By JASON RODRIGUEZ
Special to the OBSERVER
As a stamped envelope makes its way through the post office, it is typically marked with a few wavy lines, or perhaps a star shape or a bull's-eye.
But like a highly prized stamp itself, a stamp cancellation might illustrate a special event or celebrate the life of a famous person. When Chautauqua County celebrates its 200th birthday Feb. 9, it will have its own series of postal markings.
"Every single post office in the county has agreed to do a commemorative cancel," said Michelle Henry, county historian. She said there are 36 designs to collect, since each post office will use a unique cancel, and it is an invitation for county residents to have envelopes or any collectible media stamped and cancelled.
Though she has organized many bicentennial events throughout the county, Ms. Henry said she deferred the planning of the commemorative cancel to someone who is more familiar with the world of stamp collecting and postal history. Fortunately, the county has a contingent of stamp enthusiasts, and Vince Martonis was one such individual who stepped forward to coordinate the countywide endeavor.
SOUGHT-AFTER ITEMS
"I don't just collect stamps, I'm into postal history," said Martonis, who divides his time between collectible hobbies and serving as the Hanover town historian.
For more than 40 years, he has been collecting postage-related media. And his collection exhibits a great deal more than just unused stamps resting individually in cases. The value associated with rare stamps can also be found on the surface of the envelope, and in the markings used by the post office. Martonis said he personally designed the stamp cancel that was used in 1993 to celebrate the annual Festival of Grapes in Silver Creek, an illustrative or pictorial cancel which is shaped like a basket of grapes. He has been designing pictorial post office cancels since 1987. In ideal cases, all parts of the postage correspond around a specific theme. In 1974, the Chautauqua Institution celebrated its centennial, and it distributed a series of envelopes showing vignettes from its history. That same year, the post office released its own 10-cent Chautauqua stamp as part of its Rural America series. Examples of stamped letters saved by Martonis show a modest stamp cancel - a simple pair of bars that swipe the base of the stamp. However, the round postmark emblem is significant, since it marked the location and date when it was processed - Aug. 6 at Chautauqua, NY, 14722 - the exact day of the anniversary.
"Sometimes it's just a special date that makes the cancel valuable," he said.
BICENTENNIAL DESIGN
The unique designs for the county bicentennial combine the traditional elements of the postmark and the cancellation mark - which, in the current era of machine processing, are applied simultaneously. On Feb. 9, the post offices in the county will return to the days of marking the mail by hand, since each post office will be using its own rubber stamp.
"If a cancel is applied to a collectible letter or other item, it should only cover the edge or corner of the stamp," Martonis said, which is termed "lightly cancelled." This is the ideal procedure for collectors, he said, since they desire to have all of the information on the stamp and the cancel visible.
Martonis said he encourages people to save whatever mail needs to be delivered leading up to Feb. 9, in order to have it marked with the unique design that features the county seal. He added the county's busier post offices are likely to revert collected mail to its machine processing, so it is a good idea to visit in person and request the "special cancel" service from the clerks. Collectors can also write "philatelic mail" on the envelope to ensure a proper imprint, or include items for cancelling with a self-addressed envelope to ensure their return delivery.
The post office will put a cancel mark on just about any medium that has a stamp, he said, and visitors can opt for "hand back service," which means it does not have to be addressed to anyone.
After the day of celebration, the cancels will be available on a walk-in basis for 120 days. Martonis said normal commemorative cancels issued at a single location are sometimes accessible for a month after their stamp date, but he arranged for the extension to allow people sufficient time to visit every post office in the county.
"People should use their imaginations and create their own post cards and envelopes to use," he said. "I hope there are collectors who will try to obtain all 36 of the special cancels. I know I will."
For more information about the commemorative cancel, contact Vince Martonis at 985-4141.
