Fundy Stamp Collectors Club P. O. Box 302 Moncton N.B. E1C 8L4 Since 1997

The Canadian Postal Museum has its own post office. This replica has all the items from a rural turn of the century post office including the post office wicket. Another ongoing exhibition is the "Stamp Quest" that presents an interactive introduction to stamps and stamp collecting. Your col- lectors' skills and knowledge will be tested and is certain to please everyone. The "What's New in Philately" section presents the new issues of Canadian stamps. Each showroom and showcase has detailed writes-ups.

The Canadian Postal Museum collection includes over 150,000 items. Among these postal items one can see in the various showcases Canadian and foreign letter boxes, cancellation hammers, railway mail car equipment, scale models of ships and railway mail cars, leather mail bags, letter carrier uniforms, lock boxes, residential and rural boxes and registered mail ledgers. There are also other items like portable writing desks, ink wells and other writing tools, cancellation ma- chines, slogan dies, mail sorting units, wicker hampers for transporting mail, letter carriers ice grippers and many more.

I was particularly impressed with the showcases that included early postal scales, mail coaches and sleds. However, my favorite showcase was a worldwide collection of scaled models of mail trucks. There were over 250-toy mail trucks from various countries and eras.

The Canadian Postal Museum truly provides a rare opportunity to learn a lot about Canada's postal heritage and philately. To view the various exhibits, one can probably plan to spend over three hours. If you are an avid stamp collector, plan to visit the Canadian Postal Museum on your next trip to Ottawa. You can also visit their website at www.civilization.ca for a glimpse of the ex- hibition program. ***

This is probably a pretty good time to reflect upon the past three years - as a Newsletter editor, a Stamp club member, and as a stamp collector.

Firstly, as a stamp collector - and I am not a philatelist, but I am a stamp collector. In my opinion, a Philatelist is one who has taken the time and effort to complete a fair bit of research about one or more topics related to philately, and more so, take the opportunity to pass along this knowledge to others. In this regard I am really a debutante. I have amassed a reasonable collection, and have scratched the surface of research into some of my collecting interests. However, I fear that it will be some time before I am able to obtain the knowledge of a Philatelist. I must admit though, that the voyage along this path is both extremely interesting, and extremely gratifying.

Secondly, as a Newsletter editor with little or no experience, I must say that I have enjoyed the activity very much. It is very satisfying to see your creations take shape, and to be able to con- tribute to the spread of philately in the Maritimes. Our Newsletter has changed very little over the first eight issues, but that has changed with this one. At first there was very little comment offered towards potential improvements. Lately though, a few people have given me some suggestions which I have tried to incorporate into this edition. The Newsletter has, I believe, helped to spread the news of philatelic activity throughout the Maritimes. There are eight other Clubs listed on the last page, and we currently receive copies of Newsletters from three, to which a large "thank you" is warranted. Our members enjoy reading of the activities in other clubs, and we have copied some very good ideas into our monthly club meetings.

Lastly, as a Stamp club member, I must ask what everyone else seems to wonder about. "What is the future of the hobby?" To find the answer, I believe that one must look at the immediate club, the local area, and the big picture. Locally, in the past four years that I have been a mem- ber, the Fundy Stamp Collectors Club has grown from a membership of 15, with 10 regular at- tendees, to nearly 20, with 15 regular attendees. This is a 33% growth, at a time when most say the hobby is dying. Granted though, we have lost two or three regular members. The difference, in my opinion, is that our executive has been trying to make the meetings more interesting, with a wider variety of topics. Also, they have tried to get club members more involved, by asking mem- bers to make a presentation on some area of their personal collections.

