What Did You Do Philatelically: Today Or Recently?

Today, I finished migrating everything from the old Air Mail binder, stock pages, glassines, file box, etc... to freshly printed pages in the 2 new 3" binders. Underestimated how much I had. I added a third binder and they are so stuffed that I might have to add a 4th for a little comfort space. Mounting the FDCs, postcards and stamped/embossed envelopes in pages really adds bulk fast. I'm tired of mounting stuff for a while. Time to make pages for the next section on my schedule: Controlled Substances (state issued marijuana Tax Stamps).

After a year of long, tedious, and challenging work, I finished my 10 frame exhibit of Victory, VT, WWII patriotic covers this morning. Will be exhibited at GASS next month. I'll look it over again before then, but if I had to mount and display it as it is right now, I'd be satisfied with what I've got. This is my third exhibit, and was much more difficult than the previous two.

Yesterday I took a day trip from Pasco, WA to Portland, OR on Amtrak (leave PSC at 5:30 AM, in PDX at 10:00 AM, leave PDX at 4:45 PM, back in PSC at 9:00 PM). I had taken advantage of a fare sale Amtrak offered earlier in July, and it would have been 476 miles plus of roundtrip windshield time if I had driven … personally I don't enjoy driving, I realize that others do.

The focus of the trip was to visit the Uptown Stamp Show brick and mortar shop. I had not been there (or any in person philatelic venue) in a couple of years. While I had some other Portland, OR attractions in mind to visit if time allowed, I found myself spending most of my time at Uptown going through the u-pick albums, bargain boxes, country collections, and checking their red box inventory against the want list I had brought.

One of the staff members had been at a regional stamp show in the Seattle area the weekend before and was talking about that. The crew is heading to WESTPEX next week, and they were also talking about the upcoming SEAPEX exhibition in September. At lunchtime a pizza was ordered in and I was invited to partake.

I had so much fun just listening to the general banter and being able to ask the occasional technical question. Plus, I came home with around 100 stamps and covers of interest.

Read "Postal Propaganda of the Third Reich" one chapter.
Worked on some kiloware; cutting excess paper and soaking

JoanneG

Printed pages and laid out classic stamps for quite a few D-F countries: Dahomey, Danzig, Denmark, Diego Suarez, Dominica, Eastern Rumelia, Eastern Silesia, Epirus, Eritrea, Estonia, Falkland Islands, Far Eastern Republic, Fernando Po, Fiji, Fiume, Funchal, and perhaps a couple others I can't think of off the top of my head.

Read more of the Postal Propaganda of the Third Reich
and worked on some kiloware.
Not much different from my last post.

When I finish with the book, I will write a review and post it in the main forum.
JoanneG

<Printed pages and laid out classic stamps for quite a few D-F countries: Dahomey, Danzig, Denmark, Diego Suarez, Dominica, Eastern Rumelia, Eastern Silesia, Epirus, Eritrea, Estonia, Falkland Islands, Far Eastern Republic, Fernando Po, Fiji, Fiume, Funchal, and perhaps a couple others I can't think of off the top of my head.>

Amazing how few of those still exist as separate stamp-issuing entities, and of those no longer issuing stamps, I bet very few non stamp collectors will have heard of the vast majority of them.

Spent pretty much all day sorting and cataloging hundreds upon hundreds of Egypt and Dominican Republic that were in glassines. Printing the classic pages for those will be next, then on to mounting. Will likely fill 2 or 3 more binders from these and the D-F countries I laid out the other day.

I recently picked up some German stamps (haven't arrived yet), including a handful of Germania issues. I didn't really know anything about them when I purchased them, but now I've gone headfirst down a mineshaft of a rabbit hole. I have been digging through old threads, websites, and free catalogues to learn as much as I can. I never thought I would be fascinated by color variations on stamps!

Not wanting to mount stamps right now, I sorted and catalogued Finland (through 1977) and even sorted and catalogued what I have for Dubai.

AstoCachet: At first, I didn't either but over the years I've "grown" a number of color studies.

Another big headache out of the way: sorted through Greece. Not a ton of stamps, but sometimes difficult to find in the catalog. Best part is I found 20+ from Epirus hiding out, plus a couple each from Crete and Thrace, and even a few from Montenegro.

Plotted my strategy for the Schuyler Rumsey Westpex auction tomorrow and Sunday. Now that I have a plan I can watch it fall apart.

Received my Mongolia Scott 53 with certificate in the mail yesterday along with some other cheaper Mongolia stamps ordered from the same seller. Note that High Country Stamps has shipping a little on the high side--but the items could have withstood a monsoon. Well worth the shipping price as the certificate is very unique (pictures posted in the newest Mongolia thread if anyway is interested).

What did I do? Actually, I unfolded the certificate and admired it and the stamp, then put it in a stockbook. I'll mount the stamps in my Minkus album this weekend. I'll probably admire it again tonight. Mongolian certificates are few and far between and this one is by one of the few true Mongolian experts of the past.

Jackie

Placed my bids early for the Kelleher auction because that's my wife's birthday so I won't be monitoring the auction live.

I do have a life outside my stamp room. :-)