Zenith Stamp Company

Does anyone know anything abou the "Zenith Stamp Company"

Specifically:

1. Were they a "known" printer of bogus stamp issues / Cinderellas?

2. When did they go out of business?

3. Who owned the company?

Thanks (I am working on a little research project)

Eric

Hope this helps

Company Name: THE ZENITH STAMP COMPANY
Status: Active Filing Date: 08/12/1935
Entity Type: Domestic Fictitious Name File Number: 2405700
Filing State: Pennsylvania (PA)
Company Age: 77 Years, 6 Months
Principal Address:
Unknown
Philadelphia Pa,

got this from this site: http://www.bizapedia.com/pa/THE-ZEN...COMPANY.html

hmm - Thanks for that. The one I was looking for (I thought) may have been in New York. But maybe this is the right one!

I would take the bizapedia info with several grains of salt. Sites like that simply collect information without regard to accuracy, and then extrapolate. Zenith Stamp Company is already out of business, not the 77 years claimed by bizapedia. Also, they started well before 1935.

I'm not sure when/where they started, but I do know they were operating out of Connecticut in the 1910s, and then later in Brooklyn.

The Zenith Stamp Company was located at 81 Willoughby Street, Brooklyn, NY. A quick internet search reveals they were around as early as 1919 (based on a Meekel's Stamp News ad) and as late as 1965 (based on a Boys' Life ad for stamps). They were primarily an approval service catering to the needs of young collectors, as many of their ads for stamps appeared in many comic books, Boys' Life, Popular Mechanics and the like.

I recall there was a thread on SCF that showed some glassines from their approval service.

I remember Zenith from when I belonged to the stamp club in what we then called Grammer school...Our club received approvals from Zenith in a classy little booklet ...i remember the small kaisers yacht stamps..they looked so fresh but they were expensive for us..possibly 15 cents apiece..i did wonder if they were authentic !

In the '50s and '60s I dealt with Zenith, Littleton, and Mystic at one time or the other. I recall one company got pretty nasty with me, claiming I stole approvals they sent me. For a 12/13 year old, that was scary. I was innocent, but still..............

Do companies still do that (send out unrequested approvals)?

mobilman44,

Yes, companies still send out unrequested approvals and then get nasty when those approvals are not returned. Postal regulations state that unrequested merchandise may be legally considered a gift. The gifters claim they are not gifts because they provided return postage. The APS and other organizations have been fighting this practice for many, many years.

mobilman------I dealt with the same companies, but I really just kept the approvals and for a month after I would have to intercept the daily mail deliveries and pull out the mail address to "THE PARENTS OF FLOORTRADER" it was good my parents didn't read English that well .I always feared a police raid much like you see on T.V. today were they nock down the front door and put guns to everybodys head and consviscate my stamp album for $3.20 worth of approvals.Luck for me .

Does that mean that it may have existed before 1919?

i remember the aggresive rubber stamp PLEAE MAKE YOUR PURCHASE AT LEAST 25 CENTS !!

There is no shame for those that try to scare quarters out of kids. I think I have something here from the Zenith Stamp Co but no luck finding right now.

A bit of further information:

In 1919, The Zenith Stamp Company was located in New Britain, Connecticut (not sure if it may or may not be the same company).

A 1951 ad, shows the Zenith Stamp Company was located at 95 Nassau Street, New York City. Here's an example of their postcard from the time:



From 1955 to at least 1965 (that I can find) they relocated to 81 Willoughby Street, Brooklyn, NY.

I'm not sure if this was the owner or merely a staff person, but the name S.M. Friedlander (a/k/a Seymour M. Friedlander) comes up as the author of some of their "mini-stamp encyclopedia" and "stamp album" of the day. Therefore it would make sense there is some connection.

Thanks for all of the info everyone.

I am trying to now figure out if they (as a company) ever Printed Stamps (cinderellas) -

I am thinking not... but its hard to say

Dear Friends,

I am the son of S.M. (Seymour) Friedlander, age 93, and living in London for many years. These posts were just shared with me and I asked my Dad about the details. He operated Zenith, first in the mid 1940s, from Nassau Street in Manhattan, and through the 1970s on Willoughby Street in Brooklyn, an office I knew well. The firm then ceased to operate, He says no "cinderalla's," but they did print a few local issues under contract. I sure hope that advances the research and increases the accuracy.
Steve Friedlander Anderson, NYC