The Leatherstocking Stamp Club

The National Centennial Commission granted the Leatherstocking Stamp Club exclusive use of the Centennial Emblem Design in the spring of 1939 for their First Day of Issue envelope and stationery in recognition for their hard work to Lobby on behalf of the Baseball Stamp.

April 6, 1939 the Cooperstown Baseball Centennial Housing Committee, and the Leatherstocking Stamp Club opened an office in the Marble block at 87 Main Street. Howard W. Potts began processing orders for the Baseball Centennial stamps and first-day covers. The stamp club approved Alfred R. Cobbett creation the (Vignette) and (Frame) around the National Centennial Emblem for the Leatherstocking's "First Day Cover".

Howard Potts sent post cards offering number of ways to purchase stamped and canceled covers for 10 cents, or with a plate block (4 stamps) for 20 cents, with the plate block number for an additional 5 cents for each cover. Profits from the sale of covers would go towards the maintenance of Doubleday Field.

Leatherstocking Club offerings

The official report from the Bureau of Engraving indicated that the final design was approved April 8, 1939, first printing May 26, 1939 on a rotary press 50 subjects on a sheet and delivered to Cooperstown June 6, 1939. Total stamps printed 81,369,973 including 373 specimens. 81,269,600 stamps were produced on a rotary press.

The Cooperstown Post Office serviced 398,199 "First Day of Issue Covers" on June 12, 1939. Post Master General James Farley dispatched additional personnel and cancelation equipment to meet the demand. I am not sure if the hand canceled (Bulls Eye) were included in the cancelation count.

President Roosevelt's wish that every boy (girls were not excluded) be able to obtain a first day cover of the baseball issue. Any boy sending a self-addressed envelope and 3-cents to their postmaster, would have their envelope forwarded to Cooperstown to obtain a first day cover. This created problems for the Cooperstown staff as the volume of mail was greater than expected and not every child followed the instructions specifically. Cooperstown Postmaster Bundy took on the additional costs required. When their supply of envelopes ran out, Bundy contacted the Leatherstocking Stamp Club and obtained some of their envelopes.

Recycling the LeatherStocking Stamp Club Envelopes

After the success of the of the 855-60 "first day of issue" of the Centennial Baseball Stamp, what to do with the extra envelopes? In early July 1939 many of the unused envelopes were altered by overprinting the first Day of Issue with an attractive decoration in blue ink . The reverse had a return address printed on the flap in the same blue ink. I have two in the collection created for The Otsego Farmer Inc. and Cooks Auto & Supply Co. I am sure there are others but they are hard to find. Recycling these envelopes was a great idea it kept The Birth Place of Baseball and Cooperstown together.

History: In the spring of 1937, the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce formally requested the issue of a commemorative stamp celebrating the Centennial of Baseball in Cooperstown. The Leatherstocking Stamp Club lobbied for support of this effort on behalf of the Philatelic Society. The United States Congress approved the request, and for the first time, a sport was depicted on a stamp. William Roach, Designer and Engraver for the Bureau of Engraving, depicted a village scene with boys playing baseball. Postmaster General Farley claimed the village was his hometown of Grassy Point, New York. However, as Roach explained much later, the village depicted a site in Milford, Delaware.