NJFSC Chapter #44S..........PHS Affiliate #1A..........APS Affiliate #95 |
Society & Member's Galleries....
As we continue to add more galleries, some will be for public display while many will be reserved for members access only.
Featured Covers Gallery
November 2009 Issue of the NJPH Journal featuring a Holiday Greetings from Viet Nam cover: Just before Christmas of 1971, a GI-produced Christmas card was distributed to the troops of the 101st Airborne for them to send home. A hand-made envelope served to carry it home to New Jersey. As it was late in December, member Jim Walker used a U.S. air mail stamp instead of the usual free frank available to soldiers in combat, in hopes that it would ensure a timely delivery. The stamp did get an APO cancel on Dec. 22, 1971, with a faint APO # 96383.
APO 96383, home of the 101st Airborne – the Screaming Eagles - was located at that time near Hue, near the border with North Vietnam.
The Army Post Office (APO) system has been around since World War I when U.S. military began operating overseas in a big way. The three digit numbering system in use through World War II was, in effect, a code to locate individuals without announcing a unit location. This system is still in use today,* but in the years after WWII the APO system expanded to five digits, becoming a military zip code.**
The free franking privilege was available for military personnel serving in combat zones,*** which included most of Southeast Asia.
Mail is still a key link to our military personnel, many of whom appreciate any mail from home. Special Priority Envelopes are available for sending items abroad to our military personnel. To write to our military personnel abroad, go to http://www.usps.com/supportingourtroops/.
For more information on military mail, visit the Military Postal Service Agency page at http://hqdainet.army.mil/mpsa/index.htm
While mail addressed to “Any Service Member” is no longer an option through the MPSA, a program is run by PitneyBowes and. The American Red Cross which collects and screens mail for “any serviceman’ – see http://www.redcross.org/email/saf/ or go to the American Red Cross and search for Holdiay Mail for Heroes. The deadline for this mail is December 7, 2009 – so we suggest you put it on your calendar for next year – mail collection usually runs across the month of November.
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!
* Please see Military Postal Service Agency Publication 640, available from the USPS or online at http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/pubs/pub640.pdf#search='Military Postal Service Agency Publication 640'. For further information, see Geographic Locations of U.S. APOs, 1941-1984 (Fifth Edition), compiled and edited by James Shaffer, published by the War Cover Club, 1985, Bennington, VT.
**An APO is assigned to a large unit such as a division and it will move with the unit. So a unit may move around the country and its APO stays the same even if that unit is operating in the same area where another unit with a different APO had been operating previously. Having said that, certain APO's were assigned to big cities, like Saigon and if a unit assigned there was reassigned to another location it would receive its mail through the APO covering its new location.
*** Free franking privileges are afforded to all military personnel in combat zones (including Iraq and Afghanistan today). The sender wrote the word 'free' in place of the stamp. Only outgoing mail was free. Incoming mail pays U.S. first class rate.
Past Featured Covers
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August 2009 Issue of the NJPH Journal featuring a a Graf Zeppelin cover.
L127 First Trip to the USA in 1928. Special credit to John Trosky for this nice article!
WEB-SITE SPECIAL: an addendum to this article with additional information on an originating 1928 LZ-127 cover from Len Peck!
Read more..... |
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May 2009 Issue of the NJPH Journal featuring a DPO cover from Maurer, New Jersey.
A pretty little letter sheet invitation from a local hotel in Maurer (now part of Perth Amboy, Middlesex County), NJ turned up at the Garfield-Perry Show in Cleveland, in JWF (Jim Faber’s) stock. Used in 1905, it is from a community that literally does not exist anymore. The location is now the site of a large “tank farm” belonging to Chevron.Read more..... |
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February 2009 Issue of the NJPH Journal featuring a cameo campaign cover.
A December 15, Hoboken, NJ postmarked Embossed Cameo Campaign Envelope produced by William Eaves was offered this March by Robert A. Siegel Auctions featuring a beardless Abe Lincoln. Only a few examples are known. This Hoboken, New Jersey cover hammered on March 25, 2009 for $2600.00 before the 15% buyers premium! Read more..... |
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November 2008 Issue of the NJPH Journal featuring a cover of seasonal greeting.
A RFD ”Season’s Greetings” post card, cancelled December 24, 1915 with a Pittstown, NJ postmark, sent by the carrier on Route 2 out of Pittstown to the people along his route. Special thanks to Member Jim Walker for sharing this cover. Read more..... |
Members: One of the benefits of membership is sharing your interests and collections! If you would like to share an interesting single item from your collection, or have multiple items to share - the NJPHS Galleries offer you the opportunity to put your collectibles on center stage. Please e-mail your webmaster about contributing to our on-line Galleries. We can even help you if you do not have a scanner or digital images. Just ask. Remember, we are always looking for articles of interest for the NJPH Journal, and would welcome your contribution whether it's a single page or five page article.
If you are not yet a member, please consider the benefits of joining and the satisfaction you'll get by sharing with your fellow collectors: Become a Member |
