1932 - Ralph Kimble - The Stamp Man - Ripon Stamp Club

I got this cover today, anyone heard of "the stamp man"? I wonder if the Ripon, Wi. stamp club still exists?

I can't say that I did until I looked it up, but he was the author of several period books on stamp collecting and some of his material is in the hands of the Smithsonian Institution. This is his brief biography:



Here's an illustration of one of several of his early books, which are readily available for a few dollars on ebay:

Thanks wt1, very interesting.

Here is a bit more about the the Stamp Man radio show:

WMAQ radio was a Class A clear channel station in Chicago at 670 kHz (until August 2000). It was founded by the Chicago Daily News newspaper in 1922, and it was sold to the National Broadcasting Co. (NBC) in 1931.

In the 1930's and 40's WMAQ broadcast the big budget shows of the NBC Red Network in the evenings. Many famous shows originated at WMAQ, including "Amos 'n' Andy" in 1928, and 'Fibber McGee and Molly" in 1935. The Chicago Daily News also continued to provide local programming and news as part of a partnership agreement. Ralph Kimble was one of those staff members who both wrote a newspaper column and hosted his own radio show.

At 50,000 watts, "The Stamp Man" with Ralph Kimble was heard on Sunday afternoon all over the central US and Canada.

--Kevin

Kevin - thanks for that additional information. Wouldn't you like to be able to listen to some of those shows?

Yakboomer,

Yes, I totally agree that it would be a hoot to listen to an 80-some year old radio program about stamps. It would be interesting to hear what things about stamp collecting have changed, and all the things that haven't.

One of the interesting aspects about media is that there are newspaper archives that would have every column that Ralph Kimble wrote, but there may not be a single recording or transcript of the "Stamp Man" radio shows. Newspapers were seen as records of the day and to be kept in perpetuity, but radio programming (and TV early on) was not thought of as generally worthy of archiving.

Makes me wonder what will happen someday to all the philatelic information on collector websites and forums like SCF.

--Kevin

The transcripts of Ralph Kimble's Stamp talks are in the American Philatelic Library.

Good going. That would put you in your 80's-90's. Are you a collector?

Yes and yes

The book above was one of the first books in my Philatelic libary, almost 40 years ago. Couldn't tell how many times I've read it.

I would like to share my memories of Ralph Kimble, the "Stampman". He was my father. I am the youngest of his four children. One of my earliest memories is "helping" him with page proofs of an issue of the American Philatelist he had spread out on our dining room table in Chicago. He collected stamps since his boyhood, and had a modest collection of stamps and covers, but his pride and joy was his collection of philatelic literature, as so ably noted by wt1.That collection won many show awards.
The radio talks (thanks stampmole for your contribution) formed the basis for his book "Commemorative Postage Stamps of the United States". He got thousands of letters from collectors, and for awhile tried to answer each one, including a foreign postage stamp and a little information about it with each letter. Some of these little packets I still have. He enjoyed talking stamps with anyone, especially children.
My father served in the United States Army in both World Wars. He served in the 123rd Field Artillery in WWIl, and was award three medals by the French government, including medals for participating in the battles of St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne. In WWII he was Inspector General of the 97th Infantry Division, and saw action in Europe and with the Army of Occupation in Japan. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.
His greatest love was my mother, his childhood sweetheart, and his children and grandchildren. He was a warm and loving father, and I think of him with love and admiration. Every day.

Photo of Ralph Kimble, 1945.

Awesome!

and welcome to SCF rdavid

Thanks --rdavid .......It sounds like your Dad was one of the guys who started Chicago as a Philatelic powerhouse on the world scene . It is those philatelist who came out of the ground work he put together that made major improvements to the hobby . Guys like John Ross, Bud Henning ,Charlie Hann , and Dr. Matjeka and a few more .

This is an unbelievably neat thread and shows what a simple posted question can lead to -- it actually drew out the son of the Stamp Man! Welcome, rdavid!

Thanks for the welcome, guys! I hope I can contribute on other topics too, although my collection is quite modest.