In our last issue, I looked retrospectively at the year just completed. Now, we turn our attention to the future.

2024 is going to be wonderful.

I know that many of you are disappointed that we did not hold our usual Lichtenstein Awards dinner in 2023. The previous event, which honored Patrick Maselis, Mark Banchik, and John Barwis, was held at the Harvard Club. From all the reports that reached my ears, it was a splendid event, and everyone enjoyed themselves thoroughly. That was back in May 2022. At that time, we had yet to fully emerge from our Covid confinements. The opportunity to reconnect was a joy we savored.

We are pleased to confirm that we will hold a very special event on Saturday evening, May 11^th, our Gala Re-opening and Lichtenstein Awards Celebration. The evening will start with cocktails and hot d’oeuvres at our new home. Indeed, this will be a coming out party for our new premises and the first major event we will hold there. All the construction will be completed, and the dust will be gone. Following these preliminaries, we will stroll from West 40th Street over to The Chatwal, at West 44^th Street—practically next door. The Chatwal is a fabulous and recently renovated hotel in our neighborhood. There, we will complete the evening with all the formalities you would expect. I should also mention that this being New York, we operate with the so-called “New York Minute Rule,” so the speechifying will be minimal. The point is to celebrate and enjoy new beginnings and our shared passion. And to honor some very special people. It is guaranteed to be one of the most extraordinary and special evenings in the Club’s history. The formal invitations will go out around two months before the mid-May event. We know you will want to join us. Spring in New York is a very special time.

And, yes, our new home will be completed and we will move back in during the coming year. Just the other day, I was there in the midst of all the construction activity. Everything is proceeding on schedule. We expect to move in during the latter portion of March. The move will be progressive. We will not be calling up the mover and asking for all our “stuff” to be brought back in one fell swoop. That would overload us. Rather, we will progressively move back in sections. Once we are back, let’s talk a bit about what you can expect.

You can expect your Club to greet you if you are visiting from Queens, Brooklyn, Austin, San Jose, London, Paris, Sydney, or Tokyo. Access is easy, and if you can make it to the curbside, you will be able to make it throughout our facility with no impediments. In the lounge area, there will be copies of the daily New York newspapers and the major monthly general interest philatelic journals for you to peruse. Plus, coffee, tea, and cookies. Remember, we are located on West 40th Street, between 5^th Avenue and 6^th Avenue (“Avenue of the Americas”), diagonally across from the New York Public Library. We are close to both Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal. Just about every bus and subway line passes near our doorstep. We are a perfect place to visit, either for an event, for research, or to rest your feet during your visit to midtown.

One of the elements that most excites me is the Library. All on one level. All within easy reach. We are no longer prisoners to a rabbit warren of a 100-year-plus structure not designed for the purpose, but now a new purpose-built home. The Library: the books, journals, and auction catalogs will all be within your reach. On the same floor and contiguously arranged. It will be a pleasure to use, and we expect many to take advantage of a major philatelic library in the heart of New York.

Our new presentation room will be fit out with the latest technology. Once again, we will host presentations in our home. These will be “broadcast” worldwide. In other words, our home will be open to those who can visit and those who remain at home.

One of the objectives of our new space is to provide multiple opportunities to meet and exchange. This requires multiple venues. With our new home, in addition to the large presentation room, there will be a smaller seminar room that holds twelve. The Library is always a favored place to congregate, there is a long table that also holds twelve, and in the lounge, two tables that each provide four, and the conversationally oriented sofas and club chairs. But, more than furniture is required. We will be scheduling meetings, symposiums, and classes. We aim to bring our Club back to life in our new home.

Yes, the coming year will be wonderful.

 

–Lawrence Haber

This is The Collectors Club Philatelist’s sixth and final issue of the calendar year. That being the case, providing a brief overview of the Club’s year that will soon be complete might be worthwhile.

During 2023, we provided 23 Zoom programs. A total of 32 individuals presented these programs. Our topics ranged from the classic to the modern, from traditional philately to postal history to topicals. Our presenters came from both inside the US and overseas. We mostly had single-presenter programs and special programs from several specialist groups. We also heard several group discussions and presentations from the National Post Museum and the forthcoming Boston 2026 International. We are committed to growing this hobby and expanding our reach.

