January 2021 Dear Friends of the Harry Sutherland Library, Well, the library is closed to visitors but that does not mean that I have been idle. Just like the last time we were in lockdown I have been catching up on the many tasks that are on my (not Santa’s) list of things to do. I am also going to return to some previous topics later in this newsletter and do some thinking about things. We have continued to receive new books, here are a few: Censorship and Bermuda’s Role in Winning World War II by Horst Augustinovic The Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers 2021 edition The Liberty Series by Ken Lawrence, C. David Eeles and Anthony S. Wawrukiewicz U.S. Domestic Postal Rates, 1872-2011, Third Edition by Henry W. Beecher and Anthony S. Wawrukiewicz We are also pleased to have the (much larger) second edition of Environment Definitive Series 1977-1987 by D. Robin Harris. He will be updating the other books in the series as well. Very exciting! The Doar Ivri First Issue of Israel: Postal and Commercial Usages of the Three High Value Stamps by Friend Ed Kroft. Another call out for a few auctions that we are missing from Gary Lyon, I do not know how we missed these: Gary Lyon Selected Rarities #28; Special Offers Jan 2019 to Feb 2020 and Selected Offerings for Selected Clients 345, 401-405, 429-450, 453 and all early ones up to 253 (2008) Toronto’s First Post Office (1833) is located at 260 Adelaide Street East. 1 Friends of the Harry Sutherland Philatelic Library January 2021 This is a museum, National Historic Site and an authorized full-service dealer for Canada Post. It is run by the Town of York Historical Society. For many years I had a mail box here and when they say that they are a full-service dealer, they mean it. I would sometimes see a nearby business drop off 50 to 100 mailings to go out and the postie at the desk would start processing them immediately. They are great people and one of the few places you can go to write a letter with a quill and have it folded and sealed with wax as they used to do. They will also cancel letters by hand if you prefer and carry a wide variety of philatelic items, providing philatelic services at request. This used to be the only post office that is regularly open on Sundays, from noon to 4, closed on the Sunday before a holiday Monday. Like many organizations they have an online presence at: https://townofyork.com/Museum-From-Home/. They publish a print newsletter full of news including many items about the area. Back issues are available at https://townofyork.com/tyhs-newsletters/. They are also in need of financial support as are most small museums, you can donate on their website at https://townofyork.com/donations/. Here is the building from across the street. The post office is at the front and leads into the museum at the back. They also sell a number of interesting products including totes, cards and, of course, stamps. If you walk to the left of this building to George Street there is a back entrance just north of Adelaide. The plaque shown below gives history of the buildings and some information on early stamps. The stamps are reproduced on paving tiles in the courtyard. The 3d Beaver is also shown below. On the day I went the courtyard was closed (it was during lockdown) although I could see some of the others from the gate. 2 Friends of the Harry Sutherland Philatelic Library January 2021 West on Adelaide from the post office you come to this ‘Cinderella’. The cedars have grown considerably since the piece was erected several years ago. More on the plaque at lower right on the next page. Here are the stamps in the sculpture, from left to right with their Unitrade numbers: * No.158 Bluenose from King George V “Scroll” issue (1927-1928) No.463 Greenland Mountains by Lawren Harris (1967-1973 Centennial definitive) No.433 Royal Visit Queen Elizabeth II (1964) No.445 Satellite Over Canada, Alouette II (1966) * this stamp is a King George VI revenue from Britain (?) No.881 Canadian Feminists: Idola Saint-Jean (1981) No.515 Louis Riel (1970) No.142 Fathers of Confederation by Robert Harris, 60th Anniversary of Confederation (1927). This famous painting was destroyed and only reproductions survive. No.491 Vincent Massey (1969) No.1484 Toronto Bicentennial: Founding of Toronto (1993) No.63 Diamond Jubilee issue 3 dollar yellow bistre (1897) No.418 Floral Emblems and Coats of Arms: Ontario (1964) 3 Friends of the Harry Sutherland Philatelic Library January 2021 It is not clear what criteria were used to include these specific stamps, especially why a British revenue is included rather than another Canadian stamp or Canadian revenue. And even though this plaque looks like a stamp I could find no reference to it so I assume that it is just intended to fit in with the rest of the sculpture and refer to the post office. And now for something completely different from Friend Stuart Keely, thank you for the chuckle! Going back to a previous article: illustrator Dave Murray has now released the second issue of his neighbourhood ‘stamps,’ now including canvas totes and pins that are only $2, available at (https://www.neighbourhoodstamps.com/) And check out his many other illustrations at http://davemurrayillustra tion.com/. The nice people at Kid Icarus now have their own website (see many of their prints) at. https://kidicarus.ca/. They still carry the Kensington Market ‘word cloud’ map produced by Murray in 2010 shown above for $55. They also carry books, cards and art supplies. They are located at 205 Augusta Ave. and have curb-side pick-up, or call 416-977-7236. He still has information about it too: http://davemurrayillustration.com/creative- projects#/toronto-type-maps/ 4 Friends of the Harry Sutherland Philatelic Library January 2021 This time thanks go out to my mother who found and forwarded this article from Atlas Obscura: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/mail-art-from-quarantine I would not have found this reference and it is interesting to have recently received a book about a cachet artist and now being able to report that people are still making their own. The article “‘Mail Art’ Makes a Comeback During Quarantine: All you need is an idea, an envelope and a stamp” may reach an entirely different audience. Again I find myself thinking about all of the things going on. As you know I receive many newsletters and find interesting items. Stamps on the Bay v.1:no.10 (November 2020), the newsletter of the Owen Sound Stamp Club, available at http://www.owensoundstampclub.org/Newsletters.html had a very interesting mini tip that came from Andrew of Universal Philatelic Auctions at https://www.upastampauctions.co.uk/. (It is easy to sign up for the tips, it is at the top of the page. I could not find a way to find previous tips.) I am including only part of it here. “NEVER hinge unmounted mint stamps. You may think that this is blindingly obvious but probably once a month we see 'New Issues' which have been stuck in with stamp hinges ...ALSO ... earlier MINT stamps once or more 'previously hinged' becomes increasingly acceptable the older the stamp is ... but please don't add more hinging to previously hinged mint stamps ... it only lowers desirability and therefore value. Generally USED stamps are what stamp hinges are for.” Like many young people at the time I collected stamps from my letters when I was a child. I had pen pals in various countries so that I could have those stamps as well. We were taught to hinge them into an album. I have no idea what happened to those long ago stamps. Now I have done some work on the VSC 6000 and have seen what hinging does to the stamps. I cannot believe that the discussion is still going on. There are several ways to display stamps without resorting to damaging any sort of stamp. Maybe that means that I continue to learn more about being a philatelist as I watch the people in the library. It may also mean that on some level I believe that we should all respect the things that we choose to do and it just seems wrong. I also can’t imagine displaying a quilt by gluing it to a wall or using nails, you try to find a way to attach it without damage. I have used poster hangers or sewn on a casing for a hanging bar so the weight is distributed. I have not made a decision about how to collect my stamps yet, however, you can be sure that I will not use hinges. Keep well and safe, Willow Librarian [email protected] Harry Sutherland Philatelic Library http://www.greenefoundation.ca/library.htm#about, https://15758.rmwebopac.com/ Vincent Graves Greene Philatelic Research Foundation 5 Friends of the Harry Sutherland Philatelic Library