Anon E Mouse Library Covers

In July I attended the Minnesota Stamp Expo. A highlight of the show was the philatelic exhibits which included a number of exhibits of first day covers. One of the first day cover exhibits was titled "How Now Brown Mouse? - The Evolution of Anon E. Mouse Cachets". The exhibit was the work of Cynthia Scott the creator of Anon E. Mouse Cachets. I collect and exhibit first day covers for library stamps and I was delighted to find a first day cover for one of those stamps in Cynthia's exhibit. It was the first day cover for the 1982 Library of Congress stamp which is shown above. I own a copy of that cover as well as Cynthia's cover for the 1982 America's Libraries stamp, also shown above. Cynthia has an amazing website which in addition to serving as a vehicle for marketing her covers also explains how she produces the covers. For the two covers above, she drew the cachet (illustration) designs using pen and pencil on a small sheet of paper which she inserted into multiple envelopes one at a time. Using a light box she then traced the original design on the envelopes. She then hand colored the designs on the envelopes. All of Cynthia's first day covers include an image of a small mouse. Cynthia received a gold medal for her exhibit in Minnesota. She has a copy of the exhibit on her website. I have a first day cover exhibit for the America's Libraries stamp which includes Cynthia's cover for that stamp.

The American First Day Cover Society (AFDCS) has lots of excellent information for anyone interested in learning more about first day covers.

40th Anniversary of the Stamp Honoring America's Libraries

Forty years ago on July 13, 1982 the United States Postal Service (USPS) issued a postage stamp honoring  America's libraries. It was the result of years of lobbying by the library profession for such a stamp. A first day of issue ceremony for the stamp was held in Philadelphia at the annual conference of the American Library Association (ALA). Originally the stamp was supposed to also honor the Library of Congress, but Librarian of Congress Daniel Borstin persuaded the USPS to issue a separate stamp for the Library of Congress. That stamp was issued on April 21, 1982. I previously wrote a post about that stamp. Both stamps were designed by Bradbury Thompson, one of the world's great graphic designers and typographers. ALA, led by its President Betty Stone, went all out to promote the America's Libraries stamp. This included producing a first day cover (FDC) for the stamp (shown above) which was sold in various configurations. The one above is signed by Stone and ALA Executive Director Robert Wedgeworth. The cover included an insert with information about ALA. ALA contracted with ArtCraft, the major publisher of FDCs, to design and print its FDC. Over a hundred other FDC producers (called cachet makers) also designed an FDC for the America's Libraries stamp. I collect the different FDCs for the America's Libraries stamp and I have developed an exhibit of those covers which I have shown at national level stamp shows. Among the most sought after FDCs by collectors are those that are hand drawn and painted. The one below was created by arguably the most famous cachet maker Dorothy Knapp.  I wrote an article titled "Bradbury Thompson's 1982 Library Stamps" for the July issue of PHILATELI-GRAPHICS, the publication of the Graphics Philately Association of the American Topical Association. 

Library Philately 2021

The year 2021 was a good year if you were a collector or exhibitor of library philately which I am. The year 2020 was a bust for philatelic exhibiting but it provided an opportunity to revise and expand existing exhibits which I did.

I have been collecting postal items related to libraries since 1995 and exhibiting those items since 2003. One of the first library postal artifacts that I began collecting was first day covers featuring the 1982 “America’s Libraries” stamp. The American Philatelic Society establishes the rules for philatelic exhibiting which allow several different types of exhibits. One of those types is for illustrated mail including first day coves. My first exhibit of first day covers and other artifacts related to the “America’s Libraries” stamp took place several years ago. Philatelic exhibits are housed in special exhibit frames that hold 16 letter size sheets, and my first exhibit was housed in 4 frames.  In 2021 I completely remounted the exhibit and expanded it to 6 frames. I was able to show the new exhibit at the Minnesota Stamp Expo in Minneapolis in July 2021, the Great American Stamp Show (GASS) in Chicago in August 2021, and the WISCOPEX stamp show in New Berlin, WI in October 2021. Exhibits at stamp shows are judged individually against prescribed criteria by a panel of judges certified by the American Philatelic Society. Exhibits receive an award level based on how well the exhibit does against those criteria. Award levels are: large gold, gold, large vermeil, vermeil, large silver, silver, silver bronze, bronze, and certificate.  At Minnesota, the exhibit received a gold award, at GASS a large vermeil award, and at WISCOPEX the Best of Show award.

