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.

Up, Up, and.. [crickets]

Did you know... there was once a great Balloon Mail experiment? The balloon mail craze was a short-lived one, primarily because it was an absolute failure.

The first transatlantic flight was attempted in 1860 by aeronaut T.S.C. Lowe. First called "The City of New York," it caused a huge stir in New York City where it was to launch. Expectations and enthusiasm deflated when the New York Gas Company couldn't get enough gas pressure to lift the balloon.

Dr. Cresson of the Franklin Institute to the rescue! The operation was moved to Philadelphia, the balloon name was changed to "Great Western," and it took of September 8, 1860.

And then immediately plummeted back down. Apparently, too many practice runs left the balloon fabric weak.

There had been great hopes for not only the success of the flight itself, but also in air mail delivery. The balloon basket was equipped with

nautical and meteorological instruments, lanterns and signal rockets, a large supply of provisions; and for emergency purposes a metal boat suspended from the basket. The mail was contained in waterproof bags marked "U.S. Mail" with parachutes attached so that messages cold be dropped over ships en route and over towns once the European continent was reached (Stamps, May 29, 1976, p. 662).

The only piece of mail known to survive was probably handed on board at the last minute because it wasn't cancelled. It reads,

Phila. Sept, 1860.
Dear mother
As the Great Bloon is going today I thought I would write but dont whether this will reach you in four days from the time it is written. Mary gave birth to a daughter this morning about five oclock. She is pretty well and it is a fine child. If this note should reach you please take good care of it.
                                                                                      your affectionate son
                                                                                      Philip

This is a great undertaking for Professor Lowe of the Great Western Bloon

It certainly was, poor man. But it didn't go so well. And his second attempt was thwarted by the Civil War. But then that gave him the chance to serve in the Balloon Corps. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. There was a civilian contract group called the Union Army Balloon Corps, and he really did go up in a balloon, using a telegraph to report troop movement in the Peninsula Campaign and the Battle of Seven Pines. His ballooning days were pretty much over by 1863, and he refocused more on technology involving water and gas.

Though Lowe's experiment in balloon mail wasn't a rousing success, it wasn't the only attempt at it.

Next week: The pigeon-and-dirigible publicity stunt by The Daily Graphic. Stay tuned.

Lovely meter mail... and more

Not too long ago, we received a large donation from the Meter Stamp Society, consisting of many monographs and journals from many countries in many languages. I've started processing this generous gift, starting with three AICAM (Italian Association of Meter Stamp Collectors) titles, AICAM Flash, Aicam news, and Congresso AICAM. Much more meter mail material to come in the next several months!

Some highlight of our other recently added material:


We have two of these Postage Stamp Catalogues from the Republic of China, the 1983 and the 1984. Isn't this cover fantastic?


Title: Postage stamp catalogue of the Republic of China

Author: China (Republic of China). Directorate General of Posts.

Publisher: Directorate General of Posts, Republic of China

I just had to put up the BACK cover of the auction catalog for The Richard L. Calhoun collection of Charleston, South Carolina: the first year of secession. Stunning.

AND, lot 541, "5-Cent Blue Provisional Stamp, the only recorded block," went for $15,000. I like to peek at the prices realized & see if there were any mind-boggling transactions.

Auction gallery: Robert A. Siegel Galleries in New York
Date of sale: 27 February 2014
Sale #1065





An auction catalog for the most famous lady in all of philately, the Inverted Jenny. The sale of this one stamp puts the 5-Cent Blue Provisionals to shame: it fetched $575, 100.

!!!

Auction gallery: Spink Shreves in New York
Date of sale: 21 May 2014

I'm pretty much a sucker for western postal history, so I had to include this auction catalog in the highlights, as well. It has some really nice background and history to several of the pieces up for sale.

Auction gallery: Robert A. Siegel Galleries in New York
Date of sale: 24 June 2014
Sale #1072









Full-color and large illustrations make this Japenese philatelic book a really exceptional addition to our collection.

Title: The large commemorative datestamps of Japan: 1902.06.20-1944.04.24 (ISJP Monograph 21; a supplement to volume 69, no. 3)

Author: Charles A.L. Swenson.

