My 1964 JFK (USA - Scott 1246) FDC Collection

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 04 Jan 2013 13:42

Cupertino California is west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley. Originally an area for stone fruit orchards, Cupertino is now said by some to be the heart of Silicon Valley. It is the home of Apple & Hewlett Packard & many other IT companies have bases here.

Boerger ABC cachet fdc cancelled with machine slogan cancel "Pray for Peace"

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 04 Jan 2013 13:51

Cutten California is in Humboldt County 2.5 miles south south east of Eureka. It has a population of 3108 & it's post office opened in 1929.

Rarely seen "Griffith" cachet fdc with nice machine wavy line cancel.

patg · Post by **patg** » 04 Jan 2013 14:34

Bigsaint:
Every now and then I stop back in to see how you are doing. I do admire someone who can find a niche they enjoy and stay with it.
My question is: how long have you been assembling these; and how have you managed to do it from "downunder". Now that you're in Calif., I've enjoyed your descriptions of some of the Towns in our State.

Best to you & great job,
patg

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 04 Jan 2013 16:02

Hello Patg

I have been collecting these fdc's for about 5 years, although I have always had an interest in this JFK stamp, ever since my mother bought me the stamp from the Myer Stamp Shop in Lonsdale St Melbourne, way back in 1964.

It is not easy collecting these from downunder but ebay, bidstart & similar auction sites have been a good source. There is also the "Guru" in New York who has sent me a "few" from time to time, for which I am most thankful.

There is another thread on this website that suggests that some consider philately boring. I have never found it that way because there is just so much more to it than just the stamp & it would appear that I am bringing out my enjoyment in collecting & researching these covers & places with some of the commentary that I am adding.

Thank you for your kind words & I still have a "few" more Californian places to come, so please stay tuned.

Keep on Stamping

Brad

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 04 Jan 2013 23:29

Cypress California is a suburban city in North Orange County in Southern California. Originally settled by the Spanish, the area became a dairy farming community until WWII. At that time the land was broken up for housing. I understand that one of todays residents is Tiger Woods. I am not sure if he owns the golf course here.

Artmaster cachet fdc with nice machine wavy line cancel (& addressed to the mystery person at Box 103 Cypress)

Unknown cachet fdc which looks to be a rubber stamp type. I have seen only a few of this design.

Another unknown cachet fdc showing "Around the World Balloon Flight" in Memory of JFK. Ghost Horizontal Orbit Soaring Teqnique or Ghost.

I cannot find anything on this specific balloon flight but understand that there were quite a number of these experimental flights that may have had something to do with space flight. Apparently the balloon did fly over Cypress. So far I have not seen similar covers for other places.

A drawing on the back of the cover showing the orbit of the balloon flight.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 06 Jan 2013 00:10

Death Valley California is in eastern California within the Mojave Desert. It is said to be the "Hottest place on Earth" with a highest temperature of 134F or 56.7C. While there is a valley called "Death Valley" there is also a town. It appears that the original name of the town was Amargosa, but the town is now called Death Valley Junction, & somewhere in between it was Death Valley, exactly when it is not clear. The population of Death Valley is said to be less than 20, although the sign coming into town states it as 4.

Nice machine wavy line cancel.

The post office is listed at being at 328 Greenland Blvd Death Valley CA Zip 92328 (seems an unusual name for a road in the middle of a desert).

The Death Valley post office opened in 1908 & transferred to Furnace Creek Ranch in 1961 (but did it continue in the name of Death Valley or was it renamed? I am guessing that it was not!).

The Amargosa Post Office opened in 1962 & changed it's name to Death Valley Junction in 1968.

So I cannot be sure which "Death Valley" this is, but seems we have at least two post offices in close proximity to each other servicing a very small number of people!!

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 06 Jan 2013 00:19

Downey California is 13 miles south east of L A. It was the home of North American Aviation, which after a series of name changes was taken over by Boeing. These facilities were used to build the Apollo Space Program & the Space Shuttles. Singer Karen Carpenter was also a famous resident.

Artmaster cachet fdc with machine slogan cancel "Pray for Peace"

figmente · Post by **figmente** » 06 Jan 2013 05:44

Stamp poster with first day cancel

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 07 Jan 2013 14:33

Rocket Test Site Branch Edwards California is part of Edwrads Air Force Base, located in south eastern California on the borders of Kern, LA & San Bernadino Counties in the Antelope Valley. Is it named after US Air Force test pilot Glen Edwards who with 4 others died testing the "Flying Wing" in 1948.

