser Library reserved for field trip.

Feb 27: Slusser Library reserved for field trip (all day).

January 2015 Schedule

Happy New Year! Here's the January schedule for the Slusser. You can also find this information in calendar form here.

Jan 1:  PHF closed in celebration of New Year's Day.

Jan 9: Slusser Library reserved for Civil War Roundtable meeting.

Jan. 16: Slusser Library reserved for field trip.

Jan. 23: Slusser Library reserved for field trip.

Jan. 26: Slusser Library reserved for field trip.

Jan. 27: Slusser Library reserved for field trip.

Jan. 28: Slusser Library reserved for field trip.

This, that, & Korea

This installment of new arrivals marks further progress on the giant Meter Stamp Society donation. All those books cataloged this round were in English, but the foreign items are coming soon. Speaking of foreign, we do have two new lovely catalogs, one from Japan and one from Korea. The Korean book was a most welcome addition to the collection, as the most recent Korean catalog we had previously was almost 20 years old! And the cover is stunning, Even better in person than on the screen.

Title: KPC-Han'guk up'yo togam = KPC-Korean postage stamp catalogue.

Publisher: Umun'gwan, 2001.

Title: Sakura Nihon kitte katarogu = Sakura catalogue of Japanese stamps.

Publisher: Nihon Yushu Kyokai, 2011.

Part of the Meter Stamp Society's donation included a few histories of Pitney-Bowes. Here's one. Can you tell by the cover that it was published in the 1970s?

Title: The history of Pitney Bowes.

Author: S.T. Roberts.

Publisher: Pitney Bowes Limited, 1975.

We've got a a few more history books-- one describes the story of the British mail system and a children's book with fantastic illustrations that includes a cool map of the Pony Express route. Also a history of Patagonia, Arizona by historian and retired police officer Stan Benjamin. Our Arizona history collection continues to grow!

Title: First post: from Penny Black to the present day.

Author: Peter Davies and Ben Maile.

Publisher: Quiller Press, 1990.

Title: Off like the wind! The first ride of the pony express.

Author (text): Michael P. Spradlin.

Illustrator: Layne Johnson.

Publisher: Walker Publishing Company, Inc., 2010.

Title: Patagonia Arizona.

Author: Stan Benjamin.

Publisher: Benjamin & Company, 2001.

And now a complete list of all our recent arrivals:

Books:

• Bưu hoa Việt-Nam = Timbres-poste pur collection du Viet-Nam = Postage stamps of Viet-Nam
• Catalogue descriptif des varietes de France du type "blanc" a nos jours (1900-1949) by Wanos et de Belleville
• Collect meter stamps: pt 1 beginner by R. Peck
• Collect meter stamps: pt 2 advanced by R. Peck
• First post: from Penny Black to the present day by Peter Davies and Ben Maile
• The history of Pitney Bowes by S.T. Roberts
• An introduction to the hobby of collecting the postage meter stamps by R.H. Harsh
• KPC-Han'guk up'yo togam = KPC-Korean postage stamp catalogue
• Off like the wind! The first ride of the Pony Express by Michael P. Spradlin ; paintings by Layne Johnson
• Patagonia Arizona by Stan Benjamin
• Sakura Nihon kitte katarogu = Sakura catalogue of Japanese stamps
• State and local official mail / official business slogan meter stamp catalog by Joel A. Hawkins
• The story of Pitney-Bowes by William Cahn
• United States Air Force postal meters: history and usages by Joel A. Hawkins

Auction catalogs:

• The Natalee Grace collection :$bused stamps of the United States part one 1847 to 1861 issues and re-issues, Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Inc., Sale no. 1024, Thursday, 7 June 2012
• Konigreich Sachsen: die sammlung Horst und Arnim Knapp teil III, Heinrich Kohler, Sale no. 346, 24 September 2011
• The Dr. William A. Litle collection of United States encased postage, Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Sale no. 1029, 3 October 2012
• The Scarsdale collection: part eight: United States match and medicine stamps, Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Sale no. 1030, 3 October 2012
• Mail auction: poste maritime Francaise = French maritime mail, Soler y Llach, 4 June 2012.

