Showing Off - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to a special topic in Postal History Sunday!  This time we'll take a virtual trip to Chicago for the Great American Stamp Show hosted by the American Philatelic Society.  But, before I get into it too deep let me first remind you to put those troubles in the laundry with your dirty socks.  If we're all lucky, the troubles will disappear with all of the missing socks that have resulted in a drawer full of single, unmatched footwear.  If it doesn't work, we'll always say it SHOULD have!

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Let me begin by telling you that first - I am not all that great at taking pictures with a smart phone.  The photos are what they are.  You can click on them to get a bigger version of the photo - and I think they are good enough to illustrate the point.  Second, let me quickly remind you that readers of the blog come from all backgrounds, which means there may be varying needs for explanation.  And third, there were many, MANY exhibits I enjoyed at the show.  There are only a few given attention here.  If yours is not one of them, it's not a slight.  I just can't write that much in one blog!

Either way, I hope everyone walks away learning something new!

The Great American Stamp Show is held each Summer at various locations around the United States.  This year's show is in Chicago, which is within a reasonable distance of our location in Iowa.  The last Great American Stamp Show was held in Omaha, Nebraska (in 2019), which was also within driving distance for us.  Of course, no show was held in 2020.  That means the Genuine Faux Farmers actually have been able to attend each of the last two times it was held. (Though, I must admit that August is NOT an easy time for us to leave the farm.)

For those who do not know, this is not the only stamp show that happens in a year.  There are shows that are decent sized in many major cities that are held annually.  Similarly, smaller communities might also host shows or bourses that center around stamp and postal history collecting.  If you are tempted to think that is odd, I encourage you to consider hobbies or activities you or yours participate in.  Are there special local, regional and national gatherings that could be attended?  Typically the answer is "yes.'  Where there is an interest, there are events where people can gather.

A stamp "bourse" is typically a gathering where people who specialize in locating and selling stamps and postal history set up their wares and collectors (hopefully) come to purchase those items for their collections.  Sometimes, people come to these events to sell items to the dealers so they can find new homes for them.

Bigger shows often include a host of additional events including speakers, activities, specialist meetings, and exhibits.  Exhibiting is an opportunity for collectors to put together organized visual presentations of material they have collected and put them on display for others to see.  In fact, there is usually a competitive aspect to these exhibits too!  To put it simply, material with the best presentation of their material do better than those who show what they have poorly.  And, if someone shows "better" items than someone else, that should also receive better awards.  Of course, there can be plenty of debate of what is "better," but that's for another time and another blog.

What I like about this aspect of the show is that I can share things I've learned with other people who ALSO like to share things they've learned.  For me, the competition comes with the territory (and I participate willingly - even if I have pushed at boundaries over the years), but it is not the main highlight.

Without further ado - I would like to share some of things I have seen and enjoyed in the exhibits being displayed at the show.  There was more I wanted to share, but remember... poor phone photo taking skills.  Maybe I'll try to get better pictures to show in a part II?

Organizing topics so others can follow

One of the biggest challenges for showing a collection of material in an exhibit is trying to convey to anyone who is looking exactly what you are trying to accomplish.  You want to do this efficiently so you can get down to business and start showing people all of the things that you enjoy!

But, remember, you are doing this for people who do not have the luxury of sitting in their comfy chair while a silly farmer who likes postal history narrates for you!  So, most exhibits start with a title page that does its best to give you the purpose of the exhibit and basic organizational guidelines so the viewer has a chance of figuring things out.  

I selected the title page of Sam Chiu's exhibit titled "Hankow, China 1891-1919" and show it above.

I do not know much at all about Hankow, China, nor do I know much about its postal system or postal history at all.  So, if I can start to make a little sense of what this exhibit is about when I look at this page (and only this page), it is a good start to an exhibit.  

Feel free to click on the image and see if you can get some ideas as to what Sam is doing here.

Opportunities to learn

Exhibits are often put together by individuals who take learning very seriously.  Of course that doesn't mean there aren't mistakes, misinterpretation and incomplete information.  But, there is a wonderful opportunity to learn new things about topics you never considered AND in areas you are learning yourself.

Tonny Van Loij shared the exhibit "The Post of Thurn and Taxis during the 18th Century and Ending in 1867" at this year's show and I was pleased to see it.  Why?  Well, because I am trying to learn more about this are of postal history.  It doesn't hurt to learn from someone who has figured some of it out already!

If you look at the image above, you get a taste of some of the information a person might be able to get from Tonny's exhibit.

What I have found is that learning something new can feel completely impossible when you have absolutely no foothold - no starting bit of knowledge - to help you start the learning process.  An exhibit like this just might have some keys that open up your mind to that new thing!

So, I am grateful to those who share their knowledge through their exhibits because I can learn from them.

Entertainment galore!

Since there is a competitive aspect to this exhibiting thing, there are some common guidelines that are applied to help judges figure out who does this best.  And, like all things of that nature, there are people who push the boundaries of what is typically accepted.  

The great news?  Several people pushed on many boundaries - encouraging us to consider new ideas and approaches.  Don't get me wrong, I fully appreciate the boundaries created for exhibiting because it helps us focus on the challenge of communicating what we know and what we are showing.  But, I also enjoy seeing people push at them because this is how we can all grow and get more out of the process AND the competition.

Shown above is Chip Gliedman's "A Postal History Map of the United States."  The exhibit provides an example of an interesting and often rare item from each of the fifty states.  Each one resides on a page that is roughly in line with the location of the state on a map.  Alaska is at the top left and Hawai'i at bottom left.

This exhibit shows everything from a Hindenburg "crash cover" (a mail item that was partially burned in the Hindenburg crash) to .. well...  I can't pick a "to" because there is so much variety and all of it is interesting.

