Stamp club banquet and anniversary souvenirs

U.S. Stamp Notes — By John M. Hotchner

I have a fondness for stamp club banquet and anniversary souvenirs that include U.S. stamps.

A recently acquired example marking the 50th anniversary of the Springfield Stamp Club is shown nearby. The club was founded in 1895 per its seal handstamped in the center of the ½¢ Benjamin Franklin stamp (Scott 803) of the 1938 Presidential, or Prexie, issue.

The card is dated Feb. 8, 1945, at the bottom. However, the location of the Springfield Stamp Club is not identified on the card.

There are many Springfields in the United States, but not many that have a stamp club that dates back to 1895. The dog in the center of its seal likely gives a hint, but I’m mystified.

Dipping into my ½¢ covers folder, I found an unusual 1951 international surface-rate cover to the Netherlands. The 5¢ rate is paid by 10 ½¢ Prexie series stamps.

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The assistance of a postal clerk at the St. Paul, Minn., Como Postal Station must have been requested as the 10 stamps are canceled in a most unusual manner with seven strikes of a “canceled” handstamp.