Should I Exhibit My Prexie 3c Covers?

Hi all,

I have been collecting Prexie covers for many years, but with a twist. I collect only covers with the Prexie 3c Jefferson, which I consider to be the workhorse of the series. I have amassed hundreds of such covers, mainly advertising covers covering many topical areas.

My son has suggested that I try putting together an exhibit of the covers to bring this philatelic pursuit of mine to a higher level, but being a complete noob when it comes to exhibiting, I have absolutely no idea if this can or should even be done in the first place.

Firstly, I took a look at the exhibits on the AAPE website and very few focused only on covers. Most exhibits incorporated the design and production of the stamps in their exhibits and so included such items in their exhibits, but I have no interest in these - I like only the stamp on covers.

Secondly, those that focused only on covers chose stamps that paid non-standard rates or were commemoratives, unlike the 3c which was a definitive that paid a standard rate and thus produced in the billions. Would advertising covers with the 3c interest the judges? (Well, such covers did interest me enough for me to collect them!)

I would thus like to seek comments from other members, particularly seasoned exhibitors, on whether I should take this next big step. And if I should, broad suggestions on how I can structure my 3c covers for an exhibit would be very much welcome and appreciated.

NB - this community is my only source of philatelic knowledge. I have been a long-time lurker but only just signed up for an account. I currently live in Singapore, where stamp clubs and stamp shows are virtually non-existent!

Welcome.
What would be your objective in exhibiting? If your objective is to compete in regional and national shows then investing in a formal exhibit would be direction to go. But if your objective is to simply share your experience and material then you might consider putting together an 'online exhibit'. This would reach more people, be less risk than moving your collection around to different locations, and be less costly.

For example, here is an online exhibit for Prexie rate usage done by Hal Klein
http://www.stampsmarter.com/learnin...ie_home.html
http://www.stampsmarter.com/learnin...Prexie1.html

Don

The structural key to any exhibit is the narrative you want to tell using philatelic material. It's certainly possible to create an exhibit using only the 3 cent prexie, which you correctly identify as a workhorse stamp. The typical way to do this would be to focus on the myriad of different uses of the stamp (first class, airmail, special delivery, registration, the coil issues, foreign destinations, etc.).

Focusing on advertising covers changes the narrative; you'd need to create a storyline that describes the advertising and less focus on the stamp (since you'd likely only be covering a relatively narrow spectrum of available material using the 3 cent prexie). Presents some challenges if you are looking for a high award. Exhibits of ad covers tend of focus on earlier material - the 1930s-1950s is well after what most would view as the golden age of advertising covers. Perhaps your material can change that notion.

And you have to go into it with a spirit of fun and learning. It can be intimidating when the exhibit next to yours has a lot more investment in it. I recently exhibited and got Silver-Bronze. However, I thoroughly enjoyed sharing my material and telling the story. Yes, a good portion of my exhibit was "modern" material and I knew it would not score high going into it. But I did it for enjoyment and sharing and had to keep myself focused on that and not what everyone else is doing.

If you are excited and well researched and can tell an interesting story, a lot of collectors can 100% appreciate that regardless what you are exhibiting. For me, that experience was more fulfilling than some arbitrary medal level.

he gives good advice. the spirit of fun and learning.Don's example is overwhelming it's so good.

It sounds like you may have the makings of 2 exhibits. One on the postal history rates/routes/uses and 1 on "illustrated mail", which seems to the emphasis of your collection.

Dear all,

Thank you very much for your wonderful comments and suggestions.

John Becker - Indeed, I am now seriously thinking of splitting up my collection into two parts - one on illustrated mail (the mainstay of my collection) and the other on the traditional rates/routes/uses (I think I have sufficient covers, mainly non-advertising though, for this).

paperhistory - Being a complete noob in this area, I am considering starting off with the traditional rates and uses (domestic, special services, possessions/territories, military APO, foreign destinations, other miscellaneous uses, coils, perfins, taxed, etc - yes, I have given it some thoughts). The narrative is much easier. I will need more time to come up with the narrative for the illustrated mail aspect.

51studebaker - Don, thanks for pointing me to Hal's superb online works. For a start, I will go competitive for the traditional rates and uses. As there's no suitable stamp show in the Southeast Asian region, I will explore the possibility of taking part in one of the smaller American stamp shows for a start. As for my adverting cover collection, while I think about a suitable exhibit narrative, it sure doesn't hurt to come up with a online display to start organising things!

Arrows2Atoms - Thanks for the encouragement. The experience, fun and learning aspects are very important for me. I will keep these in mind when I start working on my first exhibit!

Cheers to all.

Of course you should, others have. Add your perspective.

Prexie3c - I think you have a great idea for an exhibit -- and I LOVE Prexies. (Actually, I've never met a real cover I haven't liked.)

When I first started Exhibiting I exhibited for Judges then I stopped structuring Exhibits for the Judges because I never won anything. When I started Exhibiting for myself and other collectors (and that is what I have always felt Exhibiting should be!)I began winning Gold Medals. I did the National Exhibit Circuit years ago -- so I speak from experience. Just have fun and present what YOU think is the most interesting material -- and watch your grammar and typos!

Hal

Organizing and writing-up a collection into a presentation or exhibit will amaze you with what you learn and discover in your own collection AND what holes you identify to shop for.

John Becker, I agree 100% with you.

Hal

Hal - Your online exhibit is extremely inspiring . I now feel more encouraged to take the next leap forward to exhibiting.

And thanks for sharing your personal experience. However, this is where things get a bit confusing for me.