These activities may not be the total answer by themselves. Perhaps the hard work and success of the fall Brunpex bourse, or the promotion and partnerships with the monthly Stamp Fair at the Park House Inn contribute to a renewed interest. The fact that a couple of members have succeeded in promoting a very active junior stamp club in an area Middle School will perhaps help create a new generation of collectors. One also has to look at the growth of monthly and annual stamp fairs and shows to see the hobby is not only relatively healthy, but may in fact be on the rise in some areas. As for the big picture, it also appears to be very healthy. I just received my latest edition of the "Philatelic Bulletin", published quarterly by the United Nations Postal Admini- stration. Are you aware that the United Nations will be represented at 12 Stamp Expositions in the United States, eight more in Europe, and one in Hong Kong - all in 2004. It makes me won- der at how many of these types of Shows or Expositions worldwide will one or more national Philatelic Bureaus be in attendance.

As stamp collectors or Philatelists, it is our global responsibility to do all we can to promote our fine hobby, but I think the signs are encouraging.

These are strictly the opinions of the editor, and may or may not be shared by others. Look for future issues of The Fundy Stamp News in May and September 2004. ***

Logically, many people think that to remove a used stamp from an envelope, all you do is peel it off carefully. This results in lots and lots of thinned stamps, which are considered damaged and un-collectible.

The correct way to remove used stamps is to soak them off in water, and then to dry them on a flat dry surface (preferably a paper towel). There is too much to the art of soaking to tell you here, but much more can be found in any basic reference work on stamp collecting. Soaking stamps with the new "invisible" gum can be very difficult, however, because they tend to retain gum even after being soaked off original paper, and will stick fast to paper on which they are dried. One answer is to dry them face down, with nothing touching the backside, then flatten them out later if they curl. Most other types of gum just soak off in water, and present no problems.

Watch out because anyone can easily ruin hundreds of good stamps by soaking stamps with magenta, red, or purple cancels (such as those used on registered mail) in the same bowl with others, because after a few minutes these cancellation inks usually start to run, and stain everything. Separate these out first, soak them separately, use cold water only, and try to trim off every bit of the colored cancel you can from the surrounding paper. Then be prepared to take them out of the water immediately as stamps separate from backing paper.

Some stamps should not be soaked without consulting a more knowledgeable philatelist. Any- thing on an original cover that is more then 20 or 30 years old might be worth saving.

Also, don't soak it if the cover looks "philatelic" somehow -- has a special fancy cancel or was postmarked for a special event, etc. When in doubt, wait before you soak because First Day Covers, envelopes with a special design of a stamp and postmarked on its issue date, can be worth many times the value of the stamp on it.

Next time: "Using Hinges and Mounts" ***

Sandford Fleming, a young civil engineer and draftsman, designed the 3-pence stamp under the direction of the Honorable James Morris, Postmaster General. He also prepared the artwork with a similar beaver motif for a 1-shilling denomination, which never appeared as a finished postage stamp. Sandford Fleming's most important work concerned railway construction in Canada, and for his work Queen Victoria knighted him. He became chief engineer for the Intercolonial Railway (1857-76), and for the Canadian Pacific Railway (1871-80). In 1872 he was in charge of the Ocean-to-Ocean Expedition undertaken to find a route for the Canadian Pacific through the Yellowhead Pass. During these years he devised the system of time zones. From 1881 until his death in 1915 he served as Chancellor of Queen's University at Kingston. The 3-pence denomination featuring a beaver building a dam was symbolic of the people in the young country of Canada building their towns, cities, and communities. The secondary purpose of choosing the beaver centered in the original meaning of the beaver skin; it represented a medium of exchange in trade.

Patrick, Douglas and Mary Patrick. Canada's Postage Stamps. Toronto, McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1964,

In December the new executive was voted in, consisting of Dave Morris as President, Dave Tait as VP, Mike Leighton continuing as Sec-Treasurer, and Ralph Richardson as Past President. Directors are Bob Evans, Rod Allison, Jim Wade, Art Gillard, and Harvey Terris. Don Mills will continue as editor of the Newsletter, and Rod Allison will continue as the Chair- man for Brunpex 2004. The date was set for October 16, 2004.

Future club presentations include The Faroe Islands (February - Rod Allison); Aldernery (March - Don Mills); Haiti (April - Bob Evans); Canada # 210 (May - Michael Nowlan); and topic to be announced (June - Francine Lemaire).

Next club meetings are February 5, March 4, and April 1. ***