L901

Great Americans

Grenville Clark Lawyer

Collins CoverAnnouncement 

GRENVILLE CLARK

(39-cent Famous American)

This cover was completed in my same extensive trip that saw me do the Duck Decoys and Iceboat FDCs. It was an interesting First Day as the stamp was issued in Hanover, New Hampshire, home of Dartmouth College. After picking up the stamps, I headed west through Vermont. Sporadic coverings of snow still lay in patch-work patterns at the higher elevations. Upon reaching the shores of mighty Lake Champlain at Burlington, the covers became water-bourne as we crossed the frigid lake via ferry. (Your COLLINS covers often are created with the help of planes and cars -- boats as a transportation mode are a little more unusual.) My destination was the New York State city of Plattsburgh. Here I obtained my nicely related unofficial First Day cancel as Mr. Grenville Clark was a co-founder of the Plattsburg Plan and the Selective Service Act of 1940.

My hand-painted cachet relates to Selective Service as a young soldier is boarding a train and his gaze meets that of the girl who has come to bid farewell. The conductor, having just consulted his pocket watch, signals for the train to depart. I believe that this cover will be well thought of when compared to any other FDCs done for this rather unexciting issue. The stamp is an unusual denomination of thirty-nine cents; it is a part of the well received Famous American series; it has a good unofficial of Plattsburgh, New York; and, the large cachet is hand painted. Not to be forgotten, each was uniquely serviced on First Day by me via Lake Champlain ferry. Item #L901. $7.50