's Encyclopedia of Stamps and Philatelic Links

Specialized Collecting:
First Day Covers (FDC's)

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See Also: Americover (Stamp Show) late July or early August a World Series of Philately (APS) show dedicated to first day covers and the annual convention of the American First Day Cover Society (see below). FDC -- My Philately World Fan Ming, Shanghai, China (in English) A Well done blog rich in detail covering worldwide FDC's! - aj c.2008

There are some cachet makers that have been around a long time and as interesting information surfaces it will be noted:   ArtCraft Covers     ArtCraft covers have been produced for almost every U.S. stamp issue since the World's Fair Issue of April 1, 1939, "...There wasn't time to create a design an prepare a plate for the cachet, but Bill Decker's company had a plate with the Fair theme, for use on letterheads, and this perisphere and trylon motif (symbolizing the Fair) was the right size for a cachet. With a minimum of reworking, Al Nelson converted the letterhead plate, and thus the "first" ArtCraft engraving came into being. With reruns, only about 2,500 impressions were made, so it's by far the scarcest of them all. ..." The Washington Press (Note: See 'PoppyGun,Inc. below re: varitey catalog.)   Colorano Silk Cachets - Colorano started producing covers January 19, 1971 with Scott number 1423.  They are still producing covers to this day.  They produce a beautiful silk cachet that adheres to the envelope.   Dave Dresdner's Colorano Silk Collector's Page   Fleetwood and Fluegel Covers Fleetwood started producing covers March 4, 1941 with Scott number 903.  They are still producing covers to this day.  We have the first Fleetwood to some of the current issues ( produced by Unicover - aj.).  They started out with simple black and white cachets and now produce beautiful full color cachets.  Fluegel started producing covers June 27, 1945 with Scott number 932 and ended October 18, 1966 Scott number 1361.  They are beautiful mulitcolor cachets.  But some of Fluegels cachets are still used today with the newly released stamps. - The original link to this info page is now dead :(     Literature How to Prepare Your Own U.S. & U.N. First Day Covers - From: Washington Press (makers of ArtCraft FDC's) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_day_cover   Jr. Philatelists' First Day Cover design contest Sadly the JPA is no more! - c.2007 +- ; ajw.   RARE 2-cent Jefferson on Silkote Paper FDC "..the rarest first day cover of the 1954 Liberty Series. " - by  Ken  Lawrence One man, David Saks (Composer of The Official Songs of Memphis "One Last Bridge" & "In Memphis" ) says he has The World's Greatest Postal Collectible - the first FDC issued for the Elvis Presley stamp! And a few philatelic resources.   The Story of my FDC collecting yep, I collect. aj   Catalogs, Books and Supplies From Amazon.com Now, while some of the following may be out of print they're good information and you can search Amazon.com for 'First Day Covers' related books. Cachet Identifier of U. S. Cacheted First Day Covers, Mellone New Zealand first day and early use covers as of February 1992, Thackery   Noble's Catalog of Cacheted Inaugural Covers by Edward Krohn Box 357309, Gainsville, FL 32635, USA ????????????? Not listed c.2009 try Google See Also: FIP Covers : Inaugural Covers   From: FDC Publishing Co. (and alternate URL at eBay POB 206, Stewartsville, NJ 08886 - E-mail Voice (908) 479-4614 Fax (908) 479-6158 First Day Cover Catalogues - to help Price, Identify, and Organize... Scott/Mellone First Day Cover Catalogue (includes US First Class Postage) - "... the Price Guide that is the 'National Standard'. Mellone's Planty Photo Encyclopedia of Cacheted FDC's - (10 volumes) "Photos of every known printed cachet ... 1901-36 ... Scott#'s 294 - 784" More   PoppyGun, Inc. (alt URL) ArtCraft and PCS* Bargin Box Specials @ $1.00 (-) P.O. Box 762, Rockville, MD 20848-0762 E-mail: Marty Severe: "I also produce and sell the ArtCraft variety catalog which lists over 12,000 ArtCraft collectibles and contains prices." It is entitled "The Comprehensive Listing of ArtCraft Covers; Their Varieties and Values (1939-1996)" [5th ed.], covers U.S., UN, and foreign FDCs as well as miscellaneous event and topical covers. It "documents all known Artcraft covers and varieties produced by the Washington Press (Washington Stamp Exchange) (including those marketed by the * Postal Commemorative Society (PCS))" Retails for $29.50 + $3.50 postage. Dealers can inquire. (c. 2000)   Cachet makers, clubs, subscription services ... (Note: many stamp issuing entities (countries and agencies) offer FDC's...   