Harry Potter casts spell over cash-strapped USPS
If these stamps convince some of these young people to step away from an electronic device and look at a real stamp as something worth owning, then they will be good for the hobby. Continue reading →
Category Archives: Editorial
Canada Post shows Orwellian tendencies
Apparently, in every area, Canadians overwhelmingly support Canada Post. Everyone likes the idea of replacing home delivery with community mailboxes. Even senior citizens, who often dread winter walks in icy weather, welcome a way to get out of the house. In fact, one Canadian was quoted as saying door-to-door delivery is unreasonable in this day... Continue reading →
Confusing days make for intriguing possibilities
Canada Post’s stand through all of this has been to point out that two-thirds of Canadians already don’t get home delivery so this is taking away a benefit unfairly given to some Canadians based solely on geography. Sort of similar to when residents of Toronto’s affluent Rosedale district were told that garbage collectors would no... Continue reading →
Not just another War of 1812 tribute
The United States Postal Service and Buffalo Fire Department are remembering that fateful night of Dec. 30, 1813, when a mixed force of around 1,400 British regulars, Canadian militia, and native warriors crossed over the river near Niagara. They landed at a place called Black Rock, dispersed a larger force of Americans, and chased them... Continue reading →
Stamp changes are an inadvertent boon to collectors
On top of all of this, postal historians and postmark collectors will have their own challenges as more local cancels vanish in the name of centralized sorting. I am sure Canada Post was only thinking about the bottom line, but it looks like 2014 will be an interesting year for collectors. Continue reading →
Brigham sale makes stamp collecting cool
Perhaps the best news to come out of all of this is that the sale has been covered in literally dozens of Canadian mainstream publications, most of which would never consider stamp collecting newsworthy, except perhaps in a humour column. Continue reading →
Big ticket sales make for a fun year
Naysayers like to whine about how the stamp hobby is dying off, that there are no new collectors, and that there aren’t enough kids involved. I suggest that they should take some time and read some old philatelic periodicals. The early issues of CSN are filled with similar comments, dating back more than 30 years.... Continue reading →
Stamp fun for the rest of us
On my second try I asked a simpler question. “After April 1, would a letter containing three 25-cent stamps and a 10-cent stamp be considered sufficient postage?” That seems simple enough. So far, the only answer I got was to ask me, “where would someone get those stamps?” Continue reading →
Making 85 the hard way
I recently received a catalogue from Europe with a whole pane of low value stamps taking up the back. In this case, the post office didn’t even cancel them, I’m sure they just figured close enough, and sent it along. Continue reading →
Canadian stamp exhibit great news
The museum has even taken the effort to include some designs that never got off the board. This sort of exhibit does two things. First, it presents stamps in a manner that is interesting to average Canadians, who may consider the subject as dry as English toast. Secondly, it presents stamps as authentic pieces of... Continue reading →