| The latest first day ceremony programs by the USPS appear to really have hit their stride. The only problem is the stamps and first day cancels are applied to the generic outside envelopes instead of to the cards, which are the actual programs. That lack is remedied here with the 2004 Hanukkah stamp and the show cancel for the event at which the stamp was issued. |
For the World War II Veterans Memorial stamp, the Robert C. Graebner Chapter of the American First Day Cover Society honored its members who had served in World War II. Each cachet showed three of the vets. This one shows Lee Howard (who went on to become a president of the AFDCS); Hank Mezzack, now a FDC dealer; and Blair Law. In addition, the covers were serviced with previous related stamps, to make a "combination cover."
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| Dom Sozio is a former pharmacist in New Jersey whose cachets feature pasted-on photos, a la the classic Crosby cachets of the 1930s. |
Someone serviced this "linen-finish" picture postcard back in 1953 with the Ohio Statehood sesquicentennial stamp. The identity of the servicer is unknown; it's possible and even likely that several collectors serviced these postcards as "maximum cards." |
| Artist Chris Calle not only designs stamps for a number of countries (including several of the U.S. Moon Landing issues) and cachets for the American Philatelic Society, he also helps out at the APS booth during Stampshow, where he was more than willing to autograph first day covers with the APS cachet for the show. This one was serviced with the show cancel on the first day of issue for the stamp issued at the show, Heade's Magnolias.
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Many of the lucky few who receive individual invitations to first day ceremonies service them with the stamp and first day postmark. This one is for the Olympics stamp issued in June 2004 in Philadelphia.
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