October 2003 Cover |
by Steve Shay |
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USS ERIE |
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In 1936 the USCS proclaimed the week of October 26 through the 31st as National Universal Ship Cancellation Society Cover Week. This excerpt, taken from the USCS Log of January 1936, explains the idea and intent. Capitalization, punctuation and grammatical errors are left as originally published: "To All Presidents of all the Chapters and all the Members of the USCS. The President, Mr. D.C. Bartley, the Board of Directors and the Advisory Council Representatives have highly endorsed the movement of the Admiral Joseph M. Reeves Chapter #14 USCS, Los Angeles, Ca that in 1936 the Universal Ship Cancellation Society, and all Chapters and members set aside the week of Oct. 26th to Oct. 31st to be observed by all Cover Collectors throughtout the United States of America, to be known as the National Universal Ship Cancellation Society Cover Week, in honor to the Twenty-sixth President of the United States of America, Theodore Roosevelt, who was born on the 27th day of October, 1857. HIS Birthday, the 27th of Oct. is now being celebrated every year and known as Navy Day. All Chapters and Members of the USCS to make immediate plans for the establishment of a National USCS Cover Week, under the auspices and sponsorship of the Universal Ship Cancellation Society, at which time all Chapters and their members shall hold Cover Exhibitions for the public in every city and community over the entire jurisdiction of the Society. Secretaries of all USCS Chapters please correspond with me immediately. Suggestion and offers of cooperation from members will be appreciated. A follow on suggestion was made that chapters and members sponsor a Navy Day cover for that year. Our Cover of the Month is one of those covers and is cancelled on Navy Day October 27, 1936 during USCS National Cover week. The cover indicates that E.A. Beck (member 561) of Cleveland, Ohio was the cachet artist, A.P. Kester (1473) of St. Petersburg, Florida was the Cachet Director and George Crocker (700), also of St. Petersburg, Florida, signed the cover. Kester and Crocker are listed as Cachet Director and Secretary respectively of the "re-organized" Commander Gulliver Chapter No. 15 in the 1938 USCS Annual Year Book. The chapter was formed in the St. Petersburg area. Cancelled aboard USS Erie, PG-50, the gunboat had just been commissioned 4 months earlier on July 1 and would depart from New York on her shakedown cruise 4 days after this cover was postmarked. Erie would be torpedoed and sunk December 5, 1942. This type 3(AC-BTB) cancel with a killer bar slogan "Navy Day/TR Roosevelt" was applied with care to prevent the cancel from overprinting the cachet. Unfortunately, the idea for a National USCS Cover Week did not catch on in later years. In fact, eventually Navy Day would be changed from October 27 to October 13. Thanks to Bob Rawlins for providing the excerpt from the January 1936 Log. |