It is home to the US Air Force Test Pilot School & NASA's Dryden Flight Research Centre & just about every military aircraft has been tested there since 1950. The first landings of the Space Shuttles were here.

"Home made" cachet fdc from cut out from a newspaper with copy of JFK's signature, presumably done by the addressee. As this is restricted area would be interesting to find out how exactly how the postmark was obtained, but maybe it was as simple as writing to the postmaster.

A special souvenir cover, not first day, with machine wavy line cancel of Edwards Air Force Base. The cachet showing a 2000 miles per hour jetplane. While the addressee is New York stamp dealer, Clyde Sarzin, I have my doubts that he prepared the cachet. All of the Sarzin cachets (usually metallic) I have seen, worldwide, have been "stick ons", ie a design cut out & glued to the cover.

I will later display some of Sarzin's cachet fdc's for JFK.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 08 Jan 2013 18:52

El Cajon California is to the east of San Diego. The name in Spanish apparently means "Big Box". A hotel was established here in 1869 for travellers off to the goldfields at Julian from San Diego.

Artcraft cachet fdc with nice machine wavy line cancel

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 08 Jan 2013 18:56

El Modeno California is a small area around the El Modeno High School within the city of Orange.

Fleetwood cachet fdc (business name of the Unicover Corporation of Cheyenne Wyoming) with nice wavy line machine cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 09 Jan 2013 14:07

Encino California , spanish for evergreen or helm oak, is a hilly district in LA, in the central portion of the south San Fernando valley. For over a millenium Encino was the home to a massive California live oak which unfortunately died in a storm 1998 (a monument is now where the tree stood).

Two for the price of one cancels with a nice cds & a roller machine cancel. Unknown cachet fdc, but it appears all the examples that I have are addressed to Murray Harris, so maybe he was the cachetmaker.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 09 Jan 2013 14:19

Eureka California is the principal city in Humboldt County 270 miles north of San Francisco. It is the largest coastal town north of San Francisco. It the head quarters of California State Parks. The town has large deep water port & is surrounded by some of the worlds largest trees. Eureka ("I have found it" , the words of Archimedes) is usually associated with a gold rush area. This is no different here with gold being discovered at nearby Trinity.

Unknown cachet fdc with nice wavy line cancel.

The reverse of this cover shows an imprint of W Frank Spoone, who was a prolific collector of these JFK fdc's. I do not believe he was the cachetmaker, as none of the other examples I have of this cachet has this imprint.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 12 Jan 2013 08:54

Ferndale California is in Humboldt County & is a city that has well preserved Victorian shop fronts & houses. It has been the site of a number of movies including some of the Star Trek series.

Scarce HDW cachet fdc with nice wavy line machine cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 12 Jan 2013 09:00

Fontana California is in San Bernadino County, founded in 1913. Originally an area full of citrus orchards, vineyards & chicken farms, it is now a trucking based town.

Unusual cinderella label attached with Abe Lincoln & JFK "Freedom for All". Nice wavy line machine cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 12 Jan 2013 23:31

Forestville California is in Sonome County & founded in the 1860's & became known as the "good life". It has population of about 3300.

A Cachet Craft fdc with nice strike of duplex no 1 hand cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 12 Jan 2013 23:38

Fortuna California is in western central Humboldt County, starting as a timber milling town in the 1870's. Originally called Slide, the name was changed to Fortuna in 1888. The post office opened here in 1876. The town became a stopover for those travelling to the goldfields in nearby Trinity.

Unknown cachet fdc with nice wavy line machine cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 12 Jan 2013 23:52

Freedom California is in Santa Cruz County with a population of about 3000. Originally known as Whiskey Hill by 1852 it had become a town of drinking places & houses of ill repute. In 1877 the town's name was changed to Freedom in an effort to clean up the town, but this did not work.

Artcraft cachet fdc with nice wavy line machine cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 12 Jan 2013 23:59

Fullerton California is in northern Orange County, founded in 1887. It was a fruit growing area with orchards of Valencia oranges & other citrus. Oil was found shortly after & drilling operations commenced. However like many other rural towns, it became developed for housing.

