I1601

National Association of Letter Carriers

Centennial

Collins Cover Announcement 

LETTER CARRIERS

If you review your COLLINS collection of First Day Covers, you will find that I've pretty much resisted the temptation to get "cute" with my cachet content. This time, the subject matter -- the beleaguered mailman -- got the best of me, and the result is a FDC that I think will tickle the funnybone and bring a smile to whomever views this cover in your collection.

The confrontation is the classic one -- mailman versus dog, and in this case, Rover has won the day. Our hero is leaping a picket fence from one yard to the next and escape looks certain, but a pr)ce has been paid. For clutched firmly in the canine's teeth is a jagged piece of blue cloth that he has ripped away from the mailman's trousers. And, can you imagine what section of anatomy the fabric covered and is now exposed as our man in blue flees over the fence? Right!

The "entire" hand-painted cachet has other features besides the embarrassing dilemma in which the letter carrier finds himself. There is the strutting tabby cat with an ever-so-smug look on its face because arch-enemy Rover is busy elsewhere. There are the multi-colored flowers that adorn the base of the picturesque picket fence. There are the vibrant greens of lawns and trees whose sense of serenity and peacefulness have just been violated with the brief encounter between man and beast. (Man's best friend?) There is the look of harried relief on the face of the mailman at making good his escape, but the same worried expression might convey his concerns over losing his falling cap, how to recover fluttering pieces of mail from his extended topsy-turvy pouch, and most important how to cope with his new air-conditioned uniform pants. And, finally, there is that triumphant look of victory on Rover's face as he has defiantly and successfully chased an intruder from his domain and has the -iagged pipog. nf blue r,104-11 to r,rnvc, it.

A cachet like this deserves a good cancel to compliment it, and such a cancel was obtained. After acquiring the stamps in Milwaukee, it was on to Footville, Wisconsin for a wonderfully appropriate "real" unofficial First Day cancel. And for the letter carrier who walks his or her route every day, what is more appropriate than Footville?

Once again I feel that COLLINS has added to its tradition of producing outstanding FDCs. A whimsical hand-painted cachet to go along with the whimsical USPS stamp design. And, a whimsical but very appropriate unofficial First Day cancel that, in my opinion, is a dandy for honoring the person who delivers in rain, sleet or snow -- the mailman. A COLLINS you will forever enjoy. Item #11601 - $7 . 50 .