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Pillar Of The Community
United States
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Bedrock Of The Community
United States
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That's a beautiful set of stamps.
I recall a story that these "poster stamps" looked so real that the US Post Office actually asked (demanded?) that they stop selling them because people were mistakenly (intentionally?) using them for postage.
Does anyone know if that's a true story or merely folklore? |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1047 Posts |
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These cinderellas were given away by the Eaton Paper Company of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1939 as an enticement to buy the company's writing paper. Below is a scan of Eaton's ad announcing the labels and how to get a set. This ad appeared in the March 25, 1939, issue of STAMPS magazine. I assume it appeared elsewhere too. Note the price. Oh, what a few cents would buy in 1939! Don  |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
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The labels were executed by the American Bank Note Company, but distributed by Eaton in boxes of their specialty paper.
I have a file on these somewhere. I'll look to see if I have any additional info on them.
Robert |
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| Edited by Trainwreck - 01/30/2014 11:08 am |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
786 Posts |
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OKAY then, Commissioned by Eaton Press, produced by American Bank Note Company. They are great looking though ..  |
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Valued Member
United States
200 Posts |
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Remarkable what the quality of the paper can do for a printing process! Far too expensive for bulk use, of course.
Donald |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
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I inquired about these labels in Linn's Stamp News Collector's Forum way back in 1989. I received many letters--actual letters in the mail--from Linn's readers in response. Many of the respondents included a copy of an article by Jim Czyl that appeared in Linn's (date not known). There are a few paragraphs in the article that I found interesting: Quote:
While these items were current, some were used as postage stamps by purchasers of this souvenir box of stationery.
Some people actually thought these items were postage stamps to be used with the stationery they purchased. Others knowingly used them for postage to get a philatelic souvenir.
The U.S. Post Office was not overly concerned as this usage was minimal, but in the early 1950s, these labels appeared with increasing frequency as postage on the mail they were handling.
The Postal Inspection Service requested that the American Bank Note Co. destroy the printing plates and that the Eaton Paper Corp. destroy the remaining stock of these labels.
But since over a decade had passed since the labels were printed, Eaton had only a few copies on hand. The unused remainders of these labels had been sold to a stamp dealer some years earlier. Another Linn's article sent to me had this to say: Quote:
Number 4, the Little Church around the Corner, is often missing from the sets and I [the author of the article] was informed that this had been used as a charity seal by this Church but I can not vouch for this story. Robert |
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| Edited by Trainwreck - 01/30/2014 9:29 pm |
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Pillar Of The Community
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Pillar Of The Community
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Pillar Of The Community
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Pillar Of The Community
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(...and hey, isn't Canada doing great in Sochi??? ...eh?)
But of course. And our stamps are the best in the world too. |
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Posted 01/29/2014 12:07 pm