Publisher: The International Society for Japanese Philately, Inc., 2014



This fictional thriller by Michael Aldrich has a philatelic thread running through it.

Title: Imagine no more lies [a thriller]

Author: Michael Aldrich

Publisher: Xlibris Corp., 2011










You can delve into the history of British stamp design.

Title: Royal Mail stamps: a survey of British stamp design

Author: Stuart Rose

Publisher: Phaidon, 1980










And, a serious topic, road safety, complete with a "SAFETY DEPENDS ON ME!" slogan. This doesn't look like an official official publication -- I couldn't find a publication # for example. But it clearly has an association with USPS.

Title: Lifting the fog from driver safety: rural carrier training guide

Publisher: United States Postal Service? No date.








And a complete list of all our recent arrivals:

Meter mail journals:

• AICAM flash - n. 1 (1982) - no. 59-60 (1996).
• Aicam news - no. 1 (1997) - no. 10 (1999), no. 12 (1999) -no. 16 (2000), no. 18 (2001) - no. 20 (2001)
• Congresso AICAM - no. 1 (1982) - no. 17 (1998), no. 19 (2000), no. 20 (2001)

Other journals:

• DFT, Dansk Filatelistisk Tidsskrift - 1960-2010 (computer file)
• Inside Coverage: first day cover newsletter - 1976-1983
• Philamath - Vol. 1, no. 1 (July 1979)- Vol. 35, no. 4 (Apr 2014) (computer file)
• Philatelia chimica et physica / Journal of the Chemistry and Physics on-Stamps Study Unit - Vol. 8, no. 1 (spring 1986)-CURRENT [selected issues]
• PHT, Posthistorisk tidsskrift - 1972-2011 (computer file)
• Skilling - 1972-2000 (computer file)

Books / monographs:

• How to collect stamps (Bullard handbook Series)
• Imagine no more lies [a thriller] by Michael Aldrich.
• The large commemorative datestamps of Japan: 1902.06.20-1944.04.24 by Charles A.L. Swenson.
• Postage due: the United States postage due essays, proofs, and specimens 1879-1986 by Harry K. Charles.
• Postage stamp catalogue of the Republic of China, 1983 & 1984
• Royal Mail stamps: a survey of British stamp design by Stuart Rose.

Auction catalogs:

• The Brandon collection of Confederate states stamps and postal history: part one: postmaster's provisionals, R.A. Siegel Auction Galleries
• The Daniel H. and Marcel V. Collection: birds of the world, R.A. Siegel Auction Galleries
• The J.E. Safra 24c Inverted Jenny, Spink Shreves Galleries
• The New Helvetia collection of western expresses and California mails: featuring Pony Express stamps and covers, R.A. Siegel Auction Galleries
• A portion of the Wade Saadi struck on stamps collection: 5 cents - 90 cents, 1851-1866 issues, R.A. Siegel Auction Galleries

Exhibits:

• Die figurestempel Finnlands = Finnish figure postmarks / Reinhard Weber collection cork cancels, Finland (computer file)

Postal employee manuals, training, etc.

• Arizona district IJ (instructions for the job) guidelines: for RCA/TRC rural route delivery new hires
• Field implementation kit: special postal bulletin / Rate case implementation / R-2000-1
• Handbook EL-812: Hazardous materials and spill response - 1997
• Lifting the fog from driver safety: rural carrier training guide
• Performance evaluation system: confirm profile quick-start guide version 1, September 2004
• Postage, rates, and information / Domestic postage rates and fees / Notice 59 - 1959, 1985, 1993, 1998
• Rate case training: shaping our future (video)
• Unisys model 2050 integrated retail terminal: user's guide

August schedule updates

The library reading room has been reserved next week on Tues the 12th through Thursday the 14th. The stacks are still available, but cold. Bring a jacket if you're going to do some research.

Revised August schedule pfd here.

August Schedule

The August schedule is out for the Slusser. Click here for the pdf file in month format.

August 2: Reserved for education field trip.
August 6: Closed intermittently; call ahead.
August 7: Closed intermittently; call ahead.
August 8: Reserved for Civil War Roundtable (?) TBD.
August 16: Reserved for Tucson Stamp Club.