Another type of philatelic exhibit is called “display”, and this type allows the inclusion of non-philatelic artifacts in the exhibit. Most of my exhibits fall into this type. In 2021 I exhibited a two frame exhibit titled “Melvil Dewey – American Library Pioneer and Social Reformer” for the first time.  I had initially developed the exhibit for the Rockford, Illinois stamp show which is limited to 2, 3, and 4 frame exhibits. That show was cancelled in 2020. This exhibit was shown at the Minnesota Stamp Expo and GASS. At Minnesota it received a large vermeil award and at GASS it received a vermeil award.

I have included postal artifacts related to membership libraries in the United States in many of my display type exhibits over the years. In 2015 I developed a 5 frame exhibit exclusively about the different types of membership libraries. I later expanded the exhibit to 6 frames.  In 2021 I completely revised the exhibit and expanded it to 8 frames under the title “America’s Membership Libraries 1731-1910”.  I showed the revised exhibit for the first time at the Omaha Stamp Show in September and again at the Chicagopex Stamp Show in November. At Omaha the exhibit received a large gold award and at Chicagopex a gold award.

The United States authorized the use of government issued postal cards in 1873. These were pre-stamped and cost only 1 cent. Libraries immediately began using these cards for a number of library activities such as overdue notices, reserve notices, and gift acknowledgements.  Melvil Dewey advocated for a postal card the same size as a library catalog card, and in 1898 the United States Post Office issued a “library size” postal card.  I have collected examples of the use of this card by libraries for many years, and I developed a one frame exhibit which I titled appropriately “Library Uses of Melvil Dewey’s Postal Card”. I have shown the exhibit at several shows in the past and at the invitation of the United Postal Stationery Society I showed it again in 2021 at the Philatelic Show in Boxborough, MA in September. The exhibit received a gold award.

A good year for library philately indeed!

The links below lead to other blog posts about by library philatelic exhibits.

https://libraryhistorybuff.blogspot.com/2012/07/a-toot-my-own-horn-opportunity.html

https://libraryhistorybuff.blogspot.com/2015/04/philatelic-gold-and-vermeil-in-st-louis.html

https://libraryhistorybuff.blogspot.com/2016/04/philatelic-exhibit-about-library-of.html

Philatelic Exhibit about the Library of Congress

This past weekend I displayed a major revision of my philatelic exhibit about the Library of Congress at the Saint Louis Stamp Expo. I was rewarded with a gold medal and the Best Display Exhibit award.  Display exhibits are those that include non-philatelic as well as philatelic elements in the exhibit, usually ephemera related to the topic of the exhibit. The items in the exhibit are mounted on ninety-six 8 1/2 by 11 inch pages displayed in special exhibit frames. I’ve been collecting philatelic and other items related to the Library of Congress for more than twenty years. Of particular significance in the exhibit are those items that document the role that mail played in the operations of the Library of Congress.  I will also be displaying the exhibit at the Danepex stamp show in Madison on April 10, the first day of National Library Week, and later in the month at Wiscopex in Fond du Lac, WI. I will also show it in a couple of other national level shows later this year. This is my thirteenth year of displaying library related exhibits at stamp shows. Although my primary impetus for exhibiting at stamp shows has been the promotion and appreciation of library history, I’ve been delighted to have my efforts recognized in a positive way by the philatelic community.

