We all collect stamps for our own reasons. My mother got me going when I was in Cub Scouts. I needed a hobby for a project and she had collected stamps back in Latvia when a little girl. The collection was worldwide at first. But when I got out of the Army I found a thing called stamp dealers and that there was a wealth of Latvian stamps to be had and that was what I started collecting and never looked back. For me collecting Latvia was a connection to my family and the country I never knew.
One of the stories I had always heard when growing up was about my great-grandmother who owned and ran Jaunaiskrogs. What would probably be described as a Latvian version of a British Pub I guess. It was also a local postal station and switchboard for the local phones as I just found out yesterday(thanks to Yad Vashem). I always kept my eye out for a used stamp with the cancel but with no luck. The area serviced is not large so that it's probably on the rarer side of CDS's. 7 years ago I emailed a seller on
ebay and asked if he could find one. And to my pleasant surprise he did. The stamp is Sc 177, Allegory of Latvia with a catalog value of $.25 and cost me $20. And worth every penny!
Last year I found a cover on
ebay with 2xSc. N13 for half that price and am very happy to have both in my collection. What makes both items so special to me though is the thought that my great-grandmother was the person probably cancelling them.
This is a drawing of the main building done by my uncle back in 1988.
Posted 07/28/2016 1:13 pm