As we look at this journal that you are reading right now. We believe that if you line up this issue with the November/December issues from 2022 and before, you will note a decided improvement in all aspects. We hope this journal truly speaks to you. We are proud of our editor’s efforts and the Publication Committee supporting him. We want this journal to be something you read and look forward to appearing in your mailbox.

Our success is dependent on your support. Your articles make the journal what it is, and we look forward to your contributions. But, also, sometimes, the little things can make a difference. The thought occurred the other day that we send our program presenters a very nice certificate and an engraved medal. Very nice. But for our contributors to this journal, historically, we have only provided a hardy handshake, aside for the best article of the year. This individual receives the Robert P. Odenweller Award. But for the rest? Nada, as we say in New York. Well, that is changing. From henceforth, everyone who contributes a full-length article to this journal gets a certificate and a commemorative pen. We have very few illusions about people lusting for another cert and a pen, but sometimes the little things make a difference. This is meant to communicate our appreciation in a visible and tangible way.

I am writing this virtually on the eve of our single-frame exhibit competition, which was held at the National Postal Museum. We are tremendously appreciative of the efforts of the Museum and wish to thank them for their support. But, our presence at the NPM is just one of many venues at which we have been present to meet members and connect with members and those not yet members. We are striving to be present at more shows and other venues where collectors gather.

As we have previously updated you, we have made significant progress in our move. The end is within sight. Demolition was completed in early November at 58 West 40th Street, and the fit-out has begun. The target for completion is early Spring 2024. But, one of the most tangible milestones has passed. We actually had the chance to go furniture shopping. We reviewed several choices for the chairs, sofas, and tables that will be purchased for our new Clubhouse. It is one thing to view a floor plan or a rendering of our new home, but to actually touch the actual furniture is special.

Speaking of the Clubhouse, we have started planning activities in our new home. But, even though we are currently in temporary quarters, we have been holding in-person events. Surely, you have seen the emails on our Show and Tell programs. By year-end, there will have been 9 of these. Slowly, we are all learning to re-engage with other collectors in real space, all at the same time. We hope to put in an exciting program of in-person and hybrid events as we cross into 2024.

We are very excited about the year that is about to close and obviously even more excited by what lies ahead.

Just prior to the publication date of this issue, we learned of the passing of Debbie Friedman. She was a force of nature. Over 50 years of membership in The Collectors Club. A first-rate philatelist and collector. But she will doubtless be most remembered for her efforts to support beginning adult collectors and new young collectors. She approached this task with passion and thorough commitment. Elsewhere, there will be a full-length obituary, but it must be said that we are all enriched from having known her and are all at a loss with her passing.

 

–Lawrence Haber

I am writing this shortly after returning from the Great American Stamp Show in Cleveland. To my eye, the show was a tremendous success. The material in the frames was fabulous, the dealers were in good humor with wonderful material, and there were very special talks and events. (I also do not want to neglect to congratulate our long-time member and past governor, Nick Lombardi, on winning the Champion of Champions award. A true testament to persistence and so well deserved.) But the best part for me was seeing and speaking with so many of you. We hosted a dinner on Wednesday evening just before the show’s opening. Evidently, I was not alone in enjoying the renewal of personal connections. I am frequently asked why people ought to join the Collectors Club. Beyond this journal, our programming, and our library, the heart of the answer lies in the personal connections we forge, which this Club helps to sustain. Looking ahead at the calendar, we intend to be at November’s Chicagopex, the San Diego show in February, and Napex in June. We hope to see you at one of these shows. We will be sending out emails with further details.

Elsewhere in this issue, you will see that our single-frame competition will be back in early November at the National Postal Museum in Washington, DC. It has been four years since we have been able to hold this event. Both the pandemic and our move have mitigated against this event, and we are extremely pleased that the NPM has agreed to allow us to hold the event on their premise. We are very excited about this opportunity and look forward to a fabulous event.

We can not only look forward to the revival of our single frame competition in November. We are very pleased to announce that we will be holding our Lichtenstein dinner on Saturday, May 11, 2024, in midtown New York. We will formally bestow this Lichtenstein award on Trish Kaufman, Randy Neil, and Charles Verge at this dinner. Please mark your calendars and reserve the date. As we get closer, we will share all the necessary details.

