Stamp collecting! It's something that WITC always avoids comparisons with when describing Letterboxing.
However, then WITC searched Taw Marsh on the internet whilst researching another post. Taw Marsh was one of the first Dartmoor Letterboxes sited and low and behold, a copy of its stamp was up for sale. For £1.
Also on sale was another envelope with many other original Dartmoor Letterbox stamps printed upon it. Since the postmark is from the late 1970s, this is a piece of Dartmoor heritage. It should not be for sale for £1.75 simply for the value of its Silver Jubilee postage stamp.
Perhaps you saw these items on a well known Stamp Collector's shopping website too.
Please don't misunderstand me. We are not intending to claim these stamps as found on the moor. They are reclaimed for the world of Dartmoor Letterboxing. Rescued from worlds in which they do not belong. Grants Pot, Ducks Pool, Crow Tor... inky words on paper which would have little relevance in households not involved in our little hobby. Here they have meaning and a presence that is worth more than a thousand other finds.
The Queens head in the corner has kept them safe for decades, but it is whats on the envelopes that will ensure their survival now.
No. Dartmoor Letterboxing is nothing like stamp collecting.
4 comments:
WITC, can you please explain how your stamps are made in the UK? Here in the states we like to carve ours from rubber. But looking at your stamps, I notice how nice and uniform the lettering looks.
-Jessica
www.diystudio.net/blog
Thank you for your nice comments. THere are 2 very different beliefs when it comes to stamps here.
There are the traditionalists you love to carve. It does, as you probably are aware, take a great deal of time, patience and skill to produce a high quality carved stamp. The stamps you see here - including the Cranmere Pool stamp on the left side here, are commercially made. Design your stamps and squeeze them on to an A4 piece of paper, and companies will convert that page into a kind of giant A4 rubber stamp. Cut out your stamps and back them with some wood or PVC, and heh presto. You may need a computer to design them and Tandastamps.com is a good manufacturer. Hope this helps!!
It does indeed! I really enjoy the process of carving stamps and love seeing all the creative images people come up with. Thanks WITC!
Very interesting post, I know what you mean regarding postbox history. I first visited my first in 1975, Crow Tor also have originals of the others shown. Why I am posting is because I have just bought a 1955 postcard with a Fur Tor stamp on not previously seen, I found it fascinating and had to have it!! great site thanks
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