USPS Documents:

• Price list, Notice 123

Ephemera:

• Postal service-Arizona-Cal Peters paintings-Picacho (Miscellaneous clippings and notes relating to the historical events in the Cal Peters painting featuring Mr. Leonard near Picacho Peak)
• Postal service-Arizona-Cal Peters paintings-Fairbank (Miscellaneous clippings and notes relating to the historical events in the Cal Peters painting featuring Jeff Milton foiling the 1901 Fairbank train robbery)
• Postal service-Arizona-Cal Peters paintings-Mule mail (Miscellaneous clippings and notes relating to the historical events in the Cal Peters painting featuring a mail carrier driving mules to Yuma)
• Postal service-Arizona-Cal Peters paintings-Russell (Miscellaneous clippings and notes relating to the historical events in the Cal Peters painting featuring Captain Gerald Russell discovering the body of a slain mail carrier in the Dragoon Mountains)
• Postal service-Arizona-Cal Peters paintings-Russell (Miscellaneous clippings and notes relating to the historical events in the Cal Peters painting featuring Miscellaneous clippings and notes relating to the historical events in the Cal Peters painting featuring the Wickenburg massacre)

There's a monster waiting at the end

It's a British Invasion here, or at least a British-Canadian one, as so many of this installment of new arrivals are about stamps from those countries. At our sales volunteer's request, we recently acquired brand-spanking-new editions of both Stanley Gibbons Commonwealth and British Empire Stamps, 1840-1970 and Stanley Gibbons Great Britain Concise Stamp Catalogue. Stanley Phillips also made an appearance in the 1935 The Beginner's Book of Stamp Collecting, which made me sneeze when cataloging and since I didn't want to open it again, it won't make an appearance here.




This catalog, though, is a lovely shade of blue and features the Queen. It is also not dusty, musty, or toning.

As for Canada, we had three books donated that will interest Canada collectors, listed below. Other geographic regions-- Colorado and the Canal Zone. A nice sampling of the globe.








The real story, though, are the books with stunning photographs and illustrations. Two about Arizona will delight Arizona researchers and enthusiasts.

Title: Saguaro: a View of Saguaro National Monument and the Tucson Basin.

Author (text): Gary Paul Nabham

Photographer: George H.H. Huey

Publisher: Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, 1986.

Sometimes it does snow here in the Sonoran Desert, and when it does, it creates spectacular landscapes.

I had to include this page because of my sister's pet tortoise, Squirt. I first learned of tortoises' fondness for prickly pear fruits when I babysat Squirt and called my sister, concerned about all the redness on Squirt's face. It turned out to be prickly pear fruit juice. Squirt is a messy eater.








Mail Me Art is a collection of absolutely extraordinary pieces of mail art. The book contains envelopes and packages decorated with a wide variety of art styles from artists all over the world. It also includes interviews with the artists. I could only include a very small sampling here. Come check out the book to see them all!

Title: Mail Me Art: Going Postal With the World's Best Illustrators and Designers.

Author: Darren Di Lieto

Publisher: HOW Books, 2009.

Yup, there's a monster.

