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  Space Cover 483: What it took to be the best

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Author Topic:   Space Cover 483: What it took to be the best
stevedd841
Member

Posts: 292
From: Millersville, Maryland
Registered: Jul 2004

posted 09-14-2018 11:45 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for stevedd841   Click Here to Email stevedd841     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Space Cover of the Week, Week 483, September 16, 2018

Space Cover #483: What it Took to be the Best!

From the beginning, Space Craft Covers strove to be different! Typically, any cacheted space cover, and certainly any to be produced in volume, had to be produced before the event. But space exploration was a technical and complex field, full of unknowns, and this was the field Space Craft Covers had to operate in.

Space Craft Covers then would have to match what was happening to be technically accurate, detailed, and artistically pleasing. SCC started with one color cover cachets, but two-color cachets would be used on their third issue (Shepard)in May 1961. The covers became a stardard on their sixth issue (Grissom) in July 1961.

In October 1960, Carl Swanson designed a general purpose cachet for the then upcoming Project Mercury flights. The cachet design was printed on a number of envelopes in a trial run to see how the printer would do.

In a review of this new organization later made in 1988, friend and associate, Charles Vukotich, in his book, "Space Craft Covers, a Monograph and Catalog" identifies these early SCC precursor covers and how many were printed.

I have selected four of the first eight space covers made by Fitzpatrick and Swanson for my Space Cover of the Week for this week, for collectors to see, and I highly recommend adding them to their space cover collection if they do not already have them.

Above: SCC Cover Number 1X1 MR1-A (Mercury Redstone 1-A)

Only 25 of these first SCC covers were made. Vukotich comments that they are hard to find. The original mission, The original 1X1 space cover was a failure and there are no SCC covers representing this failed flight. The successful flight that was rescheduled, 1X1 MR1-A (Mercury Redstone 1-A), was the cover that commemorates the successful flight.

SCC Cover Number 1x2 HAM Space Monkey Flight

SCC space cover for Space Monkey HAM was a space flight prior to the first manned astronaut space flight of Project Mercury. Per Vukotich,these covers also are hard to find and may be a challenge for current collectors to acquire. At one time, the SCC HAM cover was advertised for sale by SCC. The Mercury Redstone 1-A cover never was.

SCC Cover Number 3 Mercury-Shepard Flight

The general purpose SCC cover design for Project Mercury was used for the first Project Mercury ballistic space flight of astronaut Alan Shepard. But new text in red was added underneath the cachet design as follows, "Boy, What a Ride" a comment Shepard had made during his flight, and on the last line also in red text, was added the astronaut's name, Alan B. Shepard, Jr. in small red letters. A second version of the cover eliminated his comment in red during his flight and his name. This revised cover was designated SCC cover 3-b and has no red text.

SCC Cover Number 8 Mercury-Grissom Flight

In his book, Vukotich affirms the general purpose Project Mercury design got some additional use. The wording on the cachet was changed from the Historical Space Conquest" to "Second United States Historical Space Conquest" and the cachet overall was printed in green. Only a total of 30 of these rare covers were printed.

If you don't have all four of these early SCC covers, don't pass them up.

The following is the dedication Chuck Vukotich made to both of the founders of Space Craft Covers:

Joseph R. Fitzpatrick: "A stamp collector who wanted to be a force in philately, a dealer, and produce the best yest remain a nice guy and a stamp collector — and who actually did it!"

Carl Swanson: "The artistic genius who made Space Craft Covers possible."

Eddie Bizub
Member

Posts: 81
From: Kissimmee, FL USA
Registered: Aug 2010

posted 09-20-2018 08:53 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Eddie Bizub   Click Here to Email Eddie Bizub     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Great covers Steve! Space Craft Covers will always be known as the best of the best for launches during the 1960's. I also have all 4 of these precursors. I acquired mine when we purchased the balance of stock that Joe Fitzpatrick's widow Sarah had back in 1988. I think there was only 1 MR-1A cover and a couple of MR-2 covers which we sold very quickly. The Shepard and Grissom covers show up semi-frequently but the Shepard "Boy, What A Ride" covers are somewhat difficult to find. Certainly if anyone has an opportunity to acquire these covers you absolutely should. No Space Craft Covers collection is complete without them.

On a side note, the Shepard "Boy, What A Ride" is also available with a Port Canaveral hand cancel which is extremely difficult to find.

stevedd841
Member

Posts: 292
From: Millersville, Maryland
Registered: Jul 2004

posted 10-17-2018 09:18 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for stevedd841   Click Here to Email stevedd841     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Eddie, many thanks for your response back to my Space Cover of the Week item, Classic Early Space Covers of Joe Fitzpatrick and Carl Swanson. I have been a strong proponent for the Space Craft Covers of Joe Fitzpatrick and Carl Swanson for many years. In fact, I did not have several of the early SCC covers shown in my article, but thanks to you, I was able to add the early MR 1A space cover and also the Ham space cover to my collection. Many thanks for your comments, and my thanks is also extended to your family who have helped me over the years.

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