Some months back I purchased a “used” stockbook through eBay (where else?). I thought I was buying an empty stockbook, but when it arrived I was surprised to discover that it contained a collection of approximately fifty cut squares – some from the 1800s (anybody interested in these?), an old American Philatelic Association Sales Department Control stamp, and three old Philadelphia Public Herald labels (two overprinted POSTMASTER, ROHNERVILLE, Humboldt Co., CAL., and one overprinted POSTMASTER, CHINA FLAT, Humboldt Co., CAL).
Motivated by the basic philatelic principle that “one collector’s junk is another’s treasure”, I brought these labels to our February stamp club meeting. We have some pretty knowledgeable people in our club, but no one who saw them had any idea as to what they might be.
An online search drew a blank.
I have sent an enlarged computer-generated photocopy of the three labels to several dealers with the hope that someone will be able to tell me about them.
Most of us have a “what is it?” somewhere in our collections, and some of us have more than one. I have given this note and a computer-generated photocopy of the three labels to Phil for inclusion in a future newsletter. Let me know if you can answer my “what is it?” question. I will let you know what, if anything, dealers have to say about these three labels.
Article Update – September 15, 2020
Since the original article, John Deutch has completed additional research and found a few answers about these labels. The APRL Library was able to produce and send the 5 page philatelic article about the labels that John was able to locate. John will talk about to what he learned at the September 2020 meeting. There will also be a summary of the article in the September Perf-Dispatch. Anyone that would like a copy of the full article can reach out to John Deutch.