American First Day Cover Society (AFDCS) The AFDCS also offers Expertization of American FDC's See Also: Dealer listing for AFDCS, .us-OH for address. Claude C. Ries Chapter  - AFDCS - So. Calif.   Association of GB First Day Collectors Check it out!   Brookman The CoverSpecialists Home of the 'Brookman Price Guide' and The Brookman Times "..packed with articles by famous stamp & cover writers such as Les Winick, Lloyd deVries, Wayne Youngblood, Gretchen Moody, George Griffenhagen, and David Straight. Along with article reprints from the American Air Mail Society's Airpost Journal. The Brookman Times also has ads, and special offers from leading philatelic companies like; Brookman Barrett & Worthen, Artcraft Cover Society, Champion Stamp Co., Henry Gitner, Eric Jackson, Brookman Stamp Co., Alan Miller, Nutmeg Auctions, Gary Posner, Regency/Superior, and others." Artmaster, Inc. Home to Artmaster, House of Farnam and Cover Craft Cachets. P.O. Box 7156 Louisville, KY 40257-0156 1-888-200-6466 FAX: 502-587-2314 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. EST Monday - Friday a/o 2000 the set a 'Brookman Cover Company' at brookmancovers.com to take over the FDC division, "This acquisition gives Artmaster customers full access to a complete line of general back issue First Day Covers, including specialty cachets such as Collins, Fluegel, Roesseler, Barbour and Heritage. : Brookman Cover Company PO BOX 6208 Louisville, KY 40206 USA 888-200-6466 Contact Bill Toutant for the best selection of past issue covers anywhere -- we have it all!" (this apparently did not work out..)   Hawai'i Post - "Hawai'i's personal delivery service" A 'Local Post' on the island of O'ahu Created by Paul Edney (out for the year 2007 having been deployed to Iraq); who owns 'Stamp Shows Worlwide and 'The Stamp Yellow Pages Directory' - 'Hawai'i Post' is a urgent delivery service in Waikiki which issues its own 'Local Post' stamps for prepayment and is one one of the few that have offered collectors the opportunity to get its stamps and covers from the first issue. (8/31/01) Contact Paul's E-mail Aristocrat Cachets  (dead link 2/2000-) P.O. Box 450 Seaford, De. 19973 E-Mail still '404' 8/2001; email sent to inquire 8/22/2001   Bill Pertz's Stamp Section And don't miss Bill's "Seal-A Meal" Stamp Mounting System .. Interesting person; inspired prisoners at AZ State Pen to make FDC covers ... and made a few of his own (which I collect). He collects Germany. E-mail   Cashat's Cachets "I personally design, hand draw, and color each cachet, thus making each cachet an individual piece of artwork. When designing my covers I try to think of a design that always relates to the stamp issue and might add some historical value to the cover. Unfortunately, since this is mainly a hobby, I don't always have the time and resources to create a cachet for every US issue. E-mail http://cajuncachet.hypermart.net/ ; '404' c.2008 Gateway Stamp Company, St. Lousis, MO, USA Tom and Rose Wiley Autographed sports and politically related cachets.. http://www.imall.com/stores/gatewaystamp '404' c.2008 http://www.gatewaystamp.com '404' c.2012   Geesee Cachets Gary & Sharolyn Chicoine (she'-quin) Geesee Cachets 207 Lyons Road Geneva, NY 14456   Hobby Link First Day Covers and Stamps P.O. Box 17604, Boulder, CO 80308-0604 Telephone: 303-417-9007, Toll Free: (888)325-5907 E-mail (note: from Home page there is a link to 'Doris Gold' FDC's.   JC Cachet - WWII Cachets, Autographs, Stamps, First Day Covers, Philatelics "For those who wound up here not knowing what a cover/cachet is..." E-mail (no postal address posted)   Jonal Art Covers/cachets  - very expensive but nice - E-mail   JLP Cacheted First Day Covers Album Pages, Art Pages, Blank Pages Cacheted Covers, Binders and Dust Cases C/O - Custom Impressions P.O. Box 2286, La Grange, IL 60525-8386, U.S.A. Phone (708) 579-1447     FAX (708) 579-1473 E-mail   Lehmann Christmas Test Seal Covers (incl FDCs) Douglas K. Lehmann, @   Christmas Seal and Charity Stamp Society   NJM Cachets "Colorful Limited Edition Hand Painted First Day Covers" Nathan J. Matteson, President 817 Concord Blvd. Jackson, MI 49202-2909 E-mail     