Monthly Archives: January 2017
Eastern Auctions features Garcelon Stamp Company
Lot 357 features a group of 34 Toronto geometric fancy cancelled covers and six postcards, all from 1870 to 1874. It has an estimate of $1,000.
The final chapter in a Canadian stamp story will come to a close Feb. 25, when Eastern Auctions sells the final inventory of the Garcelon Stamp Company of St. Stephen, N.B. The business, familiar to most old-time collectors, was formed in 1932 by Ralph O. Garcelon, a collector who discovered he enjoyed buying and selling stamps more than collecting them. At first he worked out of a room on the family farm, but by the 1950s the company had its own building and more than 60 employees. The company continued to grow, moving into a larger building in 1962. Much of Garcelon's business was done in the United States. St. Stephen is a border town, and Garcelon used a post office box in Calais, Maine, to sell U.S. stamps to customers. He was an aggressive advertiser, appearing in newspapers, magazines, and comic books all over North America. Continue reading →
Diversity is welcome on Canada’s stamps
After looking over the 2017 stamp program, or at least what we've seen of it, it would be kind of easy to throw a few rocks at Canada Post. There's a lot of same old, same old: hockey, flowers, more hockey, birds, UNESCO sites and even photography are all getting a bit tired. But these are valid issues, and face it, sports subjects sell stamps to fans and that can be good both for sales and exposing new people to stamp collecting. Much of the really cool Canada 150 stuff has yet to be announced, so I am reserving judgement on that. But I am really excited about the new holiday stamps. That's right, I think the Eid, Diwali and Hanukkah stamps are just plain fantastic and long overdue. Continue reading →