Investigating Jibbitz

The hiatus for the past couple of weeks was caused by my travelling to Florida, and doing essentially nothing, except eating and sleeping, and much of the stuff you simply don’t want to read about.

I bought some neat Apple accessories for my iPOD Classic and so it now has a choice of skins, and I can play it on the car radio and recharge it at the same time. I have loaded countless CD on the thing — it’s 120GB and about 95% empty. I also downloaded a couple of CBC’s poscasts, but haven’t got around to listening to them yet. I am resisting the urge to dowload MP4 movies, because I want to investigate how to creat MP4 movies from my countless DVD’s that I have on hand.

I sorted through the eight boxes of covers from the August Derleth collection, that I assembled before leaving from two large banker’s files: there were some extraordinary finds there to itemize a few:

1. A tied cover from Baraboo dated 1939 which has one of the Derleth SAC Prairie cinderellas on it beside the postage stamp. It is delightful to finally see, and proves that at least one of the 20,000 that Derleth distributed survived the sands of time. Can anybody out there in cyberspace identify a second legitmate use?

2. A set of time dated currency from 50th Anniverary of The Barnum and Bailey Circus, Baraboo dating from 1933. there is a 5 cent, 10cent, 25 cent, 25 cent, 50cent and $100 bill. Each coupon is numbered. They are in an envelope in mint condition. I have never seen this item before; likely used as a promotion for the local merchants, redeamable up to Nov 1933 at the Chamber of Commerce. I suspect the set is worthless now — or extremely valuable to a collector. In any case they are not for sale. Would like some more information on them — if available.

3. A soldier’s letter from the Civil War. Not stamped or cancelled but posted Free Mail. The rear of the cover is missing and may have been stamped or cancelled.

4. A pre 1840 stampless cover from Germany.

5. a Return to sender item, still in its original envelope which is a catalogue that Derleth sent out in 1943 entitled “Arham House Books”. The enclosure is in mint condition, although the staples are rusted, and I suspect it has a large value as an Arkham House Ephemera item. The envelope matches the phamphlet, and is defaced by multiple markings resulting in it being returned.

6. A second Return to sender item that Derleth saved which contains another Arham Phamphlet of later date. I don’t have it in front of me now, but it is franked with a 1 cent precanel. This is one of few uses of this rate that I have identified in the pile, but I suspect this was a 3rf class for bulk mailing of the period.

7. Countless envelopes opened by the censors from soldiers abroad to overseas mail from customers abroad during the war. They make an interesting collection in themselves.

8. Many first day covers using Derleth and Arkham and M&M envelopes. There are many duplicates here, and I will try and assemble some for Windy City, and you can ask to see them there. The four main envelopes are: 1) book editor of Madison State Times; 2) member of the School Board 3) Stanton and Lee 4) Arkham House.

9. a nice pile of early US postal stationary both envelopes and postcards which reuire sorting with a catalogue. This is not one of my specialties

10. A large pile of early US mail featuring a plethora of early Sauk City postmarks on both front and back. Some postcards were backstamped Sauk City as well. I suspect this practice was discontinued by decree at some point. But it certainly enchances these psot cards!

11. Finally a great selection of envelopes from Barlow, Lovecraft (some with notes on the back), Bradbury (from Ireland), Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley, Lord Dunsany, Dwig (with art work on the front cover) and many others to list fails my memory.

I am now occupied with creating a couple of jibbitz* for my CROCs (shoes). I stopped off at the Outlet Mall in St. Augustine on the way down, and got some wild colors, as well as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse, as well as a pair of Packers jibbitz (that’s the big G!) I would like to do a jibbitz for The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box and for Arkham House. Will stop in again on my way north to pick up a pair of White CROCS.

* jibbitz: Now if you are not “au fait” with the word, it is jewelry that youth place on their CROCS shoes with various levels of significance. Ask your children or your grandchildren if you are of a certain age. If you have no young people to consult — use google.com

Now back to the projects: War Christmas; Walt Whitman’s Canada; 100 Sherlock Holmes Crossword Puzzles; Under the Darkling Sky; The Compleat Adventures of the Suicide Squad; The Electronic Rohmer Review (e-RR) ; Star of Dreams by H. Bedford-Jones; Chang and RAfferty; and Philip Strange.

