When people think of Elgin, often the first thing that comes to mind is the city’s historic district or Hemmens Auditorium or the promise of riverboat gambling.
But for thousands of devoted philatelists around the world, Elgin is synonymous with stamp collecting.
Down in the catacombs of the Elgin Tower Building, one block east of the Fox River, is a four-room office that is the headquarters for 15 stamp collecting clubs related to airmail stamps and airmail memorabilia, such as airmail envelopes with special postmarks.
The clubs operate under an umbrella organization known as the Aerophilatelic Federation of the Americas (AFA), which was formed more than 40 years ago.
On any given day, club members are at the Elgin headquarters, poring over dog-eared copies of Global Stamp News, researching airlines such as American or United and the now defunct All American or Capital Airlines. They also are investigating pilots as famous as Charles Lindbergh and the not-so-well-known such as Earl Ovington or William Hopson, as well as checking the value and rarity of stamps and memorabilia.
Newsletter editors use the spartan facilities, a mix of tables, chairs and file cabinets, as a place to research and write their stories as well as put the newsletter together. And several of the AFA member clubs in the Elgin area use the headquarters for occasional meetings.
The Elvis Presley stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service last year might have been a hot seller, but members of the Elgin airmail clubs get much more excited about a letter carried by legendary aviator Charles Lindbergh during the time when pilots would put their personal cancellation on each stamp.
“There are plenty of clubs that cover regular stamp collecting,” said Fred Wellman, president of the AFA and a former Brookfield resident who retired to Lecanto, Fla., in 1980. “We think it’s much more fun to specialize. Airmail collecting suffered a bit when the U.S. Postal Service stopped issuing airmail stamps, but we still have plenty of devoted members. There have been hundreds of United States airmail stamps issued over the years and thousands issued worldwide, so there’s plenty of stuff out there to keep us excited.”
Stephen Neulander of Deerfield has been involved with the AFA since 1975 and is vice president in charge of publications. He also directs the AFA’s Balloon Post Collectors Club.
“I fly hot air balloons, and I’ve collected stamps related to delivering the mail by hot air balloon since I was a kid,” said Neulander, who teaches marketing at Columbia College in Chicago and also is the executive director of the Deerfield Area United Way.
“I can’t tell you how excited I was when I found out about the Balloon Post Collectors Club. I’ve been an active member since the day I joined (in 1975). I’m also interested in women aviators, great pilots such as Beryl Markham. And as you become friendly with other club members, it makes airmail collecting even more fun.”
One of the AFA clubs specializes in Amelia Earhart stamp memorabilia. She was the first woman pilot to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an airplane, in 1928, and she flew many airmail flights. Another AFA club specializes in Lindbergh memorabilia. Members of the Zeppelin Collectors Club are interested in the history of airships as they relate to mail delivery, while the Canadian Air Mail Collectors Club specializes in Canadian air mail flights.
Other AFA member clubs include the Latin American Airmail Collectors Club, the Rocket Mail Society, the Mexican Airmail Collectors Club, the Concorde Collectors Club, the Pan American Airmail Collectors and the Aeronautica & Air Label Collectors Club.
Membership in the clubs range from as few as 40 members in the Balloon Post Collectors Club to as many as 600 in the Jack Knight Airmail Society, with men, women and youngsters on the membership rolls. Total membership in all AFA clubs is about 1,000 stamp lovers worldwide, with some of those 1,000 belonging to more than one club.
Dave McMurtrie of Plainfield, the AFA’s vice president in charge of research and the library, said the uninitiated might find it funny that AFA members are so specialized, but he said that’s fairly typical for stamp collecting.
“There are many generalists among stamp collectors, to be sure, but many of us like to specialize, too,” McMurtrie said. “Frankly, it’s hard to be a general collector, no matter what you’re collecting. Some people like statehood stamps, or Christmas stamps, or animal stamps. We like airmail stamps.
“As for myself, I’m particularly interested in airmail stamps from the Philippines. That’s a pretty narrow area, I know, but my uncle and grandfather served in the Philippines in World War II, so I’ve always been interested in that country.”
Airmail had an auspicious debut in the United States. In 1859, John Wise took off from Lafayette, Ind., in his mail-filled balloon, Jupiter, bound for New York City 700 miles away. However, nasty weather forced him down 25 miles after takeoff with a basket full of soggy mail. Dirigibles were used as mail carriers during their short heyday in the 1930s-until the Hindenburg disaster in 1937.
Earle Ovington flew the first official U.S. airmail flight in 1911 between Garden City, N.Y., and Jamaica, N.Y. The first continuous regular airmail service in the world began in 1918, with U.S. Army pilots flying between New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Later that year the Post Office Department (now the U.S. Postal Service) took over airmail service, and in 1921 the first night-time airmail flights took off.
Lewis Sampson of Elgin is the AFA’s vice president of membership services and a 5th grade teacher at Sycamore Trails School in Bartlett. He has been involved with the club since 1983.
“I’m interested in any pilots who carried the mail, and I’m particularly interested in autographs of pilots,” Sampson said. “This is a part of history that we can collect and really get our hands on. Airmail is fascinating to me. Men like Charles Lindbergh and Jack Knight were seen as the Pony Express riders of their day.”
In fact, Jack Knight was instrumental in helping get the AFA on its feet. Knight was involved in the U.S. Post Office’s first airmail night flight in 1921.
“He flew the leg from Cheyenne, Wyo., to Chicago, and the great effort of these pilots proved to the government that flying the mail was much faster than delivering it by train,” Wellman said.