Fleetwood cachet fdc (Unicover Corp of Cheyenne Wyoming) with nice machine slogan cancel "Help Goodwill Industries - Help The Handicapped".

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 13 Jan 2013 21:22

Garden Grove California is about 5 miles south of Anaheim in Orange County. Founded in 1874 the town struggled until the railway came in 1905. It was a farming area for oranges, walnuts, chilli peppers & strawberries. Much of the town was destroyed by an earthquake in 1933. Population of the town increased after WWII. Large numbers of visitors come to the town each year for the famous annual Strawberry Festival.

Artcraft cachet fdc cancelled with roller machine cancel

Walcur cachet fdc with nice cds hand cancel

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 13 Jan 2013 21:35

Gilroy California is about 20 miles south of San Jose, in Santa Cruz County. Known for it's annual garlic festival, it is said to be the "Garlic Capital of the World". No doubt there are no vampires in the area.

Artcraft cachet fdc with wavy line machine cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 13 Jan 2013 22:26

Harbor City California is in the southern part of the city of LA, between Redondo Beach & Long Beach. The Harbor City park lake was the home of Reggie the Alligator who became a local celebrity.

Van Dahl cachet fdc, plate block of 4 cancelled with large double circle hand cds.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 13 Jan 2013 23:35

Huntington Beach California is a seaside city of Orange County. It is about 125 miles north of the Mexican border. With 8.5 miles of beaches & great waves because of the local conditions, it is known as "Surf City", after the number one hit song by Jan & Dean.

Artcraft cachet fdc with roller machine cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 13 Jan 2013 23:39

Huntington Park California is in LA County south east of LA. Pacific Boulevard is it's main commercial district which services the city & a number of neighbouring towns.

Fleetwood cachet fdc (business name of the Unicover Corporation of Cheyenne Wyoming) with nice wavy line machine cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 15 Jan 2013 20:38

Hydesville California is in Humboldt County about 4.5 miles south east of Fortuna. The post office opened in 1861 & the town was named after John Hyde who donated the land for the town. The population is about 1200.

Unknown cachet fdc with nice cds hand cancel

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 15 Jan 2013 20:42

Irwindale California is in the San Gabriel Valley in L A County, about 12 miles east of L A. It has a population of about 1400. The area contains many rock quarries which are the major source of revenue for the town.

Artcraft cachet fdc with wavy line machine cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 16 Jan 2013 18:25

Lafayette (formerly La Fayette) California is Contra Costa County about 15 miles north east of San Francisco. The town was named after a French miltary hero of the American Revolutionary War. It does appear to be a little strange to have a town named after a Frenchman here, given the heavy Spanish influence in California, as seen by some of the places I have posted earlier.

Nice machine wavy line cancel

It would seem that prolific JFK FDC collector Frank Spoone had something to do with postmarking of this cover. Perhaps the addressee was a friend of his

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 16 Jan 2013 18:30

La Habra California (back to the Spanish sounding names) is in Orange County about 12 miles south east of L A. It was settled in 1839 for the grazing of horses & cattle & later became a large avocado growing area. The post office opened in 1898 & became a city in 1925.

Artmaster cachet fdc with nice machine slogan cancel "Pray For Peace"

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 16 Jan 2013 18:36

Lakewood California is a city in L A County about 10 miles south of L A. It is what they call a service town with the town redeveloped as a planned community post WWII. There seems to has been similar setups in other areas for the resettlement of military personnel after WWII.

Walcur cachet fdc with nice wavy line machine cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 17 Jan 2013 02:04

La Verne California is a small community in L A County about 30 miles east of L A at the edge of the Pomona Valley. It was founded in the 1830's with a grant from the Governer & up till WWII it was a large orange growing area. It now has a population of around 31000.

1st Azusa cachet fdc with nice wavy line machine cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 17 Jan 2013 02:09

Loleta California is 5.5 miles south of Fields Landing & 15 miles south of Eureka. It was settled in the 1850's & became a potato growing area but later changed to dairy farming. It has a population of under 800. The post office opened (under former name Swauger) in 1888, changing to Loleta in 1898. The movie Halloween III - Scream of the Witch was filmed here.

