Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
I've collected Ireland on and off for several years. Once, regrettably, I sold two Lighthouse albums that contained a nice selection of earlier and modern mint and used stamps. Recently I've started accumulating Irish stamps that I especially like, again in both mint and used condition. I don't have any particular goal in mind at this point except to complete a few specific sets.
Now, to answer the question I posed above: How did I get started on collecting Ireland?
My ancestry is almost purely English as far as I know, and until I started collecting Irish stamps I knew almost nothing of Irish history. The stamps helped to trigger my interest in the country; today, having read a few novels about Ireland as well as Irish histories, and learned a lot about Ireland's role as a neutral nation in the Second World War, my sympathies lie with the Irish people, who were treated abominably by my English forebears, not to mention Americans who did not exactly welcome the Irish who fled to the United States to escape the potato famines as well as English oppression. But how did I start collecting Irish stamps? It happened this way:
About 1981, I was teaching Grade 7 in Prince George, British Columbia, about 800 km (500 miles) north of Vancouver, where I live today. I had restarted my stamp collecting hobby a couple of years before, and was well on my way into developing a collection of Canadian stamps, mainly because a couple of local dealers made it easy to obtain them. I decided I would try to start a stamp club in my school, and I did. I soon had weekly meetings with as many as a dozen kids attending, not bad for a small country school with no more than 30 kids in any one grade. To foster their interest I ordered an off-paper mixture of worldwide stamps from a dealer in Vancouver. On the day the box of stamps arrived, I joined the kids in pawing through it and found a nice used copy of this stamp, which I had never seen before (although I had seen the 3p blue copy):
I was impressed by the beauty of that stamp. It really stood out among all of the thousands of other stamps in that box. I'm not Catholic (one of my direct ancestors on my mother's side was a Puritan and a member of a jury which convicted one of the Salem "witches"; my father's side is staunchly Methodist.) I myself simply don't believe the Christian story of the "immaculate" birth of Jesus, so the image on the stamp appealed to me mainly because of its artistry, although it certainly illustrates an important aspect of Irish history. I immediately wondered whether there were other Irish stamps of similar high production qualities and artistry, and of course there are. But Irish stamps, especially of the early period from the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922 through the 1950s, also document Irish history and culture, and supplement the books that have taught me so much.
So, how did you get started on some of your collections?
Bob
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"... not to mention Americans who did not exactly welcome the Irish who fled to the United States to escape the potato famines as well as English oppression ..."
In any ranking of Most Actively Despised & Reviled Immigrant Populations, the nearly five million Irish who came to the USA did pretty well.
" Between 1820 and 1860 the Irish constituted over one third of all immigrants to the United States. "
Clearly, a door slammed wide open?
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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Key Pikey said of Irish immigrants to the U.S. that they clearly faced
"a door slammed wide open?"
Not quite. Of course, the Irish immigrants eventually did very well, and America benefitted from their presence. But it took awhile. There's an interesting summary of the early Irish experience in America at The History Place web site.
Some of the earliest American documentary photography includes photographs of Irish slums in New York City; the photographs led to new building codes to improve sanitation and reduce fire hazards. In many ways, the early Irish immigrants in the northeast U.S. were treated worse than black slaves in the South. Signs like "No Dogs or Irishmen Allowed" were common.
The book The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero, by historian Timothy Egan, includes some fascinating history about the Irish Brigade, Irish volunteers from the slums of New York who fought for the Union in Civil War, despite some Union generals who refused their service. In 1863 at the Battle of Fredericksburg, when the brigade was ordered to attack Confederate forces lodged behind stone walls on a hill above them, they suffered 1344 casualties out of a total force of 1600 men, an 84% casualty rate. Military forces are usually considered to be decimated when casualties reach 10%, which is approximately the casualty rate my company of Marines suffered in one battle in Vietnam.
Bob
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I had collected as a boy, but lost interest in my teens. However, I still looked at Linn's when I saw it at the library.
