Volume 45 – #09

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Volume 45#09

August 18 – August 31, 2020

An 1828 folded letter mailed from present-day Québec to France during a cholera pandemic was exposed to smoke and vinegar for disinfection. Two vertical cuts on the front helped to ensure proper disinfection. (Photo by Auktionshaus Felzmann)

A long history of disinfected mail

In the time of COVID-19, disinfected mail is perhaps one of the most intriguing and relevant areas of postal history for collectors to explore. It’s an aspect of postal history similar to disaster mail, which refers to mail disrupted by natural or human-made events such as fires, floods, shipwrecks and plane crashes. Arising from seemingly random instances, both disinfected and disaster mail are also understandably rare and date back as far as mail, plagues and disasters have existed. “Long before the causes of epidemic scourges were individually identified, the dangers of dissemination of infection had been grasped,” wrote K. F. Meyer in the December 1952 issue of The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, a peer-reviewed medical journal on psychopathology (the scientific study of mental disorders). Continue reading →

Features
Officials ponder role of local clubs as technology opens virtual doors
Page 1
Last call for 2020 Cover Contest
Page 1
Rare Nova Scotia stamps to highlight next Maresch sale
Page 15

Regulars
CSN Marketplace
Are you buying or selling?
Page 16
Show & Bourse
Check out the shows in your area
Page 19
Columns
Jesse Robitaille
Philatelic Commentary
The ‘art’ of exhibiting
Page 4
Ian Robertson
Looking Back
Migratory wildlife stamps have numerous varieties
Page 6

Everett Parker
Philatelic Journals
Timely article delves into pandemic of past century
Page 8
Gary Dickinson
First-Day covers
Cabot’s arrival celebrated on final Newfoundland stamp, FDCs
Page 10

Ian Robertson
Stamping Grounds
‘Goodbye God. I’m going to Bodie,’ plus other tales from Cal
Page 12
Robin Harris
New Issues
From around the world
Page 18

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