Marker Monkeys And Other Stamp Crimes.

Rod - it hurts just to look at those. Shame

Kirk

Rod,

Please be careful when making broad generalizations.

I'm happy to report that my MM guy or gal from Hackettstown, New Jersey 07840 has got the holiday spirit. Here is another uplifting example of his/her creative genius that I received on December 15th:



Steve

These quite artistic and well thought out marker-strokes are reminding me more and more of Eastern ideographs (letters). I wonder if Japan Post or China Post has this extra service available to their customers?

A bit Freudian there,
a stroke across the clocks, because he/she has no time.
Don't know whether to laugh or cry.
Still vandalism for mine.

This crime will remain unsolved,
AustPost?
US mail?
Israeli post?

Two packages received from Daryl (SV) and Londonbus

kicked across a wet floor, and dipped in sump oil

(I have not opened them as yet)

Rod,

A heinous crime. Given their vastly different points of origin but close proximity of arrival, I'd consider their only common link be the primary suspect. It is a good that you're now only 20 meters from a Post Office -- it seems they bear watching!

Steve

Rod -- those are two of the roughest ones I've seen; especially the white one from Daryl.

For this reason, when I mail stamps, I usually put them in a glassine and then put the glassine in a Zip-Lock plastic baggie.

KirkS

Monkeys? Possibly. But I know for a fact that the Canadian Post Office, in times of stress and high volume, uses a trained elephant. Mail is scattered on the sorting room floor, the elephant is led in across a giant ink pad at the door, and walks gently back and forth throughout the room. Only conceivable explanation for some of the material received. Yours do seem to have required more thought and personal attention. My condolences.

I must add, after opening,
due to the diligence of the SCF traders in question,
and good stamp husbandry, both lots were
contained in plastic sheaths and suffered no damage
whatsoever. Bravo to the boys!

Only damage were the covers, and a christmas
seal in sump oil on Londonbus'

BTW...Happy Birthday Michael!

Solved

I'm still a little confused -- is that the mail carrier or the recipient



Sorry Rod, Russ set you up and I couldn't resist!

KirkS

Hahahaha excellent Russ!

Can't be me...no training bra.

From a few pieces of mail received recently.

These Machin stamps from Great Britain has been scotch-taped on and then for good measure, because the cancel didn't stick to the clear tape, have been marked over with a blue pen. Dedication indeed.




The next is an old postcard from Bournemouth Poole, Great Britain with a lovely bird stamp and cancel. This came in a pack of postcards. But someone had liked the peaceful lake scene on the obverse so much they had thumb-tacked it up not once, not twice, but twelve times. Two of the tackings have gone through the stamp itself. I have shown the holes with red dots.



And last, a neighbour was so kind as to save these for me off of a parcel. Some stamps have been scotch-taped down (shown with yellow colour) and then someone, after the stamps had been applied to the parcel, has gone to great trouble poking holes with a pen through the stamps, as indicated by red dots. Oh, and the red slash across is where someone bent the cardboard after it had been taken off the parcel and also creased the two stamps at that position.

Out of the whole mess, there are, hopefully, only five stamps left salvageable.


The trials and troubles a stamp must survive before it is found by one who cares enough. And these are just the stamps coming to one person who cares enough to notice.

Really not tooo bad, but I would have preferred a nice clean cancel.