Newest ATA unit devoted to 'Halloween Spooktacular Stamps and Stuff'

By Denise McCarty

The newest study unit of the American Topical Association, the Halloween Spooktacular Stamps and Stuff Unit, formed just a few months ago, issuing the first issue of its quarterly newsletter, The Bubbling Cauldron, in June. The unit received its charter at the National Topical Stamp Show held July 31 through Aug. 2 in Portland, Ore.

As the group’s name suggests, the members collect anything related to Halloween: from bats and black cats, to witches and wizards, to literary and popular culture favorites Harry Potter, Dracula and Sleepy Hollow.

In 1974, the United States issued a 10¢ stamp in the American Folklore series showing the headless horseman pursuing Ichabod Crane from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (Scott 1548).

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Among other U.S. stamps related to this topic are two honoring Edgar Allan Poe (Scott 986, 4377), known for poems such as The Raven and short stories The Tell-Tale Heart and The Pit and the Pendulum, among many others.

For more information on this new study unit, contact Denise Lazaroff by e-mail at deniselazaroff@gmail.com. Dues are $15 for collectors in the United States, and $20 in other countries.

The American Topical Association, with almost 3,000 members worldwide, is the largest philatelic society devoted specifically to topical collecting. It provides many benefits to its members, including a checklist database with more than 400,000 stamps, and its journal Topical Time, published six times per year. And, for those collectors who wish to learn more about specific topics, it has more than 50 study units.

These units range in alphabetical order from the Americana Unit to the Wine on Stamps Study Unit. A complete list, including contact information and websites, can be downloaded in PDF format from the ATA site.