DAY BY DAY by Betty Case (November 28, 1939)

Day by Day

HISTORIANS and future generations won’t know whether to call this the Year of the Two Thanksgivings or the Year of the Great Wind at Sauk City. In September August Derleth, like the Third Little Pig, built himself a house of stone. Then he did a Jekyl-and-Hyde, threw a long shaggy black coat over his smooth, pink, well-filled skin and huffed and puffed until he put the Big Bad Wolf to shame. Because the BBW couldn’t budge the stone house no matter HOW hard HE blew . . . but August blew the cornerstone of HIS stone house all the way from Sauk City to Madison, where it landed ker-plunk in the pages of the “other newspaper.” Last month he huffed and he puffed and he puffed and he huffed until he blew HIMSELF into the pages of Time magazine as a “Horn Tooter” of experience and ability. This month he has done it differently. This month Mr. Derleth saved what breath he had left and hoarded it and coddled it and warmed it with his own benign presence until it expanded and increased and dilated and spread and produced the most magnificently inflated ego on record.No helium gas for Mr. Derleth! I should say not! His own special brand is so far superior that there’re rumors of the government taking it over as a subsidiary.

(We will pause one moment now for Ego Identification, which is necessary to the rest of the story:

Mr. Derleth is a young man who lives in Sauk City and writes pieces. He is now engaged in writing several novels which he says are the history of his part of the state, and which he calls “Sac Prairie Saga”. Sinclair Lewis once said Wisconsin people should watch him, but he forgot to say Hold on to your hats and skirts, meantime, Ladies and Gentlemen! We will now return you to Station WIND)

THIS month, as I said, Mr. Derleth did it differently. This month he had 20,000 stamps, the same size as a postage stamp, printed, each with his own picture on it. Above the picture it says: SAC PRAIRIE SAGA . . . and below it it says,with simple eloquence: AUGUST DERLETH These stamps Mr. Derleth is affixing to letters which he sends out and he has given sheets of them to Sauk City merchants with the request that they affix them to whatever mail they happen to be sending out during the holidays. Just like the Tuberculosis seals, you know.

AND all this, mind you, right after I’d sworn a swear to continue ignoring all blasts from that direction. But you can’t ignore a guy like that any more than you could ignore Toto the World’s Funniest Clown if he insisted upon performing in your front yard. And who WANTS to ignore him? August may write novels which take two reviews in the same newspaper to do them justice, but ya gotta excuse a fella even THAT when he furnishes this dreary old world such fresh and regular belly-laughs as he does. Anyway, other men have blasted their way to fame when other means failed, so why not August?

A first glance at Derleth’s covers

I emptied the contents of two boxes onto the table in the bookhouse yesterday, and started to wade through it. There certainly was no order, and there is a plethora of Arham and Derleth material to wade through to tell the story of Derleth and his publishing house and his interest in philately simultaneously. This will have to wait for another post, and I plan to assemble the material into a couple of volumes and donate it back to The August Derleth Society for their archives. But I would like to tell you 10 items here now which tell significant parts of the story. The correspondence that these envelopes contained is undoubtedly part of the archives at The State Historical Society in Madison.

1. A 1914 postcard addressed to Zona Gale from Ada recommending a John Evans of Waupaca because he was a “strong, reliable suffragist.” Derleth published Still Small Voice, a Biography of Zona Gale after her death. This card was likely in the Zona Gale archive that Deerleth used to write the biography after her death.

2. A registered envelope dated April 12, 1940 bearing a nicely cancelled set of Famous Americans addressed to August Derleth in pen, with a return address in pen from “Donald Wandrei, 1152 Portland Avenue, St. Paul, Minn.” This letter undoubtedly contained money, perhaps Wandrei share of the pot for founding Arkham House or at least a significant portion of it.

3. A printed return envelope dated October 28, 1941, to Derleth with a stamped return address “Wings/A Quarterly of Verse/Mill Valley, Calif.” this is likely a payment for a poem or two that appeared in this quarterly either before or after the date on the envelope.

