First Day Covers
by John Burnett (ENY5)
Some of my fondest memories of growing up in Western Canada during and just after WWII are of my early stamp collecting and especially of my First day cover collecting.
My father was an avid stamp collector. He collected the stamps and postal history of Austria.
My dad was a natural leader and somehow I wanted to be like him so collecting stamps was my choice. Like most young people I collected the world. Boy can I remember sitting around waiting for those approvals to arrive from the old Zenith Stamp Company and going over all those (to me) priceless San Marino stamps.
Later I decided to start a specialized collection of Costa Rica (mainly because they had triangular shaped stamps).
This general collecting lasted a few years until my dad realized I was hooked on the hobby, he counselled me that collecting something small like Costa Rica, though admirable, would prove to be difficult on my budget and especially difficult from where we lived in Canada.
This was right about the time of the death of King George VI and so he decided to start me in with first day covers of Canada in the Elizabethan era.
My first "first day cover" was that of the Polar Bear from the Wildlife series issued on April 1, 1953
Figure 1 - Canada’s 1953 2¢ Polar Bear commemorative stamp honoring Canada’s Wildlife and the writers first "First day Cover".
I have collected every first day cover since that day. I use a standing order with Canada Post to ensure I get them all.
First day covers will never be scarce or valuable, but you know what, I enjoy them and that is what stamp collecting is all about!
My dad, in all his wisdom, knew that collecting what you can purchase from your local post office was a smart thing to do.
My dad did something else with my first day covers; he had me write them up. I had to look up the subject in our old "Nelson" Encyclopedia, write up the subject of the stamp on the page I was mounting my cover and then he would check my work. In doing this he was checking my English, my ability to find something in our reference material, and brevity in my synopsis of the subject.
In researching the wildlife series I became very aware of the endangered wildlife of the world and that became a big interest in my life.
I just introduced a word, "brevity"; make sure you know what that word means, as it is an important part of stamp collecting if you plan to write up your stamps.
If you notice my 2¢ polar bear first day cover is addressed to "Master John Burnett" and it is an important part of my legacy to my own children and grandchildren.
As stated above something my father was insistent about was my learning what the subject matter on the stamp was all about.
Figure 2 shows a first day cover still addressed to Master John Burnett, whose subject is the Universal Postal Union. It was this subject that changed my collecting direction from "stamps" to "postal history’. In researching the UPU I soon discovered the diversity of postal rates that existed and just how many items could be collected just by looking for various postal uses of the same stamp.
Figure 2 - The first day cover commemorating the Universal Postal Union, researching this subject changed the authors collecting interests.
Figure 3 shows a first day cover (now addressed to Mr. John Burnett Jr.) whose subject is Jean Baptiste Talon, this 5¢ stamp was issued June 13, 1962. I had left home in 1962 but my father was still alive, hence I was "Jr" on my mail.
Figure 3 - Figure 3 First-day cover of the 5¢ Jean Baptiste Talon commemorative stamp of Canada, issued June 13, 1962.
In keeping with my fathers instructions I was still studying the subject matter of the stamps.
I wonder how many people know that Talon was the first person to build a brewery in Canada. He had many other accomplishments. Among them being the first colonial administrator of New France, the French colony in North America.
The cancellation on the Talon cover includes the English words "Day of Issue" and the French "Jour d’Emission" meaning that the cancel was for the first day of issue of the stamp. This reference was added to Canadian first day covers in 1949 but many covers were found with standard circular cancels during this period.
Figure 4 - the French / English first day cancellation.
Even though I had been on my own for about three years at this time, I can still remember reviewing my write up with my dad when I returned home for a weekend of good food and stamping. Stamps were something in common with us for the remainder of my dad’s days.
I continue to collect Canadian first day covers. My first day cover collection will never be valuable but it still gives me pleasure especially the research of the subject.
Figure 5 shows how first day covers have changed. Gone are the days when a local stamp store would set up a first day service for you, gone also, is first day service from private companies. Now first day service can only be had from Canada Post
Figure 5 - A modern first day cover has become a piece of art work.
Shown in Figure 5 is a March 19, 1999 first day cover honoring the ship "Marco Polo", built in New Brunswick and once considered the fastest ship in the world. Notice the cachet is now an "all over design, the address is gone and the cover has taken on the look of a piece of art work.
The cancellations have changed to, today, it is a specific pictorial cancel, but it still references the day of issue.
Figure 6 - The new pictorial first day cancels are extremely attractive.
All in all collecting first day covers has been a wonderful experience for me and I suggest it can be for you to.
Perhaps your mom, dad, or guardian can help you with a collection just like my dad did for me.
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