Show Report: StampShow August 24-27, 2006

From start to finish, this was a summer to remember.

The United States Stamp Society began the summer with a major presence at Washington 2006.  Those of us who were able to attend can all recall what a great show it was.  My personal fear was that after such an event at the very beginning of summer, the rest of the season would bring on a philatelic drought.  The weeks that followed, however, brought a steady stream of rave reviews for the Encyclopedia of United States Stamps and Stamp Collecting.  Scott Stamp Monthly, The American Stamp Dealer, The American Philatelist and others all gave it a "two thumbs up."

Thankfully, the Society was able to close out the summer as it had begun - on a high note.  StampShow 2006 was a fitting end to a great season.  We had a nice corner booth, which, although it was a little off the beaten path, provided a perfect place for our members to gather, talk, relax and plan for future events.  In fact, as you can see from the list below, almost 90 members stopped by and signed in.

One of those who spent some time at the booth was Chester H. Missahl.  A discussion began as to whether Chester was the living member with the lowest member number.  Different names were mentioned, but no one knew for sure.  Thanks to our Executive Secretary, Larry Ballantyne, who maintains the official records of the Society, we were subsequently able to determine that the "Top Ten" members currently are Carl F. Paul, Nathan Goldstein II, William T. Kiepura, H.A. Noble, Chester H. Missahl, Hennell S. Pack, Ralph C. Jones, George R. Voltzow, Barbara A. Mueller and Robert F. Rinke.  I hope to be able to meet some of you at our next Annual Meeting in Dallas.

Chester, however, did more than stop by to say hello.  He came bearing gifts.  Specifically, he brought a box containing numerous editions and clippings from the Weekly Philatelic Gossip spanning the years 1928 through 1940.  All of the items contained news relating to our predecessor organizations, the Philatelic Plate Number Association and the Bureau Issues Association.  It is an interesting collection of writings that will be housed in the Society room at the APS Philatelic Center.  If you have a chance to visit the room, be sure to take a look at these articles.  And a special thanks goes out to Chester for the donation of the material.

As is our tradition at StampShow, the Society organized a Dutch Treat dinner.  Approximately 30 members gathered at The Old Warsaw Buffet on Friday evening for good food and great fellowship.

A pleasant surprise at the show was the release of a new book, Chicago Postal Markings and Postal History, written by our editor, Leonard Piszkiewicz.  The 573 page volume is, however, much more than a study of happenings in Chicago.  It is a tremendous outline and guide for anyone interested in collecting and/or exhibiting any postal history topic.  I highly recommend that you pick up a copy, but be sure to have a hearty breakfast before you actually try to "pick it up."  Congratulations to Len for a job well done.

Speaking of exhibiting, the show hosted an open competition as well as the Champions of Champions competition.  In the open competition, Society members put on a strong showing.  The Best Display Division Award was won by Stephen Suffet, the Best Illustrated Mail Division Award went to Eliot Landau, and the Best Revenue Division Award was garnered by Robert Hohertz.  Irv Heimburger won the Statue of Freedom Award as well as the APS Pre-1900 Award of Excellence.

This year the Champion of Champions competition was made up of 25 grand award winners.  The Society took a great deal of pride in having six members among this elite group.  Richard Larkin, Nicholas Lombardi, Andrew McFarlane, Harvey Mirsky, Arnold Selengut and Anthony Wawrukiewicz all deserve a round of applause for their exhibiting efforts.

On behalf of the Society, I'd like to thank all of those who helped to make our StampShow experience a success.  A special thanks goes to Joann and Kurt Lenz, George Wagner and Dave Sugar, who anchored the booth for us.  Dave also was responsible for arranging our Friday night dinner.  Our "Unsung Hero Award" goes to Tom Jacks of Mountainside Stamps for transporting our publications and booth materials to and from the show thereby saving us a huge expense.

As mentioned earlier, our booth was a popular place for members to get together and exchange information.  Sales of our various publications were good and we recruited 11 new members.  Two "lost sheep" also came back into the Society.  Those visiting the booth came from across the entire country and included: