In a matter of days, we will finalize our program for next year, calendar 2023. Hopefully, by the time you read this, the full program will be listed on our website. Did you know that you can register for a program now, even for a program scheduled months away? If your plans change, that’s no problem, and more likely, when the automated reminders come, there may be a pleasant surprise, a pleasant reminder.

Contrary to any suspicions, our annual program is not assembled in the middle of the night with a Ouija board at hand. Rather much work goes on in the background. We have a great program committee comprised of Steve Reinhard, Wade Saadi, Kathy Johnson, Kimberlee Fuller, and Behruz Nassre. This is a superlative group that has not only worked hard to craft an exciting season of programs, but they worked together seamlessly.

We seek to construct a balanced calendar. We are balanced between US and non-US presenters, a good mix of topics that span between and amongst traditional stamp-focused presentations, postal history, and topicals and thematics. We also want to ensure we insert presentations from specialist societies and national postal museums. We want a varied and diverse set of programs and presenters. Ultimately, the test and whether we succeed is your response. There are two ways we can judge whether we are pointed in the right direction. One is from the number of registrants we have for these programs, and the other is your feedback. You should “know” that the “numbers” are holding up very nicely, and we consistently attract many people. Yes, this is down from where they had been at the pandemic’s peak when everyone was locked up. We believe ours is the largest live philatelic audience. Consistently. Now, in terms of feedback, we get emails and comments from folks after every program, but I would encourage you to let us know what you might like to see. Maybe you could even volunteer yourself or someone else. One of the obvious delights of the virtual Zoom environment is that there is no cost of travel or lodging as there would be for a visit to New York.

We were very disappointed that we had to cancel our annual single-frame competition. This has proven to be one of the most popular events we hold, but with everything going on with the old clubhouse, it was impossible. We very much want to find a way to hold this event in 2023.

Turning to New York, we are fully moved out of our old clubhouse at 22 East 35th Street, and most of our “stuff” is safely in storage. Our office is fully operational and running at our temporary offices at 11 West 42nd Street. We do have facilities to host local meetings of New York chapters of large national groups; the first amongst these will be the New York chapter of the American Revenue Association. We expect that as the pandemic continues to recede, in-person meetings will start to resume. We hope this will be slow at first, but there is a natural need, tendency, and desire for the social element of our hobby. But, doubtless, it will take a while.

We continue to plow forward on the process of moving into our next home. We are exchanging draft lease contracts with a landlord and hope this will be rapidly concluded. Once we have a signed lease, we will proceed to a build-out of the space to suit our needs. Much of New York real estate in midtown is focused on offices and the like. We are a meeting place, a library, and much more, such as a classroom-like setting. Nothing would ever be “move-in” for us. The design will need to be custom. We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding. This has proven to be a massive operation that has been subjected to the complexities of governmental oversight and multiple parties we have had to contract with. We are committed to doing this right and are very excited about the opportunity to bring all of this to completion.

Lastly, before this message concludes, I wish you a wonderful holiday and a safe, healthy, and philatelically rewarding new year. Please also make sure you join us for the last program of 2022, a holiday triple header with short programs on Christmas, Hanukah, and Kwanza-related philately. I cannot wait.

 

–Lawrence Haber

As stamp collectors, philatelists, many of us manage several collections—all seemingly simultaneously. I have always been in awe of those able to keep multiple things straight. My mind is much too cluttered to permit this particular form of mental gymnastics. It is easier for me to keep things simple and focus on just one collection at a time. Although I have several collections, I focus best on one at a time. Consequently, I frequently forget what I have lurking in the albums lining the wall in my stamp room.

The other day, I pulled out a couple of albums that hadn’t seen the light of day for a few years. I wanted to show some of my “stuff” to friends. As I turned the pages, I experienced a sense of wonder. As it was turned, each page showed new surprises and delights. Is wonderment the word? It was fun recovering my memory and enjoying this wonderful hobby.

We had the same experience of rediscovery as we packed up the Clubhouse for the movers. It is one thing to be aware of our material and books. It is an altogether different experience to handle the material personally. To hold the books in your hands. Sure, you knew we had the items in the library at the Clubhouse, but encountering them anew is a special feeling.