I too think that I should tell my story the way I want it to be told, as opposed to what the judges want to hear (hey, it's my stuff!). When I did a google on the Internet about exhibiting, I found another stamp forum on the other side of the Pacific, and reading through the exhibition-related threads, it seemed to suggest that to do well (--> win medals), one needs to follow what the judges want in a pretty rigid manner and with many fixed rules (---> structuring for the judges in your words). And I do notice the great difference in style and presentation between the exhibits there and those displayed on the AAPE website (much more diversity here). Is it a case of different exhibiting rules and styles in different parts of the world?

PREXIE3C -- Many, many things have changed since I exhibited. The rigidity and fixed rules put into place are a group of standards that apply worldwide which help both exhibitors and judges. I exhibited at time right BEFORE the Rules came into place and I think most of them are a good thing -- especially the overview of the exhibit for judges to review and study prior to the exhibit. Why? You would not believe how many philatelic judges did NOT KNOW the subjects they were judging before a National or International Exhibit and the impossibility of judging a show with 25, or more exhibitors...look at every single page in a frame, in only a few days. The bad thing is that it has discouraged many from exhibiting, especially in the U.S.

Medal vs No Medal and Conformity:
My wife and I were just out of college. It was my first stamp exhibit. It was U.S. National show in 1972 and I made the cardinal mistake of exhibitors -- I placed my exhibit on colored paper and I had the pages printed with colored headers with the help of my wife who had graduated with a commercial art degree. The exhibit was beautiful! I typed everything perfectly on each page and proofed it three times. I mounted each stamp with precision.

I drove 360 miles to the show and I mounted the pages in the frames with great care. I thought I had one of the best looking exhibits in the show. My wife and I attended the awards diner. My name was never mentioned. I GOT NOTHING! NOT A MEDAL-NOT even an honorable mention for the exhibit. My wife and I returned to our hotel room. I was shattered.

I approached a Judge after the show and asked him what I did wrong. I took the white-haired gentlemen, three times my age or more to my NOJEX exhibit. We got into the row and before we got to the exhibit he stopped me and put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Son, now look around you." He continued, "...look at the frames around you. What do you see? Do you see anyone using color paper anywhere? We didn't even stop and look at or consider your exhibit. Never use colored paper -- oh, I suggest hand-lettering your pages too." He turned and walked away from me.

They did not give me the courtesy of looking at the 100s-of-hours of work I had done. It wasn't the quality my material or the quality of my research and write-up! So, I went back, put my material on white paper -- TYPED, not hand-lettered.

The exhibit progressively received bronze, silver, vermeil, and gold medals at National and International Shows with the exact same material, without changing a cover, a word or adding a single page, and then I stopped exhibiting. The exhibit had progressed all on its own -- on white paper and I proved to myself that Philatelic Judges are not a very impressive lot.

You are getting good advice, especially that before you begin you need to do some thinking. One of the first decisions you need to make is do you care whether you get any awards for your exhibit, and if so would you be happy with something like a Vermeil or Bronze or Honorable Mention or do you really want to try to get a silver, gold, or grand award? If you want recognition of your exhibit in terms of an award or medal or certificate of some kind then you need to commit yourself to learning and very closely following all of the judging rules. This can push your exhibit into directions that you may not personally like but judges are going to be harsh on every little deviation from the guidelines. You still have creativity within those guidelines, but you will have to obey every single one of those rules down to the letter. This will include having an interesting and logical story line as well as rare, unique, and unusual covers that tell that story in an easy to understand way. If your goal is simply to be creative and share your love of your covers with the public and that you accept that you will not gain recognition from the judges then that is good as well but it means that your exhibit will be very different.

Here is a link to a webpage from the American Philatelic Society that has some excellent advice and links to short articles on how to exhibit in a way that you will be able to be considered for awards at shows if this is the direction you wish to take. https://stamps.org/Exhibiting

A few suggestions:

Get hold of a copy of the 3rd edition of 'The Philatelic Exhibitors Handbook' by Randy Neil and edited by Ada Prill. Although some things have changed since this book came out, the information provided is extremely helpful. Steve Zwillinger's book, 'The Path to Gold' is also quite helpful and more recent.

Download a copy of the exhibiting rules from the APS website.

Start with a local or regional show instead of a WSP one. Look for one being judged by WSP accredited judges to get the feedback you will need to exhibit at the WSP level.

Join the AAPE. They offer a free Title Page and exhibit evaluation service. You mail in a copy of your exhibit and it is looked at by several WSP judges who provide feedback allowing you to make changes before your exhibit ever gets into exhibit frames. The judges here spend way more time on your exhibit than the time they can spend at exhibit frames due to time constraints. This service is almost guaranteed to get you a better award than just going in cold turkey.

The wonderful collective wisdom of this community! Thanks to all the suggestions and sharing of personal experiences. I now have a clear idea of what I want to do (and what I need to do).

I started off wanting to exhibit, or at least display, my Prexie 3c advertising covers with the aim of sharing with others my love for the covers (I really do think the covers are wonderful). However, after reading through the suggestions, I realized I could do more. Why not do 2 exhibits - one competitive and one non-competitive?

In the course of acquiring my Prexie 3c advertising covers over the years, I have also accumulated a number of non-advertising Prexie 3c covers that I never really paid attention to (collateral material to me), until now. I just went through these covers and I think I have sufficient material to form the basis of a traditional usage exhibit. I want to go competitive with this for the experience, which means putting in effort to do the necessary philatelic research (such as the different postal services and rates), identify and plug the gaps, as well as familiarize myself with all the rules and regulations of competitive exhibiting.

As for the advertising covers, at least for now, I will go for a non-competitive exhibit and tell the story I want it to be. After I am done with the competitive one.

Thanks!