W201s

Helen Keller

Disability Rights Advocate

Fred Collins Signature

Collins Cover Announcement 

HELEN KELLER/ANNE SULLIVAN 

The flight to Tuscumbia was rather uneventful. In Atlanta I changed to a smaller airline, and after stopping at Huntsville, only a few passengers remained to go on to Tuscumbia. At the small airport, a crovd of a couple of hundred was gathered for the flight's arrival including dignitaries with flowers. To my complete surprise, I learned that Patty Duke Astin (who played both roles in two different movies and was to be featured guest at First Day ceremony) was on my flight. Always the unexpected.

When checking out of my motel the next morning, I ran into Henry Raposa and John Burke from the Washington based First Day Cover Unit. We're pretty good friends by now, and we had a good chat.

The Post Office was pretty busy, and soon I was on my way, via Atlanta, to Dallas, Texas. At Dallas I took a taxi to Keller, Texas for a perfect unofficial cancel. It was during the infamous heat wave, and the temp. was 1110 - the 18th consecutive day over 100.

The hand painted cachet, done mostly in soft pastels, shows teacher and student. The end result is a very attractive cover.

Item #W201 - Tuscumbia, Alabama "First Day of Issue" hand cancel on single. Unofficial Keller, Texas hand cancel on additional single. $4.95