I'm a new member here but have been collecting off and on since 1953. I've gone several phases during all that time. I now just collect selected sections of United States Stamps and postal history. I collect Backnote issues, First Bureau issues, National parks/Farleys, U.S. Official issues and the Special Printings of those Officials. My postal history collection consists of just two California counties, Humboldt and Mendocino.
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I've straightened the two Little River covers and set them against a black background, hoping for a neater appearence. Thanks for keeping edit open!! Looks much better!
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ThePhilatelist Wish I was Engraved! 23 Jul 2014 09:03:11pm
re: New member, old collector
Hearty welcome!
Excellent covers. But how did you determine the year of the second one? The cancellation only shows the month and date. Perhaps the cover came with a letter as well?
I still have more questions than answers 24 Jul 2014 09:16:33am
re: New member, old collector
Nice Covers!
I have come to love the manuscript cancels. I spent years passing them up and going for the machine and handstamp cancels. Now I seek them. They are often from very small towns with a short post office history. I started the switch from collecting stamps to covers about 25 years ago, and spent probably half that time passing up many good manuscript cancelled covers.
Welcome aboard Don,
Great places to collect cover from, probably fairly hard to fine, I imagine.
My wife and I spent three days in Mendocino a few years ago and loved it.
Mike
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"It's been three years now, since I joined a support group for procrastinators. We haven't met yet..."
They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. -Benjamin Franklin 24 Jul 2014 05:12:40pm
re: New member, old collector
Welcome to Stamporama, Don. I do not have any covers as great as your, but I do have "Mendocino" by the Sir Douglas Quintet, and enjoy it frequently.
Have fun here and share your knowledge and collection - we do appreciate your participation!
Bobby
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"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. -Edmund Burke"
Welcome! You've found a perfect group to match your interests - there are some very enthusiastic postal historians here. Your knowledge will be greatly appreciated and an asset to all of us. I really enjoy chatting with specialists - I always learn something even if our specialties don't coincide - I collect Ireland. Isn't it fun to really dig in and learn an area?
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"Just one more small collection, hun, really! LoL "
Wow, I should have been paying more attention to my own introduction!
"Excellent covers. But how did you determine the year of the second one?"
I didn't. The second cover was a lot in Schuyler Rumsey's Sale 14, the penceled date on the cover is the year the post office opened, but the grilled stamps do date the two covers. The CDS on the second cover has an earlier EDU than the April 22 use of the manuscript, no idea why the postmaster wrote the cancel that day. The two covers bracket the joining of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads in Utah.
" Nice Covers!! I have come to love the manuscript cancels."
I have to agree with you, tiny little town post offices that made less than $50 per year had to buy their own supplys, imcluding postmarking devices, but everybody had a pen. Most of the really early Mendocino county post offices used manuscript postmarks at first.
"Great places to collect cover from, probably fairly hard to fine, I imagine.
My wife and I spent three days in Mendocino a few years ago and loved it. "
I really love the whole Mendocino coast, I was born in Fort Bragg, grew up in Point Arena. I've move away from the Mendocino coast 6 times, but back 5. I lived in Little River when I got the above covers, recieved them at the Littleriver Post Office. And yes, real nice cover from there are very hard to find. But because you and your wife spent time in Mendocino, I share another beauty with you now and show you the earliest know Mendocino City cover known.
" Isn't it fun to really dig in and learn an area? "
It sure is, although I grew up in Mendocino county, I learned a lot more about the county when I started collecting postal history from there. Some of the things you read don't seem to mean much, until you find a something that ties it all together, like this last cover, the earlist know Mendocino City cover. One of the principles of the Mendocino Redwood Lumber company slipped out of San Francisco in the middle of the night, absconding with all the company's assets. The addresse of the 1858 torn cover was a United States Marshall.
"Welcome from yet another Phil !! "
Well really my name is Don, but got my user name because I lived in Little River when I became a philatelist, so...littleriverphil.
That Wells-Fargo cover is choice! When I was growing up in Silver City, New Mexico, there was classic "John Wayne" stagecoach in an empty lot on the other side of town. I once went to examine it; a sign on a door clearly said "Wells-Fargo". That would have been in the late 1950s or early 1960s. When I saw it once again, perhaps a decade later, it was nothing more than a pile of rotting stage-coachy debris.
"Welcome, i Try to specialize but its too painful !!!"
I had to specialize, the constant updating pages trying to collect new issues, protect the gum was too frustrating for me. During one of the time I collected, I updated my childhood collection, changing from printed album pages to self made pages I needed 1000 quadrulled pages.
Years went by as life threw another curveball, until one day, on the way to play golf at only 18 golf course in Mendocino county, my friend needed to visit a store downtown in the largest city in the county. I found a parking space just a few doors from where he needed to go.
The store I was parked in front of was a Stamp and Coin shop. While the friend did what he needed to, I browsed. The shop only had 20-30 1 cent Columbians, ( bought all of 'em! ) but he had boxes of covers, and in amoung those were some Mendocino county postmarks. That has led led me to finding that Well Fargo cover. The soiled Wells Fargo ship carried cover below was one of the covers I picked up that day, cost me 50 cents!!
As I said in my last post, I grew in Point Arena, actually the smallest incorperated citys in the state of California. It is also one of the oldest towns, and post Office. The name was changed from Punta Arenas in 1889, a reminder the areas Mexican beginnings, as is the nearby Garcia River.
A rare postmark!
Another Wells Fargo cover with a scarce sawtooth double ring Punta Arenas CDS
And a rare late Wells Fargo usage, the SS Point Arena was the regular coast freight and passenger transport. The above Wels Fargo cover from Puntas Arenas to San Francisco was Most likely carried aboard the SS Point Arena.
"but he had boxes of covers, and in amoung those were some Mendocino county postmarks."
Here are a couple of the other covers I found that day, The first cover I later discovered was almost 3 months earier (83 days ) than this post mark is listed in California Town Postmarks 1849-1935 by John H. Williams.
This Cleone postmark is a County CDS, a scarcer postmark.
The tiny little town of Albion was also found in that coin dealers box of covers.
I don't remember exactly how many covers I bought that day along the 1 cent Cloumbians and 4 post cards, because I went back a few days later and bought more. The coin dealer also had the Mendocino Post Office's test pad, every day when the postmaster would change the date in the town CDS, he would test it on this large pad, several 100 pages about 11" x 8", ten or more years worth of postmarks, that he would not sell
Several years later I found this Albion Well Fargo cover in an auction, which brings up a couple of questions, why was it collect? Postage was paid by the embossed stamp, the cover doesn't show any indiction that it was triple weight. Any ideas?
A beautifull litle registered cover from Cahto, with a plate position 15 cent National paying the registry fee, the earliest registered use from Mendocino County that I know of. It also has the scarce double oval Cahto postmark.
I have an earlier use of that postmark on a foreign usage to Belfast, Ireland.
Why, thank you alyn.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but that stamp you have as your avatar, but wasn't there an error in the printing of that stamp. Or are you just subtle like I am and are using the error? Do you see the error in my avatar?
webmaster for the ISWSC http://iswsc.org and ATA http://www.americantopicalassn.org 16 Sep 2014 07:39:23am
re: New member, old collector
There are lots of varieties, errors and reentries with the Map Stamp, I am not sure if this one has any but I liked the look of it. Now I will be looking at it more in depth.
Amazing covers. Everytime I see something new I want to start collecting it. Just have to be content on looking or I will be running out of money to buy anything and space to put it all.
Thanks for sharing.
Suzanne
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"Stamp collectors don't go crazy, they just become unhinged."
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