Past Events

Held the usual weekend before Thanksgiving, November 22nd – 24th this year, CHICAGOPEX had it all. Exhibits. Dealers. Philatelic Presentations. And messy winter weather on the setup day.
 
As the culmination of the annual Single Frame Champion of Champion competition, this year saw 11 Society members competing to be the best of the best. But “there can only be one” and that one, this year, is Dan Knowles, the 2024 AAPE Single-frame Champion of Champions with his “United States Demonetization and Transition to the 1861 Design Stamps.” The other society members in the running were:

• James Cate with “General Banks Division”
• Stephen Chaffin with “The 1851/57 One Cent Franklin of Plate One Late”
• Tony Dewey with “The Postal Stationery of the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) for Netherlands New Guinea”
• Chip Gliedman with “Leominster, Mass. Provisional Postage Due and Instructional Labels”
• James Milgram with “Abraham Lincoln Illustrated Stationery 1860-1865”
• Vernon Morris with “World’s Third Producer of Stamps: Philadelphia Local Post Fee Reduction, 1842-1861”
• Peter Schwartz with “The Earliest Black Portrayals on US Stamps 1864-1872”
• Timothy Wait with “2¢ Blue Liberty Tax Stamp 1875-1883”
• Doug Weisz with “New Orleans 5 Cent Provisional. The War Rate: United States Postal Rates and Fees from February 1, 1815 through March 30, 1816”.

Member multi-frame exhibits generally did well. Jan Hofmeyr won the Multi-frame Grand with his “Philatelic Invention in the United States: 1861-1881” (also the USPCS Medal and the American Philatelic Congress Award).
 
Multi-frame Large Gold was won by Tony Dewey for “The U.S. Alphabet-Denominated Rate-Change Series, 1978-1998” (also the APS Post 1980 Medal and the US Stamp Society Medal) and Chip Gliedman for “Imperforate Line Engraved Stamps of Great Britain from Plate Position “CG” – My Victoria”.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Single-frame Grand went to Dan Knowles for “Trans-Mississippi River Mail Services by the Confederate States of America Post Office Department and Private Individuals During the American Civil War” (also Single-frame Large Gold). This sets up Dan for a potential repeat in ’25.
 
Three Society members won Single-frame Large Gold.

• Wayne Farley for “Soldier Due Uses from West Virginia during the Civil War” (also Auxiliary Markings Club Award)
• Cheryl Ganz for “Basel Zeppelin Posts” (also Best Exhibit by a Chicago Philatelic Society Member).
• Tony Dewey for “The United Nations 20¢ “World Unity” Stamp, 1951-1965”.

Mark Schwartz won a Single-frame Gold for his “The Barr-Fyke Cancels of Chicago”.
 
Three members won Single-Frame Large Vermeil:

• Kenneth Nilsestuen for “Contemporary Hand-Crafted First Day Covers of the Eagle Holding Shield Airmail of 1938”
• Bob Hohertz for “The London Numbered Maltese Cross” (also American First Day Cove Society Award)
• Dr. Bruce Wasserman for “The Rapid Censorship of Civilian Mail in World War II”.

And Dan Undersander’s “Letters Carried Outside the Mail in the 20th Century” won Single-frame Large Silver.
 
A great show and great competition.

After its hiatus year, at a new location, and on an earlier-than-normal weekend, NOJEX was a great place for Society members to exhibit. 13 different member exhibits won awards.
 

Tony Frohlich leads off with Single-frame Grand for “Replating Columbia’s 1 Peso Stamp” (also Single-frame Large Gold and the AAPE Award for Excellence of Treatment). Tony’s “The United States of Columbia 1868 – 1881” earned a Multi-frame Large Gold and the NOJEX Best Foreign Exhibit.
 
Single-frame Large Gold was won by Larry Lyons for “Pomeroy’s Letter Express – 1844 Key Precursor to U.S. Postage Stamps” and Mark Schwartz for “The “Special Arrangement” Between Liverpool and the U.S.1843-1848”.
 
Lawrence Haber won Single-frame Large Vermeil as well as the AAPE Award of Honor for “United States 1908 Special Delivery Stamp; The Merry Widow”.
 
Multi-frame Large Gold was won by

• Mark Schwartz for “Independent Mail and Express Company Operations at Boston: 1843 – 45” (also USPCS Medal and the APS Research Award).
• Vernon Morris, Jr. for “Evolution of American Mail: 1685 to 1799” (also the APS Award of Excellence pre-1900).
• Marvin & Judith Platt for “The Columbian Envelope of 1893” (also the Errors, Freaks & Oddities Collectors Club First Place Award).
• Lawrence Haber for “The Half Penny (decimal) Machin”.

