Tuscora Stamp Club to be featured at Dover Library
Tuscora Stamp Club member Scott Pendleton will speak Saturday, Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. in the community room of the Dover Public Library.
Throughout the month of October, Dover Public Library will feature displays, speakers and stamps as it teams up with the Tuscora Stamp Club to celebrate National Stamp Collecting Month.
Participating member Dominic Gangale said the library has been providing Scott Stamp catalogs each year to keep collectors up to date on histories, prices and rarity of every stamp manufactured in the world.
“Since the library is so good about offering special events,” he said, “we thought it would be a good idea to work together on a project. The library will provide exposure to the type of collecting that used to be the world’s most popular hobby.”
“We are excited to partner with the Tuscora Stamp Club this fall to help promote National Stamp Collecting Month,” said Jim Gill, library director. “Our nation’s stamps tell the story of our country, from history and patriotism to art and creativity. They truly are a work of art, and we hope to inspire the next generation of stamp collectors.”
Tuscora Stamp Club member Scott Pendleton will speak Saturday, Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. in the community room of the library. His topic will be The History of Area Post Offices, where they were and how they got their names.
“The first post office in our area was in Gnadenhutten in 1804 and the second in New Philadelphia in 1810,” he said.
Pendleton said before the advent of the post office, sending mail was a social event. Roads and weather were unpredictable, and there was no mail delivery. Small store owners and churches encouraged residents to gather on given days to exchange or figure out a way to send letters. It usually lasted most of the day, with whole families participating.
Pendleton, an Ohio State University graduate who lives in Cadiz with his wife Donna, is a practicing small animal veterinarian and a historian.
“Anyone who collects stamps is a historian at heart,” he said. “Some people want to know the histories of the stamps; others specialize in topicals like all butterflies, or space, or wars. Another area is cancellations. The early cancellations were done with pen and ink. Today, there are new devices all the time. In other countries they reproduce actual famous art of the masters.”
Pendleton is president of the Harrison County Historical Society.
“I became interested in stamps because my grandmother would bring them home from the post office for me,” he said, “and I took to them immediately. Interest just depends on whether you have the collector’s gene or not. Everyone got stamps in my family, but I am the only one still involved with them.”
Pendleton’s interest in history took him as far as buying four early original mail carriages. One built in 1903 originally sold for $45. He often transports them to places where he is speaking so the public can learn about them.
Stamps will be on display in the community room and glass cases in the foyer for the entire month of October, and children’s packets will be available. All events are free to the public.
The Dover Public Library is located at 525 N. Walnut St. in Dover.