In the '90s, I decided to start collecting again. I didn't want to collect worldwide; too much available. Nor were modern stamps of interest. They apparently are issued just for collectors. It's a rare day when I see a stamp on my mail.
Ultimately, I decided on older airmail stamps. Most were available mint at reasonable prices. In the ensuing years, I've collected nearly all the airmails issued through 1940. Most of what I need now is expensive, so just a few are bought each month.
Maybe someday I'll start on something else. But there are still a lot of airmail varieties out there, begging to join my collection.
Ed Foster
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"... Some of the earliest American documentary photography includes photographs of Irish slums in New York City ..."
Aside from what their thatch-roofed mud huts looked like back in the 19th Century Irish countryside, we seem to forget that people could always go back. I have the advantage, as one of my grandfather's younger brothers did just that.
"... In many ways, the early Irish immigrants in the northeast U.S. were treated worse than black slaves in the South. Signs like "No Dogs or Irishmen Allowed" were common ..."
Worse than being bought & sold as property?
Worse than being bred to their owners' choice?
Worse than ... this is silly, Bob.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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Hi Ed,
I briefly thought about focusing my collecting on classic airmail, but it just felt too much like topical collecting to me.
Chris
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07:16:05pm
That the Irish were treated poorly, as were the Italians and Jewish later is without a doubt but worse than slavery, I can't agree.
My mother's grand father, Michael Kearney, arrived about 1854 from Westmeath ( Near Dublin. ) and he served in the Union Navy ten years later. He did tell stories but apparently most of his angst was directed at the English.
There is a series being shown on Chicago's WGN; "Underground" the story of a group o runaways', why they ran, who helped them and who hunted them that is very well acted and illustrates many of the problems slaves endured. Of course there is the long book nd TV series "Roots' written by a US Coast Guard petty officer that at times should break the hardest hearts.
Both series are well worth the viewing.
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There aren't all that many worldwide collectors these days — most of us have settled on one or more collections centred on one or more regions, countries, time periods, types of stamps, historical incidents or movements, technologies, natural phenomena, famous (or infamous) people, etc. I'm curious about how your collection or collections got started.
I've collected Ireland on and off for several years. Once, regrettably, I sold two Lighthouse albums that contained a nice selection of earlier and modern mint and used stamps. Recently I've started accumulating Irish stamps that I especially like, again in both mint and used condition. I don't have any particular goal in mind at this point except to complete a few specific sets.
Now, to answer the question I posed above: How did I get started on collecting Ireland?
My ancestry is almost purely English as far as I know, and until I started collecting Irish stamps I knew almost nothing of Irish history. The stamps helped to trigger my interest in the country; today, having read a few novels about Ireland as well as Irish histories, and learned a lot about Ireland's role as a neutral nation in the Second World War, my sympathies lie with the Irish people, who were treated abominably by my English forebears, not to mention Americans who did not exactly welcome the Irish who fled to the United States to escape the potato famines as well as English oppression. But how did I start collecting Irish stamps? It happened this way:
About 1981, I was teaching Grade 7 in Prince George, British Columbia, about 800 km (500 miles) north of Vancouver, where I live today. I had restarted my stamp collecting hobby a couple of years before, and was well on my way into developing a collection of Canadian stamps, mainly because a couple of local dealers made it easy to obtain them. I decided I would try to start a stamp club in my school, and I did. I soon had weekly meetings with as many as a dozen kids attending, not bad for a small country school with no more than 30 kids in any one grade. To foster their interest I ordered an off-paper mixture of worldwide stamps from a dealer in Vancouver. On the day the box of stamps arrived, I joined the kids in pawing through it and found a nice used copy of this stamp, which I had never seen before (although I had seen the 3p blue copy):
I was impressed by the beauty of that stamp. It really stood out among all of the thousands of other stamps in that box. I'm not Catholic (one of my direct ancestors on my mother's side was a Puritan and a member of a jury which convicted one of the Salem "witches"; my father's side is staunchly Methodist.) I myself simply don't believe the Christian story of the "immaculate" birth of Jesus, so the image on the stamp appealed to me mainly because of its artistry, although it certainly illustrates an important aspect of Irish history. I immediately wondered whether there were other Irish stamps of similar high production qualities and artistry, and of course there are. But Irish stamps, especially of the early period from the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922 through the 1950s, also document Irish history and culture, and supplement the books that have taught me so much.
