Space Cover 859: STS-3 Stamp Club CoverMany space cover collectors have cacheted covers in their collections from stamp clubs, particularly for space related pictorial cancels postmarked at their local stamp show.
Harder to find, except for a few major club/society cachet makers, are covers canceled at the launch sites.
Covers can readily be found from Manned Spacecraft Center/Johnson Space Center Stamp Club, KSC Philatelic Society, Manned Spaceflight Cover Society, and Space City Cover Society. The Rockwell company stamp club did covers for shuttle and unmanned flights. A few covers can also be found for the Boeing company stamp club around aircraft first flights.
Pictured above is a cover from the Promontory Stamp and Coin Club for the launch of STS-3 from KSC on March 22, 1982. Promontory, Utah, near Brigham City, is the site where the space shuttle engines were test fired. I have not seen Promontory Stamp and Coin Club covers for any other flights.
Let’s see any club covers you have in your collection!