Hello everyone. Here may or may not be an interesting story. I am trying to sell these, mainly b/c my wife and I have no children and none of my nieces or nephews have any interest in stamps. Nor do I anymore for that matter, and though sentimental, I see no reason why someone else shouldn't enjoy these. I have no idea of value, but at the least there's some, I think, interesting history behind the collection.
The collection that I have, I put together with my father, who worked as the Superintendent of the Saratoga National Historical Park (SNHP) in Stillwater, NY from 1976 until he suddenly passed in 1989. I was 16 at that time, but when I was several years younger, he got me into stamp collecting.
As you may notice from the pictures, there's basically two collections here. The more 'common' one, I assume to you all, should be obvious, and they were just stamps, covers, and set's that we put together over few years. Other ones were given to me here and there. You'll note a lot first day covers from SNHP of course (some of which I plan to keep).
However, the other part of the collection, probably obvious to you all as well, was put together with the help of a professional… Ms. Viola Ilma, along with her cousin, Honor R. Holland, and Richard Beresford. I went to Viola's house in Saratoga Springs, NY (across from the harness track) weekly in the early 80s (?) and learned all about stamps at the time (almost all of which I have forgotten since then), mostly from Viola, but also from Honor and Richard who were often there.
I really liked Unicorns at the time, so she put together the 'Unicorn' collection with me (she did almost all the work, typing, placement, etc…again I was like 12 or something) and we entered it into StampEX (?) one year and actually won an award (though I lost the medal I got). I also used to have a signed and dedicated copy or her book (noted below) with the introduction by Honor, but lost it during a move in the early '90s. I did by another copy of course. The book is:
Funk and Wagnalls Guide to the World of Stamp Collection: The Joys of Stamp Collecting for the Beginning and Advanced Philatelist. Introduction by H.S.H. Prince Rainier III.
When Viola passed, my father had a service for her at the visitor center at the SNHP and I was to speak, but was too scared at the time. I wish I had, she was wonderful and kind to me as a kid and really showed me a lot. I actually knew what I was doing for a while there, hehe.
A couple other things of note about that part of the collection, Richard designed that Reader's digest salutes Apollo 11 first man in the moon Apollo cover and I was there at Viola's the day she had him sign it for me. I had also been into anything space related and the Olympic sets. She (Viola) also told me that she designed the Ringling Bros one.
Anyway, I have thought for years that this collection, or at least the one connected directly to Viola should be with someone one else.
This is my first time posting anything anywhere about these and this seemed like the place to do so from what I briefly researched. I hope you enjoyed the story and aren't too hard on me for the way they've been kept for almost 40 years. If interested or what to know more, or if you know more, I would love to hear from you.
I hope I am following the rules here and best, Charles
Posted 08/19/2024 7:43 pm