There are wondrous items in our Clubhouse. Old albums and catalogs from before the turn of the 20th century. Photographs of Club dinners from the 1910s. A Confederate adversity letter written on repurposed wallpaper. A treasure trove of John Luff’s philatelic medals. The gold medallion signifying Alfred Lichtenstein’s selection as the leading philatelist of the first half of the 20th century. Wow! Plus, we had a lot of philatelic material, i.e., stamps, stored in the Clubhouse vault—some exceptional collections donated by members years ago.

Amongst all this, we came across something extraordinary. We found a portfolio containing a group of hand-drawn images of architectural details, mostly lighting fixtures. The firm that produced them, “Cassidy Company, 101 Park Avenue, New York City,” was stamped in the upper left-hand corner of each page. One of the images we found was a lighting fixture in the form of a globe. This may have been an early drawing of the lighting fixture that hung in the center of the 2nd floor of 22 East 35th, between the front lounge and the presentation room. This globe forms the basis of our Club’s logo today. The drawing is exquisite and has multiple colors and fanciful images drawn into it. Not having been around at the time, we surmise that this was an early sketch that eventually led to the final design. This sketch is to be treasured and preserved. We hope to display this in our new Clubhouse and not have it just squirreled away in a vault.

Why do I bring all of this up? What does it have to do with anything?

We recognize the mixed emotions many of you have regarding this move. Many of our members have great affection for the stairs, the columns, and the very fabric of the building. There are memories of conversations with many greats of our hobby. So, there is a natural fear that with our leaving the building, we will lose sight and contact with our past.

This is not going to happen.

Let’s take, as an example, the Luff medals. They were in a display table in the 2nd-floor lounge. A lamp rested on top of the glass. We needed a locksmith to open the display table. There was no “write-up” for the medals. I don’t think people “knew” they were there. I doubt any attention was paid to them. At least for a long time. Unfortunately, the medals have deteriorated. We will need to have them conserved. We will do this. But, more importantly, they will be displayed appropriately. These things matter.

There were some real treasures in our vault. But no one saw them. They were locked away. Because of our move, we recognize these items anew and will make them accessible. Could we all agree to make precious philatelic material available for viewing or returned to the philatelic market? Sitting in a vault, unseen, does no one any good.

Our Library was split into four separate rooms. In our new home, it will be united into a single space. It’s that the way it ought to be? I was speaking with a member the other day, and it became clear that this division of the Library was not helpful. I asked him to imagine the entire Library on the same floor. The word is accessible. Our truly amazing collection of journals will no longer be figuratively buried in the basement, and our rare books in a rarely visited 3rd-floor room. And we now have control over our auction catalogs. Plus, they are now being properly stored.

We all collect stamps and covers. By nature, we seek to preserve and retain. We have been doing this at the Club and will continue to do this. But we will make these gems available and visible.

We have started to discuss details with our architect, and our new home will be an extraordinary place. Promise. What will make it even better will be your plan to see the Clubhouse in our new space? Stay tuned. Good things are worth the wait.

 

–Lawrence Haber

We are coming back, aren’t we? Familiar pre-pandemic in-person meetings and shows are returning. Of course, there is a certain degree of trepidation, but it is beginning to look safe or, at least safer, to come out and say this out loud. In the US, the regular routine of stamp shows are now back at their usual time slots. Back in late July 2021 we were at Westpex, and this year it was good seeing Westpex return to its usual time in April 2022. Similarly, Napex was, where it belongs, in early June. And, after several years of cancelations, Nojex is on the schedule for October. Internationally, London 2020 turned into London 2022, and a very successful show it was. I recently returned from Lugano Switzerland, attending the Helvetia 2022 World Stamp Expo, and the reports from Toronto speak to great success for the first-ever single-frame-only international, at CAPEX, Canada’s international show held once every ten years.

Closer to home, we held our first post-pandemic in-house program in April and this was quickly followed by our second in May. These programs were in-person from 22 East 35th and simultaneously live-streamed via Zoom, providing a chance for all members to enjoy the benefits of our fine talks and club comradery. It was wonderful being back in the Clubhouse and we are grateful for those who presented, Steve McGill and AJ Valente. Importantly, we are grateful to those in the room and watching live on Zoom.

