The following pictures, published here for the first time, were taken by Robert R. Hegland (Life Member) in the summer of 1959 during his three day weekend visit with Dr. Carroll Chase at his home in Milford, New Hampshire. Dr. Chase called his good friend Lester Downing to drive up from Boston on Saturday for a visit to meet a new, young 3 Cent collector. Dr. Chase asked Lester to bring a couple of his albums to show his visitor.
As Robert recollects, “He had a small grey house. His desk, which was next to the walk-in safe, was up against a window that was a long as his large desk, evidently so he could have sunlight for his color work. The house was on a hill with no other structures in sight and faced out on a forest that started probably a block away. He plated some stamps for me and talked about the different characteristics of the plates. The visit was certainly one of the highlights of my philatelic life.
Figure 1. A clipping of an ad by Carroll Chase for plating the United States 3¢ 1851 stamp. He charged a modest fee of 25¢ for any single Type I (pairs, strips, blocks) and Type II imprint copies. He also would fill want lists (Source: Robert R. Hegland).
 Dr. Chase exiting his walk-in safe adjacent to his stamp room. For those with eagle-eyes, you will also notice that Dr. Chase stored his wine collection in the safe as well. |
 Dr. Chase sitting in front of his desk petting his trusted poodle. |
 Dr. Chase sitting in front of his storage cabinets with his poodle sitting at attention. |
 Dr. Chase reclining in his easy chair with his poodle on his lap. Note the picture frame above his head on the wall depicting the “Stanley B. Ashbrook Cup” he was awarded by the Society in 1957 as its first recipient. |
 Dr. Chase sitting at his desk, where did most of his plating and colorizing, taking advantage of the natural light entering from the window above. |
 Dr. Chase and Lester Downing thumbing through one of the albums Lester brought with him from Boston. |
Lester Downing was the Editor of The Chairman’s Chatter from Issue #7 (6 May 1950) until Issue #56 (26 Jan 1967), when Leon Forcheimer became the Editor for Issue #57 (10 May 1967).
Introduction to Plating the 1851-57 3¢ by Dr. Charles DiComo.
The Chase Plate Errors Dr. Carroll Chases Plating updated.
