The Freedom Train in Vermont

When I recently saw the list of exhibits at the Southeastern Stamp Show held in the Atlanta, Georgia area. I was surprised to see an exhibit about the Freedom Train.  Here's a short article I wrote in the May, 2009 issue of The Vermont Philatelist.

One of the major events of the USA Bicentennial commemoration held from 1970 through 1981 was the American Freedom Train tour of the continental United States in 1975 and 1976.

According to the website, http://www.freedomtrain.org/ “the display cars of the AFT were outfitted with the 500+ artifacts of Americana that they carr(ied) around the nation. Among them were the Bill of Rights, the Louisiana Purchase, Judy Garland’s dress from The Wizard of Oz, Joe Frazier’s boxing trunks, Abe Lincoln’s stovepipe hat, and even a rock from the moon.”
The tour began in Wilmington, Delaware April 1, 1975 and ended on December 31, 1976 in Miami, Florida. Over 7 million visitors viewed the exhibits. Burlington, Vermont was the 3rd stop on the two-year national tour. The train was in Burlington April 11-12, 1975.

At each stop a special commemorative postmark was used. It seems that this was mostly overlooked by the Vermont philatelic community. There is no mention of the cancel in contemporary issues of the Vermont Philatelist. Even when Paul Abajian published his initial listing of The Special Cancellations of Vermont in 1997, this cancel was missing.

In the decade since less than 5 covers bearing the cancel have been reported. Even collectors who specialize in this issue don’t seem to have a Burlington example. All examples seen are dated April 11. It’s not known if there are April 12 examples in existence.

Highway Post Office

The Highway Post Office System was an attempt to speed up mail service between cities.  It lasted from the 1940s through the early 1970s.

Philatelic covers are usually very easy to find.  However, examples used by businesses and the general public are more difficult to find.

Here's a First Day of the initial run between Burlington, VT and Albany NY (1949) plus a Last Day between Albany, NY and Burlington, VT.  The post card from 1961 is a little more scarce.

First Trip--January 27, 1949

July 1, 1961

Last Trip--April 12, 1968

Flags of Our Nation: Vermont (August 2012)

The USPS issued the sixth and final section of the Flags of Our Nation coil stamps on August 16, 2012 in Sacramento, California at the APS Stampshow.  One of the stamps shows the Vermont State Flag, the state seal on a field of blue.  This has been the Vermont state flag since 1923.

Beside the FDoI  b/w and digital cancels used at Sacramento, there were First Day of Sale cancels used August 16th at each of the state capitals.  These were usually accompanied by a local FDoS ceremony. However, in Vermont, August 16th is a Bennington Battle Day, a state holiday.  A dedication ceremony of the new stamp was held in the Statehouse the next day, August 17.

The designs of both cancels are similar with the August 16th design reading "FIRST DAY OF SALE" while the August 17th design reads "State House Station".

Artist Tom Engeman was the designer for the whole 60 stamp series.

More Vermont Stars

A few more Vermont Star cancels: these all seem from the same manufacturer. They look the same, especially the "3D' stars.

Vernon (Windham County)

West Corinth (Orange County)

Irasburgh (Orleans County)

Barton Landing (Orleans County)

named changed in 1909 to Orleans

Some New Stars

I picked up a few new Vermont stars yesterday at the Crossroads Show in Quechee.

Perhaps the most interesting is this circular date stamp from Hardwick. The star is nice, but the CDS is very unusual. According to Bill Lizotte, another Vermont postal history collector this is called a "pie crust". Similar cancels are known from East Orange and Wolcott.

This star cancel from Randolph has a negative star within a positive star.

Looks like the star is handmade on this cancel from Plainfield. I believe the circular date stamp is a Collins Circle.

The final star is a 3 dimensional star from Newbury Centre in purple. A later use of a star cancel.

County Postmaster Cancel

There are only two Vermont post offices that used BOTH a County Name and the Postmaster name in a cancel: South Wardsboro and Cambridgeport.

In the Doane-Thompson monograph "Catalog of U.S. County and Postmaster Postmarks" edited by Kenneth L. Gilman (David G. Phillips Publishing Co., 1990), there is a reproduction of a sales pamphlet by F. P. Hammond & Co. of Aurora, Illinois from the 1880s. Postmark No. 532 shows the same type of cancel used by South Wardsboro and a few other post offices (less than 40) throughout the country. The postmark included a Wheel of Fortune canceler for the stamp.

According to writer Bill Lizotte in the August 2009 issue of The Vermont Philatelist, South Wardsboro is fairly scarce with only 2 or 3 examples known. Fletcher, Illinois was another post office that used this type of cancel.

If you interested in Vermont Postal History, you should belong to the Vermont Philatelic Society. Its website is http://www.vermontps.org .

Rutland Fair Covers

A Vermont philatelic tradition ended in 2009 when for the first time since 1953, the Rutland Stamp Club didn't produce a special cachet or cancel for the Vermont State Fair. Like many other groups today, the members are getting older and finding it more difficult to participate in events.

The Rutland Stamp Club would have a stamp exhibition for the whole week long fair plus man the club table from early in the morning to late in the evening each day. Some Vermont collectors actively collect each of the fair covers.

Here's the 1st in the series which spanned 1953-2008: