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Author
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Topic: 1970 KSC Open House rubber stamp cachet
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NAAmodel#240
Member Posts: 312
From: Boston, Mass.
Registered: Jun 2005
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posted 04-30-2018 08:51 AM
   
From 1965 to 1975 the Kennedy Space Center produced predominantly rubber stamp artwork to accompany manned launches. In addition to Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and ASTP, NASA illustrated cachets for the anniversary of MR-3 and Apollo 11, unmanned launches including Surveyor-C, Helios, and Viking. The Center also had art for the opening of the branch post office and fire prevention week in 1966 and 1967.On October 24, 1970 the KSC Open House week began. While not well publicized, NASA applied the cachet below on envelopes presented to the post office that week. With the exception of the GT-VI cachet which can be found with legitimate postmarks of either October 25 or December 15, the Open House illustration might have valid KSC cancels from any day of Open House week. Is this a KSC Official?  |
yeknom-ecaps
Member Posts: 660
From: Northville MI USA
Registered: Aug 2005
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posted 04-30-2018 01:59 PM
David — interesting...How do you know the KSC post office applied this cachet? The NASA cachets from that time period were written up in publications (such as Ralph Yorio's booklet) with the specific number a cachet's applied came from people with direct knowledge of the KSC post office activities. I have never seen this cachet before (and no number of strikes like all other officials) so my take on it that it is not an official. |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2913
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 04-30-2018 07:24 PM
There is more to come about this interesting rubber stamp cachet with KSC cancels in Oct. 1970, but for Tom, keep in mind that Yurio's KSC philatelic history booklet does not provide known quantities of every official NASA cachet. Take for instance the October 1966 Fire Prevention Week as the numbers issued were reported unknown with very few, if hardly any, philatelic covers prepared (not even known in advance by the KSCPS). The same can also be said of the 1967 Fire Prevention Week cachet as well. Concerning the 1970 Open House, rather an official cachet or not, I've only seen less than a dozen philatelic covers thus far in my lifetime and I did own eight of those at one time. |
yeknom-ecaps
Member Posts: 660
From: Northville MI USA
Registered: Aug 2005
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posted 04-30-2018 08:23 PM
Ken - thanks for the background. All I was trying to point out was that NASA cachet documents like Yorio's publication were produced during the time that KSC cachets were still being produced, the people involved still producing/applying them, and this cachet did not appear in the listing written at that time. Like you said, the Fire Prevention Week ones were listed (and with no quantities as you said). So I would have thought — if this were an "official" NASA cachet — that this cachet would have been listed in the publications. Looking forward to more background on this cover. |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2913
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 05-01-2018 06:09 AM
Since the KSC Fire Prevention Week was mentioned in the prior postings here, after checking my Yurio's guide booklets that he published in 1971, I don't see the 1967 KSC Fire Prevention Week (Oct. 8-14) ONC listed? Did Ralph re-print an update booklet that included the later fire prevention week cachet issue that I am not aware of? |
NAAmodel#240
Member Posts: 312
From: Boston, Mass.
Registered: Jun 2005
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posted 05-01-2018 09:15 AM
With the assistance of friends in the astrophilatelic community I’m embarking on a monograph to update Ralph Yorio’s 1971 guide. As good as Ralph’s contemporaneous guide was it was also incomplete. Although GT-VI departed December 15th, 1965 I think everyone will agree the Oct 25th envelope released by the post office was a legitimate ONC. It does not appear in Yorio’s work. Following publication, NASA produced 8 or nine more ONCs. Open House is the first of several I’d like feedback on as I work on the monograph. Here is part of an email I received from Ken a few days ago.The KSC Open House rubber stamp cachet, which I am convinced was created as an ONC, but had a very short life as I only know of a handful of covers that had the cachet applied. One of the KSC security officers, also a space cover collector, said he got his while visiting the KSC P.O. during the open house week in Oct. 1970. I think he also said he had mailed in 5 more envelopes, after hearing about it from a postal worker there, requesting the ONC. He got them back in his mailbox on different days during the open house week and used peelable address labels. You have copies of his covers from that unusual short-lived "ONC" event, plus a few uncancelled covers. Still a debatable issue rather they were ONCs or not. A far more detailed listing was produced by the late dealer Eberhard Coelle who had a very close relationship with the KSC postmaster. In his ISA-Katalog 223 Coelle states that approximately 500 philatelic items were serviced making it one of the scarcest cachets along with the 1966 and 1967 Fire and the AP-1 proof.
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