I think you right, Molokai. I don't see an abundance of OPS SS offered on eBay. May not be much demand either. That's one of the problems with collecting cinderellas, and especially those originating from a state entity or locale -- supply is never known and pricing by dealers is often based on wishful thinking. However, I have not noticed much bidding competition on cinderellas that I have bought on eBay. Those issued before 1930 seem to priced quite a bit higher than post 1930s stuff. Being a low ball bidder, I rarely bid more than $5 on an item. I hope to hold the line on that ceiling, at least until I get a better sense of what is scarce and what is not. Don
I'm with you. On eBay I rarely bid a second time. My best deals have been BIN/Best Offer. I've seen covers BIN $40.00, offered $10.00 and got them. If they make a counter offer I rarely accept it. I used to 'bid up' on chess books and usually regretted it. I have enough of a want-list I don't chase any specific item any more.
I've bought quite a few cinderellas the last couple of weeks and they are starting to trickle in. A potpourri of stuff with some emphasis on the Oklahoma Philatelic Society's (OPS) souvenir sheets and labels. That is an area in which I think I can get some completion. It is rapidly becoming obvious I must specialize quickly or I'll go broke! So many interesting items out there! This is an advance label for the OPS's 22nd annual convention held in Coffeyville, Kansas. Yes, it was held out-of-state that year. Coffeyville is just across the state line in south central Kansas and traditionally has participated actively in the OPS. One of the caveats for buying these items is to inquiry about their size. This is a small item, (39 mm wide x 42 mm high), a seal to be placed on letters or envelopes, but on the eBay illustration it looked much larger, as it does here. Another thing I am quickly learning re: cinderella buying is to stay focused on philatelic items. I saw the non-philatelic seal below offered by a dealer in Australia of all places and bought it. It was an impulse buy and now I don't know what I am going to do with it. This item is almost the same size as a typical commemorative stamp. Too small to mount on a page by itself and I don't have anything to put with it at this time. I really can't get into statehood items! Don
The Fields/Picklo catalog lists three different colors for this item, but the description is not clear, at least to me. They are referring to the color of the Indian's head. The colors listed are brown (my copy), blue, and black. However, there is no description of background colors for the blue and black examples so I assume all have the same background. The society also published an advance label that year and another item apparently illustrating a Nigerian stamp. Again, the F/P listing does not indicate what the association of the Nigerian stamp was. Maybe one will turn up on eBay and it will obvious. While the red shield advance label above was small, this item is large, especially as a block of four. The F/P listing calls it a label and a single item is 45 mm wide and 64 mm high. I would not have bought the block of four had it not been priced very reasonably at about what I expected a single might be priced. Miami, Oklahoma, is in the extreme northeast corner of the state. I don't have an Oklahoma Place Names at hand, but I believe the town is named after the Miami Indian tribe which was relocated to the area in the 19th century. The locals pronounce the town name as Miama, which I have never been able to do. The small banners at the top left (Dec 1932 & Oct 1939) I can only assume to refer to the date of the OPS's organization and the date of the 1939 convention. Don
I picked this one up recently for my aviation collection. It was issued to complement the then new 1941 airmail set. There is a companion piece illustrating a Douglas DC-3 that I will have to purchase as well. Did a little research on the "publisher" of this item, Frederick H. Dietz, and found that he produced several SS in this style. Apparently, he was a stamp dealer in NYC. I'm continuing to follow up and hope to find the others he did. This one is another large item, 143 mm x 89 mm. Don
An addition to my growing Oklahoma Philatelic Society souvenir sheet collection. This one with a patriotic theme celebrating the end of WW II. Don
A more contemporary Oklahoma Philatelic Society souvenir sheet, this one from the 1967 convention held in Ponca City, Oklahoma. Ponca City is in north central Oklahoma just south of the state line with Kansas. It used to be the corporate headquarters of Conoco, but it moved to Houston, Texas, in 1949 and has since merged with Phillips Petroeum in 2002. These later souvenir sheet seem to me plainer in design with the central image unrelated to philately. The Kaw Dam depicted on this sheet is on the Arkansas River. The build up of water behind the dam formed Kaw Lake and covered the original town of Kaw City. Don
A couple of unrelated cinderellas that I recently purchased. The one on the left is an Oklahoma item that reflects a time when high schools were still important and even carried some prestige for the student attending. Those were the days when teachers were referred to as faculty, dressed better than the students, were authoritative in the classroom, and were considered as role models. There are still clubs in high schools, but I'd bet that stamp clubs are few in number and a separate high school stamp exhibition unheard of these days. This exhibition sheet bears the likeness of Sc. 836, the 3c Swedish-Finnish Tercentenary issue of 1938. The second, smaller cinderella is one occasionally seen on cover from 1932 onward to FDR's last term. I've tried to buy one on cover, but have always been outbid. Seems like I remember this, or a similar design also appeared as a cachet. Having this cinderella will satisfy my desire to own one and I can now forget about finding it on cover, unless one neatly tied to the cover should appear. Don
I especially like the FDR! I'll grab it when I post the first FDR book review soon. As to public education. You don't want to get me started on that subject. For some years in the 1970s I corresponded with my favorite high school math teachers, Mr. Cooper, who was alarmed at the direction primary education was going at that time... In the markets we would refer to it as systemic failure. I don't recall a stamp club at our high school in the mid-sixties...fairly large school, probably 1200 students or so. I think the philatelic handwriting was already on the wall by then... That said, anyone here active in a stamp club today would I love to hear about it!
