Incoming mail
Ok. I’ve given a public promise to show pictures of stamps / covers / postcards from incoming mail. Since this blog has been up and running only for few days, there is of course no feedback from any of the (few) readers. Hence I decided to share some pictures of my normal correspondence. These came in yesterday.
The first stamp displays Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park issued few weeks ago (22nd Jan 2009 to be precise). The stamp also seems to contain some braille text in the middle. This stamp begins a new (annual?) postage stamp series showing Finland’s National parks.
The second and 3rd stamp (issued in 2007) display Raspberry and Candlestick Lily
What’s very noteworthy,is that these letters came from collectors. Only one of them was handstamped, and even that contained relatively messy cancel. Getting socked-on-the-nose cancels is getting harder and harder these days.
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Yes, very true. I don’t get them anymore on the mail I want to send from the Netherlands. Or we get it and then it nevertheless comes in the machin. Finland issues by the way nice fine flowerstamps!
Best regards from the Netherlands, Dolores
SOTN is a term that I’ve learned on this blog. Thank you. I had previously preferred stamps stuck a ‘glancing blow’ by the postmark, but I now appreciate both. However, this will make it more difficult for me to choose which duplicates to swap.
RE: Outgoing mail. Dear readers, get to know a postal worker and ask for him/her to hand cancel (kissed on the corner or socked on the nose) those attractive greeting card covers, stamp lots and postcards you send. Infect postal employees with the stamp collecting bug. As the relationship builds, ask them to test the cancellation device on a scrap of paper beforehand to be sure it is of high quality. In smaller post offices, trusted customers may even cancel their own mail at the counter. Be patient. Be nice.
Good advice Carol
I am pretty sure there are parts of the US where you tried Carol’s approach would get you escorted out of the post office! So be careful! LOL
The large impersonal post offices are toughies. Patience 101a: Tell the clerk you very much appreciated their help (if they were indeed helpful and met all typical requests). Say you will be in again and would like them to serve you. If necessary, tell them when you will be in and ask them if they will be on shift. Arrange your schedule around theirs. Be efficient (remember that long line behind you), professional and sincere. Do not imply you are hitting on them. They will already be wondering what this personal attention is about. If you reach a dead-end, next time try another clerk. Clerks are individuals, and senior clerks may have more freedom and privileges. This may work better for female customers than for males. Also, you have to consider the value of your outgoing mail, your time and your degree of philatelic interest. I would not go to this degree of effort to mail a bill, but I do occasionally think about it.