2024

When I pen these letters, I usually focus on the future, as the present quickly turns into the past. I thought that – for this once – I would share updates on events you already know about.

This is our last issue of 2024; my last letter to you for the year. It is amazing how fast time is moving. It seems as though just the other day, I was struggling to change the date from 2023 to 2024, but here we are. Let’s take a few moments to reflect on the year we are about to complete.

The big deal was the reopening of the Club at our new location on 40th Street. Many members have come by and have seen it for themselves. The reactions have been pretty consistent – very positive and a clear model for the future. The layout is clean and efficient, and the decor reflects a modern city on the cusp of the beginning of the second quarter of the 21st century. We are no longer at the fi n de siècle of the 19th century – or the 20th, for that matt er, and the Club reflects a positive modern outlook.

We are starting to bring programs back into the house. These still go out via Zoom, but attending in person is special, and we encourage you to visit at those times.

We should be very proud of our library. It is all in one space, no longer chopped up into four bits and scattered as it was on 35th Street. Also, as beautiful as the old bookcases on 35th Street were, those gorgeous French doors with glass doors were an impediment. No longer are there barriers between you and the volumes on the shelves. To a large extent, removing these barriers has helped reinforce our appreciation of the excellence of our holdings, as numerous members have told us. Please remember that our catalog can be accessed online or in person. And we can mail you the items you would like. That’s not a problem, and we’re happy to oblige.

We would hope by now that you know about the book we published by Nick Kirke on NYC Foreign Mail 1845-1878. Everyone who has seen the book sings its praises; the reviews are universal. It won the Literature Grand award at the Great American Stamp Show (GASS). You should buy a copy even if you have “no interest” in the topic. It is that good and is such a model for how this can be done. You can order a copy from the website or by calling the office.

We have made it a point to attend many shows throughout the year. This is an opportunity to meet you and receive your feedback. We also hosted numerous dinners that were sold out in each instance: San Diego, Napex, GASS and Nojex. Fellowship is an essential component of what this is about.

As I write this, we have yet to close out the program schedule for the year, but we can point to these as a great success. Our live online audience is very large, which demonstrates their appeal. As you know, we capture the video feed for all these, which reside in our online archive. We want to encourage you to view these programs. Please allow me the space to list the titles and names of our presenters:

Gordon Eubanks

Via Nicaragua with Commodore Vanderbilt 1851-1857

Akhtem Al-Manaseer

Early Postage Stamps and Postal History of Transjordan

Alison Bazylinski, PhD

Re-Imagining Philately: Social Philately and the National Postal Museum

Gregg Redner

Early Belgian Auxiliary Markings and Labels

(various presenters)

United Postal Stationery Society

Eric Scherer

Reply Cards in International Mail – The story behind a UPU oddity

Sandeep Jaiswal

Bahawalpur Philately – in two parts

Rob Faux

US 1861 24¢ World Tour

Daniel Knowles, MD

United States Demonetization and Transition to the 1861 Design Stamps

Ron Klimley

Polish Hyperinflation, 100th Anniversary

Chip Gliedman

How the Temperance Movement Used the 19th Century Mails

Maurice Hadida

Morocco Postal History: The Spanish Postal Service (1870 – 1915)

Henrik Mouritsen

International Parcel Post – From pre-UPU-Chaos to UPU-System and Back Again

Fred Gregory

Leis for the Boys in Blue: Hawaii in the Spanish-American War (1898-1900)

Frederick Lawrence

1918 Czech Scout Post

Omar Rodriguez

The Curious and Peculiar Postal System of Early Mexico and Its Amazing Stamp 1736-1917

Robert Benninghoff, Brian Callan, Karl Winkelmann and Brian Warren

An Introduction to Irish Philately

Yamil Kouri

Boston 2026 Update

David Hobden

In Defence of the Border – Canadian Military Mails 1667-1885

Todd Ronnei

Minnesota First Days and the Evolution of First Day Covers

Various

Panel discussion on the future of Stamp Shows (various)

Carriers & Locals Society

Ken Stach

Western Express Postal History

This is quite a group of which to be proud. Please take a look and listen to these videos in the archive.

We are currently putting our 2025 schedule together. It will be thoroughly worth your time on Wednesday evenings to join us or view the video afterward. For the first time, we will have a series of programs recognizing the date 2025 and the approaching semi-quincentennial of the United States. It is going to be great.

It has been quite a year, but I’m sure that 2025 will be even better.

With this, please allow me to wish you all the best for the upcoming winter holidays and that the new year will bring us all good fortune, health and philatelic delights.

–Lawrence Haber