News and Events...

Next Meeting - 
Jun. 19,
 Wings—Chinese Air Mails by Brian Asquith

Click to view details.

Now available: William H. Gross Collection, United States Classics 1847-1869 published jointly by William Gross and The Collectors Club

Welcome

President's Message  |  125th Anniversary of Der Berliner Philatelisten-Klub

The Collectors Club is a group of more than 750 people who have come together to further the study of philately, promote the hobby and provide a social, educational, and non-commercial setting for the enthusiastic enjoyment of our common passion.

The Clubhouse

Founded in 1896, the Club counted among its members the leading—even legendary—names in philately. Today's membership is no exception and includes some of the hobby's best-known collectors, exhibitors, and authors. The vast majority of our group, however, are "regular" collectors who have one thing in common—a thirst to share their enjoyment of the hobby and a desire to learn more about collecting among others who take philately seriously.

Our physical "heart" is the Club's landmark five-story brownstone, designed by famed architect Stanford White, located at 35th Street and Madison Avenue in New York City. A $1 million renovation was completed in 2001 to ensure that the Clubhouse will meet our needs now and well into the future. While the majority of our members are from the tri-state area, others come from throughout the US and many foreign countries.

Back to top

President's Message
June 2013

Ed Grabowski, President
Ed Grabowski
President

I am pleased to note that we had a most successful Lichtenstein Dinner at Arno’s Restaurant in NYC in mid-May. This was a new venue for the dinner, and kudos to Mark Banchik for selecting it and taking care of all of the arrangements. Alan Warren, who received the 2012 Lichtenstein Medal, gave a thought provoking acceptance speech on philately and mentorship, which will be published in the Collectors Club Philatelist (CCP). We did miss a number of the regulars who were attending the show in Melbourne. Speaking of Melbourne, special congratulations go to Gordon Eubanks and Mark Schwartz whose first-time-out five-frame exhibits each received Large Gold Medals. In the most spectacular way, they now qualify for eight frames at their next international shows.

The end of May brought the NOJEX Show at which the Collectors Club was a participating society. We entered thirty-five exhibits in the show, presented two lectures (Roger Brody and K. David Steidley) and celebrated at a truly grand Club dinner on Friday evening. In addition to the regular show awards, we presented three special Collectors Club Awards: Best Classic United States Exhibit; Best Modern United States Exhibit; and Best Foreign Exhibit. Congratulations to Alfredo Frohlich who received the NOJEX Grand Award and the Collectors Club Best Foreign Exhibit Award for “United States of Columbia 1868 – 1881; to Nick Lombardi who received the NOJEX Reserve Grand Award for “United States Registered Mail 1867 – 1923”; to Larry Lyons who received the NOJEX Single Frame Grand Award for “Locals versus Carriers in Baltimore 1846 – 1861; to Mark Schwartz who received the Collectors Club Best Classic United States Award for “The Postal History of Salem, Massachusetts Domestic Mail Through Sept. 1883 (Act of 1863) – Foreign up to UPU”; and to Nick Lombardi who received the Collectors Club Best Modern United States Award for “The 1903 Two-Cent Washington Shield Issue”. A full listing of the NOJEX exhibits and awards is located on the NOJEX web site. On Friday evening we had a special Collectors Club NOJEX dinner at one of George Kramer’s favorite Italian restaurants in the show area. By all accounts this was an excellent dinner, and George is to be congratulated for his selection of the restaurant and the menu, and for his additional support in making this a most successful outing. After dinner, Dr. K. David Steidley had to formidable task of presenting a lecture on the early history of the Collectors Club to an audience that undoubtedly had much to eat and drink, and David rose to the occasion. A video of his talk and a copy of his slides on the early history of the Club are available from a link on the "Meetings Schedules and Events" page. I strongly advise all who did not hear the talk to view it, as there is some wonderful information on the Club’s history with which many are not familiar, and David has done a superb job in putting it together.

This month we were pleased to receive our allocation of Alan Holyoake’s new book entitled “The World’s First Postage Stamp”. This book details Alan’s magnificent and acclaimed collection of Britain’s first issue, and is sure to be a sell-out. It is being made available in the United States through the Collectors Club at $40 per copy, postpaid. Details will appear in the CCP and on the web site; please order your copy as soon as possible. Very special thanks to Alan, as all proceeds from the US sale of this book will go to supporting Club activities.

The Collectors Club PayPal account has been activated at payments@collectorsclub.org. You will be able to use it for all Club payments including dues, events and sales in addition to the established methods of cash, checks and credit cards. This should facilitate payments to the Club, especially those from overseas.

—Edward Grabowski

Back to top

The 125th Anniversary of Der Berliner Philatelisten-Klub

Berliner Philatelisten-Klub von 1888 eV.

Members of the Collectors Club and The Royal Philatelic Society of London joined with fellow philatelists in Berlin on the weekend of February 15-17, 2013, to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Der Berliner Philatelisten-Klub. By all accounts it was a superb celebration. We are most pleased to note that Bob Odenweller and Kees Adema were among the awardees for the Berlin Klub’s most prestigious Lindenberg Medal for their outstanding contributions to philately. A full report by Wade Saadi will appear in the next Collectors Club Philatelist. In the interim, members might enjoy looking at the photo essay ( PDF ), which illustrates many of the weekend’s highlights.

 

Back to top

 

Documents marked with the PDF image are viewable with the free Adobe® Reader®. If you do not have Adobe Reader, click on the image below to download it.

Click here to download Abobe Reader for free.