Let's me just put it this way.  This exhibit is a joyous celebration of the postal history hobby.  It is simply an intelligent and fun way to share with others.  It may not follow the guidelines in a way where it will win the top prize, but it makes people smile and it attracts attention.  

Good enough for me and I know this is exactly what Chip wants.

Exhibits of all sorts

Truth in advertising - I personally prefer the older material from the 1800s and I like postal history the best.  But, an exhibit can show "newer" things and focus on material that may not require a high monetary investment.  Topics can focus on stamps, souvenir items, or a mix of items that show things related to a topic like the Donald Duck exhibit by Edward Bergen, or Dawn Hammen's "How to Grow Tomatoes" and Fran Adams' "Letitia Incident."  This allows more people to play in the sandbox (so to speak)!

There was not one, but TWO exhibits that featured a stamp design I have appreciated ever since I saw it when I was six years old.  I admit to doing a poor job of paying attention to which photo came from where, but I believe this one is from Anthony Dewey's "The 3ct Connecticut Tercentenary Issue of 1935 and its First Days."

Sure, 1935 isn't exactly "new,"  but to me, when it comes to stamps and postal history, I consider this new because I prefer to look at things that are about 70 years older!

This exhibit also illustrated that people don't just show postal history.  First Day Covers are souvenirs created to celebrate the issue of a new postage stamp.  Now, of course, Rob the postal historian, chose to take the picture above because it has more postal history qualities to it.  It's a reminder that we all come at things with our own experience and preferences.

Persistence is a key

I realize I have not had the opportunity to go to many shows compared to some.  But I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to go to one or two each year.  That means I have been able to observe as certain people work from year to year and show to show to improve how they present their material to everyone. 

I always enjoy looking at the innovative ways Greg Shoults has figured out how to display paper items with all sorts of characteristics to the best effect.  His exhibit "Washington & Franklin Coils Flat Plate and Coil Waste Issues 1908-1915" illustrates many tricks and techniques he has refined over the years - and I suspect he's not done tinkering and improving.

Once again, I am a postal historian, so I may not be very knowledgeable about what Greg shows here.  But, it is an opportunity to learn and a chance to appreciate how he communicates what interests him.  I have been fortunate to be able to watch the improvements over time.

And, of course, as I review my blog post, I came to realize that I mixed up a photo which was actually from Vicky Hadley's fine exhibit titled "the Kansas-Nebraska Overprints."  So, I just added bonus material by pointing out that there are numerous clever techniques shown in Vicky's exhibit as well.  (And, I was able to add and move photos with an edit on August 16 to clarify the situation.)

The Kansas-Nebraska issue is another that held some personal interest for me when I was younger, so it was a pleasure to view an advanced and intelligent treatment of an area for which I only had basic knowledge.  This exhibit illustrated for me exactly how many different kinds of things can fit into a particular topic area (including postal history).

Have I said yet that there are many talented and wonderful participants?

Not just the size of an envelope

Not everything in an exhibit is the size of a stamp or a standard envelope.  Those who collect revenue stamps (adhesives used to pay taxes other than postage - to put it simply) often collect large documents that must be displayed in a fashion that shows the content.  Some items can spread out to be much bigger than a common 8 1/2 by 11 inch page.  

Michael Mahler has turned exhibiting of this sort of material into an art form.  On top of all of that, he does an excellent job explaining to a postal historian (me) why the things he shows are interesting and important.  His "Rebel Documents, Yankee Stamps: How the Union Collected its Stamp Taxes in the Confederacy" attracts me because he connects the items in his exhibit to the history that surrounds them better than many people do.

(* note * - Mike won the Grand Award for the open competition, which means his was judged to be the best of a very large number of exhibits that covered a wide range of topics.  Well done!)

And some people go 3-D

One of the big "buzzes" in the exhibit area at this show was the special boxes constructed to allow Vince King to show books, toy blocks and other items that are NOT FLAT in his exhibit, "In the Beginning...Timbromanie, How the Proliferation of Postage Stamps Started a Collecting Revolution."

Shown above is an old stamp collecting album from the 1800s.  

Once again, there is creativity and problem solving shown here.  Vince has these neat items that are related to his topic - but they aren't flat and they don't fit in a normal display frame.  So, what do he do?  Build something that makes it work!

(* note * Vince received the most votes for the Most Popular Exhibit at the show.  Well done!)

Respect to all who share things that interest them

In the end, I have great respect for all who take the time to learn and then share their learning with others, whether it is through a competitive exhibit at a stamp show, a talk at a local library or being willing to answer a few questions from a person with an idle curiosity about the things you love.

There are a significant number of people who share in this way at stamp shows by working hard at creating and improving their exhibits.

Thank you to all of you who have done so.  

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And thank you to everyone who read this slightly different Postal History Sunday.  For those who are curious, the first photo is the first frame (16 pages) of my own exhibit that was shared at this show.

It has been a privilege to share something I enjoy and I have truly enjoyed the chance to answer questions and give "personal tours" to anyone who wants them.  Amazingly enough, the show has one more day to go and I am able to attend.

So, maybe I'll give yet a few more personal tours on Sunday.

(* notes added August 16*) I shared a 6 frame exhibit, which is 96 pages, at this show.  This exhibit participated in something called the "Champion of Champions" competition.  To qualify, the exhibit had to win a Grand Award at a participating "World Series of Philately" show.  I was honored with a grand in 2019 at the last Great American Stamp Show in Omaha.  

Essentially, all of the Grand Award winners from the prior year (or so) compete and one is chosen as the winner.  All of the others, receive a blue ribbon Prix d'Honneur for participation.  This year Dan Ryterband was given the Champion of Champions Award - well done Dan!

Be well.  Have a great rest of your day and a wonderful week to come.