Knight went on to become a vice president at United Airlines. In 1941, Wellman’s dad, Earl, was looking for a guest speaker for a Suburban Stamp Collectors Club of Chicago meeting, and Knight impressed the club members so much that they formed a club in his honor: the Jack Knight Air Mail Society, which Neulander also directs.
“Jack died in 1971, but our club helps keep his memory alive, along with the memory of the many other fine aviation pioneers from his era,” Neulander said.
The club’s quarterly publication, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, is named the Jack Knight Air Log & AFA News.
So how did the AFA and its member clubs land in Elgin? Wellman’s dad, a mail carrier, operated the clubs out of the basement of his Brookfield home from 1941 until his death in 1983. That’s when club secretary Emily Brown of Elgin took over, and the AFA moved to the basement of the Elgin Tower Building.
“Emily was a retiree, and she had the time that was necessary to take things over and keep things lively,” Wellman said. “Elgin was a good fit at the time, and it has worked out well for us over the years. Emily passed away in 1990, but we’ve made a home for ourselves here.”
“For several years there, Emily was the glue that kept the organization together,” McMurtrie said.
The Elgin headquarters houses the Emily Brown Workroom, a storage area, meeting room and the Earl H. Wellman Sr. Memorial Library, where club members visit to research their collections. The 3,000-volume library includes yellowed copies of Global Stamp News, airline guides, American Air Mail catalogs and books like “The Search for Amelia Earhart,” “We” by Charles Lindbergh and “The Spirit of St. Louis.” McMurtrie said club members are in the process of computerizing the library.
The AFA also holds two conventions each year. The most recent get-together was last November in Virginia Beach, Va., and the next gathering is in March in Milwaukee. Many of the AFA member clubs also hold annual get-togethers.
And what is the most valuable airmail stamp? That would be one of the handful of 1918 inverted Jenny stamps. William T. Robey walked into the Washington, D.C., post office one spring day and bought a sheet of 100 24-cent airmail stamps that were printed with the Jenny airplane upside down. Robey persuaded the postal clerk to let him keep the sheet, which he sold a week later for $15,000. Today an individual inverted airmail stamp is worth about $100,000, while a block of four inverted Jenny stamps is worth $1 million, Neulander said.
Stamp collecting in general has been replaced for many people over the years by other hobbies and interests. Keith Wagner, executive director of the American Philatelic Society in State College, Pa., said the society’s 57,000 membership has remained fairly constant over the years, but the hobby has trouble attracting new members.
“Competition is very tough,” Wagner said. “There are just so many other outlets for kids today, whether it’s sports, entertainment or recreation. But it seems that people who do collect stamps are very devoted to the hobby, and the efforts of the AFA member clubs help keep stamp collecting alive. Clubs offer stamp collectors a chance to share notes and enjoy the hobby with people who have a common devotion.”
Wellman said the lack of younger members is a concern for the AFA. “It’s no secret that when it comes to collecting, kids today are more interested in baseball and basketball cards, things like that,” Wellman said. “That’s why all of our member clubs work wherever we can to attract younger people. Several of our AFA clubs have junior groups, so that helps. For me, it was my dad who got me interested in stamp collecting, and I’ve kept the family tradition going all these years.”
As a teacher, Sampson has an opportunity to promote stamp collecting among his students.
“I tell them to collect used stamps, because it’s a lot cheaper, especially for kids,” he said. “I promote stamp collecting whenever I can, and occasionally one of my students will stick with it, which is encouraging. There’s just so much for kids to do these days, but occasionally a youngster will get involved and realize that it can be a very worthwhile hobby.”
McMurtrie teaches 3rd grade at Ranch View School in Naperville, where he has sponsored the stamp club for nine years. He estimates that he has helped get dozens of youngsters interested in stamp collecting, though he said it’s tough to determine how many of them stuck with the hobby over the years.
“People of all ages find that once they get involved in stamp collecting, they’re hooked,” he said. “It’s a people hobby. It’s educational, but it’s fun too. I learned most of my history and geography through stamp collecting.”
The U.S. Postal Service is doing its part to promote stamp collecting. More than 100 new stamps are planned for 1994, including stamps commemorating the Winter Olympics, CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow, legends of the American West, World Cup soccer, locomotives, the 1969 moon landing, physician Virginia Apgar, silent screen stars, author James Thurber and the Statue of Liberty. To be considered for a stamp, a person has to be dead at least 10 years.
“The Postal Service is finally doing what many other countries have done for years, which is working to influence people to collect stamps,” said Cliff Heverly of Palatine, owner of Northern Illinois Coin & Stamp in Elgin. “Over the last several years, they’ve been increasing the number of new stamps and decreasing the number of stamps printed. Since 1985, many stamps have become sought after as limited edition collectibles, such as the 1987 American Wildlife series.”
Wellman said that anything that helps promote the hobby is fine with him. “Whether it’s airmail stamps or famous rock ‘n’ roll singers, it’s great as long as people collect,” he said. “Some people specialize in stamps with penguins on them. We like airmail stamps. Whatever it takes is what I say. And we’ll be out here in Elgin, doing our part.”
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For more information on the Aerophilatelic Federation of the Americas, write to Box 1239, Elgin, Ill. 60121-1239, or call 708-468-0840.
In addition, the Northwest Stamp Club meets at the Mt. Prospect Public Library. Upcoming meeting dates are March 9 and 23 (spring auction); April 13 and 27 (show and tell). For more information, write to Box 322, Mt. Prospect, Ill. 60056.