Philatelic Gold (and Vermeil) in St. Louis

Each year I enter one or two philatelic exhibits in national level stamp shows with various library history related topics. I’ve been doing this every year since 2003, and I find the development of these exhibits to be both enjoyable and challenging. This year I developed a five frame exhibit on “America’s Membership Libraries” and a one frame exhibit on “Hiram E. Deats – The Life of a Jerseyman”. The debut of these two exhibits was at the Saint Louis Stamp Expo last month. Philatelic exhibits are judged by a panel of experts accredited by the American Philatelic Society. They are judged against a set of criteria that varies depending on the division in which the exhibit is entered. My exhibits are entered in the Display Division which allows the inclusion of ephemera as well as postal artifacts. Each exhibit is eligible to receive one of the following medal level awards (in ascending order): bronze, silver bronze, silver, vermeil, and gold. Exhibits are also eligible for a number of special awards. In St. Louis my “America’s Membership Libraries” exhibit received a gold award, and the “Hiram E. Deats – The Life of a Jerseyman” exhibit received a Vermeil award.  For both exhibits I was also recognized by The Ephemera Society of America for the use of ephemera in my exhibits. My primary motivation in exhibiting is telling the story of America’s libraries, but it's always nice to receive recognition for my efforts.  Incidentally, Hiram E. Deats was a world renowned philatelist and also a big supporter of libraries. Click Here for more information about Deats.

Exhibiting in Little Rock

I've written several posts about America's presidential libraries including one on my philatelic exhibit about these libraries. My philatelic exhibit is on display this weekend at the American Philatelic Society's Winter stamp show that is taking place in Little Rock, Arkansas. The exhibit is being shown as a non-competitive exhibit at the invitation of the American Philatelic Society. The exhibit is primarily about the presidential libraries that are administered by the National Libraries and Archives Administration (NARA). It is an appropriate exhibit since the Clinton Presidential Library is located in Little Rock. I mailed the exhibit to Little Rock and won't be attending the show myself.  The First Day Cover (FDC) shown above is for the Presidential Libraries stamp that was issued on August 4, 2005. This FDC has a postmark for the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, NY, and shows a picture of Roosevelt assisting with the mortaring of the wall of the library on Nov. 19, 1939.  A unique postmark was created for the stamp for each of the  the presidential library sites. The Presidential Libraries stamp commemorated the Presidential Libraries Act of 1955 which authorized the National Archives to take custody of the papers of U.S. presidents.

Library History Philatelic Exhibit 2013

Each year since 2003 I have participated in the competitive exhibiting component of several national level stamp shows. All of my philatelic exhibits are related to the history of libraries in the United States. The content of the exhibits varies from year to year. In 2012 I had a very successful exhibit titled "America's Public Libraries and Their Forerunners 1731-1956". This year I significantly revised that exhibit and it is now titled "Libraries in 19th Century America". The new exhibit includes only 19th century material and includes artifacts for all types of libraries, not just public libraries and their predecessors. The first showing of the revised exhibit took place at the stamp show in Plymouth, MI (just west of Detroit) this past weekend. I was pleased to receive a gold medal for the exhibit and a special creativity award. I will also be showing the exhibit at stamp shows in Denver, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee this year. For a summary of the evolution of this exhibit, click HERE. For information on some of my other library history related philatelic exhibits, click HERE.

A Toot My Own Horn Opportunity

Me and my exhibit at the MN Stamp Expo

Previously I posted information about my "America's Public Libraries and Their Forerunners 1731-1956" philatelic exhibit and the awards it received at the Rocky Mountain Stamp Show in Denver in May. This past weekend the exhibit was on display at the Minnesota Stamp Expo in Minneapolis. At that show, in addition to receiving a gold medal, it received the Reserve Grand Award. That award is given to the second best multi-frame exhibit at the show. It is the highest honor that any of my philatelic exhibits has ever received. It is notable in that my exhibit is classified as a "Display" exhibit meaning that it includes non-postal as well as postal items. The highest awards for exhibits almost always go to more traditional philatelic exhibits. For instance, the Grand Award (for the best multi-frame exhibit) at the stamp show went to an exhibit titled "Sweden - The Medallion Series 1910-1919" (well deserved I might add). Although it is great to be rewarded with awards, it was also extremely satisfying to receive positive feedback from attendees at the stamp show. Philatelic exhibiting about the history of libraries is one way that I promote library history to a broader audience.