When I was at grammar school in England,I was part of the stamp club.The math teacher was in charge....ironic as I hated math and him as a teacher...but he was totally different in the club..!!!! There were about a dozen or so regular members...but I remember most of the other students thought stamp collectors were a different breed. Bob
Here is one of the companion pieces to Fred Dietz's souvenir sheets commemorating the issuance of the new airmail stamp series issued in 1941. This one depicting a Douglas DC-3 in flight. Since posting the Stratoliner SS above on March 17th, I have learned that there is a third SS by Dietz illustrating a Boeing Model 314 Clipper, a flying boat designed and built to specifications of Pan American Airways for its trans-Atlantic service. I've got a search going for that now. There is also a similar fourth sheet featuring the Boeing B-19, also on my want list. Dietz did several souvenir sheets of which there is a checklist at https://alphabetilately.org/PSS.html Don
Awhile back I was lamenting the difficulty in mounting large cinderellas on an album page and Molokai suggested that I might try using a landscape format instead of portrait. Here a couple of pages using that approach. It still makes for a crowded page, but it works. The American Stamp Dealers Association has put out several cinderellas over the years to commemorate its shows. This 50th anniversary issue of the organization must be its largest in size. They were issued in both perforated and imperforated formats. I have both, but am posting only the imperfs. They come in four colors. I have had these items for quite awhile. They were part of that original shoe box lot I purchased several years ago. These were cut into blocks of two with the headings included and I have mounted them together so they read left to right. It appears that each color was printed as a separate sheet. I was fortunate to get the headings on these. I have only strips of two with the logos attached for the perforated items. Don
I bought another lot of 24 cinderellas earlier this month and this Oklahoma Philatelic Society souvenir sheet was in it. This one for the OPS's 16th annual meeting in Muskogee. Muskogee is a town of about 40,000 souls 50 miles southeast of Tulsa. It is named after the Muscogee Creek Indians who were relocated in the 1830s to what was then Indian Territory. This convention venue was also the site of the first day of issue for Scott 972, the Indian Centennial Issue of October 15, 1948. Don
You are correct --not, according to the Fields/Picklo listing. Looks like half a set. Are these yours? Interesting that only one has the overprint. Definitely keepers, I would say. INTERNATIONAL PHILATELIC EXHIBITION, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK 1913 OCT. 27-NOV. 1; LABELS: ENGRAVED PORTRAIT OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. SET OF 6 , BLUE; GREEN; MAROON; OLIVE GREEN; ORANGE; RED ON WHITE. PERFED/GUMMED (THE NEW YORK ATTORNY GENERAL BANNED THE USE OF THESE LABELS AT THE SHOW , AFRAID THAT PEOPLE WOULD CONFUSE THEM WITH POSTAGE STAMPS AND ATTEMPT TO USE THEM ON MAIL). $20.00 There are several variations listed for this issue as well. They do look like postage stamps! Don
Thank you <DON>. I am not sure how I got them, just found in a small envelope in a shoe box. I see them on eBay for $18 each! Don't think I am inclined to spend $60 right now to complete the set.