It is highly probable that these may have been the very last live programs from 22 East 35th. We are in contract to sell the building and although there are a few contingencies, we do not expect any issues. We will, in short order, start the actual relocation. It is an inevitability given the challenges of selling a building, negotiating and signing a long-term lease, and fitting out new premises, we will not have a fixed abode for a short period of time. You may recall that in 2000, during extensive renovation, the Club needed to vacate, and similarly, when the Royal transitioned from Devonshire Place to Abchurch, they were without their usual home for an extended period.

As to our new home, we are targeting a wonderful site on West 40th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues, and are in lease negotiations now as this is being written. We hope to conclude these quickly so we can continue to proceed. We will keep members updated as we make further progress.

One of the best experiences many of us have had with the post-pandemic return to business was the Lichtenstein Awards dinner held on May 8th at the Harvard Club in New York. There were more than 80 members and guests in attendance. The reports that reached my ears were all positive and it was a true delight to finally be able to honor our four recipients: John Barwis (2020), Patrick Maselis (2021), Mark Banchik (2021), and Chris Harman (2022). This celebration was all very much overdue and each honoree was able to attend. We enjoyed the pleasure of watching them accept their medals.

The dinner also was an opportunity to honor our other award winners. These are mentioned either at our annual meeting or at a Club show, but it was a great chance to mark their accomplishments without “distractions”. These other award winners included the Robert P. Odenweller Award for Best Article in Collectors Club Philatelist winners James P. Mazepa (2019), Lin Yangchen (2020), and David Zemem (2021). You are invited to read their wonderful articles in your Collectors Club Philatelist issues.

We also marked the winners of our Best Meeting Presentation: Nicholas Kirke (2019), Daniel Piazza (2020), and Patricia Kaufmann (2021). We have an extraordinary video archive and I’ll take this opportunity to mention that you catch each of these superlative presentations from our website presentation archives.

The Annual One-frame competition is a feature of our calendar and our winners were Barry Schwartz (2019) and Vernon Morris (2020). Our reserve grand winners were Michael Beck (2019) and Steven Walske (2020). We also made note of the winners of the Friendship Cup, which was given by Alan Holyoake in recognition of the friendship between collectors in the US and Great Britain: Scott Trepel (2019) and Roger Brody (2020).
We rounded out our awards with the President’s Medal for Outstanding Service to the Collectors Club to Joan Harmer (2020) and Irene Bromberg (posthumous) (2022).

Beyond being a splendid evening, it was a very special opportunity to mark a return to something much closer to philatelic normalcy. A night we all enjoyed!

Speaking of dinners, we will be holding a tripartite dinner with our close friends, the Royal Philatelic Society of London, and the Boston 2026 Organization Committee. The dinner is set for Wednesday, August 24th evening prior to the official beginning of the Great American Stamp Show in Sacramento California. We start at 7 pm, immediately following the APS’s Tiffany event. We invite you to reserve a spot; we would love to see our members joined together for an evening dinner. If you cannot find an email invitation, please call or email the office. During the show, we will be sharing a table with our friends at the Philatelic Foundation. We look forward to greeting you in Sacramento.

Here is something to ponder: A great friend of our Club offered us a manuscript on an unusual colonial topic. The work is a very interesting exploration and is the result of a tremendous amount of original research. In manuscript form, it runs somewhere in excess of 15 thousand words. Dropping only the text into my version of InDesign, this translated into some 44 pages, before images. We could easily see this running 60 to 75 pages. That would be a bit more than what could be typically handled by our, or any other philatelic journal. But, it falls into a size range that is less than what the typical book runs.

We are all familiar with the massive philatelic tome that lands on the desk with a thud and might weigh in at 4 or 5 or even 10 pounds. Works this size are difficult projects. They are expensive to edit and produce. And, very time-consuming.

We suspect there are many projects that do not require 800 pages split into 2 volumes. Important work needs to be published. Important research or insight will vanish into mist if not published and there is a gap between the large magisterial opus and the much briefer journal article, even broken into 2 or 3 parts.

We believe there is a need that is not yet being addressed. A work, such as the one we were presented with is much easier to bring to the press and not nearly as daunting a project. Much less expensive to edit, produce and acquire. We hope to explore this further. What suggestions do you have?