Postal Librariana Exhibits Win Awards



My 10 frame public library exhibit


As I mentioned in a previous post I had three postal librariana exhibits on display at last week's Rocky Mountain Stamp Show in Denver. There are two audiences for philatelic exhibits at stamp shows. One audience is the general attendees of the stamp show who range from casual collectors to serious philatelists. The other audience is a team of exhibit judges who are certified by the American Philatelic Society. It is the later group which evaluate each exhibit based on established standards and determine whether the exhibit is worthy of a gold, vermeil, silver, silver/bronze, bronze, or certificate award. The judges can give multiple award of each type. The judges also give out special awards made available by national and local stamp organizations. Finally, they determine the best (grand) exhibit and the second best (reserve grand) exhibit. All of my exhibits are related to the history of libraries and as a promoter of library history I am most interested in telling the story of libraries to a general audience. However, that doesn't mean that I am adverse to having my exhibits judged highly from a philatelic perspective, and my exhibits are also prepared with this in mind. I was pleased that my multi-frame exhibit titled "America's Public Libraries and Their Forerunners 1731-1956" received a gold award at the Denver stamp show. It also received an award from the Collectors Club of Denver as the Best Multi-frame Display Division Exhibit and the Collectors Club of Chicago Philatelic Exhibitor's Award (this award came with a collection of 4 philatelic monographs published by the club). My one frame exhibit "Library Uses of Melvil Dewey's Postal Card" received a vermeil medal (between gold and silver) and an award from the United Postal Stationery Society as the Best One Frame Stationery Exhibit. Finally, for some unknown reason my one frame exhibit on the American Philatelic Research Library which I submitted as a non-competitive exhibit received a silver-bronze award. All the exhibit award winners for the Rocky Mountain Stamp Show are listed in a document called "Palmares".  While it's nice to receive awards from the judges, it was especially nice to receive positive feedback from the general attendees of the stamp show. (Note: I want this blog to be about library history and not about me, but every now and then I can't help but toot my own horn.)

Postal Librariana Exhibits in Denver

The Rocky Mountain Stamp Show will take place later in the week in Denver, CO, and I will have three exhibits of my postal librariana collection on display. For the last month I have been busy revising my 10 frame, 160 page exhibit that is now titled "American's Public Libraries and Their Forerunners 1731-1956". It has been three years since I displayed the previous version of this exhibit. It includes more than 300 individual postal and supportive artifacts related to the topic of the exhibit. The title page for the exhibit is shown above. I will also show my one frame exhibit titled "Library Uses of Melvil Dewey's Postal Card", and a non-competitive one frame exhibit on the American Philatelic Research Library. 

Exhibit About Melvil Dewey's Postal Card

In 1898 the United States Post Office Department (now the United States Postal Service) issued a pre-stamped postal card that was the exact size of a catalog card. Melvil Dewey claimed that the issue of the postal card was the result of his lobbying of the Post Office Department for a card of that size. I have written a previous blog post about Dewey's postal card. I've been collecting examples of these postal cards used by libraries for over 15 years. Last year I put together a one frame, 16 page exhibit of these postal cards for the big stamp show in Chicago, and last month the exhibit was displayed at the St. Louis stamp show. In both cases the exhibit received a silver medal which was less than I hoped for, but I received some good feedback on improving the exhibit. Yesterday at the stamp show of the Wisconsin Federation of Stamp Clubs in Madison, the exhibit received a first place award (more than one first place awards are given). I will also be displaying the exhibit at the Denver stamp show next month. The exhibit varies considerably from traditional postal stationery exhibits in that it concentrates on library uses of a postal card instead of the postal uses. Postal cards were important tools in conducting day to day library business. The largest use for the Dewey cards in my collection was for the acknowledgment of gifts. Of course there are examples of overdue book notices and reserve book notices. Libraries also used the cards for requests to magazine publishers for missing issues of periodicals, and for requesting copies of publications. There are a host of miscellaneous uses ranging from meeting notices to the collection of library statistics. I have a previous post about the use of the card to announce a meeting of the New York Library Club, and a post about a card to collect data for the California State Library.