Larry Lyons’ “Hussey’s Post 22 Stamp Designs – 90 Different Stamps 1855 – 1889” won Multi-frame Gold.
 
Multi-frame Large Vermeil was won by

• Michael Clark for “The United States Red Cross Issue of 1931” (also the Errors, Freaks & Oddities Collectors Club Second Place Award).
• David Mayo for “U.S. 2¢ Columbian of 1893” (also the U. S. Cancellation Club Best Cancellations Award).

And to wrap up NOJEX 2024, Terence Hines won Multi-frame Vermeil for “Old Home Week”.

Heading North to Fredericton, New Brunswick, the Royal Philatelic Society Canada’s 2024 show was held September 20-22nd. Three Society members medaled.
 
Yan Turmine earned Multi-frame Large Gold for “Canada-USA Cross Border Mail” as well as the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada Award for Excellence – Material and the AAPE – Novice Award.
 
Jane Sodero won Multi-frame Vermeil and the AAPE – Gold Award of Honor for “First Day Covers and Use of Canada’s 1955 Kayak Hunter”.
 
George Pepall won Single-frame Silver Bronze for “Two Generations of Smythes in Religion and Business”.

Returning to the US, but headed South, the Greater Houston Stamp Society also held its show September 20-22nd. The show was held at the Humble Civic Center in Humble, Texas – a bit under 10 minutes by car from the George Bush International Airport.
 
Doug Weisz won the Multi-frame Grand Award and Multi-frame Gold for “New Orleans Secession to Occupation in the American Civil War”.
 
David Willig won Single-frame Gold for “King Cotton and the World’s Cotton Exposition of 1894”.
 
Ravindra Vora had two winning exhibits. His “US Dispatch Agency London: 1840-1936” won Single-frame Vermeil and the AAPE Award of Honor Pin. His “India UN Peacekeeping Forces Mail” won Single-frame Silver and the Women Exhibitors Sterling Achievement Award.

As a “joint venture” of the American Topical Association, the American First Day Cover Society, and the American Philatelic Society, GASS 2024 had something for everyone, of any age.
 

While this year’s Multi-frame Champion of Champions was not won by a Society member, 9 member exhibits joined the Court of Honor because of their having won a Multi-frame Grand award in the past year.

• Anthony Dewey with two exhibits, “The 3¢ Connecticut Tercentenary Issue of 1935 and its First Days” and “The United Nations Precancel, 1952-1958”
• Nicholas Kirke with “Evolution of Outbound Foreign Mail Cancelled in New York City 1845-1878”
• Dan Knowles with “The Handling of Mail in the Confederate States of America by the Confederate Government and Private Individuals from Secession to Appomattox“.
• Lester Lanphear with “U.S. Departmentals, 1873 to 1884”
• Vernon Morris with two exhibits, “Evolution and Impact of Blood’s Local Post: 1842 to 1862” and “Evolution of American Mail 1685 to 1799”
• Daniel Ryterband with “The U.S. 1847 Issue: America’s First Stamps”
• Patricia Stilwell-Walker with “Baltimore Postal History: From Colonial Times until June 30, 1851”

 
The show’s Most Popular Prix d’Honneur was won by our own Anthony Dewey for his “The Amazing Cachets of Tom Mueller”
 
Roger Brody won GASS’ Multi-frame Grand for his “America’s Embossed Revenue Stamped Paper”. He also received Multi-frame Large Gold, the USPCS Medal, and the United States Stamp Society Statue of Freedom Award.
 
The other Society winners of Multi-frame Large Gold were:

• Richard Malmgren for “Hawaii Postal Cards”
• John Barwis for “Postal History of Colonial Victoria’s Maritime Mails to 1901”. Also the APS Pre-1900 Medal of Excellence, Postal History Society Award, and The Nuclear Ship Savannah Medal
• John Hotchner for “U.S. Postal Counterfeits – The Classic Period to Modern Times, 1895-2004”
• Cheryl Ganz for “Clements Photography: Prints & Postcards”
• Chip Gliedman for “My Victoria – Imperforate Line Engraved Stamps of Great Britain from Plate Position ‘CG’”.

 
Late correction to this post:
Multi-frame Large Vermeil medals were won by two Society members previously omitted from this winner’s list.
Hal Leland won for his “The Making and Use of a Classic US Stamp: The One Cent Issue of the 1869 Series“. Chip Gliedman won for “A Postal History Map of the United States of America“. This editor’s sincere apologies for having missed recognition of these two accomplishments.

