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NOJEX 2008 by Martin Richardson

The North-Jersey Federated Stamp Clubs held their annual stamp show and exhibition May 23-25 at the Crowne Plaza Meadowlands Exhibition Center in Secaucus, NJ. The show hosted three prominent philatelic organizations, the Carriers and Locals Society, the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society and the U.S. Stamp Society.

I had the pleasure of serving on the exhibition jury. The jury chairman was Dr. Roger Schnell. Other jury members were Jay Stotts, Matthew Kewriga, and Edwin Andrews. We anticipated a very large exhibition, however one ten frame exhibit had won the Grand Award at a prior show as had two of the one frame exhibits. This along with an exhibit which did not show resulted in only 38 exhibits totaling 194 frames. U.S. philately dominated the exhibits of course with 27 entries.

I'm proud to say that the Carriers and Locals Society dominated the top awards. Larry Lyons won the Grand Award with his entry "All Roads lead to San Francisco: The Companies that carried the mail in the early West". He also won the top award in the single frame category with "The Carriers of Charleston, SC 1849-1859". This is an outstanding accomplishment when you consider that Larry has never exhibited at a national exhibition prior to this.

The San Francisco exhibit tells the story of how the private express companies delivered mails during the gold rush which began in California in 1849. I especially appreciated how the exhibit was organized. It was divided into sections such as Northern mines, Southern mines, Sacramento area, etc. Each section was introduced by a map showing the location of the mining towns in relation to San Francisco. Needless to say it contained some wonderful examples from all the express companies.

When judging a single frame exhibit a jury will consider the scope and limits of the exhibit, i.e., is the subject suitable for a one frame exhibit? Not all subjects can be fully developed in only 16 pages. Larry's "The Carriers of Charleston, SC 1849-1859" is an example of a subject which can be covered in one frame. The exhibit showed all of the adhesives issued by the Charleston carrier department between 1849 and 1859. Eleven of the stamps shown are the only recorded examples known. It was interesting to note that missing from the exhibit were several examples of use. Realizing that these were to be auctioned after NOJEX I wonder if they will be added to Larry's exhibit?

Other members exhibiting were Tom Mazza, Lawrence LeBel. and Millard Mack. Tom's "Erie, Pennsylvania: The First 75 Years" won a Gold as did Lawrence's "Boyd's - A Local Post: 1844-1889". Millard's one frame entry, "Ohio's Mad River and Little Miami Rail Roads", won a Vermeil award. As a past president of the Ohio Postal History Society I always enjoy seeing Ohio postal history exhibits. Tom's entry showing some very early material of outstanding quality. Lawrence has one of the finest showings of conjunctive use between Boyd's and other companies, especially Wells Fargo. It well deserves the Gold awards it receives if not for this reason alone.

I was able to attend the USPCS meeting and especially enjoyed Scott Trepel's presentation "The City Despatch Post 1842-1852 Issues". The talk was enhanced by having the actual material on display in frames for viewing by everyone.

The next meeting of our society will be at the Garfield-Perry March Party, March 27-29, 2009, in Cleveland, OH. I hope to see many Carriers and Locals Society members in attendance. I will not be on the jury for this show meaning I will be able to attend the society business meeting unlike at NOJEX.

Auction 14 - Now available, closing July 17, 2008. Click on the  auction info page for details.

Auction 13 - Prices realized, click on this link.