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#1
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Got it! An eBay purchase -- full circle
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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#2
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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 ------- 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! |
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On Tue, 08 Jul 2003 01:35:35 GMT, Bob Ingraham
wrote: You may recall that this thread started with my winning an early U.S. airmail cover. (snip) 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. Bob: What is the significance of the 24c rate? Blair -----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =----- http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! -----== Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =----- |
#4
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snipped material
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. Bob: What is the significance of the 24c rate? Blair Here is the description that the seller provided in his eBay listing: "Although a little bit torn, but not the stamps, this cover should be of interest to postal historians also. The cover has three stamps of C4 -- the 8 cent airmail -- and is postmarked July 14, 1924 at Cleveland, Ohio. This is only 13 days after night airmail was inaugurated coast to coast. The country was divided into three zones and it cost 8 cents for each zone.This cover went through all three zones and was properly charged 24 cents." Bob Did I pass? :^) P.S. Thanks for the note about the origin of the cover, Blair. You could be correct in saying that it was mailed by a passenger who was using company stationery. |
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