C1303

Locomotives

Best Friend of Charleston, 1830

Collins Cover Announcement 

Early Railroad Engines

JOHN BULL 

and

BEST FRIEND OF CHARLESTON

It was in an era that steam engines were given names and it was from these names that the cachet concepts for these two covers were formulated.

First let me tell you about the JOHN BULL. The name is very appealing. Short. Strong. Powerful. And that is how I proceeded. The name John Bull is in the largest and boldest text that I have ever used on a First Day Cover in my ten years. It flat jumps out at you. And the cancel -- another dandy to be sure. After getting the stamps in Baltimore, I took this engine to rural New York State and the country Post Office at Bullville. If you acquire this Railroad cover, you will own one of the few John Bull FDCs with Bullville First Day cancellation since COLLINS was the only cachetmaker to acquire it.

And, the cachet itself is a different and absorbing scene. It is dark and misty and the powerful spotlight mounted on the front of the engine casts its beam of penetrating light thru the gloomy night.

From the high stack, glowing with the faint glare from rising embers, smoke trails backward mingled with the misty elements. The engineer stands behind the boiler which reflects light backward illuminating him and the surrounding area. A small brass bell fastened to the wooden covering of the engine clangs in the dark night. What "makes" this cachet is the way the engine and accompanying cars, traveling through a dismal night, pick up the light from spotlight, embers and boiler and how this light is used to accentuate the wood and metal.

When you add in the powerful text and Bullville cancel you have a most unusual and attractive cover.

From the middle of a black night we switch to the middle of a bright sunny day as the "Best Friend of Charleston" rolls through the Carolina countryside. Three southern belles, dressed in soft pastels, watch as the engine passes by. One of the girls stands with her beau and another is being distracted by a playful but annoying puppy. In the distance beyond a grassy knoll, the peaceful city of Charleston can be seen. A two man crew operates the engine that is pulling a full passenger car and a nearly empty baggage car. Again, the watercolors bring to life this sunny scene from the 1800's when the passing of an engine by white picket fences, tall shade trees and dusty lanes was an "event" that drew curious spectators. The Charleston stamp has the Official First Day cancel from Baltimore, Maryland.

These two covers and the two yet to come (Gowan & Marx and Stourbridge Lion) in the C1302 set of four are beautiful items, and I hope you'll obtain them for your collection. $7.50 each.