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Monday, July 10, 2023

Who Was Henrietta Stiffi & Who Sent This Letter From The Hague ?

Who was Henrietta Stiffi and who sent this letter to her from The Hague on August 24th 1936 at 10 in the morning ?

Nazi Germany increased the duration of compulsory military service from one year to two on that date.

Henrietta Stiffi was at 131 North Tucker Street in Memphis Tennesse.

131 North Tucker was, at that time, the B'nai Brith home for the elderly, Today, it's known as Majestic Gardens at Memphis.

The Hague, or 's‑Gravenhage, is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative center and its seat of government, and while the official capital of the Netherlands is Amsterdam, The Hague has been described as the country's de facto capital. The Hague is also the capital of the province of South Holland, and the city hosts both the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.

With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

The advertising machine cancellation adorned with flowers and the The Hague circular date stamp of August 24th 1936 states, "Elke Bos Off Of Heidebrand Is Verlies Voor Stad En Land".

Translated:"Every Forest Or heath Fire Is A Loss For City And Country".

The stamps, 2.5 cent green Netheralands Scott #144, issued in 1924, and 10 cent dull violet Netherlands Scott 178 issued between 1926 and 1939, provide the postage rate to the United States.

There's no return address. Only Grand Hotel "Central" La Haye (Hollande) without the sender, perhaps to avoid the censors.

War was raging in Europe. Maybe the letter was from Ms.Stiffi's boyfriend having a "hard" time without her. If it was, he must have been very lonely in his Grand Hotel room all by himself.The letter is gone. Only the postmarked envelope remains along with the Dutch stamps.

Nazi Germany didn't invade the Netherlands until May 10th 1940. It was the start of five days of fighting with the Dutch Army.

8:01 pm cdt Comments

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For the next few weeks I'll be talking about the first day covers of ArtCraft along with everything else.

ArtCraft closed it's doors recently after 76 years of making philatelic history.

I'm predicting a sudden, salubrious escalation in the value of the ArtCraft cachet, all ArtCraft first day covers and ArtCraft portrait cards.
Including those connected to the Postal Commemorative Society

Their departure signals the end of an extraordinarily crucial, very important, highly significant and exceedingly meaningful period in philately

A mournful signal which will be heard around the world and lamented throughout the multitude of collectors

Leo and Sam August treasured their associations with the world's greatest philatelists

Leo's contributions to our hobby were significant enough to earn the coveted Luft Award and a place in the American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame.

ArtCraft has well-earned it's place in the great chronological record in the history of philately.

Their raised ink, line-engraved intaglio printed cachets rank among the most aesthetic in the world.

ArtCraft cachets are not just beautiful.

They are works of art that showcase the wonders of the world and illuminate the powers of human creativity and ingenuity.

The Coober Pedy Cover
One of the World's Great Philatelic Rarities

Could this become la pièce de résistance de toute la modern Australian philatélie ?

Coober Pedy is a town in northern South Australia. The town is sometimes referred to as the "opal capital of the world" because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. Coober Pedy is renowned for its below-ground residences,called "dugouts", which are built in this fashion due to the scorching daytime heat. The name "Coober Pedy" comes from the local Aboriginal term kupa-piti, which means "white man's hole".

Opal was found in Coober Pedy on 1 February 1915; since then the town has been supplying most of the world's gem-quality opal. Coober Pedy today relies as much on tourism as the opal mining industry to provide the community with employment and sustainability. Coober Pedy has over 70 opal fields and is the largest opal mining area in the world.

Coober Pedy - no village, no buildings, no roads, just desert, mountains dotted with boulders. A bizarre lunar landscape, but for opal seekers is the most exciting place on earth, where again every day is the true challenge, happiness and luck just a shovel width apart and where life is defined by two words: winners and losers. Coober Pedy, grab your hat, throw it into the air and where it lands start digging !

“The Scott Numbers are the copyrighted property of Amos Press Inc., dba Scott

Publishing Co. The marks Scott and Scott’s are Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office,

and are trademarks of Amos Press, Inc. dba Scott Publishing Co. No use may be

made of these marks or of material which is reprinted from a copyrighted

publication of Amos Press, Inc., without the express written permission of Amos

Press, Inc., dba Scott Publishing Co., Sidney, Ohio 45365.”