 

–Lawrence Haber

In the last issue of this journal, due to timing constraints, we inserted only a brief mention on the passing of our executive secretary, Irene Bromberg. There wasn’t much time to think and ponder. Now it is different. It is so hard to write about this, about our loss and the emptiness we feel without descending into cliches and pre-packaged sentiments. The usual cliches don’t do Irene proper justice.

Irene served this Club for 20 years. She was a right arm to the last two decades of my predecessors and we are all diminished by her loss. I go into the Club now and I think I can see her out of the corner of my eye, or I think I can hear her laugh, but I am mistaken. The Clubhouse feels empty and is very quiet. It does serve to bring home the tragedy of this horrible pandemic. None of us can now say we were not touched. One of ours was taken from us. Too early and all too cruelly.

Let us now take a short pause before moving on to some business.

Real estate matters are proceeding. We signed a contract to sell the 22 East 35th Street Clubhouse. We are exchanging contracts on the sale of the air rights associated with the building. We have toured two possible new locations with our architects and they are working on conceptual drawings of floor plans.

But there is more than real estate that is on this issue’s agenda for my update. The topic now turns to this journal, the Collectors Club Philatelist. This journal is so important to us and to the hobby. In an effort to make the journal more reflective of this Club, we are introducing some structural changes that you may notice as the months pass.

To better assist our editor in obtaining quality articles, we have appointed a publication committee comprised of James Grimwood-Taylor, RDP, John Barwis, RDP, Daniel Knowles, MD, Robert Cray, Matthew Healey. Their role is to serve as a resource for the editor and potential writers. You may have noticed their appearance in the masthead of the last issue of this journal.

When I encounter potential authors for this journal, I am occasionally asked what type of article we look to publish. Frequently, the question is a variation on “why should I publish this in the CCP when it might better go to the XYZ Specialist Society Journal?” Briefly summarized: articles appearing here need not be tightly focused on “pure” postal history or the technical aspects of stamps but may be broadly based by injecting social, historical, or environmental material that would make a philatelic article more interesting. We are a generalist society and our membership spans the complete range of philatelic interests. You may wish to reach a broader audience, especially philatelic judges, if you exhibit. It is important that our articles engage more than just specialists.

We have also selected some section heads who will focus on sourcing articles that address specific areas of interest. These include Dan Knowles for Exhibiting. We would be seeking articles by exhibitors on the story behind their exhibit, such as how it emerged, how it subsequently evolved, and the challenges faced during its creation. We hope to include on a regular basis, articles by exhibitors on their personal stories and the issues they grappled with in mounting their material in the frames.

Matthew Healey will be providing insights on the auction scene and hopefully providing us all with a perspective that will not only be new but may improve of understanding of what is going on. And, Bob Gray will be heading a reinvigorated book review section. This only makes sense since he is the head of our library committee. There are additional section heads, and these will be shared with you as they step forward.

By the time you read this, our first program from the Clubhouse will be behind us and our Lichtenstein Awards Celebration would have taken place. We can now look forward to a dinner at the Great American Stamp Show, in Sacramento. It will be held on Wednesday, August 24th at 7pm immediately following the Tiffany reception. We are especially delighted to be holding this dinner in coordination with Boston 2026 and the Royal. You will doubtless be seeing publicity of this event and we urge you to attend. It will be a superlative event, and a perfect place and time to catch up with old and and new friends. Many people still remark about the dinner we held in Rosement, in August 2021, as part of GASS 2022. The gathering in Sacramento is certain to be a very special evening.

We hope to see you there.

 

–Lawrence Haber

My letter in this issue of the Collectors Club Philatelist may seem a touch disjointed, but there has been a great amount of activity going on related to the management of the Club. I would to drop back a bit and provide you with some insights. Better disjointed than not keeping the membership in some important loops.
 
Real Estate

As matters stand at this moment, we have a prospective buyer for 22 East 35th Street. The buyer, being a sovereign entity, sees the proximity to UN Plaza as an advantage. After a few back-and-forth exchanges, the matter was brought to the Board of Governors and they authorized the sale of the building. This is a vital first step as we proceed towards moving the Club to its new home. We hope to have a signed contract in a matter of days.
 
