11/11/2008                                                                    Contact: Fred Baumann
Also available in pdf format

APS Releases New Stamps of Texas Album

The American Philatelic Society is pleased to offer a 16-page Stamps of Texas album. It was created to celebrate APS AmeriStamp Expo/TEXPEX 2009, which will take place February 20-22 at the Arlington Convention Center in Arlington, Texas. The mini-album showcases United States stamps and a postal card related to the Lone Star State and its colorful history. Created for free use in the public domain — with generous permission from Scott Publishing Co. to use its copyrighted catalogue numbers — it is available as a pdf file that can be viewed or downloaded.

The album has spaces for 57 stamps and a postal card. Facing pages of text describe how the issues relate to the “Lone Star State,” from the arrival in 1541 of Spanish Conquistadors in what is now the Texas Panhandle to the high-tech Texas of the 21st century, home to the 1,600-acre Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston. Pages include “Early Texas History,” “Texas and the Struggle for Independence,” “Texas from Statehood to Civil War,” “Texas and the Wild West,” “Texas Leaders in War and Peace,” “Texas Portraits & Personalities,” and “Texas Signs & Symbols.” A blank “Texas” page is also available at the end of the album, which collectors may use as they choose.

The earliest stamp is the 1936 3¢ Texas Centennial issue (Scott 776). The most recent is a 2006 39¢ stamp for author Katherine Anne Porter, from Indian Creek, Texas (Scott 4030). Other famous Texans include Presidents Eisenhower and Lyndon B. Johnson, Sam Houston, Charles Goodnight, Sam Rayburn, and 13 more distinguished native sons and daughters. The album profited from the critical insight of Texas philatelist Jane K. Fohn. In addition, APS consulted James C. Taylor’s 1995 Texas Philatelic Checklist, available online from the Texas Philatelic Association; Frank Willment’s “Many Lone Star State Stamp Connections” from the November 30, 1992, Linn’s Stamp News; and The Handbook of Texas Online, published by the Texas State Historical Association and available on the Internet since 1996.

The album is not exhaustive. For example, as APS member and Texan Paul H. Benson pointed out to us, it omits the Celebrate the Century 1960s 33-cent stamp for the Integrated Circuit (Scott 3188j), invented by Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments in Dallas. Also absent are two postal cards depicting Galveston landmarks (Scott UX71 and UX155). It was created as a topical album with places for affordable U.S. issues, with enough descriptive text to appeal to beginners and interested non-collectors, including teachers, scouts and students, as well as general collectors who have an interest in the history of the state. The 2009 Scott catalogue value of all items needed to fill every space in the Stamps of Texas album is $30.20 mint, and just $16.45 used.

The Stamps of Texas album is number 3 in an ongoing series, following Stamps of North Carolina and Stamps of Connecticut. Future albums are planned for Arizona, and in conjunction with 2009–2011 APS shows in Pennsylvania, Virginia, California, South Carolina, and Ohio. All APS albums are available online.

More information about APS AmeriStamp Expo/TEXPEX 2009 in Arlington is available.