T1201s

Great Americans

Bret Harte - Short Story Writer and Poet

Fred Collins Signature

Collins Cover Announcement 

BRET HARTE

(Five Dollar High Value)

Famous American Series

The infrequency with which the Postal Service issues $5 stamps has made them the king of First Day Cover collectibles. If you look at catalog values of FDCs (regardless of cachet), it is the $5 items that most often lead the pack.. The obvious reason is simple mathematics. The cost per cover effectively regulates the over-all number produced -- always much, much less than regular amount issues. And, since $5 FDCs will always be so much in demand, a COLLINS $5 cover certainly will be no exception. As with the $1 (Revel) and $2 (Bryan), this is the very first time that a $5 stamp has been used by itself in my entire ten year history.

Bret Harte was a gifted American writer, and western theme short stories were a special talent of his. In fact, the "Outcasts of Poker Flats" (read when I was a junior in high school) was sort of the inspiration for my cachet and unofficial cancel.

Since Poker Flats does not exist, I decided to find another "Flats" for my cancel. Something with a western mountain flavor. Something with a High Sierra flavor. Something with a flavor that collectors would take to. And, I believe I found what I was looking for in "Grizzly Flats". Great name!

The hand-painted cachet is right out of Harte's West. Three drifters are riding into town -- past Wells Fargo, the Sheriff's office and the Grizzly Flats Saloon. They are an ominous trio and look to be up to no good. One can even surmise that one of the horsemen might be the notorious Black Bart. Townsfolk watch warily and are obviously concerned.

The western town setting makes a great hand-painted cachet.

The swinging doors of the saloon. The watering trough. The planked wooden sidewalks. The dusty street. Even in the distance, the undertaker's place -- last stop before boot hill.

The unofficial cancel on this $5 was indeed difficult to find even for a modern day traveler. It is nestled high in the California Sierra's -- a small one man post office servicing a sparse population. It was established in 1852 in response to the Gold Rush, and, in the 1890's Grizzly Flats was at its height with both mining and logging going full tilt. Now, it has reverted to a mountain rendezvous on the edge of both civilization and unspoiled wilderness.

Two additional interesting points about the unofficial on this COLLINS cover. The post office is so remote and off the beaten track that a long time real estate man thirty miles away (when asked directions) did not know of its existence and, an old-timer from tiny Indian Wells (two room regional school) about 14 miles away had to think awhile and then responded "Yup, I was there once about ten years ago". The Post Office in Grizzly is the only commercial building in town (there is a ranger station) and the Bishop family has served as Postmasters for as long as anyone can remember.

So, if you add this cover to your collection, every time you look at it you will know that the real First Day cancel is from a real California frontier town founded in the pioneer days of the Gold Rush and remains today a place where Bret Harte would probably like to "set a spell" and breathe the clean mountain air and feel the soft breeze from the tall Sierra pines. Item #S1201 - $15.00

Winter 2021 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 23 T1201 — Bret Harte $5.00 High-Value Stamp 

This trip evokes fond memories as Linda and our youngest daughter Christina joined me on a first day adventure. We picked up the stamps at the official town of Twain Harte, California and then set off to find the post office at Grizzly Flats in the Sierra Mountains. Based on the short story The Outcasts of Poker Flats, I searched for a location with "Flats" in its name, and Grizzly is what I found. Not bad for the "Golden Bear" State. Our search for this secluded post office was difficult and our later exit from the remote area via an old, long unused logging road was a bit unnerving. But what a postmark it turned out to be! If you have my book, go back and read this story. My hand painted cachet shows three hombres riding into town past the sheriffs office, Wells Fargo, and the Grizzly Flats Saloon. This Collins was an immediate sell-out in 1987, so if your collection is missing it, do consider an offer. An important part of the Collins story and a fantastic first day cover.