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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 1962)
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON THURSDAY, DECEMBER , issl D 13 Post Office Department Floods Market With Printing Error . By DAVID D. LEWIS Washington - fllHl - A West German reporter glanced at a U. S. newspaper, shook his head and said: "Only in America could it happen. With Cuba, Berlin and India to worry about-what upsets you, people is a silly little up side down stamp." Sent to the United States to cover the Cuban crisis and Chancellor Konrad Adenau ers Berlin talks with Presi dent Kennedy, he found him self absorbed in reading about the uproar over the Dag Ham marskjold stamp mi?prints- both accidental and Inten tional. Perhaps the visitor was right; perhaps not. But one thing is certain: there was more at stake in Postmaster General J. Edward Day's de cision to flood the market with unlimited, deliberate misprints than a few thousand dollars profit for fortunate finders of the original errors. Public Service When Day decided to wipe out a couple of budding small fortunes, he was not being vengeful or trying to cover up an error. He was not try ing to cash in on it by selling more stamps. The postmaster general said he was "looking out for the little guy, the amateur and the kids who collect stamps. We print stamps as a public service-not to create or de flate fortunes." "Now, let's gel something straight, he said. "The stamp business is one thing, and sometimes it isn't connected with collecting. The business is for dealers and wealthy col lectors for the most part. Most stamp collectors never see a dealer. "We have to avoid contrib uting to the business end in any unfair way, while not in terfering with the hobby." Viewed in Day's terms, the decision to issue additional, deliberate mi.prints revolved on one question: Where dors private right stop and public right start? Day, a stamp collector him self, decided in favor of the mass of collectors. He put it this way: Not Lottery "We're not in the stamp lot tery business. We certainly sympathize with the few luc ky finders of the original mis prints. But we arc more sym pathetic to the wishes of the millions of other collectors whose ambition it is to have one of every stamp we issue, especially the commemora tive issues- our real art work." Dealers, editorial writers and the general public split on whether Day chose the right course, but he won his point where it counted-with the collectors. In the three hours and 45 minutes the deliberately mis printed stamps were on sale Nov. 18. more than 375,000 were snapped up-mostly by collectors who stood in line for hours to buy them. The rest of the first order for one million extra misprints was spoken for in telephone, tele gram and Irller orde-s. Two noted stamp experts were diametrically opposed in their reaction to the deliber ate misprints. Few Benefited .Jacques Hinkus, head of stamp sales for 39 department stores-including Gimbel's of New York City-said "it is wrong. Finding something dif ferent is part of the joy of collecting. Why destroy it?" Peter G, Keller, executive officer for the American Stamp Dealers association, said "1 understand the post office department's point of virw. One, two or three peo ple have benefited fabulously by the mistake and other peo ple are not able to get copies of the stamp." But he said "the controversy will add val ue to the original misprints." James F. Kelleher, special assistant to the postmaster general for Information and philatelic star,j) matters, said "With U due respect and Causing trouble on the flam- OPEN MONDAY THRU SATURDAY 'TIL 9 P.M. Pikrim Prc-vues Long-Sleeve Sport Shirt PM I Sears Gift Price You'll mike smart savings when you choose from our vast selection of sport shirhTin assorted colors and sizes. 75 rayon, 25 acetate, completely washable. . f V V A' t f ix, W 100 --tfr- SS I fMJftA f crewNeck ml''WM w -.Ik ii Merry Christmas yrilh Gifts from Sears! !fSfSS ..w " ii t v 1 1 n v m m i Toy land .1 1 W h : ,-3., . Reg. 4.49 ,.v J, El I V m BABY DOLLS i' Vif f Drinks, turn- j J' t eyes; dcrat out- JLi' 1 -J (us. fiyited haw, J FJ?A l bt wvt, Pt&2l& Head-Turning SWEATEKS on Sears Reveiving Charge Account Handsome cable stitch Orion SayeiieS acrylic. While, black, blue, beige or yellow. Ma chine washable, dryable. , . . Siies 34-40. rJ99 NO MONEY DOWN on Seart Revolving Charge Delightful classic cardigan, !! alight with mock pearls, rhinestones and crystai beads. 3" NO MONEY DOWN consideration for our critics we have to judje success or failure on the response oi the general public." "We knew that it we had destroyed the hobby and the interest in these stamps-there would be no iarge public de mand," Kellrher said. "This siami; - the intentional misprint-sold like hot cakes and it was the people we were trjing to protect who bought most of them." Will the reprinting of the Hammarskjold inversions end the chance of rare U. S. stamps ever getting into pub lic sa!c-cr being permitted to stay rare? Keiicher says so. Many Variations 'We're not trying to take the kick out oi a chance dis covery, he maintained. "Lots of little variations occur and will occur, plenty to satisfy most collectors' curiosity." Although neither Day nor Kelleher would say so, it was known they also were trying to forestall the slim possibil ity that someone connected with the printing and distri bution of U. S. postage might try to deliberately create a rarity. Kelleher added, hr ever. There definitely is no suspi cion that this occurred In the Hammarskjold misprints. It was just a matter of a couple of sheets of paper being slip ped backwards into the press for the yeHew overlay Impression," The mulij-color Giori press Is used for the commemora tive issues. More than one billion stamps have been printed on it is the last five years. And more than one trillion one thousand billienj U. S. stamps