You may be asking when we are moving into the new clubhouse. I am pleased to share that we have hired a general contractor and expect work to begin in early September. We are targeting February 2024 to begin the move-in process. Needless to say, we are very excited about this prospect.

Having answered one question, another series of questions start to emerge. We, the Collectors Club, and the hobby are not the same as we once were. The intervening pandemic changed us all. What was once unthinkable, holding large and effective meetings on a virtual platform, has gone from the unimaginable to the routine. When we decided to hold our first meeting on Zoom, there were many questions about the mechanics and process. What was once exceptional is now the routine.

I would suggest that there is no going back to that state of things as these were before this war we all call Covid. We have all changed. And it makes us think about the clubhouse’s role in our new world. In working through the future, I think we ought to return to the Club’s mission statement:

The Collectors Club brings members and friends together, virtually and in person, at its clubhouse in New York and around the country to educate, inspire and support them in pursuit of their philatelic goals.

Our goals and objectives include:

Provide a social venue for members and specialty societies
Organize a regular program of lectures and displays
Sustain a philatelic library and publishing program

These were and remain our objectives. The real goal is to make our clubhouse a vibrant and active place. It must be a place where things are always happening, and there is always a reason to visit.

While Zoom remains a critical part of our meeting structure, we have recently begun to sponsor small, in-person meetings to discuss and exchange thoughts and ideas. We started this in the spring, trying to explore options for meetings. You may have seen email notices regarding “Show and Tell.” You will see more of these as we move into the fall, winter, and spring seasons. These were preceded by a simple dinner at a local restaurant, with the group adjourning to our offices on West 42nd Street. To date, these have all been scheduled for the evening. I think you can expect some experimentation on starting time. We will also try doing this during the day, centered around lunchtime. Being located in Midtown Manhattan, we should try to take advantage of our location in the center of the Acela corridor. It isn’t a difficult ride from Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, and thereabouts.

We are also evaluating serving our membership and the broader philatelic community with educational programs that benefit our avid members’ needs and desires. We seek to serve the more advanced philatelists, and there is much that we can do. When we reopen in late February, our location will be on 40th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues, across from Bryant Park and the New York Public Library. We are near Penn Station, Grand Central, and numerous subway stops. There is much to flesh out, but we hope to take advance of our location, in the center of a busy and active city, with superb transportation options.

We will undoubtedly be hosting traditional programs from our clubhouse once it is reopened. These will be handled in a hybrid nature, but I think we will all accept that the world has changed and we have to do more than what was once the case. We are utterly committed to doing that.

It is going to be very exciting.

 

–Lawrence Haber

We will be one of the convening societies at Chicagopex this coming November. In addition to hosting a dinner, we will also be sponsoring a series of talks. When I approached one of our members, asking him to speak, his reply touched on his travel fatigue. He had recently attended Westpex. That was quickly followed by a trip for the joint USPCS/Royal event in London. There was his sojourn to Boxbough, and he looked ahead to further continued travels in pursuit of his multi-varied philatelic endeavors. Clearly, he had concerns regarded more travel and another commitment. My response to him was exactly what I would hope we would all want, specifically, asking him to consider the opportunity but no problem if he needed to decline. We totally understand.

Stepping back a bit and looking at this situation, I came to realize that, in many respects, we are back. The hobby that is. Or, at least the public aspect of the hobby. The private aspect of the hobby had remained strong and gained strength during Covid. Shows, at least the strong ones are up and running, and philatelic travel is on the rebound. This is good. At the end of the day, the personal contact and personal exchanges that occur, in real time and space are essential for the long-term health of the hobby. In my opinion, that is.

Let’s ask a few questions that might arise about all of us getting fully back on track.

• When is the new clubhouse at 58 West 40th Street going to open?

We get estimated and projected dates, but we are dealing with the imponderables of construction in midtown and a building department that has outsourced the permit and inspection process to Franz Kafka. It will be 2024, we hope early in 2024, but there are no guarantees in Mr Kafka’s universe. As things proceed, we will update you.

• What are the Club’s plans for attendance at shows?

