Agressive Bidding For C25A FDCs

My main philatelic interest is US airmail and aviation topical FDCs. I have a special interest, and growing collection, of C25a and C26 FDCs on WWII patriotic covers. Last night ebay auctions closed on an unusual number of C25a FDCs on WWII patriotic covers. I set a maximum bid of $44 on about 20 of them, and only came away with five! I guess I am not the only person interested in C25a FDCs, especially on patriotic covers. I have a pretty sizable collection already, and don't ever recall paying more than $44, so the bidding on these took me by surprise. Here are some images of what the ones I missed out on went for:






The ones I came away with:




And I just remembered one in my collection that went for over $70. It is the bottom one from this page from my collection:



It is a Crosby patriotic cover, and probably my favorite of the C25a FDCs on patriotic covers.

Basil

Thanks Basil.
Great thread/post/information.
Don

I find the FDC's presented here surprisingly (for me) appealing.

When your fave niche captures the interest of others, it inflates your self-worth even as it deflates your net-worth.

Nice covers!

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Maybe that's because they are not "ordinary" FDCs? When these 20 or so came up for bidding on ebay, only one or two were already in my possession. Most I've never seen before, and I keep an eye open for such covers constantly. Since these were covers not produced specifically for FDC use, their use to service an FDC of this stamp was spontaneous. In many instances -- maybe like the Crosby cover I pointed out -- they may be one of a kind.

Another thing I find interesting for FDCs of this period, and WW II patriotic covers as well, is the frequency in which the addressees are women. Were women more active in philately back then than they are today?




Well, happily -- or sadly depending on you look at it -- my net worth was not very affected in this case because I was seriously out bid on most of them!

Thanks for the comments.

Basil

I find the illustrations very interesting. Technically a Patriotic cover is not a first day cover it is a Patriotic cover. Just possibly it might be a Commemorative cover. But the descriptions aren't normally interchangeable if you think about it.

Not sure what your point is here. These are "first day covers." but the envelopes used are WW II patriotic envelopes.
If that was not clear (because I referred to the "envelopes" as "covers"), I apologize.

But if that is the distinction you are making, does it really make a difference? APS defines a "cover" as "An envelope with a stamp or other means of postage payment." By that definition, how are these not "patriotic covers?" I have always thought of a "patriotic cover" as a cover with a patriotic cachet (e.g. such as cataloged in Sherman's catalog). By that definition, these are "patriotic covers" that were used to secure a "first day of issue" postmark for the C25a US airmail stamp. Is that any clearer?

I must have been unartful in my terminology, but I am not sure you made clear how.

Basil