Philatelic Research Award

I call myself a library history buff in order to distinguish myself from library history scholars whose research is linked to their professional careers. In the world of philately very few individuals have their philatelic research linked to their careers.  Yet some very sophisticated research is undertaken by philatelists, and this research is honored in numerous ways by the philatelic community. The American Philatelic Society makes available a Research Award at each national level stamp show that it sanctions for the philatelic exhibit that displays a high level of original research.  I was pleased to be the recipient of that award at the Milcopex Stamp Show in Milwaukee this past weekend for my exhibit "America's Library - The Library of Congress".  Postal history is an aspect of philately that usually focuses on the postal history of a community or a specialized aspect of the postal history of a country. My exhibit on the Library of Congress begins to look at the postal history of an institution which in this case is a very complex organization that made heavy use of the mail to accomplish its mission. As with the library history scholar community I often feel like a fish out of water in the philatelic research community, so it's nice to be recognized for a small contribution to philatelic research.

America's Library - The Library of Congress

I've mentioned my philatelic exhibit about the Library of Congress which I titled "America's Library - The Library of Congress" several times previously on this blog. In preparation for a presentation I will be making next week to the Washington (D.C.) Stamp Collectors Club on the exhibit, I've scanned some of the pages from the exhibit and placed them on my website.  Feel free to take a look. The entire exhibit will be on display at the NAPEX Stamp Show, June 3-5, at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner in McLean, VA. The page from the exhibit shown above features a stampless cover mailed by Samuel Taggart, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, on Oct. 20, 1814. A notation on the inside of the cover indicates the letter (which is not included) provided the "particulars of burning of Washington by British ...".  This, of course, included the burning of the Library of Congress which was housed in the Capitol. An illustration of that action by the British from the Dec., 1872 issue of Harper's New Monthly Magazine is also included on this exhibit page.

LOC Philatelic Exhibit Receives Awards

I don't like to toot my own horn too often, but I was pretty pleased with myself when my philatelic exhibit at the St. Louis Stamp Expo on the history of the Library of Congress won a gold award and the display champion award. My exhibit competes in the Display Division which allows the inclusion of some non-philatelic artifacts in the exhibit. I recently wrote another post about the exhibit. This is only the second time that I have displayed the exhibit, and on the previous occasion it only received a silver award. My revisions to the exhibit evidently paid off. I will be showing the exhibit again at NAPEX, the Washington, D. C. area stamp show which is being held June 3-5 at the Hilton MacLean Tysons Corner. I will also be making a presentation to the Washington Stamp Collectors Club about the exhibit on June 1.

3 Exhibits About the Library of Congress

In an earlier post about my library history promotion activities last year, I noted that I had developed a philatelic exhibit about the Library of Congress which I entered in a national stamp show competition. I have revised the exhibit and it will be on display next weekend at the St. Louis stamp show. Using philatelic and other artifacts, my exhibit includes: an overview of the history of the Library of Congress; an overview of the use of the mail by the Library of Congress; a close look at how the Copyright Office used the mail; a section on the services of the library; a section on the collections of the library; and finally a component on the bicentennial of the library. In the past the Library of Congress itself has developed two major exhibits about the history of the library to help celebrate significant anniversaries. The first of those exhibits occurred in 1950 to celebrate the sesquicentennial of the library. A publication, which I have in my collection, resulted from that exhibit and is appropriately titled Library of Congress Sesquicentennial Exhibit.  The logo for the sesquicentennial is shown above. John Y. Cole, LOC historian, looked back at the sesquicentennial in the April, 1999 issue of Information Bulletin. When the library celebrated its bicentennial in 2000 another exhibit focusing on the history of the Thomas Jefferson Building was on display. That exhibit and an accompanying brochure were titled "The Thomas Jefferson Building: 'Book Palace of the American People'". The 1950 exhibit featured print, manuscript, and photographic artifacts. The 2000 exhibit also included souvenir items, some of which were from the collections of LOC staff members. Exhibits are a great way to celebrate significant library anniversaries.  If you're in the St. Louis area next weekend, drop by to see my exhibit.  It will also be on display in Washington, D. C. in June.