Griffith cachet fdc cancelled with nice wavy line machine cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 17 Jan 2013 19:14

Long Beach California is the 7th largest city in California (& the 36th largest in the US) with a population of around 460,000. It is about 25 miles south of downtown L A. Long Beach is a dominant maritime centre of the US being the 2nd busiest container port in the US & one of the world's largest shipping ports. It is of course the home of the retired luxury Cunard liner, the Queen Mary, which was bigger & faster than the ill fated Titanic. There is also a large oil industry with both underground & offshore deposits.

Fleetwood (Unicover Corporation of Cheyenne Wyoming) cachet fdc with nice wavy line machine cancel.

The Long Beach Main Post Office

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 17 Jan 2013 20:26

Los Alamitos California ("The Little Cottonwoods" in Spanish) is in Orange County, about 5 miles north east of Long Beach. Spanish explorers more than 200 years ago saw cottonwood trees in the area. The city was incorporated in 1960 & has a population around 12000. The area became a sugar beet growing area & factories were set up to process the sugar. However just prior to WWII, Douglas set up an aircraft manufacturing centre here & the Navy set up a training field. The base became the Armed Forces Reserve Centre & today supports Army, Navy, National Guard & Marine Units.

Artmaster cachet fdc with nice wavy line machine cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 18 Jan 2013 22:26

Los Angeles California, Spanish for City of Angels, is a leading world centre of business, international trade, entertainment, culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology & education. Ranked the 3rd richest city & 5th most powerful & influential in the world. It is the the biggest city in California & the 2nd biggest in the US behind New York. About 4,000,000 live in the city & when you take in neighbouring areas Long Beach, Santa Ana & Greater Los Angeles about 18,000,000 live in that area. Pretty amazing when you consider the population of Australia is about 22,000,000.

Los Angeles has hosted the Olympics in 1932 & 1984.

How many post offices are there with a Los Angeles postmark, I cannot tell you, but I will show you the one's I have. Unfortunately I cannot tell you which offices these come from.

Unknown cachet fdc with nice Los Angeles (number 18) machine slogan cancel "Build Your Future Wisely Safely Buy US Savings Bonds"

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 18 Jan 2013 22:45

Centennial cachet fdc commemorating JFK's nomination at the 1960 Democratic Convention with Los Angeles (Number 24) machine slogan "Give To The Mental Health Fund" & Los Angeles (Number 5A) straight line machine cancel. Double strike bonus.

Another example so you don't have to stand on your head.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 18 Jan 2013 22:47

ABC cachet fdc with Los Angeles (Number 31) wavy line machine cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 18 Jan 2013 23:07

Los Angeles California Terminal Annex (900 North Alameda St L A) was the central mail processing facility for L A from 1940 to 1989. This facility was built for the purpose of processing all incoming & outgoing mail in L A. It opened in May 1940 with 1632 postal clerks responsible for processing 2,000,000 articles of mail per day. I understand this office had longer opening hours which allowed people to have that little more time to make tax payments & lodge tax documents, so that the IRS would not be able to impose penalties on items that would otherwise be late.

Very elaborate looking Terminal Annex P O building (pretty flash inside too).

Scarce d'Arcy co cachet fdc with unfortunately not a great strike of this cds hand cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 18 Jan 2013 23:19

Los Gatos California (Spanish for cats, referring to the cougars that are native to the area). Los Gatos is in Silicon Valley & ranks as the 33rd most affluent place in the US. Homes range from $1,000,000 to over $30,000,000.

Unknown cachet fdc with nice wavy line machine cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 19 Jan 2013 22:16

Meadow Valley California is in Plumas County about 100 miles north of Sacramento ("up in them thar hills" in the Plumas National Forest). It has a population of under 500.

Wild Horse add on cachet fdc hand drawn & hand painted & signed by artist Warren Reed. This one is an artist's proof being number 2 of 3 done. Cover is cancelled with a poor strike of the cds hand cancel (perhaps caused by deterioration of the rubber in the postmark).

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 19 Jan 2013 22:38

Menlo Park California is in San Mateo County in the San Francisco Bay area. it is about 20 miles north west of San Jose. It currently has a population of about 32000. The town was founded in the 1850's, the post office opened in 1870 & it became a city in 1874.

Unknown cachet fdc with nice wavy line machine cancel.

Menlo Park is where Australia's greatest racehorse Phar Lap died on 5th April 1932. He had beaten the world's best at Agua Caliente (in Tijuana Mexico) & was about achieve even greater greatness. Unfortunatley he was to die in mysterious circumstances. It is now accepted he died of arsenic poisoning but the debate continues as whether is was accidental or otherwise.

