History

CENTRAL FLORIDA STAMP CLUB – HISTORY
Introduction      There are very few stamp clubs that start writing their history when they first form.  However, when the vision in the club reaches the point to see the value of knowing their history, then much of the earlier knowledge may be lost or misplaced and difficult to obtain.  Since this is the case for our club, the current attempt will have to be updated as more information is found.  Thus it will be just like an ongoing collection or exhibit.      It should be noted that we do not know if this is first time our club has attempted a history.  While the vision may or may not have been present sometime in the past, we do know that the vision has existed since about 2006.      In considering how to approach this project, it is easy to see how writing a history of the club mirrors the stamp collecting experience.  Stamp enthusiasts come in three basic levels.  On one level, the accumulator gathers material, but does not attempt to make order from it.  This can be from procrastination or because the material is too incomplete to show its history.  The current project has been affected in this way, unfortunately because of both causes.      On the collecting level, the stamp collector gathers the material and orders it in some manner.  The collector is probably aware of the general history of the subjects of the stamps, but history associated with the specific material may or may not be considered.  It is from this level that we need to consider what to collect for a history of the club.  We can collect 1) recollections from current and past members who are still living, 2) minutes, membership lists, and other documents the club has produced, 3) references in other publications about the club, 4) correspondence between members and between members and the club, and 5) artifacts (covers, cachets, etc.) the club has created.      The words “philately” and “stamp collecting” are often used synonymously.   While the philatelist also gathers and orders material, it is the work to learn and publish or exhibit the specific history associated with the collected material that makes one a true philatelist.  Perhaps it is from true philatelists that the vision for a club history comes.      It is a bit ironic that collectors of history fail to keep a history of their club.  But to be fair to the people who initiate a stamp club, the club is at its simplest at the beginning – a group of people getting together out of a common interest in stamp collecting.      The philatelist’s vision is needed to produce a meaningful history for the club.  The main areas of concern are to discern the growth of the club, the changes in its vision and direction, and its successes and failures in fostering and promoting various interests.  It is this high level we hope to attain in this history. Beginnings      The Central Florida Stamp Club, with Francis Ferguson as President, A. Stephen Patrick as Vice President – Programs, Robert Dowrick as Vice President – Operations, Josh Furman as Secretary, and Jim Archbold as Treasurer, is 73 members strong at the beginning of 2010.  But where did this club have its beginnings?  Who were the people and when did it start?      Since accurate information is difficult to find, answering these questions becomes like trying to find the first use of a given postage stamp.  For more recent stamps this may be an erroneous use earlier than the first day of issue.  For earlier stamps it may actually be a date after the first day of issue.  Either way, tracing down the beginning information about the club may take similar forms of deduction.  As more information comes to light, the inception date can be moved earlier.      The American Philatelic Society (APS) has records of club memberships.  A couple of calls got information that the club joined the APS in July, 1951 and were active until August, 1961.  The club then rejoined in August, 1968 and has been an active chapter since that time.  Additionally the club joined the Society of Philatelic Americans (SPA) in June, 1951 and maintained membership until December, 1983 when the SPA disbanded.  This establishes that the club has been in continuous existence from at least 1951 to present.      The APS also furnished a copy of the club application for membership from June, 1951, Figures 1a & 1b,
Figure 1a		which also reveals that Ray Von Klippstein was the President and Lawrence A. Kittinger was the Secretary at that time.  The club met in the lounge of the Florida Power Corporation on Park Avenue, Winter Park, Florida.	Figure 1b
Another way to determine club existence is to find artifacts (covers, caches, and mailings) the club created.  The late Herb McNeil supplied the cover in Figure 2, commemorating the centennial of the Orlando Post Office on May 30, 1950.  This indicates that the club existed on or before May 30, 1950.  At present, this is the earliest known artifact of the Central Florida Stamp Club.  As earlier artifacts surface, the date can be pushed earlier.	Figure 2
The late Wade Beery Jr. indicated that he had heard of a stamp club in Orlando as early as 1933.  Another source, monthly bulletins of the Florida Federation of Stamp Clubs (FFSC), sheds light on his recollection.                   “… a member of the old Orlando Philatelic Society…Oliver Joe Bailey…The Orlando Philatelic Society has                 long since been disbanded, but a few of its members now belong to local clubs…”1  Wade Beery Jr. most likely heard about this club, rather than the Central Florida Stamp Club.  Thinking that the two clubs probably did not overlap and that the disbandment date for the Orlando Philatelic Society might give an earliest possible date for the formation of the Central Florida Stamp Club, APS records were again searched.  No information on the Orlando Philatelic Society was found in APS or SPA records.      Having seen volumes 3 – 6 of the FFSC monthly bulletins (May, 1953 to April 1957), the bulletins appear to have been started in May, 1951.  The FFSC was organized in 1949.  Was the Central Florida Stamp Club a charter member of the FFSC?  At present this is not known.      The FFSC bulletins also give us knowledge of one charter member of the Central Florida Stamp Club.                  “At our February 18th[, 1954] meeting, Dr. Frederick L. Lewton, a charter member of the Central Florida                 Stamp Club, gave us a talk on some U.S. patents granted for stamps and canceling devices.”2      Francis Ferguson states that he has seen references to the Central Florida Stamp Club as having been in existence as early as 1944 or 1945 in the Florida Federation of Stamp Clubs monthly bulletins.  When this information is corroborated, it will be quoted and footnoted. Precursor Orlando Area Stamp Clubs      Awareness of the stamp clubs that existed in the Orlando/Central Florida area prior to the Central Florida Stamp Club may also give clues as to the earliest probable date the Central Florida Stamp Club may have been formed.   The assumption being made is that, most probably, two separate clubs did not coexist in the Orlando area at the same time since there were probably not enough collectors to support two separate clubs.  If evidence of two clubs coexisting at the same time comes to light, this assumption will have to be dropped.  The graphic in Appendix B shows a timeline of when various organizations existed.      The existence of another club does not prove but only suggests that the Central Florida Stamp Club probably was not in existence.  Here the evidence is being used to close in on a time frame to search for the beginnings of the Central Florida Stamp Club.      Exceptions could be either a specialized club in addition to a general club or a split of a club over differences of opinion.  The second condition will be discussed in a later section.      As mentioned before, we know of one club, The Orlando Philatelic Society, which predated the Central Florida Stamp Club.  While we know very little about this club, what we do know may help.  As mentioned before, we know that a member of the Central Florida Stamp Club, Oliver Joe Bailey, had been a member of the disbanded Orlando Philatelic Society.  In a listing copied from “The Philatelic Almanac” compiled in 1936, the Orlando Philatelic Society was the only stamp club located in the Orlando area of the 9 that were listed as active in 1936 for the entire state of Florida.  The club met on the 1st and 3rd Fridays at the University Club.  The officers listed for 1936 were David B. Russell as secretary and Horace L. Jacobs as president.3      Wade Beery Jr. said, “Horace Jacobs was the Bill Bomar of his time – the biggest moving force in the club in the 1930s and 1940s”.  His reference to the leadership of William Bomar Sr. (1975-1995) indicates that Horace Jacobs probably held leadership positions in the Orlando Philatelic Society for many years.  His recollection that the club existed in 1933 is possible, but not proven at this point.      The only other Central Florida area stamp club on the 1936 list was in Daytona Beach.  St. Petersburg was the only city with two separate stamp clubs, a general club and a specialized Airmail Society.  Nearby by today’s standards but a separate metropolitan area, Tampa also had a general club.      A. Stephen Patrick supplied the picture postcard in Figure 3 that marks the dedication of the new downtown post offices.4  The card shows that the cachet was sponsored by the Orange County Philatelic Society.   Possibly this is another name or a renaming of the Orlando Philatelic Society.  Perhaps this was another club existing after (or at the same time with) the Orlando Philatelic Society.  So little is known, that no conclusion can be safely stated.   Using the premise we started with, the scant information we have suggests the time span to search for the inception of the Central Florida Stamp Club should be between mid-1941 and May, 1950.
Figure 3
The First Golden Age Whenever the Central Florida Stamp Club was started, by 1953-54 time period, it was a vibrant and large club with many interests.   In comparison to the club present, the club in the early 1950s was moving in similar directions with a few differences. Meetings at this time were held on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month.  The program schedule consisted of speakers, auctions and trading but in a different mix that at present.                 “One meeting each month devoted to trading and the other to an auction except four meetings per year                 when speakers are scheduled, followed by a social hour.”5  There were fewer formal programs and a greater emphasis on trading and auctions during this time. The club was a member of the FFSC at this time and wrote relatively regular submissions for the FFSC monthly bulletin.  The election of club officers at the January 7, 1954 was reported.6  This report shows that officers were elected in January of an even year.  This suggests (but doesn’t prove) that the same by-laws for officer elections may have remained largely unchanged during the life of the club.  The names and positions have been added to Appendix A (note that there are huge holes from 1956 – 1973).   Appendix A has been set up under the assumption that officers are elected every two years in a January meeting of an even numbered year. The membership of the club at this time was even larger that the current membership and was the largest stamp club in Florida at the time.                “H. V. Condict, Chairman of Florex 1953, speaking for the host club [Central Florida Stamp Club] which                 now has 136 members and is the largest in the state, said…”7 It is also apparent that the club was involved in hosting shows at this time.  Florex, at this time the annual show of the FFSC, was hosted by different of the FFSC clubs each year (most often by clubs on the gulf coast).  1953 was the first year Florex was hosted by the Central Florida Stamp Club in Orlando.  The club also was involved with other smaller shows around the Orlando area as indicated by a comment about exhibits in the Hobby Show in Winter Park.8 The club was also interested in getting youth involved in stamp collecting.  Rather than making them part of the main club, they met in their own club.                “For several years we have been trying to find a leader for a group of junior collectors and last year this                 was accomplished.  The Philatelic traders and Trappers Club with four members as a beginning,                now numbers eighteen enthusiastic girls and boys from ten to fourteen years of age who are getting a                 sound foundation in the rudiments of stamp collection under the able leadership of Charles Libman.                   They gather every other Wednesday evening at Mr. Libman’s home…”9  Later the name was changed to “The Orlando Junior Stamp Club” and they met in the junior members homes.10 They were also interested in starting a club reference library and had found a place to house materials.  They envisioned it to be made up of books, pamphlets, and catalogs.11
Next Up:  The Dark Age To Be Continued
Footnotes      1FFSC monthly bulletin, Vol. 6, Nov. 1956, pp 8-9.      2FFSC monthly bulletin, Vol. 3, April 1954, p 2.      3FFSC monthly bulletin, Vol. 7, June 1957, pp 11-12.      4CFSC Newsletter, August 2004, p 2.      5FFSC monthly bulletin, Vol. 3, May 1953, p 2.      6FFSC monthly bulletin, Vol. 3, February 1954, p 2.      7FFSC monthly bulletin, Vol. 3, December 1953, p 2.      8FFSC monthly bulletin, Vol. 3, March 1954, p 4.      9FFSC monthly bulletin, Vol. 3, February 1954, p 2.      10FFSC monthly bulletin, Vol. 3, May 1954, pp 3-4.      11FFSC monthly bulletin, Vol. 3, June 1954, pp 2-3.                                                                                                                                                   V0.6 – 7.3.2010

Appendix A:  Central Florida Stamp Club Officers

Appendix B:  Timeline of Stamp Organizations in Central Florida