W1101s

Transportation

Bread Wagon 1880s

Fred Collins Signature

Collins Cover Announcement 

1880'S BREAD WAGON

Transportation Series

A delightful First Day Cover that has everything going for it -- a large, bright, crisp hand-painted cachet, both unofficial and official cancels, a popular on-going series (Transportation) and the "special touch" of an added mini-cachet that really makes this Bakery Cover a honey.

An ice storm made this a difficult unofficial for me to achieve and I would like to thank collector Tom Williams for his assistance. And what a great related unofficial cancel it is. The wagon on the stamp is identified as "Bakery", the issue is "Bread Wagon", so COLLINS has to have the absolute best cancel for this issue - Sugar Loaf, New York. It is a very good quality cancel, one of my best unofficials ever. An additional stamp has the official bullseye cancel.

The hand-painted cachet shows a bakery deliveryman making his rounds. His wagon is parked by the roadside with rear doors left open. Inside a wide assortment of breads and baked goods can be seen. The hand-painted colors are striking -- very bright and eye-catching -- brilliant blue, green and red of the sky, trees and wagon complimented by the realistic house colors of this 1880's neighborhood.

And, finally, a hand-painted mini-cachet is added in the form of a freshly baked loaf of warm bread. Just sliced, a wisp of steam drifts upward from the slices and winds around the upper cancel. You will truly enjoy this FDC, and it is one I highly recommend -- a quality piece. Item #W1101 - $7.50.

Winter 2021 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 22 W1101 — Bread Wagon 

This stamp was issued during the long-running Transportation Stamp Series, and I was delighted how nice this cover turned out. The upper stamp has the official city small bullseye postmark from Virginia Beach, Virginia. A second stamp at lower right has a terrific large bullseye with killer bars cancel from the aptly named Village of Sugar Loaf, New York. What a philatelically sound first day cover this Collins is! The hand painted cachet takes us back to the 1860's when products such as milk, produce, ice, baked goods, services, etc. were sold from horse-drawn wagons and push carts. And as an added cachet touch, a warm, freshly baked loaf of bread is placed between the two stamps, and the wonderful aroma swirls and wafts around to the top stamp and cancel. Check this one out on the illustration page.