Used Farley Parks Imperf

These stamps were issued without gum. The seem to be plentiful in used condition. Not only in singles, but in blocks and pairs as well.

Were all these used stamps actually used on mail? If so, what kind of glue was used so regularly that none seem to have been damaged?

Or are all these used stamps really CTO's? If so, why such a sloppy job on the cancels?

thanks

joe

As I recall, the Farley sheets could be sent back to BEP and have glue applied to them.

Lots of them were used by collectors and dealers and, unlike normal commemoratives distributed to the public, they were almost all saved.

For at least the first century of US postage stamps one of the principle ingredients in the manufacture of the adhesives they bore was gum arabic, as derived from acacia trees. In those days the principle alternative adhesive agent used was dextrine, formulated specifically to emulate the adhesive qualities of gum arabic. By contrast in that same period, "glue" was made from various animal proteins, most often as "mucilage."

It is for these reasons that philatelists refer to the adhesive on stamps prior to the introduction of synthetics as "gum" rather than "glue."

Excellent explanation of gum versus glue terminology. I appreciate the enlightenment.

In the USA, LePage's glue was a common staple of hardware and stationery shops for many, many decades. It is water soluble and I don't think it harms paper. Now, we have Elmer's glue (PVA) rather than LePage's.

LePage's glue was initially a fish glue, made from the hides of salt cod, but it was diversified into dozens of adhesive products over the years since it started in 1876. In the late 1920s they acquired the capacity to work with dextrines and these became a big part of the product line in later years. Perhaps the water soluble version you mentioned was one of these. But they still sold fish glue (mucilage) which acted differently on paper then the dextrine based adhesive. Here is a link to a company history up to 1954: http://www.thecakelady.ca/lepagesgl...istory4.html The company is still in business, making adhesives used in many kinds of shipping.

LePage Company had a division for household adhesives, but I'm not sure it is accurate to say it was "replaced" by polyvinyl acetate, which was and is the glue of choice for wood workers. But practically all modern glues are made from synthetics, and in that old LePage's parts from new LePages.

For the period germane to this thread (1930s-40s), I'm guessing LePage's glue was used to affix the Farley imperforate pieces to envelopes. Judging by the specimens I have seen in dealers cover boxes, this is probably correct. If a person who created such covers is still around, perhaps we could hear from him, or her.