4. A plain no. 8 envelope dated October 10, 1941 typed to August Derleth with the letterhead “Herman Herst, Jr./ 116 Nassau Street, New York, N.Y.” this early letter undoubtedly contained correspondence and or stamps. Herst later wrote for Stamp Collector Magazine. And this can be the basis for an article that Ken Grant plans to write for The American Philatelist. There are at least two of these envelopes and one of them will end up in Ken’s collection.

5. A printed return envelope dated October 27, 1941, to Derleth with a type written return address “Poetry Caravan & Silhouettes, Route 1, Box 55, Lakeland, Florida” this is likely a payment for a poem or two that appeared in this journal either before or after the date on the envelope.

6. A no. 8 envelope type written to Derleth and dated “US Army Postal Service Jan 3, 1945″ from “T/4 Malcolm M. Ferguson / ASN 31135599 / 828th Convalescent Center/ APO 511 / c/o Postmaster, New York, NY.” There is also “passed by Army Examiner 04705 marking” This is undoubtedly a personal leeter from a wounded acquaintance who is still alive, and I think I saw his name on the ADS membership list.

7. A First Day Cover for the Pony Express Stamp dated Jul 19, 1960, with an additional circular marking “Founders, Sacramento, Calif. St. Joseph, Mo.” It is a no. 8 with a letterhead along the long side “August Derleth/—/Literary Editor: The Capital Times, Sauk City, Wisconsin.” Now I know Derleth served as editor from 1948 until the 1960’s sometime, and I know that he had an unpleasant disagreement with the paper’s owner because of editorial censorship, but perhaps he was dismissed for using Capital Times stationary for Philatelic purposes?

8. A First Day Cover for the Garibaldi stamp in the Champion of Liberty series dated Nov 2, 1960. It is a no. 8 envelope with the logo of “Arkham House, Arkham House: Publishers, Sauk City Wisconsin.” Perhaps he started to use his own envelopes for FDCs when his Editorship of the Capital Times was completed? It contains a cut card for TEAM RECORD CARD for The Woman’s International Bowling Congress. I suspect this was merely waste filler, as I know of no relationship with a Lady Bowling Team, but I would like somebody to prove me wrong!

9. A folded oversize manilla envelope with some nice blocks and singles of the US Flags series, namely France, Belgium and Greece dated Nov 17, 1943. It has a printed slanted return address in the upper left “from/A. Derleth/Sauk City/Wisconsin” and an additional address label from Arkham House, with a type written address to “Miss Marcia Masters/c/o August Derelth, Sauk City, Wisconsin” It undoubtedly contained a manuscript or a book. Perhaps it was a proof of a book from the printer that the two of them were working on at the time?

10. A registered over-sized manilla envelope from the US Philatelic Agency and back dated “May 15th, 1944.” It has a lightly cancelled plate block of the “Completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad.” It undoubtedly contained postage stamps. The fact that it has a perforated address to label typewritten to August Derelth and a number 78757 would indicate to me that Derleth was on their mailing list, and perhaps had a standing order for such postage to use on his regular correspondence. It also indicates that he did not solely rely on the local post Master for supplies. He visited the local Postmaster every business day with his morel basket and sandals in the summer, and always stopped to talk with Hugo at the Harness shop.

Now perhaps that’s too much information, for the interested philatelist they will simply have to wait to read about it in Ken’s article in The American Philatelist — if they accept it for publication. Or alternatively the stamp collector can visit Sauk City and view the collection in the basement of the Sauk City Library in The August Derleth Room where the archives reside — after they get there.

I originally planned to scan and include illustrations of these covers, but I now reckon the verbal description will suffice, and perhaps titillate the philatelist’s passion for more, and I can assure there is more in that mound of paper on my desk which will be boxed up now to make room for applying dustjackets.

Now what would be my wish list of things that I might hope to find. Covers from correspondence with Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Robert Howard, Seabury Quinn and perhaps Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Perhaps the first generation of Sherlockians such as Edgar Smith, Vincent Starrett,  and Christopher Morley as well as second generation  for example Julian Wolf, Michael Harrison, Luther Norris and Peter Ruber.