Pugh Cachets, Inc - Hand Painted First Day Covers "America's Most Popular Cachet Maker" - Exercise his offer of a free hand painted cover! - I did. Pugh Cachets, Inc. PO Box 8789, The Woodlands, TX 77387-8789 Tel 281-362-0430, Fax 281-298-1583   RKA (& Dynamite) Covers "Dealers of quality U.S. covers which include First Day Covers, Postal History, Air Mail Flights, Zeppelins, Navals, Advertising, RPOs, Hand-Painted and our own lines of First Day Covers." Also holds a bi-monthly Mail Bid Sale. (nice people -   - I ordered HR-7; a hand painted baseball cover  aj) RKA Covers, PO Box 6508, Lafayette, IN 47903-6508 Tel.:1-888-757-7527, Fax: 1-765-477-2508 E-mail, Accepts PayPal Whitecraft Cachets - from WhiTech (now FDCUSA) John White, Collector/Dealer/Cachet Maker PO Box 888, Pinebluff, NC 28373, USA Tel.: 910-944-1169, E-mail Personal specialty: First Day Covers of North Carolina and Fire Service issues Produces Baseball FDC's, This "is my cachetmaking venture that started with the 1983 Babe Ruth stamp..." - I have one - he has done only 3 baseball fdc's a/o 1/99 , Expanded site 3/2000 - dealing heavy in FDC's In an e-mail updating (c.201105) his URL John notes, "From about 2001 to 2006 I was fairly active in adding cachets to uncacheted envelopes, all clearly identified as Add-Ons on the back – "FDCUSA". Time permitting I would like to get back to that. ...Time permitting (;0) I plan to make public my image database of well over 80,000 FDCs from the 1920's to now. Shortly I will be able to generate color catalogues for these as well.", John White, May 14, 2011. old: www.mindspring.com/~jwhite/fdcusa/fdcusa-home.html A.G. Bradbury (Adrian Bradbury) aka: BFDC (British First Day Covers) 3 Link Road, Leicester LE2 3RA, UK Tel +44 (0) 116 270 5367, Fax 0116 270 9377 brad@bfdc.co.uk Produces & sells British Commonwealth First Day Covers   1st Day Covers.Net - from Capitol Marketing, @ - .us- ? (10/2001) Numbered Limited Edition FDC's no postal address listed, & http://www.firstdaycovers.net '404' c.2009 (domain for sale!)     Dealers  - lesser or greater   Philatélie - Marcophilie - FDC Soie (What is their right name?) Page d'accueil - FDC's from Belgium and other philatelic resources!   Barry and Gerry Covers ('404' c.2009) Says he has over 2,000 first edition FDC's in stock! (Assembled the original House of Farnam Collection) 4 Rosemary Rd. East Brunswick, NJ 08816 732-238-2967 (c.2001), 732-257-7967 (c.2009) E-mail (?)   Brookman, Barrett & Worthen (alt URL claims to be biggest w/FDC's!* Has a 'Clipper' & 'Zepplin' search engine, Publishes the Brookman Price Guide 10 Chestnut Drive, Bedford, NH 03110 Phone: 603-472-5575, Fax 8795 E-mail, E-mail2 ASDA, APS, AFDCS 1-800-332-3383 *note: Artmaster (above) claims & seems to have taken over their FDC division (8/2001)   Bob Patkin - Quality U.S. Postal History and First Day Covers For Collectors P.O. Box 186, Georgetown, MA 01833-0286 1-978-887-3399 or 1-800-222-7184 Fax 1-978-887-6326 E-mail: bpat@bob-patkin.com ; ng, New: bpat(at)shore.net   Edward Kosciolek's First Day Covers deals in : House of Farnam, Colorano Covers - 20% OFF General First Day Covers - 30% OFF First Cachets - 30% OFF Inauguration Covers - 30% OFF E-mail   Joe Frasketi's Space Covers Joseph J. Frasketi, Jr. 2019 Maravilla Circle Fort Myers, FL 33901-7232 Tel 1-941-936-5640 E-mail   Scott CD-ROM catalog - A Review by Al Gore, ex USA V.P., PCSG ( E-mail Al Gore) Sadly, the PCSG has disbanded a/o 2007 - ajw. (CD catalog includes listings for FDC's) J. Reeves & Co. P O Box 407, Huntingdon PA 16652 2529 Warm Springs Ave., Huntingdon, PA 16652-0219 jreevesandcompany@hotmail.com Tel.: 800-701-7091, 814-599-9544, 814-643-5427   Polypro Sleeves - E-mail: Kraze Ed - he sells 'em - for postcards but .... Some Auctions James T. McCusker, Inc. (FDC's - one of the best) 804 Broadway Ranyham, MA. 02767-1797 Toll Free: 800-852-0076 Bus: 508-822-7787 Fax: 508-822-1230 E-mail FDC Auction Central (from James McCusker) is eBay style   eBay Listings: First Day Covers - Pre 1930 eBay Listings: First Day Covers - 2001 to now My Sales Page    Powered by WebRing. Table of Contents   | Specialized Collecting   | Topical Collecting Indexes   |   © A.J. Ward Submit       Help Build This Resource FDC page (Est. 5/10/2001)   ?? Specialized & Topical Pages Est. 3/2001 Free counters provided by Honesty.com. A highly rated and useful utility - aj. FREE DOWNLOAD! FREE TRIAL!

Last update 09/18/2011.