MaxNap!

We started out the day with a wee spree to Napanee to pay a fee. You see, a Maxsold auction ended in my favour. There was only one other bidder. Maxsold did its usual fine job of showing the items in the lot - mint Canadian stamps plus FDC's and even a Royal Wedding Keepsake Kit! 

From the auction's photos (screenshot below), I estimated the current-day value at $70. My bid was a princely $6. But I had to drive all the way to Napanee, about a 90 km round trip. Figuring a gas cost of 10 cents/ per km, let's add $9. Total cost = $15 and yes, the sum of mint postage I totalled up was $70.41. Best Buy so far on Maxsold!

P-stamp proponents often promote the pro of P stamps appreciating over time. In fact, the P stamps in this lot would have been purchased for (scribbling on back of envelope sound) $27 at the time and now have a value of $46. They will be used as outgoing postage to fellow collectors, circuit participants and exchange partners. As postage costs continue to increase, especially International, this is one way of keeping my pursuit of philately less pricey.

I never enjoy 'picking the bones' of someone's existence. Pulling up to the former farmhouse west of Napanee, the exterior and interior told a story. A little dusty, a little musty, respectively. Nearer-my-goal-to-thee fun fact: the cancellation on the ill-fated liner's FDC depicted one of the oft-rearranged 'deck chairs on the Titanic'! Two Titanic souvenir sheets made the voyage west worthwhile. The purchaser of the stamps was a royalty fan and also a fan of Christmas card sending.

Afterwards, another surprise find at a post-pickleball prosit! Baller Larry has some acquaintance with stamps, having inherited his father's collection. After that drive, several more drives on the court, a Czechvar and creating this post, it was definitely time to serve up a nap!

From AI to ZOOM via RPO

 

This looks like an interesting ZOOM presentation about a week from now, though I suspect AI was used in the creation of this e-mail flyer. Remember, you can't spell rAIlway without AI.

Having joined the ZOOM, it was interesting with a good Q&A discussion afterwards. Also in attendance were fellow railfans/photographers/model railroaders: Steve Boyko, Andrew Chisholm and Bill Linley. The presenter had a wide variety of RPO covers from various eras, including this one from Kingston (screenshot):

There was some discussion about CN RPO's labelled United States Mail Railway Post Office. This image posted to social media by Mike Lindsay in 2020:

My Sort of Stamp-Sorting Box

 

There are certain things that are fun do do on a windy day. Like flying a kite. Stamp sorting is not one of them. A gust of wind and - poof! now everything is worldwide! When outside on patio or sunroom, using a plastic storage box can stop the wind from making a ticker-tape parade of your special stamps.

If you search online for "plastic storage boxes", you'll be there for a week. Some are large enough to store bedding, others tiny enough to store minuscule beads. I just happened to happen into our nearby Dollarama store and found one of these little beauties (top photo) made by Casper. I removed the sticky label and started using the box right away, but a screenshot from this YouTube video shows the box, though the video was posted two years ago and I think the box now sells for $4. Inflation. (Also, why are there YouTube videos being made by social media influencers like 'Dollarama Mama' about individual products at Dollarama? Is it any wonder why 720,000 hours are uploaded to YouTube every day? There is NO WAY that I can ever watch them all.) But I digress...

Advantages of this box:

• 12 nicely-sized compartments that can contain 'most' stamps
• lift-out divider strips
• good depth to hold a deep stack of stamps
• two sturdy clasps that work well even if you're a 'stuffer'
• shallow lift-out four-compartment tray with one large and three small compartments that are handy for tools, longer strips of stamps like se-tenant or unsoaked, hinges or other bits and pieces
• the price is right
• good overall size which keeps sorting focussed 

Druthers:

• divider strips lift out but are not individual, therefore a whole row of dividers comes out at once, potentially mixing three or four compartments with their neighbours.

