On Tue, 08 Jul 2003 01:35:35 GMT, Bob Ingraham
found these unused words floating about:

You may recall that this thread started with my winning an early U.S.
airmail cover.

The purchase didn't go smoothly because eBay suddenly started using my old
rather than my new e-mail address in all its communications. Ebay couldn't
notify me that I'd won the lot, and the seller couldn't get hold of me. We
finally got that sorted out after three or four days, and I sent my payment.

Today the cover arrived, along with an interesting note explaining the
provenance of the cover, which turns out to have had only three owners: the
recipient (a woman in La Jolla, California), her son (who spent a long
career in the U.S. Army, and was a prisoner of the Japanese in the
Philippines), and the man who sold the cover to me, Harold. Harold told me
that he met the army officer after the war, and they became friends. The
army officer wanted to give his stamp collection to his daughter; she didn't
want it, so he sold it to Harold, who discovered the cover in a box with
others.

Usually, eBay transactions are fairly impersonal. It seems clear that most
sellers are pushing hard to make a buck and don't want to take much time for
"small talk". Or maybe they just can't type fast! But sometimes I make a
memorable personal connection with one of them, and that seems just as
important as the stamps, covers and postcards that I buy.

I know stamp collectors who say that the internet has "ruined" stamp
collecting, which of course is nonsense. Stamp collecting has changed
because of the internet, but the internet is hardly the only force acting on
stamp collecting! The naysayers just don't know what they're talking about,
or what they're missing. As far as I'm concerned, stamp collecting and the
internet have become inseparable.

For a look at my La Jolla airmail cover, mailed just 13 days after the
beginning of regular transcontinental airmail service in the U.S., go to
this tested URL: http://www.ingraham.ca/bob/images/earlyairuscover.jpg.

As you'll see, the cover was mailed on July 14, 1924. A simple date stamp on
the back says "July 17 1924". I assume that that's the arrival date in La
Jolla, or possibly San Francisco before delivery to La Jolla. Early airmail
often travelled as often by train and truck as by aircraft, which were
unreliable and terribly vulnerable to the elements. The cover is a bit
tattered and worn looking, but when I'm 79 years old I expect I'll look
tattered and worn, too. Truth be told, I actually don't look all that great
now! Of course, that's not what my wife says.... :^)

Bob Ingraham

-------
The dog that trots about finds the bone. -- Proverb, 1843
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Nice going, Bob!

You should web page that cover and story for other's research.

After 3 1/2 years of buying on eBay and some 47 different sellers,
I've just found the first seller who didn't have 'time' for a side
note or anything other than just the "DEAL".

Many have become personal friends and emails outside of buying are
sent.

Living in a stamp and physical 'wasteland' - the internet has been a
godsend for my part in the hobby.

Not to (slightly) mention allowing me to aid other platers of the 1d
and 2d GB with an on-line index to the pennyreds. Try doing that just
in a local area!