Earth Day 2013 Ink Jet

The USPS has begun using a new inkjet slogan:  Earth Day 2012 with 3 wind turbines and a sun.

I have been able to discover the date that these slogans were first used in Syracuse and Albany.

Looks like Syracuse began using the slogan on Friday, April 5, 2013 and Albany on Saturday, April 6.

Since February 2013, all mail from northeastern NY is handled by the Albany processing center.

I have access to a large amount of mailings to a regional internet service provider.  Usually I just find a few commemorative stamps, but I'm always on the look-out for these ink jet slogans.

Saratoga Mail Clerk cancel

Here's an unusual cancel that I purchased at the Crossroads Stamp Show in Quechee, Vermont recently.

The stamp was originally missed by the Saratoga Springs, NY machine cancel, but obviously was caught by the person sorting the mails. He used his device to cancel the stamp.

This is from a post card.  The Saratoga Springs machine cancel is partly exposed on the left side of the post card.

I used the retroreveal.org website to discover the wording on the complete cancel.  I haven't been able to determine the clerk's full name yet, but have deciphered the rest which reads  "MAILING CLERK".

(Postscript:  a blog reader suggests that the mailing clerk's name was J. M. Corey.)

ACUNY, NY

I wrote this article for a recent issue of Excelsior! the journal of the Empire State Postal History Society

Military/ACUNY, NY

From May 8 1917 through July 31, 1947, the post office in Plattsburg had a branch (“Military”) on the grounds of Fort Plattsburg. On August 1, 1947 the name of the branch was changed from “Military” to “ACUNY”. According to Smith and Kay, this branch existed until October 1, 1954.

The illustrated card shows a machine cancel from the last day of Military, N.Y. which was a station/branch of the Plattsburg, N.Y. post office. The next day the name of the branch was changed to ACUNY, a funny name for a post office.

Here’s the story:

When World War II ended, millions of former servicemen returned home to an uncertain future. New York State’s educational response was to establish the Associated Colleges of Upper New York (ACUNY) since the State Education Department did not feel that the existing private and public colleges in New York State could handle the estimated 100,000 veterans who would be seeking college level education.

On May 17, 1946, the Board of Regents chartered ACUNY with the goal of providing the first two years of college education for any qualified veteran who was rejected from one of the state’s four year colleges because of “insufficient housing, overcrowded classrooms and lack of instructional staff”.

Initially 3 ACUNY school were established: Sampson College near Geneva (but in Seneca County) on the site of the US Naval Training Center, Mohawk College, the former Rhoads Hospital, Utica (Oneida County) and Champlain College in Plattsburgh (Clinton County). The three schools began operation in late 1946. In 1947, the Middletown Collegiate Center opened in Orange County. Both Mohawk and Sampson has postal branches on their campuses as well.

The schools were just a short term solution to an emergency situation and by the end of the 1940s, both Mohawk and Sampson had closed. Champlain College became the first liberal arts college in the SUNY system, but in 1953 it graduated its last class. In that year it was absorbed by Harpur College, which today is one of the six colleges of Binghamton University.

My area of interest is Clinton County. Plattsburgh had a large military presence since before the War of 1812 until 1995 when the Plattsburgh Air Force Base closed under the post-Cold War Base Realignment initiatives. As a matter of fact, the PAFB was the last base considered by the original Realignment committee. PAFB was active from 1954 through 1995. Champlain College was one of the casualties due to the building of PAFB because it was situated on the former home of the Plattsburg Barracks which the Air Force reclaimed under a “recapture clause” to build PAFB.

So now you know the rest of the story: ACUNY was actually the branch post office at Champlain College in Plattsburg, N.Y.

Wells, Hamilton County, NY

It's been a while since I've added anything to this blog. Reason? Much harder to find interesting contemporary items that fit into my collection areas. However, yesterday at a stamp show in Vermont, I found this cancel at the Doubleday booth.

If you're not familiar with Anne and Elywn Doubleday and their postal history stock, you're missing one of the best dealers who does local as well as national shows. Their stock is truly amazing.

Wells is a small post office in Hamilton County in the Adirondacks. The post office was established on March 5, 1828 and is still in operation.

As you can see both "Wells" and "Hamilton County" are included in the town dial. This type of cancel was most prevalent in the 1870s and 1880s, scarcely used in the 1890s and extremely rare after 1900s.

This is not listed in David Proulx monograph that was published in 1990. This cover made the 200 mile round trip to the stamp show yesterday well worth it. Plus it has that nice star killer as well.

Plattsburgh NY Contract Stations

Contract Station #1

Plattsburgh (Clinton County) is a fairly small city in northeastern New York. However, it now has 3 postal outlets to service the 20,000 residents. There is the main post office, Contract Station #1 which has been in service for about 5 years and now Contract Station #2 which began operation on December 13, 2010. Both Contract Stations are located in banks. Station #1 is in the Champlain National Bank in the western section of Plattsburgh while Station #2 is in the Glens Falls National Bank branch in the southern part of the city.

Contract Station #2

Both Contract Stations are not really full service stations, but they do have a red circular datestamp for documents. The tellers at the GFNB told me that they expected people to use the office to mail packages. It save going the 2 miles to the main post office.

C37 from New York City

Here's a very scarce postal history item. Scott #C37 (5c coil) properly used in time frame from New York City to the Canal Zone.

The coil was issued in rolls of 500 and not sold individually at post offices. Most of the stamps were used at hotels and other places where stamp vending machines were located. Therefore most uses were non-philatelic and probably not saved.

C37 was issued on January 15, 1948. The 5c airmail postage rate was in effect from October 1, 1946 to December 31, 1948. You might think this stamp would be easy to find properly used on cover. However, in the estimation of some collectors this is probably one of the hardest uses to find of all the airmail stamps.

2 Hotel Post Offices

Two recent additions to my Essex County and Clinton County collections: postcards canceled at summer post offices. Summer post offices operated only during certain months of the years, usually May to October. For the most part they were located in tourist areas.

Hotel Champlain (Clinton County) was just south of Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain. The example shown is from the 2nd Hotel Champlain post office which was in existence from 1891 to 1951. The cancel is the common 4-bar cancel used by many post offices during the era.

Whiteface (Essex County) was probably located in the Whiteface Inn on Lake Placid. The post office existed in a number of different periods. This is Whiteface #1 which was established in 1892 and discontinued in 1911.