Best not to speculate, but rather to take pleasure in and document the finds. This could develop into a slide show, in fact the more I think about it, it will!

USPS has rules and regulations to follow!

But the result is worth it. When I got to Sauk City, I quickly discovered that the two special cancellations were somewhat large than I had planned on. I believe the regulations said no larger than 4 inches in the design submission. But the actual cancel(l)ing device was wider and did not fit the set of four advertising postcards which you can find illustrated elsewhere; also if stood up “portrait” style with the address for the postmark, the postcard would no longer be a postcard, but in fact a first class letter at a different rate, .42 cents instead of .27 cents. Very poor planning on my part! So the set of four advertising cards were used as inserts into the souvenir envelopes that Henry Russell had prepared with a no. 10 envelope and a picture of Derleth in cape and sandals on the left, and lots of room, portarit or landscape for an address and cancellation. I was initially worried that the inserts would make the cover overweight, and I checked two with the postmaster, and all was well on the weight front.

The postcards that I had prepared by affixing Derleth Sac Prairie stamps to prior to arrival also fell out of the postcard definition, and had to be sent as first class mail. I used additional 3 cent stamps mounted in two blocks of 7 plus an additional AD cinderella so that two cancellations would be required. Affixing the 3 cent stamps was very time consuming but I managed a few and came home with a pile of 3 cents “sheets” but thes 3 cent stamps are self adhesives, and it takes time for the ink to dry on these cards. The postmasets handed back these “first class” cards in glassine envelopes in order to minimize smudging.

I also prepared a number of sets of 2 covers to send out to various Philatelic enthusiasts of my acquaintance, and also included the Macabre Quarto advertising cards in addition to a mint block of 4 of the Sac Prairie Cinderella.

I also took the opportunity to send 10 of these covers to myself in Canada at .72 cents a pop. I gave up on 3 cents stamps here and used a single .72 in addition to a pair of Sac Prairie Cinderella. They were all sent out in glassine envelopes to prevent additional cancellation, and seven of them were in my box on my return. Two more arrived the next day, and I hope the 10th arrives shortly, but perhaps not! (During the Vietnam War, the Americans accepted the loss of 1 in 10 trucks in a convoy as normal business practise, and I hope this does not apply to United States Postal Service or for that matter Canada Post.

I won’t bother with illustrations, it is perhaps too much detail for the “normal” reader, but not the philatelist, I assure you. I have already received requests from as far as Australia for these Philatelic souvenirs, and while I prepared them initially as book premiums, I shall have to prepare “sets” to satisfy demand.

In closing, I would like to extend a sincere thank you to the two Postmasters and their staff (Bill Brickl at Sauk City, 53583 and Mitch Ohnesorge at Prairie du Sac, 53578 ) who both accommodated my requests graciously but firmly. After all I would have been just as happy to acquire multiple cancellations on sheets of the “Sac Prairie” cinderellas and dispensed with the covers altogether, but that would tend to minimize Post Office revenue!

The postage rates in Canada and the U.S.A.

I travel to the United States regular at least four times per year. I like to visit New York City in January; to Chicago in April to attend the Windy City Pulp and Paper Back Show; to Dayton Ohio in July to attend Pulpcon; to Sauk City, Wisconsin to attend The Walden West Festival. I usually accumulate my sales to ship at the very economical Media Rate with delivery confirmation. The Dominion of Canada does not offer such a rate, also charges a 5% GST on all Canadian shipments. A Venture card really doesn’t correct the situation, and it is simply a fact of life — ship to the U.S.A. from the U.S.A.

With the recent thickening of the border, taking these tubes of parcels across the border is viewed by US Customs as a commercial transaction,a and I must declare this crossing the border. Once I forgot to declare those tubes of books, and my car was searched, and I was almost turned back and denied entry. Cooler heads prevailed and I visited a US Post Office the next day to post all the book orders, and then continue on to my destination.