Clang Clang Clang went the trolley!

Stamp, Stamp, Stamp went the mail.

Our current exhibit, Trolley Mail, explores the brief but important urban postal service using electric streetcars.

Only a few cities actually officially used streetcar R.P.O. systems. St. Louis, the first city to adopt streetcar mail in 1891, was followed by Brooklyn (1894), Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, Chicago, Cincinnati (all 1895), Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Rochester, San Francisco (all 1896), Pittsburgh (1898), Seattle (1905), and Cleveland (1908).

But in the 1910s as mass-production of motor vehicles increased, cities favored mail trucks over streetcars to deliver the mail. And so, by 1915 most cities had discontinued trolley mail service, and all cities had stopped it by 1929.

Our exhibit runs through Summer 2014. Stop on by!

Busy Baltimore street.

Boston mail wagon & streetcar.

Inaugural run of Long Beach trolley.

July Schedule

The July schedule is out for the Slusser. We've got quite a few activities and some closures. Click here for the pdf file in month format.

July 4 & 5: Closed for Independence Day.
July 11: Closed early, about 1 p.m.
July 12: Education field trip; closed early, about 1:30 p.m.
July 19: Tucson Stamp Club
July 23: May open late or be closed all day -- TBD
July 26: PHF Board meeting

New Arrivals: U.S. Mint Commemoratives, Printing Houses, & More

This week, I processed several U.S. Mint Set of Commemorative Stamps that were in very nice condition.We had a gap, particularly in the 1980s, so this donation helped us towards completing our set of these materials.

The back of the 1980 set has a nice shot of the steel master plates. The other images are from the covers of the 1981, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1991 editions.

We also had a few printing house publicity materials that have wonderful photographs of the printing machinery in action and some text explaining the process:

A page out of From 'the Mystery and Art' to the Skill and Technology of the Harrison Group.

Title: From 'the mystery and art' to the skill and technology of the Harrison Group. 

Author: Harrison & Sons (Printers)

Publisher: London : Harrison & Sons (Printers), 19[7-?]. 20 pages.

And from Enschedé: Printers of Banknotes and Stamps.

Title: Enschede : printers of banknotes and stamps.  

Author: Joh. Enschedel en Zonen 

Publisher: Haarlem, Netherlands : Joh. Enschedel en Zonen, 19[--?]. One page folded.

And from The House of Questa.

Title: The House of Questa. 

Author: House of Questa 

Publisher: London : House of Questa, 19[6-?]. 8 pages.

Two books on Kuwait postal history were moved from the ephemera files to the stacks:

Iraqi Occupation of Kuwait (1990-1991): Prologue, War, and Aftermath (philatelic exhibit) authored and published in 2006 by Mashael A. Alhajeri (one volume, looseleaf) for the Inter-Asian Philatelic Exhibition.

and 

The History of the Postal Service in Kuwait, 1775-1959, by A.N. Donaldson and published in 1968 by Jal Cooper. 1 volume, looseleaf).



If you're interested in the postal service of Minneapolis or St. Paul, we now have several issues from 1997 - 2011 of Beyond the Stamp, a newsletter published by the Twin Cities Postal Consumer Advisory Council (now apparent;y known as the Twin Cities Postal Customer Council).



Finally, space collectors and cachet aficionados may want to check out Moon Landing: Scot C76 Cachet Catalog by Monte Eiserman and Harry L,. Anderson, published by American First Day Cover Society in 2014 (95 pages).

The Slusser in June

Our June schedule is pretty open at this point, but check back periodically to make sure we are open at the time you plan to visit. For the Calendar-style pdf, click here.

It's baseball season!

At-a-glance, we currently have scheduled:

Thursday the 19th: The archivist from the UA Museum of Art and I are dismantling the Robert McCall stamp design exhibit. The library will be open, but there will be limited librarian assistance.

Saturday, the 21st: Tucson Stamp Club meets. The library is open but the place is usually full and seating is limited. However, the people who fill up the seats would be glad to welcome you!

Thursday, the 26th: The library is hosting a field trip run by our education department. The doors are open, but there is no seating in the reading room. There is limited seating in the library stacks, which is chilly-- bring your jacket!