Closed (above), open with lift-out tray containing magnifier, tongs, pencil, Sharpie and miscellaneous stamps (below):

Tray lifted out onto lid, showing 12 compartments with removable dividers (above)

There is always a temptation to put stamps in all compartments and never take them out. I intend this to be a 'working' box and not a 'storage for someday' box. Glassines in a larger photo-storage cardboard box are a better way to do that if desired.

I have two larger, shallower sorting boxes. One has removable dividers between the compartments in each row. Both are larger overall. Neither has a lift-out tray.

Mystical Browsing

The Mystic Stamp Co. and Kenmore Stamp Co. may be the last of many mail-order/approval houses that used to exist. I subscribed to their mailing list for near-daily emails. I'm unlikely to order due to high US exchange rate and shipping costs, plus the expense actually purchasing.

The complete-set images in the sale listings are inspirational and colourful, though. U.S. Overrun countries and definitives:

Celebration of Life...Stamp of Approval

...while I dislike the current, euphemistic term for a funeral, this notice shared by Canadian Stamp News is actually eye-catching. Perhaps AI-generated, look how it integrates Bob with relevant information and some near faux stamp images.

Fellow blogger, model railroader, Order of Canada recipient and religion writer John Longhurst published several posts on Death and the Model Railroader. Some might find the topic of mortality morbid, morose or moribund. John's treatment of the topic was practical and timely, based on the demographics of model railroaders and stamp collectors. 

Not that I want to consider what will happen with my albums when I have licked my last hinge (that sounded weird). I will try to keep the zip loc bags under control, the stamps largely albumized, and the hoard unamassed. And I would be pleased to have a graphically-pleasing representation of my life, okay, celebrated, as Bob Vogel did. Fly with the birds, Bob!

The Finds Found at the Kingston Spring Stamp Festival

In an earlier post profiling my haul from the church hall at the Kingston Spring Stamp Festival, I listed my sorting hierarchy and an update about the full Ziploc bag of Review stamps I plucked from the postal plethora. I've now had a chance to review the Review and found the Finds, which I'm profiling in this post. I've grouped the Finds generally, placing them in a stock book and photographing them before integrating them into my collection.

Cinderella/back of book and a few leftovers (top photo). 

Some worldwide Finds:

LargerBritish Commonwealth issues:

KGVI and QE2:

KGVI and earlier, including QV Australian predecessors:

One of my favourites, the Falkland Islands. Also another 30 issues not pictured, 

plus some New Zealand private post:

WWII Germany, Russia plus some Danzig and early US:

 A baggie of US also emerged...

I likely have a lot of these already, but it will be fun to check and I know I can improve on the postmarks I already have. I found the Occupied Nations/Overrun Countries I was missing - Luxembourg. 

Free postage! Various eras mint stamps, some self-adhesive, approaching $5 total:

Free Stamps at Boston 2026 World Expo!

Over a year ago, I donated 5,000+ stamps to the Boston 2026 World Expo, the global decennial stamp show. Organizers hoped to gather as many as they could, eventually 2,000,000+ for distribution to youth and beginners. I've been catching up on several YouTube videos taken at the show and I have a few impressions:

• the venue is huge and maybe too huge!
• the overall colour scheme is...grey!
• exhibitors were given white booths with glass display cases
• the USPS had a huge auditorium where several new releases by Faroes Islands, Fiji, US etc. were revealed. Their merch area seemed to do a good amount of business.
• the display frames area was almost uninhabited with wicked glare off the glass. Perhaps the judges had a field day there, but regular folks seemed to be avoiding the area. I've written about this phenomenon before.
• every so often, an important looking person in a blazer would walk briskly by the videographer, clipboard in hand!

There was discussion in the videos about which [high-end] dealers were participating vs. local dealers. Prior to the show, there were certain political considerations affecting attendees, dealers and even club presidents due to the host country.

The brightest point for me was the [adult] beginners area. There, one of the glass display cases was filled with stamps, while beginners were encouraged to fill an envelope with the stamps arrayed on top of the case (video capture - top photo). Fun! 

A few more photos of the free fun, posted to social media after the show: