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Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Who Was William Ray Flesher & Why Was He In Japan In 1948 ?

I discovered these pictures in my collection of whatsis today, and the obituary below on the web.

Who was William "Bill" Flesher ?

This a photo of Bill Flesher (center with hat) possibly with Tokyo Imperial Univeristy's faculty wihile working for General Douglas MacArthur in 1948.

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After some research I discovered Professor Flesher's obituary.

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I also have this photograph of Bill on Christmas day with friends in Yokohama, Japan.

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And the typed inscription on the back of the photograph.

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I believe this is the same Dr.Flesher of Tokyo Imperial University. This photograph of Tokyo Imperial was taken in 1925. The entrance is identical to the group photograph taken in 1948. It's known as known as Yasuda Auditorium.

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There are sixteen Nobel Prize Laureates from Tokyo Imperial University. To read about them clck here.

Along with the many great scholars and faculty members in the astounding photograph, Bill Flesher should be remembered. I'd like to know if Bill had friends in Memphis as I discovered the photograph among the papers of Memphis artist Louis Clericus (1856-1934), and well-known Memphis chemist and socialist Louis Phillipi (1925-1998),  of which I treasure and serve as the dutiful caretaker. http://davidsaks.com/2016.01.01_arch.html#/1452806484073 & https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/144867289/louis-victor-philippi

4:52 pm cst          Comments

Sunday, December 27, 2020

Philatelic Fraud - Dirty Deeds & A Warning !

Here are some links about dealers and auction houses
who brazenly cheated buyers and sellers.

Other cases of philatelic fraud,
including fraudulent expertising certificates, are here as well.

This is just the tip of the philatelic fraud iceberg:

 

Stamp Collecting Is The World's Greatest Hobby !

It's No Longer A Hobby If You've Been Cheated
By A Dealer Or An Auction Firm !

Instead Of Being A Hobby
It Became A Crime And You Became A Victim Of Fraud
When A Smooth Talking Dealer Or An Auction Firm
Tricked You
Into BelievingThat A Worthless Piece Of Paper Had Value !
 
Or Even Worse When An Auction House Promises That You'll 
Receive Healthy Proceeds From Their Next Auction,
Advances You A Small Fraction of Your Collections Value
As A Measure Of Goodwill, Runs Off With Your Collection, And You Never See Another Dime After Swindlers
Cherry Pick Your Collection And Deplete It's Original Value !
 
False Promises Of Likely Prices Realized Are A Common Ruse With Auction Firms, Many Double-Dipping The Sale With Ridiculously High Seller And Buyer Premium Fee Percentages Leaving the Seller With Little If Any Proceeds From The Sale !

Many Stamp Dealers Have Been Prosecuted For Fraud
And Deceptive Business Practices !
 
They Will Lie To You To Get Your Stamps !
 
Dealers And Auction Firms Have Been Known To Prey Upon The Elderly, Families Who Inherit Collections And Know Little Of The Value,  And Despairing Sellers Showing Extreme Urgency Because Of
The Utmost Need For Basic Human Resources !

Few In The Criminal Cases Were Vindicated, Many Facing Brutal Penalties, Fines And Prison Sentences.

 
The World Is Full Of Con Artists
Working In The Stamp Business !
 
There Are Many Integrity Minded Auction Firms And Dealers Who Belong To The American Stamp Dealers Association,
The American Philatelic Society,
And Other Notable Philatelic Organizations.
 
They Advertise In Linn's Stamp News And The American Philatelist, Both Magazines Possessed Of The Highest Integrity And Moral Standards Of Which They Fiercely Protect  !
 
Be Vigilant ! Be Careful !

Always Do Your HomeWork Before You Purchase Stamps
Either As A Hobby Or As An Investment !
 
    When Buying From A Dealer Or Auction
"Caveat Emptor" Let The Buyer Beware !
 
When Selling To A Dealer Or Consigning For Auction
"Caveat Venditor" Let The Seller Beware !
 
 Never Forget It Or You'll Always Regret It !

Enjoy Your Hobby !
 
-David Saks-
 
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François Barraud (1899-1934)

Le Philateliste - The Philatelist

1929

5:05 pm cst          Comments

My First Stamps - Lundy Island

I bought my first stamps at Herron-Hill Coins & Stamps in Memphis in 1959 at the age of seven with the nickles and dimes that my great grandmother had given me.

Herron-Hill closed several years ago.

The picture of the little bird on the stamps fascinated me when I was child.

I wanted to know more about Lundy and the puffin.

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The stamps of Lundy are denominated in Puffins, the currency used on the island. This is the one-half Puffin blue, a proof issued in 1929, the first year of issue of the stamps of Lundy.  I'm searching for the one-half blue.

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The stamps of Lundy are as extraordinary as it's history.

Lundy stamps are known as "cinderellas".

A cinderella stamp, in philately, is "virtually anything resembling a postage stamp, but not issued for postal purposes by a government postal administration".

In 1925, a wealthy Englishman by the name of Martin Harman purchased the small 3 mile-long island in the Bristol Channel off the coast of Devon.

One fine day, Mr.Harman mused, " Since I own this island, why shouldn't I be the king ?"

The self-proclaimed king began coining money and issuing stamps for Lundy's inhabitants.

The revenue from the stamps to be used for fuel and other necessities for the island.

The stamps bore the picture of the Puffin, a comical little, potbellied bird which inhabits the island in great numbers and demonstrates a rather arrogant superiority to the other denizens of Lundy.

All appeared to fine in the beginning of the stamp production, but, in 1931, the British government discovered Mr.Harman's puffin coins and stamps.

The self-proclaiming King Harman was ordered to appear in court and charged with "unlawfully coining money".

The presiding judge cast a grim stare at Mr.Harman and asked him, "Who did you say is sovereign of Lundy ?"

Mr.Harman said, boldly, "I am, and as sovereign I have the right to issue stamps and coin my puffins and half puffins."

The court disagreed with Mr.Harman whereupon Mr.Harman suddenly realized that he was the ex-king and fined 5 pounds, equal to about ten dollars in American money.

But, the good news for stamp collectors like me is that Lundy is protected by the British Empire and that the former king, Mr.Harman, was permitted to continue printing his stamps.

The stamps of Lundy are very beautiful stamps which are highly prized and sought after by stamp collectors throughout the world this very day.

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Pictured above are Lundy first day covers from my collection.

Click them for more information about this captivating island.

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Click the picture of the amazing puffin to read more.

Click Here to listen to the laughter of the puffin. You'll never forget it and believe as I do that the puffin is the happiest bird in the world !

I hope to visit Lundy one day.

To hold the stamp is to have a tiny piece of this magical part of the world in my hand.

11:58 pm cst          Comments

Friday, December 25, 2020

The First Christmas Seals 1907 - 1911

Here's a page from my Christmas Seal Album featuring the very first stamps issued by the American Red Cross to raise funds for the study and treatment of tuberculosis.

I've enlarged the sections from my album to include enlargements of the stamps with the descriptive notations for you.

Merry Christmas to all of my friends.

May God bless you and keep you safe, always.

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2:03 am cst          Comments

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Look Up
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6:14 am cst          Comments

Sunday, December 20, 2020

To The Girls

I think about tomorrow like the next move in a game of chess.

If you know me then you also know that I'm not spineless and believe that foolishly sentimental weaklings are an impediment to progress.

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I never live in the past. There's no future there.

The past is like an expired concert ticket. The band has come and gone and the ticket's a memory. If the band was lousy, the ticket's a bad memory. Therefore, so is the past if it's full of bad tickets to the show.

And I'm not a critic looking for converts to my way of life and thought.

I'm what you see, nobody else, glad and thankful. I wouldn't want to be someone else.

I'm not searching for valuable cash and prizes. I'm not an immodest, self=aggrandizing braggart, an egoist or a snob competing in a popularity contest. And I'm not boasting about the number of views my YouTube channel gets and could care less about it.

I'm just David Saks and, whether you like me or not, I can't change that fact, although I believe that it's better to be loved for who you are if you're not someone with multiple personalities.

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So find one who'll trust you when you can move forward and think of him instead of yourself and the past.

Life gets easier with trust, too.

Without trust there's no love, and never will be.

When you stop trusting each other the love is over, so you have to love yourself and trust yourself by yourself.

Life is easier that way, too, for some, but a little sadder while you grow old and alone.

But when you've finally found him, love him more than your mirror or he'll soon forget about you.

Life can become a living dream because life itself is a wonderful thing.

People that are  contemptible, vile, morally reprehensible, menacing and not so wonderful will discover that their birth was nothing more than a prolonged and painfully dark terminal illness instead of a prospering bright miracle.

Never forget it.

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7:42 pm cst          Comments

My Harley-Davidson

My Harley-Davidson XLCH-1200 back in the 1980's.
I drove it 105 miles an hour on sunny afternoons.

And I drove my illustrious next-door-neighbor topless dancer friends, whenever they needed rides, to their jobs at Whitehaven nightclubs on the saddle to make their stalkers think that they had a bad-ass boyfriend when in reality I was just a piano playing stamp collector who read books by Alfred North Whitehead.
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Happy New Year !

4:37 am cst          Comments

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year !
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2:17 pm cst          Comments


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ArtCraft

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

Coober Pedy

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 !

 

Coober Pedy
 

 Linn's Stamp News

“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.”

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David Saks

Winner of the Coveted Memphex 2019 Marshall Trophy for "Best of Show"
Philatelic Exhibit "The Famous American Stamp Series of 1940"