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

It has been quite a year. We began 2021 with great trepidation. The health situation, worldwide, was difficult. None of us had been vaccinated and we had yet to learn what a variant was. Nevertheless, as a club we persevered. We held 24 Zoom programs, connecting all of us at home with each other and our great hobby. With the return of some in person shows, we had a presence at three major stamps shows, and provided four programs. Finally, too, we were able to hold an open house at our clubhouse on 22 E 35th Street. Many of you recognized these efforts and we saw growth in membership we hadn’t seen in decades.
  
As we now look forward to 2022, we expect a return to a new normal. A careful normal, a responsible normal. It is unlikely we will return to the normal of February 2020. Our program schedule for the year is set. We will have 26 programs in the coming year and of these, 7 will be live from the club house. Every one of our programs will be streamed live to everyone. This allows so many of our members who do not live close to our clubhouse to enjoy their membership and connect with members through our programming. We are also looking forward to a single-frame competition to be held at the clubhouse, a Governors Open House in December, and an extremely special Lichtenstein dinner to be held on May 4th at the Harvard Club. We fully expect 2022 to be a very special year of accomplishment and your Board of Governors is very excited about the year to come. We are also very conscious that the threat of COVID remains, but it is our expectation that we will truly learn to live and find ways to connect and enjoy our hobby together responsibly as we return to a new normal.

On other fronts, perhaps a brief word of update is in order regarding the marketing of our premise at 22 E35th and our exploration of Manhattan real estate. As we write this, we can report that the building marketing has been active. A great deal of interest has been demonstrated and number of potential buyers have viewed the building. From this, there are a number of interested potential buyers and we are hopeful we will receiving meaningful offers. Transactions of this nature are more complicated than those we may be familiar with in residential real estate. Typically, architects and lawyers have to be engaged to survey the site and advise on fit out and zoning. All of this takes time. We are confident that our efforts will yield offers worth our consideration.
 
While the building has been marketed, we have also explored potential new sites for our club, and we remain confident that a suitable site can be found and at a price that will be financially responsible and represent an upgrade above and beyond our current circumstances. Geographically, we are limiting ourselves to the same general vicinity of our current club house. Specifically, we will stay within the same general area in Midtown, that is between Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal. In this way, we will ensure that visitors will be within a short walk of either of those terminals. Viewing properties, we know we can find a suitable new home for our club. Please also rest assured, we would not make any form of commitment on a new location until the status of 22 E 35th is clear and close to definitive.
 
Before we finish this letter, it is with pride that we point out that this issue is volume 100 number 1. This is the one-hundredth anniversary of this journal! It is time to pause and recognize the contribution that this journal has made to philately over the course of the past century. One of my favorite treats is to randomly select an issue for the past, download this issue and immerse in a portal to the past. It’s great fun and there are innumerable delights in store. I invite you to do the same. But, we need to do more than read articles printed in the past, we also have to support this journal by making contributions. Certainly, we welcome your efforts to provide major articles, but it need not necessarily be a major article. In our last issue we introduced a new series, “Essential Elements” and we urge you to contribute.
 
In the very first issue of this journal, Vol 1 No 1, the editor, H. L. Lindquist wrote “A few months ago a small group of loyal members met to decide upon the future of the Collectors Club.” Nothing has actually changed, our focus and attention remain on the future of this Club and we trust that one hundred years from today that our successors will thank us for our efforts today.

 

–Lawrence Haber

With the Covid related cancelation of our 125th anniversary event in November, we are now announcing that our Lichtenstein dinner will be held on Wednesday May 4th at the Harvard Club. At the event, we’ll honor that evening: John Barwis, Mark Banchik, Patrick Maselis and our 2021 selection. In addition, we will be holding our annual single-frame competition at the Clubhouse the day before. It will be a very special couple of days. And, lest you have any doubts, this will happen.

In the last issue of this journal, you read about our plans regarding our home at 22 East 35th Street, and our quest for a new home. To briefly update you: 22E35th has been getting a lot of action, as real estate agents say. On the relocation side of things, we have hired a project manager and architectural firm to help us dimension the requirements, in concrete terms, for our new home. we have also started to explore actual potential sites. This will serve as a tremendous opportunity to reimagine our needs and the purposes to which we put our space.

As we have previously discussed, the Collectors Club plans to have membership social gatherings and talks at the more WSP shows. In the last issue of this journal, I wrote about our Collectors Club sessions at Westpex and GASS. As I write this now, we are looking forward to the joint meeting and program with the Collectors Club of Chicago. This will be a wine and cheese social setting, and I have little doubt but that this will be a super event and if you can make it, we hope to see you.

Now, you might ask, why go to all the trouble of traveling from one end of the country to another? The reason is quite simple. One of our prime obligations as a club is to strive to bring people together. We share a common interest: it’s philatelic. Once upon a time, this was easy. The center of gravity was in midtown New York and we gathered together frequently for a program followed by a dinner. But, this was once upon a time and we can’t just get together at the drop of a hat. There are other means and other approaches we have to bring our members together. So, that is why we are trying to hit the road more than in the past.

But there is more to bringing us together than seeing each other at a show or on Zoom. There is more that we can do to bring us together in sharing our common passion. One avenue is within our journal. I thought that it would be an interesting experiment if we started a new series in this journal. That would involve providing a page or two on a single item that is precious, important, or evocative for you and sharing that with this audience. And, telling us why this particular item is special to you. It need not necessarily be super expensive, that is not the criteria, this is an exercise focused on what is dear to you and what is special in your eyes. By so doing, I think we will get to know each other better.

Since this is a new endeavor, it is only fair that I expose myself to ridicule and you’ll find my item elsewhere in this journal. I would urge you to contribute something yourself. Surprise us!

There is also another concept at work here, namely we want to get more of us into the habit of writing or thinking about writing for this journal. This journal is a reflection of our membership and I hope to see more of you, not only at shows or online, but in our Collectors Club Philatelist pages. It’s all part of coming together and sharing our common passion.

 

–Lawrence Haber