Even with the hassle, and it is significant obstruction, the net cost is cheaper, and the “delivery confirmation” is a very significant bonus that Canada does offer but at a large premium.

A visit to Iowa and Dubuque in October 2008

On my way to Sauk City, Wisconsin last Columbus Day weekend to celebrate the Walden West Festival, I took the opportunity to stop off along the way to visit members of the Editorial Board and Authors.

I arrived in Battlecreek just in time to take Randy Vanderbeek for dinner, and also picked up two boxes of pulps. Some items to fill some holes in the Philip Fisher project; a run of Crime Busters containing the Norgil the Magician stories. Otto Penzler published two volumes of these stories back in the 1970’s. But there was a third volume that was never published; and finally a series of serial novels by George F. Worts featuring Gillian Hazeltine.

The next morning I visited with Bob Weinberg in Chicago, and as always we talked about everything but the kitchen sink, but mostly about the pulps, and future Lost Treasures projects. He asked me to give priority to “The Suicide Squad,” and I noted that Rodney Schroeter was just finishing the John Solomon project. I also mentioned to Bob that the Governor of Wisconsin was going to declare February 24, 2009 AUGUST DERLETH DAY to celebrate the author’s 100th birthday. Bob immediately suggested that somebody should approach the postmaster to issue a commemorative postmark to promote the declaration. (I made a note to follow up!) The two of us also discussed a long standing project The Best Short Stories of August Derleth.

I next set the Tom-Tom (Global Positioning Device) to guide me to Dubuque Iowa via Highway 80 West where I met with David and Audrey Hammer and went out for a Chinese dinner, and back to Laurel Cottage for a wonderful evening of discussion. The discussion centred around four projects: 1) For The Record: My Name is Hammer 2) Don’t Eat Them Eggs 3) A collected edition of David’s travel writings entitled “To Share the Sport” and 4) “Your Annals, My Dear Watson” which is an Omnibus edition of David’s multiple volumes of pastiches. The next morning after breakfast David showed me his excellent collection of Postage stamps. I won’t elaborate because there is too much detail, but rest assured David is a fine collector, and the Dubuque Humane Society will benefit from their Sale when David passes over/under the Reichenbach. In the afternoon I packed the trunk of the Ford Explorer with boxes of David’s books that he received back from Gasogene Books of Indianapolis. There were a dozen titles or so in all in quantities varying from 8 to 700 copies. David and I agreed that I would try and sell them on his behalf.

I arrived in Sauk City to commence the whirl of the weekend: dinner at the Old Feed Mill in Mazomanie; a tour of Sauk City cemetery conducted by David Switzer; A motor tour through the the Baraboo bluffs culminating in delicious apple pie a la mode, complicated with buzzing biting malodorous bugs; dinner at David Drake and his secretary at Leystra’s; a visit to the cemetery again for a candle-light ceremony around Derleth’s grave, and a visit with his daughter April who attended graveside that evening. Sunday morning the annual meeting of the August Derleth Society, and permission to publish 4 collections of Derleth Short stories with the joint logos of the August Derleth Society and Arkham House. Next the Walden West and the presentation of The Young Writer’s Awards by Fred and Julie Roelke. This year it was a hard cover edition of Volume 8 of The Mill Creek Irregulars entitled The Watcher on the Heights. David Drake was the guest speaker and he gave a heart felt rendition of his contact with Augie as a teenager wanting to write, and how helpful Augie was to neophyte writer from Dubuque. (I learned that evening over dinner that David grew up three doors down from David, and played in the construction dirt of Laurel Cottage when it was being built. This is indeed a serendipitous coincidence.) David agreed to do an introduction to one of the four volumes of Short Stories and we settled on an overall title The Macabre Quarto. I visited with Henry Russell on Monday morning and we trekked out to visit both the Sauk City and The Prairie du Sac postmaster to arrange postmarks for February 24, 2009. It is important to note that the postmark must contain the word station.

I am advised that both the Post Masters will have the postmarks available on February 24 2009, and the mail that day will be postmarked with these two devices. Collectors should send their envelopes properly addressed with postage affixed (An Edgar Allan Poe postage stamp is in stock) for Poste Restante service.