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Private cachet-makers stymied in early 1970s
Toronto collector Derwin Mak created a first-day cover for one of Canada Post’s 2019 holiday stamps, which were issued Nov. 4. The cachet to the left of the cover features a photograph of Mak (left), his friend Theresa (centre) and Karen Kain (right), artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada.
Today, first-day covers are issued alongside stamps by many postal services around the world, including in Canada, where the “official first-day cover” (OFDC) signalled the demise of private cachetmaking in that country. While Canada’s Post Office Department issued its first OFDC nearly 50 years ago, in 1971, its American counterpart only began selling cacheted – or illustrated – first-day covers in the early 2000s. “In fact, it took decades before the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) would sell a first-day cover,” said collector and award-winning exhibitor Derwin Mak, of Toronto. Continue reading →