had been pr ced in the 44 years since the last in verted issue-the air mail stamp with an airplane flying upside down-slipped through inspection and onto the mar- ket. This one, oy the way, is now worth about $10,000. New Process 'It's quite possible that we'll never have another in version on the Giori press," Kelleher said. "A new process has been worked out that will permit multiple color printing in most Instances, without the necessity of two press runs. "And the Bureau el KB graving and Printing has tightened Its examination pro cedures drasttaatly The multiple color ability i of the Glori press has both ad- vantages and disadvantages, 1 '"' SEARS GIFT PRICE It A mm Noveltv-Knit Jackets tight, yet warm. You'll like these new styled-for-spring jackets. Made of hand-washable 100 laminaied orlon acrylic and lined wilh 100 acetate. Choose from tan, blue or green in sizes 36 to 46. DuPont Reg. T.M. f.Ne Merchandise (.in .rritiiraifft H Thr riv vav 10 pin. r mnnr on ifltir lil. f-i- :h- iV' , VI I'' IV wtmw Bulky cjhle Cardigan with mock tuftlcneck. Of Ion1 jcrylie in white, biack or tight bfuc. f99 99 Bufkv nbbed cardinal with novcity rck stitch club collar. Or- red, Qfild or whit. marskjold issue was the peed for two turns through the press to keep the black outer band lrom running into the yellow highlights where Use portrait touched the top edge. But the color-mixing fea ture will be employed en the next commemorative issue to produce a remarkable variety of tones and shades for the sunset background in the re production of Winsiow Horn er" renting, "Breezing Up." The Homer stamp, ito be dedicated Dec. 15 at Glouces ter, Mass., will be the second in a series of commemorative on American art designed to put such a work in the hands of every American who has four cents (or a nickel after Jan. 7, First in the series was the Frederic Remington paint, ing, "Smoke Signal," issued 13 months ago. Sin of Dots Lost in the confusion was the fact that the Hammsrsk. joid stamp was printed in a revolutionary technique. The portrait was engraved with a series of tiny dots, rather than the broken lines formerly usect for steel stamp engrav tag? The result was hailed by stamp experts as dramatic success, creating b more soft ly human picture and paving the way for elimination of th so-called "halo effect" previ ously used to keep multiple colors from running Into each other by separating them with s thin, white space. Stamp fans will be glad to know that the confusion caus ed by the Hammarskjold mis prints has not dampened the postmaster general's enthusi- asm for dramatic results. We're not going to back off on our efforts to push the horizons oi American stamp art because of this fluke. Day said. "The Homer stamp will be out soon Bnd we have more surprises in the works," Dav has been full of pleas ant surprises for the stamp Buying public. Two examples were the project Mercury stamp commemorating Col. John H. Glenn Jr.'s earth orbit-on sale minutes after he safely landed; and the first Christmas stamp that came out earlier this month already is bidding lor sales recorij. As one long-time postal of ficial put if. "The stamp busi ness used to be nice and neat and quiet before Ed Bay came to town. But these last two . years have been exciting and tun." ' GIFT SL1PPE1IS Plaid cotton corduroy. BU ith bron or reH Men's, boys', 1-12 Soft leather open with Guardtr solev Brown or black. Sizes 6-12. Tan fl!ot leather with red cotton tUnnet linmq fVen's, bcyi , 4-12. Baadtd, fur cuffed motv Ftv cotef. 8-3, worren't 4-' FMmm mm A 8fu, pmk, ?d( Suet 5-9. Shop at Sears and Save Satisfaction Guarantped or Your Money Back SEARS 50! . JACKSON ST. PHONE 773-6661 FREE DELIVERY STORE HOURSt MCONDAY THRU SATURDAY Tit 9 P.M. yf i REDUCE VALOE - Leonard Sherman of Irvington, N. who purchased sheet of irregular four-cent Dbr Hammar skjold commemorative stamps, didn't wind up with s wind fall aflcr all. Pest office flooded the market with printing error to drastically reduce value of original mistake. UPI photo) Christmas Tree Custom Revived With New Twist if you've a yen to make this j a really "old - fashioned" : Christmas, the best way to be-; gin is to go out and grf your j tree the way our forefathers did! Co into the "forest," cut it down, and then haul it home. Yei, today there are hun dreds nf American tree farms and nurseries, where this old family custom is being revived with a new twist. Csrafuliy Cultivated The difference is that these modern Christmas trees, in stead of growing wild, are carefully cultivated by profes sional growers. Farmers and nurserymen find that they can lower their costs and build customer Interest by allow ing a family to choose Christmas ire while it is still growing. Customers usually come out to select their tree in Novem ber or early December, have it tagged, then pick it tip a week or so before Christmas. Stay Frth Longtr There are some places where you tan have the lun of cutting down your own tree with a saw or ax provided by the grower. 5n others, the tree Ms dug up lor yo and ihtn put in a bucket or wrapped in burlap. Trees selected In this way stay fresh and green longer than those that are cut down far in advance of their sale. Too, prices are usually a little lower tlian they would be si the usual street corner sales tot. Costs, however, vary wide ly, depending largely on lo cale but also on the tree's size, shape, thickness, etc. Trees that are balled and buriapped (dug out with tteir roots intact, suitable for trans planting) are mora expensive. To find farms and nurseries that offer this choose your own service, contact your county agricultural agent. Or just drive along a country road outside your town and look for the signs. NAME'S THE SAME Charlotte. N.C. - - Tla names of about 23 streets hers) arc being changed in the in terest of public safely. Tir trucks were recently sent ta McArthur avenue when t house nn McArthur street caught lira.
