Evening star., 1934-01-28
IS BSTAMpsa;6|I7 s q s
BY JAMES WALDO FAWCETT.

changed the course Of his life.
It had just come back home at the
close of the World War;" he explains,
and had no idea what was going to
do with myself. I had no capital in
the form Of money to go into business,
and there did not appear to be any en-
ployer Of labor who especially needed
me: All l possessed was time. Ger
/ tain amount Of mental and physical en-
ergy-and two books of stamps which ]
had accumulated in my bOyhOod.
II thought over the problem for sew
eral days, trying to make up my mind
Then, in certain sort Of desperation
offered my philatelic treasures to q
broker. As he turned over the pages of
the albums I was in agony. What
would his verdict be? Would he buy?
"At last he looked up, and I could
tell by the light in his eyes that he was
| really interested. We made q bargain
and came away from his Office with
the money In my pocket. But the ques-
ton about what to do still remained to
be answered. The fact, however, was
that I had caught the stamp fever
again. The old enthusiasm of earlier
years had gripped my imagination once
ties, but my thought kept turning back
to stamps. Finally, inevitably, reached
| decision. I would crafty my instinct
and earn living as a philatenst.
only the detail Of where to start
was left to deal with. I chose WASH
| ington, believing then as do now that
the Nations Capital is the logical phil
atelic center of the United States. |
opened my first shop at 233 Pennsyl-
Vania avenue in 1920.
In the beginning. naturally, prog
ress was slow. I was fairly we'll ac-
quainted in the city. but it took time
for my friends to discover my new oc-
cupatlon. Gradually, however, l built
up clientele Of people interested in
stamps. My patrons included men and
women eminent in national affairs, also
many children who now have grown up
ana yet are as loyal as ever to their
hobby
But no sooner had I begun to feel
that all was well than thieves broke
into my store and carried off the bulk
OF my stock. In effect, had to start
over again, and that was a difficult
business in the circumstances. How
ever, ! managed to survive the expert
ence. A man never realizes how much
he can endure until necessity forces
l, him to the recognition.
To stamps I added coins and auto
graphs, buying and selling as best I
could: but always finding pleasure in
tne study OF the materials in hand. All
my life had heard of the educational
values OF philately and numismatics,
but never understood the elemental
meaning Of the doctrine until I had
ilved with the raw materials of the
two sciences, spent months examining
them. working over them.
moreover, my position gave me in
terestlng opportunities to study human
nature For example, a stranger came
into the shop one evening and asked to
see whatever might have of the stamps
OF Great Britain and the British COL
onles. He was a distinguished-looking
gentleman noticeably foreigner. AS
!! talked with him tried to guess who
ne could be. A strip of Penny Blacks
attracted his attention, and when he
asked the price thought 1t best to
apologize for replying, '$25.' I feared
he would consider that sum a great deal
Of money On the contrary, he did not
seem to be bit surprised. Very we'll
was his comment. I will take the lot >
suppose my countenance betrayed the
quandry in my mind. In any event. he
hastened to add: They are worth that
much. I know their value. You see, I
buy for our King OF course, that
solved the puzzle. His name was Sir
Edward Denny Bacon, philatelic secre-
tary to His Majesty George W.
Mr.. Kohen stresses the cultural sig
nlf1cance Of stamps. Everybody appre-
ciates the value of a constructive hob
by" he says. but too many put off the
day Of getting started. The time to
begin collecting philatelic specimens is
now. Every day Of delay is bound to
De costly. because as demand increases
prices rise. The tardy beginner penal
ICES himself. Stamps which could be
bought at present at penny will be
ever so much more expensive a few
years hence Think what collections
stamps have been collected as long as
coins have-centuries Of time!
But even If the collector never
profits financially from his stamps, he
will be rewarded. Philately will enrich
his life, broaden his views. promote his
peace of mind and increase his capacity
for happiness. That has been my ex-
perience, and about 100000 other
Americans, young and old, think will
agree with me-
Mr.. Kohen served in the 7th Division
during the war. and has been COM
mander Of the Vincent B. Costello Post
Of the American Legion. He has been
a philatelic adviser and appraiser for
the Post ONCE Department for several
years. and is an active member of the
Washington Philatelic Society.
Harry B. Cation. addressing the
Washington Philatelic Society at
recent meeting, told the story of the
Alexandria. D. c.. postmaster's stamp
Of 1846.
Nothing is known of this issue" he
said. except the data gathered to date
from the copies-six in number-now
In the hands of collectors. Their
existence was unguessed in the phila-
telic world until about 1872. when John
x. Tiffany discovered q copy in some
family correspondence. In the AZ years
between that find and the present day,
five additional copies have been brought
to light. and. strangely enough. two
of these were found in the city Of
issue"
In an effort to contribute toward the
solution of the problem of the pro-
visional's printing Mr.. Cation explained
that he had searched the files of the
Alexandria newspapers.
Specific notice of the precious stamp
was not to be found, but there was
occasional mention OF Postmaster Daniel
Bryan, who held Office from 1920 to
1858. When he issued the first of
the Alexandria adhesives the city was
part of the District of Columbia;
when he issued the last of them or on
the date Of the latest known cancella-
ton. the city was again within the
boundaries of the State of Virginia.
March IS, 1847, was the day when
retrocession became effective. At least
one copy Of the Alexandria stamp did
nocfal sar,,ica aftar that date vet the