I must admit I'm a soak man myself - I clip stamps from their cover and accumulate a dozen or so before getting out the bowl and tea-towel as I used to do nearly 60 years ago. It's a matter of habit - I have little or no use for the stamps that accrue, and they go into a stockbook and are forgotten.
Just occasionally, though, there arrives a cover which is too good to cut up. Here's one from Canada:
Norma Shearer and Marie Dressler are a bit before my time, but I have fond memories of that wise old actor Chief Dan George in The Outlaw Josey Wales and, especially, Little Big Man. Raymond Burr was carrying a bit more weight by the time his Perry Mason TV show arrived in the UK - I've enjoyed courtroom dramas ever since! I wonder if Karsh of Ottawa ever photographed any of these four.
Even more spectacular is this one from Poland:
I'm impressed by the cancels - perhaps the dealer knows the person behind the post office counter! There's plenty on show for the topical collector, and for admirers of intaglio there's even a Slania in there.
Well, these are too good to remain in a box on the floor, and I shall never use them, so if there are any filmstar, railway or birds enthusiasts out there who could give them a better home, do PM me.
"I have fond memories of that wise old actor Chief Dan George in The Outlaw Josey Wales"
One of my favourite films of all time, which had a whole raft of wonderful dialogue and quotes. Chief Dan George was an absolute hoot, playing his part superbly.
I loved this scene in particular:
The old Indian tells Josie Wales how some Indians had dressed like Abraham Lincoln on their trip to Washington to meet the Secretary of the Interior. Observing the Indians, the Secretary and his associates tell the Indians, "You boys sure look civilised." Then they had their pictures taken with the Indians and gave them medals for looking so civilised.
When Chief Dan George tells the Secretary and his associates that the Indian land had been stolen, the Secretary counsels them to "endeavour to persevere." The newspapers print the pictures with the caption, "Indians endeavour to persevere." Chief Dan George then tells Josie Wales, "We thought about 'endeavour to persevere' for a long time and after we had thought about it for long enough, we declared war on the Union."
And this quote from Chief Dan George:
"I didn't surrender but they took my horse and made HIM surrender. They have him pulling a wagon in Kansas, I bet."
Every time I get covers like that I consider the soaking option - but then default to keeping them intact. My rationale is there is always someone out there who would love to have the covers in their collection. I just have to find them. I figure I can always find the used stamps elsewhere if I'm desperate to have them in my collection.
(On the downside, though, that's why I have several large boxes of covers in my stamp room at the moment...)
Too right it won't, 'Po! I have more Machins than I can count, not one of which I treasure. They are currently classed as "stamps the next generation might conceivably want", and therefore kept upstairs in albums marked 'Machins' and 'Spare Machins', but my own view is that it is by some way the most boring stamp ever produced in the history of the world.
It is one of only a few films that I can bear to watch repeatedly, with just a couple of months between viewings. There are just countless funny and wonderfully scripted lines:
Josey Wales: Whenever I get to likin' someone, they ain't around long.
Lone Watie: I notice when you get to dislikin' someone, they ain't around long, neither.
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy.. 30 Jan 2016 07:12:08pm
re: Cover or Soak?
Machins ???
Boring ????
Say it ain't so, Joe.
I guess it doesn't take very much to enthrall m for hours and hours.
pretty colors and interesting cancels. Shades and minor varieties galore.
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".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
I understand your enjoyment of the Machins. I have a special passion for collecting the US Washington-Franklin series, which many would also consider boring. I love the subtleties of variation.
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"All hobbies are absurd to those on the outside, and a joy to those within."
Well, gentlemen, I didn't soak them, mainly because a couple of guys covet them as they are, and will soon be their proud owners!
That said, when I get a cover with a single stamp, I usually clip and soak. It's a storage thing.
Charlie, sorry about those Machins - I realise that many people treasure and adore them because of their multiple shades and varieties. I don't like them because (a) they've been going on for far too long, (b) because the design is desperately uninspiring, and (c) because of their multiple shades and varieties!
You get to the stage where you wonder whether those varieties are not deliberately engineered to seduce collectors into buying stuff. I concluded that this was the case many years ago and stopped bothering with them. I know other countries do it, but I dislike that attitude and feel Royal Mail should expend their energies finding an altogether better design and issue policy for British stamps.
We're getting off-topic here, but since it's my topic I guess I'm allowed... But those covers - they're gone!
I tend to save one copy on cover - and often upgrade that cover over time - and the rest are cut but not soaked, as I don't mess with that anymore. I just cut close and leave on paper (modern issues).
I've explained myself before, I save everything that comes in as a cover. I can't tell you how many times I've looked at an old stamp with a partial interesting cancel, and thought "This would be spectacular if it was still on a cover!'
Thank You Ian, They will never be soaked. Do not know of (4) But Raymond Burr is on our Tv 5 nights a week. As Perry Mason ( I do not mean I never soak as almost all used stamps are soaked and cleaned.
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