Phar Lap was to Australian racing, what Secretariat (pictured in my avatar) was to US racing, the people's champion who lifted them out of the doldrums.

Coincidentally they both had the same nickname, "Big Red"!

Australia Post Souvenir Cover with Phar Lap stamp & Melbourne Cup postmark & signed by his trainer, in North America, Tommy Woodcock.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 19 Jan 2013 22:47

Before we leave Phar Lap, he is the only horse to feature on the stamps of 3 different countries:

1. New Zealand where he was born
2. Australia where he raced (& featured on 3 stamps) &
3. Sierra Leone

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 21 Jan 2013 19:46

Midway City California is about 10 miles east of Long Beach in Orange County. So named because it was midway between Santa Ana (South) & Seal Beach (North). It has a population of around 8500.

Fleetwood (Unicover Corporation of Cheyenne Wyoming) cachet fdc with nice wavy line machine cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 21 Jan 2013 19:58

Modesto California is the 18th largest city in California & has a population of around 200,000. It is in the central valley area 90 miles north of Fresno, 92 miles east of San Francisco, & 68 miles south of Sacramento. Modesto was the site of the movie American Graffiti which was produced by George Lucas (Star Wars) who lived in Modesto.

Unknown cachet fdc with nice machine slogan cancel "Fight TB, Support Your TB Association"

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 21 Jan 2013 20:15

Monte Rio California is in Sonoma County, 58 miles north of San Francisco , along the Russian River near the Pacific Ocean. It has a population of about 1200 & is home to Bohemian Grove, a summer resort for well to do business men & high ranking government officials.

Unknown cachet with nice number 1 duplex cancel. I have been thinking these green cachets may have been made by the JFK Philatelic Society. However I now suspect they may be unbranded Cachetcraft cachets. Compare with Forestville California listed previously.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 22 Jan 2013 01:59

Monterey California is in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on Califonia's Central Pacific Coast. Monterey was the capital of Alta California from 1777 to 1846 under both Spanish & Mexican rule. It was the only port. Alta California was created in 1769 from the province "Las Californas" which took in the modern day states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Western Colorado & South West Wyoming. It passed to American control after the Mexican American war & California was created. Monterey is south of San Jose, west of Fresno & 262 miles north of L A. Monterey has a population of around 28,000.

Nice Monterey number 2 machine slogan cancel "Pray For Peace"

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 22 Jan 2013 02:06

Morgan Hill California, named after Missouri business man Hiram Morgan Hill, is about 30 miles south of San Jose. It is located in the southern part of Santa Clara County. While originally an area for ranchers, farmers & orchardists, it is now a bedroom city for the workers in Silicon Valley. It currently has a population of around 38,000.

Artcraft cachet fdc with nice wavy line machine cancel

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 22 Jan 2013 02:13

Morro Bay California is a waterfront city in San Luis Obispo County, It has a population of around 10,000. It is north of L A, about half way between L A & Monterey. Morro Bay (or more particularly Morro Rock) was discovered by Portuguese navigator Juan Rodriguez in 1542. Morro Rock is 572 feet high volcanic plug which stands at the entrance to the harbour.

Nice wavy line machine cancel

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 22 Jan 2013 02:19

Newport Beach California is an affluent city 10 miles south of Santa Ana with a population of about 86,000. It once supported maritime industries such as boatbuilding, shipbuilding & commercial fishing but now it's recreation with shores occupied by private homes & private docks.

Walcur cachet fdc with nice wavy line machine cancel.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 22 Jan 2013 02:28

Nice California (formerly Clear Lake Villas) is about 60 miles north of San Francisco, on the shores of Clear Lake. Around 1930 Charles Bayne renamed the town Nice after his former home the French town of Nice. The post office opened here in 1930. Nice has a population of about 2500.

Nice reddish purple hand cds.

BigSaint · Post by **BigSaint** » 22 Jan 2013 02:35

North Hollywood California is about 10 miles north of Hollywood, just to the west of Burbank. It underwent a series of name changes until it was named North Hollywood in 1927. It is home to the NoHo Arts District. Marilyn Monore & Dorothy Lamour were one time residents here.

Unknown cachet fdc with large double circle hand cds.