We have tried to increase our presence at shows. In addition to the annual Great American Stamp Show, we have recently been at the Sarasota, Westpex, and Nojex shows. It is essential for us to be out there. Why? Because, to quote the first clause of our mission statement, “The Collectors Club brings members and friends together…”. Looking forward, we will be a convening society at Chicagopex in November 2023 and at San Diego in February of next year. I would fully expect additions to this schedule as we see the year progresses.

• All there be a Lichtenstein Awards dinner?

We last held a Lichtenstein Awards dinner in May 2022 at the Harvard Club. By all accounts, it was a splendid event. Attendance was excellent, and the food and ambiance of the venue was perfect. People truly enjoyed themselves. We took a bye on a dinner during 2023. To have proceeded would have put us into overload, given all the other tasks on our list.

But, we’re very pleased to share our plans to host a Lichtenstein Awards dinner on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. The location will be in midtown New York and although we have not yet selected a specific venue, you can rest assured it will be excellent and very special. The evening will be very special as we formally bestow the Lichtenstein Charles Verge, Randy Neil, and Trish Kaufman. There may also be an additional award recipient by the time we reach May.

• I really enjoyed the Club’s single-frame event. It hasn’t been held for a while. Any plans for that competition to be resumed?

Between Covid and the relocation of the Clubhouse, the single frame event has fallen by the wayside. We are looking at our options and we would hope to hold a SFE event later in the year.

Leaving these questions aside, you recently should have seen an email regarding the Lichtenstein Award nomination process. If you have someone you think is worthy, we urge you to submit the nomination. We want your participation.

Lastly, I hope you all have a fabulous summer and that we will have a chance to meet either personally or virtually over the course of the next few months.

 

–Lawrence Haber

Doubtless, you have noticed that you received an extra “bonus” with this issue of the Collectors Club Philatelist. We are very pleased to publish this monograph on the New Swedish colony by John Barwis. We hope you enjoy reading this important work. But, our aspirations go beyond this particular work.

One of the elements that distinguishes [distinguish or distinguishes?] philately from many, if not most other hobbies, is our emphasis on research and the printed word. A mere cursory look at this Club and many others is the size and extent of our libraries. Also, our personal libraries are frequently non-trivial. As part of our ongoing move, we measured the size of our library with care and discovered that it requires almost 4,000 linear feet (1.25 km) of shelf space. We, as a hobby, are not strangers to the written word. But what concerns many of us is the depth and breadth of research that never reaches an audience. Much research remains either trapped in the notes of the collector/exhibitor and is never recorded. We view this as a tragedy since, in all probability, if not published, it will be lost.

So, why the monograph? Why this particular medium? The answer is really quite straightforward. Article-length pieces have multiple venues to reach the public. Our hobby does not lack journals. There may be a question about which journal is best suited to publish a piece, but there is a wide variety of journals out there and much to choose from. But frequently, the work requires greater length. How about a book? The difficulty here is that bringing a book to print is a complex endeavor, and distribution is a challenge. Although there are many print-by-demand options, the cost of editing, composition, and printing are not insubstantial hurdles. Also, length can be a question mark. Works extending past 100 pages deserve the full-length treatment a book dictates, but what if our length is shorter than 100 pages? And how do we achieve distribution? Getting a work out there, to be purchased and read is a real problem. And, I do not wish to shatter any illusions out there, but a philatelic book that has sales of 200 units, is a best seller. Yes, it does get you into the card catalog, but you need a readership.

We believe that this monograph series is an ideal solution. It is notably cheaper to produce and deliver. By being sent out with our regular CCP issue, its sales make it a best seller. And isn’t that the point? To get the work out there, into the hands of other philatelists to be read and appreciated. And entered into the card catalog, thereby preserving all the hard work behind it.

So, beyond reading and appreciating John’s work here, we hope that this inspires you to consider adding your name to the authors of our new revived monograph series.

Although it may seem some ways off, we encourage you to join us at the annual Great American Stamp Show in Cleveland from August 10 to 13. As has been our usual practice, we will share a table with our friends from the Philatelic Foundation. We hope to see you there.

We also encourage you to consider nominations for the Alfred F. Lichtenstein Memorial Award for Distinguished Service to Philately. Instructions and forms for nominations can be found on our website. Now is the time to prepare a nomination for a well-deserved individual. We expect to schedule our Lichtenstein dinner to coincide with the opening events for our new Clubhouse.

 

–Lawrence Haber