So, how did you get started on some of your collections?
Bob
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re: The origin of collections
"... not to mention Americans who did not exactly welcome the Irish who fled to the United States to escape the potato famines as well as English oppression ..."
In any ranking of Most Actively Despised & Reviled Immigrant Populations, the nearly five million Irish who came to the USA did pretty well.
" Between 1820 and 1860 the Irish constituted over one third of all immigrants to the United States. "
Clearly, a door slammed wide open?
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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Login to Like.
re: The origin of collections
Key Pikey said of Irish immigrants to the U.S. that they clearly faced
"a door slammed wide open?"
Not quite. Of course, the Irish immigrants eventually did very well, and America benefitted from their presence. But it took awhile. There's an interesting summary of the early Irish experience in America at The History Place web site.
Some of the earliest American documentary photography includes photographs of Irish slums in New York City; the photographs led to new building codes to improve sanitation and reduce fire hazards. In many ways, the early Irish immigrants in the northeast U.S. were treated worse than black slaves in the South. Signs like "No Dogs or Irishmen Allowed" were common.
The book The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero, by historian Timothy Egan, includes some fascinating history about the Irish Brigade, Irish volunteers from the slums of New York who fought for the Union in Civil War, despite some Union generals who refused their service. In 1863 at the Battle of Fredericksburg, when the brigade was ordered to attack Confederate forces lodged behind stone walls on a hill above them, they suffered 1344 casualties out of a total force of 1600 men, an 84% casualty rate. Military forces are usually considered to be decimated when casualties reach 10%, which is approximately the casualty rate my company of Marines suffered in one battle in Vietnam.
Bob
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re: The origin of collections
I had collected as a boy, but lost interest in my teens. However, I still looked at Linn's when I saw it at the library.
In the '90s, I decided to start collecting again. I didn't want to collect worldwide; too much available. Nor were modern stamps of interest. They apparently are issued just for collectors. It's a rare day when I see a stamp on my mail.
Ultimately, I decided on older airmail stamps. Most were available mint at reasonable prices. In the ensuing years, I've collected nearly all the airmails issued through 1940. Most of what I need now is expensive, so just a few are bought each month.
Maybe someday I'll start on something else. But there are still a lot of airmail varieties out there, begging to join my collection.
Ed Foster
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re: The origin of collections
"... Some of the earliest American documentary photography includes photographs of Irish slums in New York City ..."
Aside from what their thatch-roofed mud huts looked like back in the 19th Century Irish countryside, we seem to forget that people could always go back. I have the advantage, as one of my grandfather's younger brothers did just that.
"... In many ways, the early Irish immigrants in the northeast U.S. were treated worse than black slaves in the South. Signs like "No Dogs or Irishmen Allowed" were common ..."
Worse than being bought & sold as property?
Worse than being bred to their owners' choice?
Worse than ... this is silly, Bob.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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re: The origin of collections
Hi Ed,
I briefly thought about focusing my collecting on classic airmail, but it just felt too much like topical collecting to me.
Chris
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this post
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
03 May 2016
07:16:05pm
re: The origin of collections
That the Irish were treated poorly, as were the Italians and Jewish later is without a doubt but worse than slavery, I can't agree.
My mother's grand father, Michael Kearney, arrived about 1854 from Westmeath ( Near Dublin. ) and he served in the Union Navy ten years later. He did tell stories but apparently most of his angst was directed at the English.
There is a series being shown on Chicago's WGN; "Underground" the story of a group o runaways', why they ran, who helped them and who hunted them that is very well acted and illustrates many of the problems slaves endured. Of course there is the long book nd TV series "Roots' written by a US Coast Guard petty officer that at times should break the hardest hearts.
Both series are well worth the viewing.
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