http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/15/automobiles/15CARS.html?pagewanted=print
August 15, 2005
No Sticker Shock Here: A '53 Corvette for 37 Cents
By MATTHEW HEALEY
ON Saturday, fans of classic American cars will be able to add five new models to their collections - all for less than $2.
The United States Postal Service will issue a series of first-class stamps that day in Detroit. Called America on the Move: 50's Sporty Cars, the set depicts five favorites of the postwar era: the Studebaker Starliner, Nash Healey, Ford Thunderbird, Kaiser Darrin and Chevrolet Corvette. The designs for the stamps were first shown last year at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Élégance in Monterey, Calif.
David Failor, executive director of stamp services for the postal service, said requests from the public determined the subjects for the new stamps, with especially strong interest in the Corvette. Mr. Failor said the postal service had no current plans for more stamps depicting cars, but that could change if this set proved successful.
He said the postal service can earn up to $200 million a year from stamps that are bought by collectors but not used to mail letters. Linn's Stamp News, the leading hobby weekly, estimates there are as many as two million active stamp collectors in the United States.
The ceremony marking the first day of issue in Detroit will be attended by Art Fitzpatrick, the illustrator whose paintings are featured on the stamps. Mr. Fitzpatrick's automotive career began before World War II when, as a 20-year-old, he designed cars for Packard. Later assignments included work for coachbuilding firms, followed by a long career in advertising.
Car collecting is a passion often limited by one's time, money and garage space. A collection of cars on stamps, however, fits not only a modest budget but also a small bookshelf, although some collections grow to include hundreds of specimens.
Stamps portraying cars go back to 1901, when the United States issued the world's first stamp showing an automobile. Issued in a four-cent denomination as part of a transportation series, the black-and-brown stamps depicted a battery-powered taxi in Washington with the Capitol in the background. A small number of the stamps were printed with the center taxi image upside down; collectors pay upward of $20,000 for those stamps today. Taking advantage of their desirability to collectors, the postal service reissued them, with inverted centers, in 2001. The modern versions can be purchased for a few dollars.
Ray Cartier is the executive director of the American Topical Association, a group serving those who collect stamps according to the topic shown on them. The group provides checklists of stamps by subject to its members; the list of auto-theme stamps includes more than 100 from the United States and 2,600 from foreign countries.
Car lovers may recall American stamps of recent years with classic Cords, Duesenbergs and Pierce-Arrows, as well the tailfin of a 1957 Chevrolet and a Ford Mustang from 1965. Others issued over the years include a wood-bodied station wagon and a 1950's stock-car race.
Mr. Cartier says he thinks many people take up topical collecting as a way to acquire sizable stamp collections on modest budgets, without the pressure to pursue costly rarities. Topical collectors can define the scope of their collections as they choose, connecting stamps with other hobbies or professional interests.
Peter C. Elias, 45, of Plano, Tex., turned his passion for Audi cars into a world-spanning stamp collection. He has researched and catalogued more than 50 stamps that depict Audis or related subjects, like famous racecar drivers, from the company's history. "Stamp collecting can be much more fun than just getting the latest issues from the post office," he said. "For me, it's the thrill of the chase, and also the social side of meeting others who are passionate about their special area of collecting."
August 15, 2005
No Sticker Shock Here: A '53 Corvette for 37 Cents
By MATTHEW HEALEY
ON Saturday, fans of classic American cars will be able to add five new models to their collections - all for less than $2.
The United States Postal Service will issue a series of first-class stamps that day in Detroit. Called America on the Move: 50's Sporty Cars, the set depicts five favorites of the postwar era: the Studebaker Starliner, Nash Healey, Ford Thunderbird, Kaiser Darrin and Chevrolet Corvette. The designs for the stamps were first shown last year at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Élégance in Monterey, Calif.
David Failor, executive director of stamp services for the postal service, said requests from the public determined the subjects for the new stamps, with especially strong interest in the Corvette. Mr. Failor said the postal service had no current plans for more stamps depicting cars, but that could change if this set proved successful.
He said the postal service can earn up to $200 million a year from stamps that are bought by collectors but not used to mail letters. Linn's Stamp News, the leading hobby weekly, estimates there are as many as two million active stamp collectors in the United States.
The ceremony marking the first day of issue in Detroit will be attended by Art Fitzpatrick, the illustrator whose paintings are featured on the stamps. Mr. Fitzpatrick's automotive career began before World War II when, as a 20-year-old, he designed cars for Packard. Later assignments included work for coachbuilding firms, followed by a long career in advertising.
Car collecting is a passion often limited by one's time, money and garage space. A collection of cars on stamps, however, fits not only a modest budget but also a small bookshelf, although some collections grow to include hundreds of specimens.
Stamps portraying cars go back to 1901, when the United States issued the world's first stamp showing an automobile. Issued in a four-cent denomination as part of a transportation series, the black-and-brown stamps depicted a battery-powered taxi in Washington with the Capitol in the background. A small number of the stamps were printed with the center taxi image upside down; collectors pay upward of $20,000 for those stamps today. Taking advantage of their desirability to collectors, the postal service reissued them, with inverted centers, in 2001. The modern versions can be purchased for a few dollars.
Ray Cartier is the executive director of the American Topical Association, a group serving those who collect stamps according to the topic shown on them. The group provides checklists of stamps by subject to its members; the list of auto-theme stamps includes more than 100 from the United States and 2,600 from foreign countries.
Car lovers may recall American stamps of recent years with classic Cords, Duesenbergs and Pierce-Arrows, as well the tailfin of a 1957 Chevrolet and a Ford Mustang from 1965. Others issued over the years include a wood-bodied station wagon and a 1950's stock-car race.
Mr. Cartier says he thinks many people take up topical collecting as a way to acquire sizable stamp collections on modest budgets, without the pressure to pursue costly rarities. Topical collectors can define the scope of their collections as they choose, connecting stamps with other hobbies or professional interests.
Peter C. Elias, 45, of Plano, Tex., turned his passion for Audi cars into a world-spanning stamp collection. He has researched and catalogued more than 50 stamps that depict Audis or related subjects, like famous racecar drivers, from the company's history. "Stamp collecting can be much more fun than just getting the latest issues from the post office," he said. "For me, it's the thrill of the chase, and also the social side of meeting others who are passionate about their special area of collecting."
