Evening star., 1942-11-22
Among the Stamp Collectors
Neu's OF the Philaelc Word Its Interests and PeobLe
By James Waldo Fawcetf.

Oy James N ado FatCceH.
The new edition of the Post Offic,
Department official illustrated lis
Of postage stamps, 1847 to date, nov
Is available at 30 cents a copy a,
the office of the superintendent Of
documents, Government Printing
Office.
The Bureau of Public Relations
Of the War Department on Thurs
day issued the following Official re-
lease:
"A complete Army postal organi-
zatlon accompanied the American
expeditionary force to North Africa
and postal facilities were established
almost as soon as landings were
effected.
so effective is this service that
letters are already being sent back
to the United States from the .ex-
peditionary force, while mail is en-
route to members of the force from
this country.
For military reasons, Army post
Office numbers for units in North
Africa have not yet been announced
However, mail addressed to Amer
can soldiers at their last point of
address In the United States will be
forwarded to them in North Africa
without delay.
Stated by officers and enlisted
personnel of the Army postal service,
the postal units accompanying the
expeditionary force carried complete
postal equipment and supplies. They
now are operating a postal COM
munications system through the
areas In North Africa which Amer
lean forces have occupied.
This Is the first large-scale test
Of mobile postal service in the war.
Previously devised plans of the Army
postal service to provide full postal
facilities in all theaters of operation
were carried out. This policy is to
be pursued in all overseas areas for
the duration Of the war.
I'm the case of North Africa, plans
Tor establishment of military
postal system were made by the
Army postal service we'll in advance
Of the campaign, and this planning
made it possible to place in opera
ton at once complete postal facil-
tiles for the handling of first-class
mail, air mail, registered mail, par
eel post and money orders. V-mail
apparatus will be installed soon
While many difficulties have been
ita 10 l>1s l1,,1
and operation of the Army postal
service in the North African area,
postal officers pointed out that the
plan of mail operation in this the
ater will enable the mails to be
handled with efficiency and dispatch
following their arrival from the
United States.
With mail to the front-line
forces now being transported in the
field with Glass l supplies such as
food, medicine and other combat
items, the American soldier, the
Army postal service pointed out, can
expect to receive letters from home
even though he may be in the midst
Of a combat zone"
Referring to an editorial on war
Posters of the Past" printed in
The Star for November IA, Eric I'm
derwood writes: English artists
will be grateful for your apprecia-
tion of their pictorial efforts to stim-
ulate voluntary enlistment in the
armed forces and the raising of
funds to carry on the war of 1914
1918.
with your typical national mod
esty you omit reference to one poster
used by his majesty's treasury with
considerable success to increase sales
Of national savings certificates-the
baby bonds which were put on sale
at all the post Offices of Britain in
1915 and have remained ever since
as a specially attractive investment
for people of limited means. This
was a famous picture by a famous
American - James Abbot McNeill
Whistler's wonderful portrait of his
mother. The very embodiment of
dignified yet comfortable old age,
the consequence no doubt of thrift
as well as good fortune, it bore the
slogan, Save for the Future-Old
Age Will Come
Your article concludes: Curious
r enough Britain during the first
World War did not make use of the
eommonest and most convenient Of
all possible posters-ordinary post
age stamps
Though it is literally accurate
chat stamps were not designed as
posters, this is only half truth.
In fact use on a vast scale was made
of postage stamps for selling saw
ings certificates for many years,
both during and after the war. This
took the form of postmarks some
3 inches in length inviting the
public in appropriate terms to buy
the certificates. Thus every envelope
became war poster. The money
raised ran into billions and the fact
that practically every man, woman
and child in the country saved
money and became a holder of gov
ernment stock and thus small cap
italist, formed the most effective of
all buttresses against political ex-
tremists in the difficult years which
Immediately followed the war.
That stamps themselves were not
designed as posters was perhaps
subconsciously due to the English
tradition which always has treated
stamps with certain respect The
adhesive postage stamp is an Eng