Inside Linn’s: Using stamps to supplement home-school curriculum

By Charles Snee

The May 9 issue of Linn’s Stamp News just landed on the presses and goes in the mail to subscribers Monday, April 25. And if you subscribe to Linn’s digital edition, you’re at the head of the line with early access Saturday, April 23. While you wait for your issue to arrive in your mailbox, enjoy these three quick glimpses of exclusive content available only to subscribers. 

Using stamps to supplement home-school curriculum

Educating children with stamps can be a most rewarding experience, evening during the height of a global pandemic. David Sears, in a special feature article, shows how he developed a philatelic virtual classroom for the two young daughters of a work colleague. “When people are encouraged to stay at home due to a pandemic and schools close or classroom education turns chaotic, stamp collecting can be enlisted to further education and provide fun in its own right. And it can all be done from home,” Sears explains. He used videos, slide presentations and email to introduce the basics of the hobby to the girls and their dad. Grouping stamps by topical themes that were of interest to the girls worked very well and kept them engaged and curious, Sears reports. There is much creativity at work here, so be sure to read the entire article.

Fake Shrub Oak Local Post covers remain a bit of a mystery

Renowned stamp dealer and author Herman “Pat” Herst Jr. (1909-99) created and maintained the Shrub Oak Local Post. In The Odd Lot, Wayne Youngblood introduces readers to Herst’s local post, which he launched in 1953 when he lived and worked in Shrub Oak, N.Y. Youngblood recently discovered a small number of bogus Shrub Oak Local Post covers, one of which is featured in his column. Through careful examination, Youngblood reveals how the cover itself and the local post stamp affixed to it were fabricated. Much of the faker’s work was accomplished using a scanner and an inkjet printer. As Youngblood explains, given the effort put forth relative to the low value of genuine covers, it’s not likely financial gain was a prime motivator for the faker.

When a folded postcard has to be sent as a letter in an envelope

In Modern U.S. Mail, Tony Wawrukiewicz digs into the relevant postal regulations to explain why a folded postcard mailed in 1994 from California to Canada with 19¢ postage affixed was short paid 21¢. Initially Wawrukiewicz thought the card needed an additional 11¢ to satisfy the 30¢ postcard rate to Canada at the time of mailing. What changed his mind is a six-line handstamp on the front of the card that states “reply-paid cards and folded (Double) cards” are required to be mailed in envelopes when sent to an international destination. “I had never seen such a handstamp, and I began to search the literature for it,” Wawrukiewicz writes. Read the column to learn more about what he discovered.

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