2010 Vermont State Stamp Show

Every year the Vermont Philatelic Society holds its annual meeting at the Vermont State Stamp Show, which is hosted by one of the 7 stamp clubs in Vermont. This year the Washington County Stamp Club in Montpelier celebrates its 50 anniversary and has graciously agreed to host the VPS and the VSSS. The show and meeting will be on Saturday, June 5 at the Montpelier Elks Golf Club just off Rte 2 on the road to St. Johnsbury.

There will be 20 dealer tables plus exhibits.

The USPS might have a table at the show, but that is still being firmed up. However, there will be a special pictorial cancel to honor the show with the WCSC sponsoring two cachets: one showing the Vermont Capitol and the other showing the Montpelier 1st Baptist Church where the stamp club holds its monthly meetings.

Next year, we are scheduled to travel to Bennington for the 2011 VSSS.

West Haven Doane: New Early Date

Doane cancels are named after Edith Doane who studied this type of cancel in the mid part of the 1900s. Doanes were an attempt by the USPOD to standardize the types of cancels used by smaller post offices beginning about August 1903. There are 3 types of these cancels, sorted by the bars: Type 1 has 5 solid bars, Type 2 has 4 pairs of thin line while Type 3 has 4 thick parallel bars. Currently there are over 21,000 post offices recorded with Doane cancels. Vermont has 145 recorded post offices in the latest edition of the catalog edited by Richard W. Helbrock and Gary Anderson (2002).

The example from West Haven (Rutland County) is a new earliest use from that post office. The previous earliest use was October 22, 1906. One the reverse is a East Poultney Doane which is also the earliest reported use from that post office. The "1" in the bars means that the West Haven post office had business which amount to less than $100.00.

West Haven was a post office in 3 distinct periods: 1809-1888, 1888-1907, and 1907-1912. The DPO scarcity rating for the above cover "6" (very scarce) with a value of $50-$100 dollars. The Doane catalog rating is "3" (scarce). The Doane catalog doesn't list monetary values.

3 New Pictorials

I have just received information about 3 upcoming Vermont pictorial cancels: Newport (celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Milk Train between Newport and Boston), Bethel (shows the old High School) and Chittenden (the Annual Fishing Derby).

All 3 cancels can be obtained by sending a stamped addressed envelope to the postmasters of the respective towns.

PAID 3 in Circle

One of the reasons that I like collecting postal history is that there are innumerable ways of collecting.

Irasburgh 1854?

Lately I have become interested in cancels from the 1851 period on stampless mail that show PAID 3 in a circle. I am currently researching this area for a future article for The Vermont Philatelist but I thought you might like to see some of the material currently in my collection.

I just added some very nice examples that I purchased from Elwyn and Anne Doubleday. They are disposing of an old time collection which seems to have been built with quality as the #1 goal. The cancels are exquisite and sharp.

Orwell 1851-1855

Hydeville 1853-54