Bookmark This!

Since I hate throwing things out, even damaged stamps, I keep them. For some unknown purpose. Until now. Today I grabbed some card stock and a paper cutter, and cut about 15 strips to make bookmarks. On one side, I glued some of those damaged stamps. On the reverse, I wrote the tag line like that in the header photo of this blog. Then I laminated and cut them, and intend to send them to fellow collectors.

Occasionally, a very sharp-eyed collector will send me back some damaged stamps I sent. Now, I know it's bad form to send stamps that are obviously damaged. But how did I have them in my possession if someone else hadn't sent them to me? Chicken-and-egg thing. Some of the damage was pretty subtle. It's not like a whole corner was missing, or an obvious thin, tear, or heavy cancel. It really is in the eye of the beholder. 

I could write a book on exchanges in which I've participated. And now I'll have a bookmark to use!

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.