O1001

International Youth Year

YMCA, Boy Scouts, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Camp Fire

Collins Cover Announcement 

YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS

I opted for the unusual in the design of this cachet, and I think you'll agree that the effect is "different". Most outdoor youth organizations can relate to that great childhood experience -- the campfire. My hand-painted cachet is designed in the blackness of a star-lit night with a roaring, blazing campfire with bright orange and yellow flames leaping into the air.

Red hot embers can be seen glowing, and the warm reflections can be seen on the logs, rocks and ground. But most of all, the reflections are seen on the faces of the young campers. Night shadows and evening color tones are combined with the reflections to contrast to the bright colors of the fire. It is a different and unusual cachet.

The evening of October 6th found me in Chicago. The next morning I was among the first to obtain the new stamps at the main Post Office. After Chicago, it was back to the airport and a flight to Indianapolis. There I rented a car and headed north to the rural community of Young America. What a wonderful First Day cancel for this issue -- and, of course, it will show that these covers were among those that actually were serviced on the actual Day of Issue.

To the left of the cachet are two stamps -- Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Boy Scouts -- and they are canceled with the official Chicago bullseye. To the right of the cachet are the two other stamps -- YMCA and Campfire -- and they are canceled with the unofficial Young America postmark. This is a fine FDC -- Item #O1001. $8.50.

Spring 2021 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 11 O1001 — Zip Plus Four — 10/22/85

This is a somewhat amusing cachet as a horse-drawn mail wagon has come to a fork in the road. The driver ponders which road to take as the horse looks back patiently waiting for rein directions. Implementing ZIP codes helped to avoid delivering confusion such as this. A nice Collins