And now a complete list of all our recent arrivals:

Books:

• Arizona Then and Now by Allen A. Dutton
• The Beginner's Book of Stamp Collecting by Stanley Phillips
• Canada: the 1967-1973 Definitive Issue by F.W.L. Keane, J. Paul Hughes, Robert J. Lemire, Kenneth W. Pugh, Kenneth Rose, Edward J. Whiting, Michael B. Dicketts, E.L. Covert, John Aitken, and George A. Vanderbergh
• Canada Varieties of the Queen Elizabeth Era: Part 1 Basic Types by Kenneth Pugh.
• Canal Zone Postal History Stationery: 2014 (third edition) edited by Irwin J. Gibbs
• Mail Me Art: Going Postal With the World's Best Illustrators and Designers by Darren Di Lieto
• Saguaro: a View of Saguaro National Monument and the Tucson Basin by Gary Paul Nabham and George H.H. Huey
• Standard Catalogue of Canadian Booklet Stamps by Bill McCann
• [Stanley Gibbons] Commonwealth and British Empire Stamps, 1840-1970
• Stanley Gibbons Great Britain Concise Stamp Catalogue

Journal:

• Colorado Postal Encyclopedia [computer file] by William Baur, Steven R. Morehead, and Roger D. Rydberg

Auction Catalog:

• Altdeutsche Staaten und Deutsches Reich 1849-1874: Die Sammlung John Simon, Heinrich Kohler Auktionhaus

September Schedule

I'm a little late, and that's because I've been working on installing the Halloween exhibit.

The big news, though, is that the Slusser operating hours have changed. We are now open Monday through Friday, 9 - 3.

Here's the September schedule for the Slusser during operational hours. Click here for a pdf of the whole month.

Sep. 23: Slusser Library reserved for education field trip, 10-11.

Sep. 24: Slusser Library reserved for education field trip, 10-11.

Sep. 24: Slusser Library reserved for education field trip, 10-11.

Sep. 25: Slusser Library closing a bit early; probably at 2.

Oct. 22: The PHF welcomes United Way Days of Caring volunteers. The Slusser Library is reserved for their work.

Wise up; it's not going to work

We pick up our story after the Great Western debacle and the limited success of the Union Army Balloon Corps. Neither of these ventures were particularly fruitful. Did that stop a new group of aeronauts from trying anew? Could the American independent spirit of adventure and traversing the troposphere in a basket be stilled?

No.

Famous aeronaut John Wise convinced the Daily Graphic, a New York newspaper, to fund his flight. The newspaper created a massive publicity stunt out of the preparation and launch. 

Throngs in an unending procession came to Broadway and 14th Street where the huge balloon was being made by the Domestic Sewing machine Co. and where a banner announced in bold letters "To Europe in Sixty Hours 1-1 The Great Balloon 1-1 The Daily Graphic" (Stamps, May 29, 1976, p. 663).

The balloon's basket was two floors. The top, ten feet high, was the living quarters outfitted with tables, chairs, and instruments. The bottom, four feet high, was for storage.

John Wise never took the Daily Graphic balloon across the Atlantic. By some accounts he was fired; by others he quit because he felt the balloon was unsafe.  Instead, on September 12, 1873, aeronaut Washington Donaldson and two other men attempted to lift off the ground from Brooklyn but never got anywhere as the balloon's fabric ripped. The Daily Graphic and the men inside were deflated.

Undaunted, on October 10, 1873, aeronaut Washington Donaldson and two other men floated up from Brooklyn to the cheers and cries of an excited crowd, who expected to hear in a couple of days that the Great Balloon had landed in Europe.

The dream that never happened,
from The Philatelist, 1943, p. 218

A few hours later, the balloon made its first and final landing in Connecticut, a few miles short of Europe. There is no extant mail from that excursion. However, there is one cover known from Donaldson's later adventures in P.T. Barnum's circus in which he dropped "Messages from the Clouds."

There are some other collectibles from other transatlantic balloon mail experiments, but by and large these were unmanned, smaller balloons launched in large quantities that included postal cards to be mailed by whomever found them.

Balloon mail now holds its place as a unique, if not practical, form of mail service.

August schedule update 2

Whoops! can't believe I forgot to post our Tucson Birthday Party in which we announce the Stamp Design Contest winners! The library is hosting the event starting at 10 a.m.

Also, the library will be closed from about 11 - 1, as we're picking up a large book donation then.