By Jesse Robitaille
Several Canadian exhibitors, including three literature entries, received noteworthy honours at the Thailand 2018 world stamp exhibition this month.
Specifically, in the adult multi-frame category, Canadian representatives were “very satisfied” with the country’s performance, said David McLaughlin, chair of The Royal Philatelic Society of Canada’s (RPSC) international liaison. Of the five Canadian multi-frame exhibits, two were first-time entries to a Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) show. Altogether, there were two gold winners; one large vermeil winner; one vermeil winner; and another large silver winner.
“The two golds were strong golds with 93 points each, and one of our new exhibits won a large vermeil the first time out, making it eligible for expansion to eight frames in future exhibitions,” said McLaughlin, who served as Canada’s national commissioner for Thailand 2018.
“Judges critiques at FIP shows are held at the frames, and from the feedback that I received, I think all the exhibits have the potential to move up at least one medal level.”
Canada’s multi-frame exhibitors included:
- McLaughlin, who earned one of the two golds with 93 points;
- Luc Legault, who received the other gold with 93 points;
- Ken Snelson, who received a large vermeil with 86 points;
- Ted Nixon, who received a vermeil with 83 points; and
- Michael Croy, who received a large silver with 78 points.
PEER GROUP COMPARISON
McLaughlin found these results to be a “mid-range” performance, although he warned comparing Canada’s performance with other countries is “difficult.”
The FIP tracks how many exhibits – and from which country – receive a vermeil or higher at least once in the past 10 years.
Since 2009, Canadian exhibitors have received 50 awards at the vermeil level or higher.
To create a “reasonable” peer group of eight countries, McLaughlin listed all other nations with between 45 and 55 qualifying exhibits. In addition to Canada, the peer group includes Austria, Chinese Taipei, Finland, Hong Kong, Korea, Pakistan and Russia.
“For Thailand, our adult multi-frame performance was midrange among our peer group, mostly because three other countries each had a large gold medal and one had four gold medals,” said McLaughlin. “The peer group analysis provides better insight when comparing the full year because of the larger sample and because our participation in exhibitions is more consistent than the peer group.”
SINGLE-FRAME EXHIBITS
There were two Canadian single-frame exhibitors entered into Thailand 2018, which ran Nov. 28-Dec. 3 in Bangkok.
They include Don Hedger and John McEntyre, who earned 78 points and 77 points, respectively, which “are quite respectable scores for one-frame exhibits internationally, McLaughlin said.
“We did much better than our peer group in the single-frame exhibit class,” he said, adding one of the two exhibits was a first-time entry.
“Only one other country in our peer group entered one-frame exhibits.”
LITERATURE EXHIBITS
While the other countries in Canada’s peer group have “traditionally done better” in the literature category, Canada’s literature entries “did very well” this year, McLaughlin said.
In the six FIP exhibitions before Thailand, Canada entered only five literature exhibits altogether; however, with the help of three of Canada’s national philatelic societies, Canada entered three literature exhibits. This compares with an average of four entries for the six countries in Canada’s peer group that entered literature.
Canada’s entries into Thailand 2018 include:
- The Canadian Philatelist, the bimonthly publication of The RPSC, which received a large vermeil with 86 points;
- the PHSC Journal, which is published by the Postal History Society of Canada (PHSC) and received a large vermeil with 85 points; and
- 151 Personal Views of Canada, A Philatelic Sesquicentennial Project, which was published by the Philatelic Specialists Society of Canada (PSSC) and received a large silver with 73 points.
The PSSC entry – a celebratory book with pages for each year from 1867-2017 contributed by the society’s members – was in class 11A, philatelic books and research papers, the top medals of which went to “professionally edited and published commercial reference books,” said McLaughlin.
“I think that the silver medal at 73 points was a commendable achievement by the PSSC members,” he added.
Both The RPSC and PHSC publications were entered in class 11B, philatelic magazines and periodicals, which included 27 entries.
“Only one publication, The Gibbons Stamp Monthly, published commercially by Stanley Gibbons, received a higher score at 87 points.”
While some Canadian philatelic organizations are reluctant to enter their publications in competitions, McLaughlin said he hopes the recent successes “will encourage all our philatelic societies to support their authors’ and editors’ efforts through participation in international shows.”
“Copies of the books, catalogues and journals entered in these shows end up in the philatelic libraries of the host country.”
YOUTH EXHIBITORS
As for youth exhibits, Canada fared poorly compared to its peer group.
“Four members of our peer group had a total of 13 youth exhibits while we had none,” McLaughlin said, adding there were no exhibit fees for youth entries of Thailand 2018.
NEXT FIP EXHIBITION
The next FIP exhibition is China 2019, which will be held in Wuhan, China, from June 11-17.
A world general exhibition, China 2019 will feature 2,500 competitive frames across all FIP classes, including the new picture postcard class.
“I am hopeful that we can have several youth exhibits for China 2019 next June,” said McLaughlin, who added there are no exhibit fees for youth entries of China 2019.
To receive the exhibition prospectus and application form, which is due by the end of January, exhibitors can contact McLaughlin at david.mclaughlin@rogers.com.