Established in 1989 by the Local Post Collectors Society, World Local Post Day is the last Monday in January, which happens to be today. You'll find a number of local posts doing special stamps and cancellations in honor of today. You can read previous L.W.A. articles on local posts around the world here & here. Oh, hey, look! There's a whole blog category for Local Post. Thanks to Kevin at Philosateleian Post for the reminder!
P.S. The new postage rates are in effect today!
The stamps and letters before you are American-mailed, but not U.S.P.S. approved. Nay, they were for an independent postal service called Hale and Co. Despite there being clear illegalities in setting up local posts, private citizens saw an opportunity to be had in delivering mail for cheaper prices that the Post Office Department of the time.
Hale and Co. produced the first postage stamps in the U.S. and were the first to offer them pre-cancelled and in booklets. When the book we're reading for L.W.A. Book Club this quarter, Neither Snow nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service by Devin Leonard, mentioned they had "octagonal stamps", I knew I had to give those a look. I like them a lot. I like them so much, I think I'll make a rubber stamp inspired by them. Who wants one?
Perhaps you remember me mentioning the Elsewhere Philatelic Society once or twice before now. Should you like to play along at home, they are having a stamp window from the BOTTOM OF THE EARTH! Follow the instructions below.
To receive the Penguin Post Office stamp:
1. Create a piece of mail (perhaps something for the penguins? A depiction of an intrepid explorer? A message for the bottom of the globe?) and address it to:
Reigh Robitaille via General Delivery
UKAHT – Port Lockroy
c/o Stanley Post Office
Stanley
Falkland Islands, South Atlantic
F1QQ 1ZZ
2. Specify RETURN TO SENDER IF NOT PICKED UP BY Jan 15, 2018 by writing it somewhere on the front of the envelope/card.
3. Include the following return address on the envelope / postcard: EPS PO Box 411553 San Francisco, CA 94141
4. Apply sufficient postage for Great Britain. As we assume you are in the US, that’s one *international forever stamp* or stamps totaling $1.15. This is true whether you are sending a postcard or envelope. Anything over 1/2oz costs more, so weigh and act accordingly! We suggest not mailing any unwieldy items or those of a non-standard dimension.
5. Take a photo of the mail before sending in case it gets lost at sea / ice / the penguins use it as a raft to escape hungry seals.
6. Send a S.A.S.E. to EPS PO Box 411553 San Francisco, CA 94141 (to receive the Penguin Post Office commemorative stamp).
Notes of Note: Antarctica travel is highly dependent on weather and conditions at sea. Although the goal is a visit to the post office in Port Lockroy, there’s a strong possibility that weather will prevent it. If this comes to pass, postcard requests will be fulfilled from the southernmost city in the world (Ushuaia).
**We highly advise that you send your mail now, as it can take 2-3 months for mail to reach this location.**
P.S. And if you are in the Bay area, there is a THING on Saturday. You must contact them for details.
If you were following along on Instagram, you'll have noticed that Kathy & I got up to all kinds of fun in Los Angeles after our anniversary party. One of the things we did was explore the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood. I had one goal for the trip- send mail from Hogsmeade. In the minutes before we left for the airport, I was madly affixing my Harry Potter postage and using an Owl Post rubber stamp from Paper Pastries to dress up my letters in the proper witchy fashion.
Turns out, getting all the letters written was the hard part. Lucky for me, I managed to finish all my outgoing mail on the flight to L.A. All that remained was to get my letters hand-stamped and sent proper from the Owl Post itself. It was easy to locate the Owl Post in the village. I poked around inside, marveling at the attention to detail that Universal puts into their park. The outgoing mailbox is located around the side, under the open seating area. It seemed a bit lonely and there's no listed instruction about how to post mail. However, there was a podium with some workers nearby and I inquired with them about sending my letters.
The assistants at the podium were delighted to bring out their trusty stamper and took care (and followed my precise instructions) when stamping the letters. They seemed really tickled to help me and not annoyed by my micromanagement at all. Note: this isn't a cancellation service. The letters all get collected at the end of the day and then posted from the regular U.S.P.S., but it's still very fun that they do it. I had a great time. I asked if they'd done a lot of wedding invitations. One worker said no, but the other claimed to have helped post "boxes" of invitations before.
So that was rad. If you're a Potter fan and a mail fan, don't miss that opportunity to send via Owl Post if you find yourself in the Wizarding World. I'm pretty sure that it's available in all the iterations of the park.
Long has this posting languished in my drafts folder. I kept meaning to write a glowing, clever, and all-around comprehensive article on the glory of Adanaland. I've been meaning to do so for, judging by the date on this draft, over three years. Adanaland is the work of Alan B. I forget if I found him or he found me, but I'm thrilled to have him as a contributor to my mail box. He's a huge inspiration to the artistamps that I create and he's a champion of small press and mail art. You can see his photos on his Flickr site and the Lestaret blog has an exhaustive series of posts on his works. (That's the post that I think I wanted this to be, but it's been done; so there I will send you.) Thanks for the fantastic mail, Alan. You are a shining example to all members of the L.W.A. and it's a joy to know you.
Estabilished in 1989 by the Local Post Collectors Society, World Local Post Day is the last Monday in January, which happens to be today. You'll find a number of local posts doing special stamps and cancellations in honor of today. You can read previous L.W.A. articles on local posts around the world here & here.
And, almost as in celebration, the U.S.P.S. issues its new Global Forever Stamp today. $1.10 for the first ounce, anywhere in the world. "The Global Forever stamp offers a single price for any First-Class Mail International 1-ounce letter to any country in the world. For the January 27, 2013, price change, the Global Forever stamp may also be used to mail a 2-ounce letter to Canada." --Beyond the Perf I find that to be a confusing statement. Can I send 2-ouncers to Canada with this stamp all the time or just on January 27th? It's probably all the time, but that sentence is weird, no? Anyways, behold the circular glory!
Vices included vintage cameras, red wine, dusty mystery books, vintage detective radio shows, silent movies and cupcakes.
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