Library Ephemera

As I've noted in a previous post I compiled a philatelic exhibit on the history of the Library of Congress and its use of the mail for StampShow 2010 of the American Philatelic Society in Richmond, VA earlier this month. I received a silver medal for the exhibit which was somewhat below my expectations, but also in my awards packet was a certificate from the Ephemera Society of America expressing its "heartfelt gratitude" for my use of ephemera in the exhibit. My exhibit was entered in the Display Division of the exhibits at the stamp show. This category of exhibits allows the use of non-philatelic items as well as traditional philatelic items such as postage stamps and envelopes. The use of non-philatelic ephemera in a philatelic exhibit helps enrich the story told in the exhibit and also makes it more interesting to the viewer. Of course both postage stamps and envelopes are ephemeral in nature themselves. Library ephemera like other ephemera consists of items that are primarily intended for short term use. These items often help paint a picture of society and its institutions, including libraries, that is more realistic than more substantial and long lasting artifacts. One of the pages on the blog BiblioBuffet has a nice explanation of ephemera and what it includes. I've developed pages on my Library History Buff website featuring the following types of library ephemera: bookmarks, library cards, envelopes, postcards, postal cards, trade cards, and stock certificates. Bookplates are more long lasting but are somewhat ephemeral. One of my favorite blogs related to ephemera is Bibliophemera.

Presidential Libraries Exhibit

I usually participate in a couple of national level philatelic exhibits featuring parts of my collection of postal librariana each year. On Friday my philatelic exhibit on Presidential Libraries and Museums will go on display at the American Philatelic Society's AmeriStamp Expo 2010 in Riverside, California. The show runs February 19-21 at the Riverside Convention Center. The exhibit consists of six frames of 16 pages each featuring the presidential libraries and museums administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. It is entered in the Display Division which allows some non-philatelic material to be included in the exhibit. In addition to many special event and first day covers related to the libraries and museums in the exhibit, there are library dedication programs and invitations to special events. Signatures of Presidents Truman, Ford, Carter, and Clinton on items in the exhibit are included. I first showed the exhibit on a non-competitive basis as a three frame exhibit at the American Philatelic Society's show in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2005 where one of the first day of issues ceremonies for the presidential libraries stamp took place. The Riverside show will be the first time the exhibit has been shown competitively at the national level. I also have a three frame non-competitive exhibit at the Riverside show featuring America's Philatelic Libraries and Museums. If you live in the area stop by. Admission is free. There are many other exceptional philatelic exhibits on display as well as a large number of stamp dealers.

Libraries and the Mail

Libraries, history, and philately have been a part of my life since childhood, but only in the last 13 years have they become intertwined in a way that they are a major part of my life. Some would say they have become an obsession. I wrote about their impact on my life in an article for American Libraries' CentenniAL Blog in 2007. My interests in philately and library history have continued to reinforce each other. What began as an interesting childhood hobby has become a serious interest in the inter-relationship between libraries and the mail. If picture postcards are excluded, my collection of postal artifacts related to libraries, which I refer to as postal librariana, is probably the largest collection of such material in the world. A significant section of my Library History Buff website is devoted to postal librariana. Each month for the website I post a "Library Cover Story" which features one of my library envelopes or postal cards (covers). The archives for this feature for 2008 are located here and the archives for 2007 are located here. One of the most interesting and enjoyable aspects of my interest in postal librariana has been the development and display of philatelic exhibits relating to this topic in major stamp shows around the country. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of this week, may latest exhibit "The Evolution of the American Public Library" will be on display at Chicagopex, the major Chicagoland stamp show. Details of the show are located here. More information on my exhibit is located here.