FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 2, 2008...The U.S. Philatelic Classics Society (USPCS) is excited to announce its 2008 Chase, Ashbrook & Perry Cup winners. "Research and writing remain the backbone of our Society", commented President Wade E. Saadi. The Dr. Carroll Chase Cup is awarded to James N. Drummond for his continuing studies of back of the book material such as College and School Stamps and also Official Seals of the World. Both areas have received little research until now. The Stanley B. Ashbrook Cup is awarded to Joseph J. Geraci for his exceptional index of the Chronicle Annotated Cumulative Subject Index to the Chronicle of the U.S. Classics Postal Issues, Journal of the U.S. PHILATELIC CLASSICS Society for Issued 1 - 200. The Elliott Perry Cup is awarded to Hugh V. Feldman his new book U.S. Contract Mail Routes by Water (Star Routes 1834-1875) which contributes much needed major new research in the field

Dr. Carroll Chase Cup Winner: James N. Drummond
Jim Drummond's mother and father both collected stamps when they were young. Jim discovered their forgotten albums in a closet when he was about 10 years old. Neither album contained much of anything that was particularly rare or unusual, but the silent challenge of filling each box on each page with a stamp greatly appealed to Jim. The interest grew slowly until he was 14, at which time he received a giant worldwide album for Christmas. He then began weekly visits to the local drug store to purchase cloth bags of used stamp mixtures, and, much later, regular trips to local stamp stores, all in the pursuit of obtaining a "complete" collection. He has filled many albums since then.

Jim is now primarily interested in material that has previously been rarely, if ever, written about: the back-of-the-book stamps. In many cases they are "stamps" only in the sense that they are small squares of paper with ink on them, but they are otherwise far removed from "normal" postage stamps. In 2007 he published the noteworthy and well-received "College and School Stamps" and also "Official Seals of the World". These works of scholarship are major contributions to the hobby. Jim plans plan to release at least three more books in the years ahead.

Stanley B. Ashbrook Cup Winner: Joseph J. Geraci
Joe Geraci began collecting stamps about the age of 10. In 1985, he joined the National Philatelic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution, and worked there until his retirement in 1999.

While working at the National Philatelic Collection, he researched, wrote and was curator for a number of exhibits, including:

He began indexing The Chronicle in 1988 and published his results last year. Over the years he has written many articles for National Postal Museum publications, edited Mare Nostrum, an Italy & Colonies publication, and published more than 40 other articles, mostly for Italian postal history publications. His current project is a feature for the Postal History Journal entitled "Foreign Postal History in Other Journals", which he has been working on continuously since 1990.

Elliot Perry Cup Winner: Hugh V. Feldman
Hugh Feldman's philatelic interest started at an early age and he sold his first collection at the age of 15. In the 1970's he became interested in the British surface-printed issues of the 19th century, in the 1980's it became Postal History. In addition to having published numerous articles, he received many major awards for his exhibits and published works. In 1998 his magnificent two-volume work, Letter Receivers of London 1652-1857 was published in conjunction with the Stuart Rossiter Trust and The Postal History Society.

His original work on US contract routes by water based was published in 2008 by the Collectors Club of Chicago as U.S. Contract Mail Routes by Water, Star Routes 1824-1875, a spectacular volume by any measure. The research for this book required his searching of archival records in Washington spanning 326 volumes and over 190,000 manuscript pages.

Hugh's current philatelic activities are much taken up with preparations for the next London International Stamp Show in 2010 as the team leader for Finance. Despite a hectic business and philatelic schedule, Hugh always has time to help fellow students and to share what he has learned.

The U.S. Philatelic Classics Society is the only organization that studies in depth the stamps and postal history of the United States from the Colonial era to 1900. Our members include both collectors and students. Many have written articles that have been published in our award winning quarterly magazine, The Chronicle of the U.S. Classic Postal Issues, and in other publications. Information about the USPCS, membership, its publications, and articles of interest to collectors and students of the classic period of U.S. philately, can found at the society's website at www.uspcs.org. Copies of back issues of the Chronicle and previously published books are also available from the society's bookstore, accessible from the society's website, or directly at http://www.uspcs.org/store.html.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Wade E. Saadi
President, USPCS
wade@pencom.com

or

Alexander Haimann
Publicist, USPCS
alex@mysticrarestamps.com