U605

Olympic Games

Soccer

Collins Cover Announcement 

28 SUMMER OLYMPICS

This block of four airmail stamps once again enabled me to do a set of five Olympic First Day covers. The stamps and hand-painted cachets are very bright and very attractive, the sports represented are soccer, women's basketball, track and field (hurdling) and women's gymnastics. I suspect that these covers will go quickly so do let me know if you want them.

This was one of my more interesting trips. Beforehand when I was planning for my unofficial, I located on the map a small town considerably south of San Antonio. What could he more perfect than Los Angeles? As is my usual policy, I got a listing for the post Office and called to check closing time and was told 4:00 p.m. The wheels were in motion. I flew into San Antonio the night before. On the First Day, I drove out past the Alamo to the Post Office. It was a new, large facility on the outskirts of the city. There, with some local helpers, I worked on affixing the stamps and acquiring the First Day hand cancels. By late morning I was on the belt-way and heading south. After picking up interstate 35 it was due south to Cotulla where I turned east toward Los Angeles. When I arrived there, the biggest shock of my FDC career awaited me. The "town" consisted of a cross-roads, tiny weather-beaten bar and a few like-wise appearing residences. It was a forlorn place: After locating (no easy task) a very elderly couple, I learned that the post office had closed about a year earlier and that what little mail there was now was being handled by the next town, Fowlerton. With the clock still ticking, off I went. When I got to Fowlerton, I got another jolt, but this time a positive one. There was exactly one building making up the town - as frontier a looking outpost as you ever hope to see - but fortunately it was the post office. I learned that it mainly serves a few ranches that are not visable from the road. I also learned that the local water is good only for livestock and that water for human consumption is trucked in - I guess that explains (along with the harsh terrain) why the population is so sparse. I later learned that a little farther east was a little trailer type convenience store, so in fact the P.O. was not the only building in town - there are two.

And, so, there you have the Texan tale as to why these covers have the Fowlerton unofficial - because that small Americana post office serves the small semi-ghost town of Los Angeles. Oh, yes - what about my original phone call? As near as I can determine, my call was directed to Cotulla and they gave me the closing time for their facility.

The hand-painted cachets are by themselves reason enough to collect this set, but the now spun yarn about how my trail ride to Los Angeles ended up in Fowlerton is a background story that adds that ever present personal touch to COLLINS FDCs. A tale of back country ranches, sagebrush, and Olympic covers in the Lone Star State. Item #U601 - Price $6.25. Item #U602 (4 FDCs) - Price $23.00 These are five different cachets. On the U602 set each cover has two of the stamps pertaining to the sport in the cachet. The U601 has all four different stamps, a pair canceled at San Antonio and the opposite pair canceled at Fowlerton.