Registered Mail Study Group

2006 Annual Board Meeting Committee Report

The U.S. Registered Mail Study Group has gotten off to a really good start even if the accomplishments of this second year were not all that were projected.  The Group was started 2½ years ago and held its first meeting at NOJEX in conjunction with the USSS Convention.

Working meetings were also held at StampShow 2004 and 2005.  Meetings will be held at Washington 2006 (with Eliot Landau talking on registry and the military) and StampShow 2006 (with a talk by Alfred Kugel).  Member and APS Director David Straight agreed to assume responsibility for keeping and updating the registry bibliography begun by Landau.  Ross Towle and Len Piszkiewicz both discussed their interest in the square labels, which look like registered receipts that were tried on an experimental basis affixed to domestic registered mail from 1907 through approximately 1911.  Nick Lombardi has published two excellent articles on the subject in The United States Specialist and new member Russ Ryles has taken on the job of census keeper.

Eliot Landau reported on the status of the census project on the U.S. labels for registered mail going to foreign destinations from January, 1883 through 1911.  This project is nearing completion and is targeted for late this year.

The Group is pleased to report a total of 46 members in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Norway, and Tasmania.  A short newsletter is in the process of preparation and is planned to be sent by email before the end of August, 2006.  It will also be made available on the USSS' website so that USSS members can have access to it and hopefully join us.

The major current project of the Group is the census of all U.S. registry foreign mail labels on cover other than New York "City" and "Exchange" labels.  That study, planned for 2004, was pushed back to this year by personal health problems of Landau and by his researching and writing on six chapters and sidebars of the Society's Encyclopedia of United States Stamps and Stamp Collecting.  Now time should be available to complete the census project.

Other projects are also ongoing.  David Straight is putting the bibliography into form to put on the website.  Len Piszkiewicz has published an excellent first article on the use of the domestic square labels in Chicago, which appeared in the Illinois Postal Historian.  The Ohio Postal Historian also recently had an article on early Cincinnati registered mail.  Eliot Landau, Chuck Meroni, Don Peck and others are working on an analysis of New York City Exchange and City labels, their styles and numbering systems, to determine when particular styles were used and if there was any reason to the numbering sequence on the labels.  At a future time, we want to take a close look at the end of the 19th century when New York used a lot of utility labels.

2005 Annual Board Meeting Committee Report

The U.S. Registered Mail Study Group has gotten off to a really good start, even if the accomplishments of this first year were not all that were projected.  The Group was started 18 months ago and held its first meeting at NOJEX in conjunction with the USSS Convention.  Much of that meeting took place on the exhibit floor where the members were treated to a walk-through viewing and commentary of two major registered mail exhibits by USSS President, Nick Lombardi, and Group Chairman, Eliot Landau.

A working meeting was also held at STAMPSHOW 2004 in Sacramento.  Member and APS Director David Straight agreed to assume responsibility for keeping and updating the registry bibliography begun by Landau.  Ross Towle and Len Piszkiewicz both discussed their interest in the square labels that look like registered receipts that were tried on an experimental basis affixed to domestic registered mail from 1908 through approximately 1911.  It was agreed that research should be done in that area as well as the registered foreign mail labels.

Eliot Landau reported on the status of the census project on the U.S. labels for registered mail going to foreign destinations from January, 1883 through 1911.  Ross Towle and Len Piszkiewicz suggested that we could also start a census of covers with the domestic registry labels.  All agreed that it would be worthwhile, but no one has yet volunteered to be the keeper of that census.

The Group is pleased to report a total of 43 members in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Norway and Tasmania.  A short newsletter is in the process of preparation and is planned to be sent by email before the end of August, 2005.  It will also be made available on the USSS' website so that members of the Society who are not yet members of the Group can have access to it.

The major current project of the Group is the census of all U.S. registry foreign mail labels on cover other than New York "City" and "Exchange" labels.  That study, planned for 2004, was pushed back to this year by personal health problems of Landau and by his researching and writing on six chapters and sidebars of the Society project Encyclopedia of United States Stamp Collecting.  Now that he has recovered and the Encyclopedia is with its editors, the time should be available to complete the census project.

Other projects are also ongoing.  David Straight is putting the bibliography into form to put on the website.  Len Piszkiewicz has published an excellent first article on the use of the domestic square labels in Chicago, which appeared in the February, 2005 issue of the Illinois Postal Historian.  The Ohio Postal Historian also recently had an article on early Cincinnati registered mail.  Landau, Chuck Meroni, Don Peck and others are working on an analysis of New York City Exchange and City labels, their styles and numbering systems to determine when particular styles were used and if there was any reason to the numbering sequence on the labels.  At a future time, we want to take a close look at the end of the 19th century when New York used a lot of utility labels.

2004 Annual Board Meeting Committee Report