You’ll recall our discussion of air rights, otherwise known as unused developmental rights? We (finally) received a credible offer from our next-door neighbor, the Community Church, and we are actively negotiating price and terms.
 
In the midst of all this sales activity, we have been busy looking for our new home.

We have undertaken a great deal of work with an architect and other professionals to evaluate our space and fit out needs. As anticipated, there is no lack of appropriate space in midtown Manhattan. We have an excellent handle on our requirements for a new home. This has been derived from both an analysis of our current space utilization and our vision for the future. At the most basic level, we need around 4,500 square feet. But, in New York you do not lease “usable” space you lease “rentable” space. Rentable space is marked up by around 27% above that which you actually use. Fortunately, we are very well advised. We are absolutely committed to staying within the area marked by Penn Station in the south, Grand Central Terminal to the north, between Lexington and 7th Avenues. There are a number of potentials, some of which we have toured several times, and we remain convinced that we can do very well. As many of you might imagine, today is a good time to discuss commercial real estate leases in Manhattan. Promises have been made that we can transition ourselves to a wonderful new location. There is no reason to back off from that commitment.
 

Dates

We all want to come back to the clubhouse. We are sick and tired of canceling and putting off Club events. Yes, everyone seems to agree we have done well with the virtual events, but there is also a time and a need for us to meet and talk in real space. And, of course, we are going to be prudent and in full compliance with the rules in New York.
 
With all that in mind, I would like to point out some upcoming events that we think you should not miss:

April 13: Our first program in the Club since March 2020. Steve McGill on British Postal Automation. Yes, this program will be live-streamed but we want to see you in the Clubhouse.
 
May 4th: The Lichtenstein Awards dinner, at the Harvard Club. We will be honoring John Barwis (2019), Patrick Maselis, Mark Banchik (2020), and Chris Harmon (2021). Invitations will go out six weeks in advance, but I urge you to attend this event and mark your calendars now.
 
August 24: Our joint dinner with Boston 2026 at the Great American Stamp Show in Sacramento. This will take place on the Wednesday prior to the opening of the show. Our dinner at GASS 2021 in Rosemount, Ill was a huge success and you will not want to miss this.
 
November 9: Our single-frame exhibit competition. This will be the last time our SFE competition will be held at 22 East 35th. Let us make this a competition never to be forgotten. That would be the best way to honor our Clubhouse’s traditions. If you do not have a single framer, then now is the time to start. It is my hope that we will have to go on bended knee to our friends at NOJEX to borrow some extra frames.
 

Stanley Piller

I think I read an obituary for Stanley Piller in almost every philatelic journal I get, including our own Collectors Club Philatelist. There is not much I can add to his life story.
 
Despite all the tributes and kind words, the reality still remains: I miss Stanley.
 
I was at the Sarasota show and there was an emptiness. Don’t get me wrong, the people in Sarasota did a wonderful job, as they always do, with the show, but I still missed Stanley. No show will be the same for me without the chance to come to his booth, sit and talk. He’d ask if I would like to take a look and out come the bundles bound in heavy rubber bands. For those shows I did not attend, I could expect a call from Stanley telling me about something he found. He would race ahead with his description with such a New York minute pace that I could barely keep up with him. Most times, I just blindly said “yes”. I figured he had a gold Rolex to feed and who am I to say “no”?
 
The other day, I finally got to unpack the case that I used to carry my exhibit to Chicagopex. Inside was a small bag with the covers I bought at that show, back in November. I had forgotten about them. Inside were a few covers I bought from Stanley and one in particular caught my eye. [image] You will note $400 for a US Scott 357, a US 1¢ Washington-Franklin blue paper on cover. For the life of me, I don’t know why I bought it. We all agree it’s a ridiculous price. That’s Stanley. Gold Rolexes don’t come cheap and neither do Stanley’s covers. But, I’m not unhappy.
 
Back at Sarasota, I was looking at my exhibit and I remembered that I bought this item from Stanley, and I bought that item from Stanley. Som many good pieces came from Stanley. I know that though I miss Stanley there is a little bit of him up in the frames and in my albums and it reminds me of why I loved him.
 
Rest in peace, my friend.

 

–Lawrence Haber