 

---

 

Not limiting themselves, four AmeriCover awards were won by members. Mark Schwartz won the AmeriCover Most Popular and Multi-frame Reserve Grand awards with his “The 5c Virginia Dare Stamp of 1937” (also Multi-frame Large Gold and AFDCS Award of Excellence Classic Period 1932-1945).
 
Anthony Dewey won the AmeriCover Multi-frame Large Gold with his “The Amazing Cachets of Tom Mueller” (also the American First Day Cover Society Hand Drawn Cachets Award). Ralph Nafziger won AmeriCover Multi-frame Vermeil with his “Auxiliary Markings on U.S. First Day Covers”. And Michael Clark won AmeriCover Multi-frame Vermeil for “The United States Red Cross Issue of 1931”.
 

---

 
National Topical Stamp Show Awards were won for 4 member exhibits with Fran Adams winning 3! Fran’s “The Oceanographic Institute and Museum of Monaco: 1910-1960” won the NTSS Single-frame Grand and NTSS Single-frame Large Gold. Fran’s “United Nations Special Committee on Palestine: 1947-1951” won NTSS Multi-frame Gold and the United Nations Philatelists Inc. Gold. Fran won NTSS Single-frame Silver for “The Seven Schwabians and a Forgotten Rake”. Terry Hursh won NTSS Single-frame Silver for “Art Deco Influence on European Philately”.
 

---

 
And with the writing clearly on the proverbial wall, 6 member submissions won Literature awards.
• The Literature Grand and Literature Large Gold were won by Nicholas Kirke for “New York City Foreign Mail 1845-1878 (Volumes 1 and 2)”.
• Jan Hofmyr won the Literature Reserve Grand Award and Literature Large Gold for “Understanding the Grill Stamps of the United States”.
• Peter Schwartz won Literature Large Gold and the APS Research Medal for ”The 1869 Safety Paper Essays: New Discoveries and Perspectives”.
• Robert Rose won the Literature Reserve Grand Award and Literature Large Gold for “NJPH, The Journal of the New Jersey Postal History Society”.
• Charles DiComo had two winning literature submissions. His “The U.S. 3¢ 1851 Stamp: Newly Discovered Plate Flaw on 91R1L” won Literature Gold. He won Literature Large Vermeil with “An Unlisted Major Double Transfer on the Trenton Match Co.’s U. S. Private Die Proprietary 1c Revenue Stamp RO176d”.

---

---

To see photos of Society presenters and signers of the Distinguished Philatelists Roll, please look to the Meetings and Events Photo Archive.

In addition to the exhibitions, dealer bourse, and philatelic talks at this year’s GASS, you can also take part in a dinner to support Boston 2026. The dinner is being jointly hosted by our Society, the US Stamp Society, and the Collectors Clubs of Chicago and New York.

The dinner will take place Friday August 16th at the Mark Twain House and start at 6:30pm. The galleries will be available to participants during the evening. The menu will consist of Hors d’oeuvres during the cocktail hour, a plated salad, choice of an airline chicken breast, an 8 oz steak, or a vegetarian/vegan alternative, and dessert. Cost is $100 per person. To reserve a place for dinner, please use the Eventbrite book site.

The Classics Society has taken booth 336. Please stop by. Additionally, a Board meeting – open to members – will take place Friday morning at 8am in room 25.

Three Society members will be sharing their knowledge and would surely welcome your attendance at their talks.

> Friday Noon room 25 – David D’Alessandris will present “Illustrated Transcontinental Mail Directional Envelopes”
> Saturday 11am room 25 – James W. Milgram will present “Express Mail of 1836-1839”
> Saturday 3pm room 25 – Daniel Knowles will present “United States Demonetization and Transition to the 1861 Design Stamps”

November 15-16, 2024 will see the biennial Postal History Symposium take place in the APS’ Match Factory – hopefully things won’t get as hot as 451 Fahrenheit. The theme for this year’s Symposium the 150th anniversary of the UPU.

** Update 7/13/24. The Symposium now has a webpage at the APS. It can be found https://stamps.org/postal-history-symposium.

Hotel information is now also available. To reserve a room, go here

The symposium is being sponsored by the National Postal Museum, the American Philatelic Research Library, the Collectors Club of Chicago and the United States Philatelic Society.

The USPCS will sponsor several of the talks and manage both the bourse and the exhibits. The APS is providing space for the symposium and organizing accommodation options. But while these details are still being worked out, the event dates are fixed. Please hold the date!