Namw1938 - My New Project

Good analysis, Kimo. Just enough cynicism to make perfect sense.
If anyone has a stack go Indiana NAMW covers gathering dust, let me know.

Kimo is certainly correct about the many ways to collect NAMW covers. Below are a few illustrations of categories to collect.

Don

Prominent people associated with NAMW;

Addressed to FDR


Addressed to U.S. Representative James Mead, chair of the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads


Those addressed to NAMW state chairmen. Some of these covers include correspondence.


The letter accompanying the above cover.


An official NAMW cover. A little more difficult to find, apparently not many saved.

Wonderful work and great topic ncbuckeye

Thanks for sharing everyone.

Dianne

I can understand how covers addressed to various officials entered the marketplace, but does anyone know how some of FDR's covers entered the marketplace, and didn't go to a museum?

Most of FDR's stamp collection was sold through a series of sales by Harmer's after his death. There are lots of covers addressed to FDR on the market - many of them rubber stamped on the back by Harmer. Remember, this is before the presidential libraries got developed as for recent presidents.

Here are 3 very common covers addressed to FDR, unmarked by Harmer, so likely in a bulk lot, and findable in $1 boxes today:

Thanks, John. I didn't realize that I could locate items from FDR. I'll have to keep an eye out.

I didn't realize that I could locate items from FDR.

There is an enormous difference between covers from FDR and those mailed to FDR. FDR's collecting of stamps was widely known and there were huge numbers of covers mailed to him from collectors and well wishers and aspirants for political favors. There would have been no way for him to have personally received the thousands that were coming into the White House every week and the White House postal clerks and secretaries would have managed the masses of mail to pick out the few that were from his personal friends or political colleagues. He had a 24/7 job of being the President with little time for his hobby. Just like today, anyone can address a first day cover or an event cover or a thousand of them to the President and drop it in the mail. Such covers will never be seen by the President and after he leaves office I would expect such materials to be sold on the market as a Presidential Library only has a limited amount of space to store and display things so they focus on the personal and official papers of a President and things like high value gifts from important countries and the like. And it is not just letters that are being sent to Presidents, countless corporations send unsolicited stuff to every President so they can say the "President has one of our widgets". As was mentioned, Harmers auctioned off all of this kind of mail to FDR and it took them a number of auctions with large lots to get rid of it all. Anything of value such as essays of stamps that were given to him by his Postmaster General were given to the Smithsonian as I recall. The result is that a letter or card that is addressed to FDR or any other President or even any celebrity has pretty much no additional value other than being a curiosity. On the other hand, a letter that was actually written by FDR and sent to someone does have substantial additional value over an ordinary cover.

Well put, Kimo.
But, whenever I get a new cover, I google the addressee, just to see if they were "somebody." I've got some addressed to fairly well know philatelists like Samual S. Goldsticker, Perhan C. Nahl, and L.B. (Bart) Gatchel, and a variety of dealers who advertised in the Airport Journal. Also a cover addressed to Hugh Ralston, who was a Vice President of the First State Bank in Gothenberg NE, and donated more than a million dollars to renovate and add to the Gothenburg Public Library. To me, they represent an interesting connection to the past.

Hello Healthy:

I also try to find out what I can about addressees on the covers I buy. Could you post a link re: Samuel Goldsticker. I have a couple of his covers, but have never found any biographical info about him.

Thanks.

Don

Hey Don,
I think this is where I first encountered a reference to Samuel:
https://www.americanairmailsociety....all-of-fame/
But I just found this Index, which may lead you to more biographical information:
https://www.americanairmailsociety....990-2008.pdf

Thanks, Healthy. The second link is the one that I need to look at. Now to figure out where I can retrieve that article online without joining the society.

Don

I know what you are saying. I can't afford to join everything either.

You can access Airport Journal articles free, but there is a gap between 1965 and 2012:
https://www.americanairmailsociety....036#archives

I did learn that Linn's Stamp News ran an obituary:

Sam Goldsticker Jr. 1921- 1992
[Sam Goldsticker obituary], Nov. 23, 1992. Linn's Stamp News (Article)
I believe that you can buy the article here, but you may need to be a member of something:
http://catalog.stamplibrary.org/Inm...RY&Type=opac

I found a page that said you could access back issues of Linn's for free, but the link was bad.
I tried FindAGrave, but couldn't find him there.
Good luck, and let us know if you find anything.

Thanks again, Healthy. I am a subscriber to Linns and have online access to back issues. I'll go there for the article.

Don

I agree that trying to join everything is hard, but on the other hand there is an element of fairness that one might consider. If one winds up using an organization's generosity of their making valuable information available on line, then at some point one should consider paying the modest cost to join, especially since these are private non-profit organizations with little in the way of generating revenues to continue for another year other than their very modest membership fees. It is kind of like PBS television. If one watches it with some frequency then it is a fair thing to do to join PBS during one of their fundraising events to help keep it going. In addition, by joining one gets access to other members who are generous in sharing information that is not available to those who are not members. And thirdly, being a member of such organizations enable one to use their membership number as a philatelic credential when interacting with dealers and others in buying and selling. Credentials such as these give confidence to others that they are dealing with a trustworthy individual.

Of course you are right, Kimo. Right now, I belong to 3 organizations, and there is always another deserving one to consider, yet resources are always limited. Just wondering, how many different philatelic organizations to others in this group belong to?