JOURNAL OF SPORTS PHILATELY VOLUME 36 MARCH-APRIL 1998 NUMBER 4 1920 Antwerp Olympic Games Machine Cancels, Handcancel & Registration Label Rare “Gent 1" 1920 Olympic machine cancel on free-franked soldier mail. TABLE OF CONTENTS ARTICLES 1920 Antwerp Olympic Games Laurentz Jonker 3 Swiss Soldier Ski Stamps Sherwin Podolsky 10 1972 Olympic Men’s Basketball Gold Medal Game Bob Fulton 13 Setting the Record Straight on Who Trashed Olympics of Old C.J. Wright 15 One Man’s Junk (Mail) Is Another’s Philatelic Gem Norman Rushefsky 16 Preparing for Sydney 2000 Brian Hammond 17 Addendum to Politics and Olympic Art Sherwin Podolsky 23 REGULAR FEATURES & COLUMNS President's Message Mark Maestrone 1 2002 Salt Lake City Update Leslie Gailey 24 Reviews of Periodicals Mark Maestrone 27 Book Reviews Sherwin Podolsky 29 Auction Report Sherwin Podolsky 30 News of Our Members Margaret Jones 34 New Stamp Issues Dennis Dengel 35 Commemorative Stamp Cancels Mark Maestrone 36 SPORTS PHILATELISTS INTERNATIONAL 1920 ANTWERP PRESIDENT: Mark C. Maestrone, 2824 Curie Place, San Diego, CA 92122 VICE-PRESIDENT: Charles V. Covell, Jr., 2333 Brighton Drive, Louisville, KY 40205 OLYMPICS SECRETARY-TREASURER: Andrew Urushima, 906 S. Idaho Street, San Mateo, CA 94402 DIRECTORS: Glenn A. Estus, P.O. Box 451, Westport, NY 12993 p. 3 Norman F. Jacobs, Jr., 2712 N. Decatur Rd., Decatur, GA 30033 John La Porta, P.O. Box 2286, La Grange, IL 60525 Sherwin Podolsky, 3074 Sapphire Avenue, Simi Valley, CA 93063 Jeffrey R. Tishman, 37 Griswold Place, Glen Rock, NJ 07452 Robert J. Wilcock, 24 Hamilton Cres., Brentwood, Essex, CM14 5ES, England AUCTIONS: Glenn A. Estus, P.O. Box 451, Westport, NY 12993 MEMBERSHIP: Margaret A. Jones, 5310 Lindenwood Ave., St. Louis, MO 63109 SWISS SOLDIER SALES DEPARTMENT: Cora B. Collins, P.O. Box 2183, Norfolk, VA 23501 KI TAMPS S S Sports Philatelists International is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the study and p. 10 collecting of postage stamps and related collateral material dealing with sports (including Olympics) and recreation and to the promotion of international understanding and goodwill through mutual interest in philately and sports. Its activities are planned and carried on entirely by the unpaid, volunteer services of its members. Annual dues: $12.00 U.S. membership, $18.00 foreign (Surface Mail), $24.00 foreign (Airmail). 1972 OLYMPIC JOURNAL OF SPORTS PHILATELY BASKETBALL PUBLISHER: John La Porta, P.O. Box 2286, La Grange, IL 60525 p. 13 EDITOR: Mark C. Maestrone, 2824 Curie Place, San Diego, CA 92122 ASSISTANT EDITOR: Sherwin Podolsky, 3074 Sapphire Avenue, Simi Valley, CA 93063 ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Dennis M. Dengel, 17 Peckham Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 Glenn A. Estus, P.O. Box 451, Westport, NY 12993 Brian Hammond, 6 Lanark Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, 1P4 3EH, U.K. AD MANAGER: Norman F. Jacobs, Jr., 2712 N. Decatur Rd., Decatur, GA 30033 CIRCULATION: Margaret A. Jones, 5310 Lindenwood Ave., St. Louis, MO 63109 2000 SYDNEY PUBLICITY: Glenn A. Estus, P.O. Box 451, Westport, NY 12993 OLYMPICS The Journal of Sports Philately is published bimonthly in odd numbered months. Advertising Rates: Cover $35.00; Full Page $32.00; Half Page $17.00; Quarter Page $10.00. Advance payment required. Camera ready p. 17 copy must be supplied by the advertiser. Publishing deadlines: Jan. 15, Mar. 15, May 15, July 15, Sept. 15, Nov. 15 for the following issue. Single copy price: $2.50 postpaid. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the individual authors and they do not necessarily represent those of the editor, the officers of SPI or the position of SPI itself. All catalogue numbers quoted in this publication are from Scott's Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue unless specifically stated otherwise. SPI and JSP do not guarantee advertisements, but accept Vol. 36, No. 4 copy in good faith, reserving the right to reject objectionable material. March-April 1998 APS Affiliate Number 39 ISSN 0447-953X PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE by Mark Maestrone Where, Oh Where, Did the Olympic Stamp Go? I’m sure that many of you were as disap- Here’s their address: pointed as I to learn that the U.S. Postal Service would not be issuing an Olympic stamp to com- Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee memorate this year’s Winter Olympic Games in U.S. Postal Service Nagano, Japan. Yes, there was an Alpine skiing 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Room 4474E stamp, sans Olympic rings. But in my mind, at Washington, DC 20260-2437 least, this wasn’t quite good enough. A look at previous years revealed that there All, however, is not doom and gloom on the has been at least one U.S. stamp issued specific- sports philately front this year. A number of ally for every Olympic Games since 1972 – includ- stamps on the 1998 schedule fit quite nicely into ing the boycotted 1980 Moscow Games. our collections. So what’s going on On February 3, the post here? Why wasn’t a U.S. office issued two panes of stamp issued for Nagano? 15 different stamp designs And will this prove to be as part of its “Celebrate the standard practice for future Century” series. Among Olympic Games unless they these 30 stamps, no fewer happen to be held in this than 5 are sports/Olympic country? related (some of them are Perhaps following the illustrated here). USPS-IOC-USOC problems The first pane, repre- in 1996, there was little in- senting the period from centive on the part of the 1900-1909, commemorates USPS to promote the Olym- the First World Series of pic Games. Or maybe it was Baseball in 1903; the 1904 no more than a marketing St. Louis World’s Fair, decision, meaning Bugs which was also the venue Bunny and Elvis sell more for the Games of the IIIrd stamps. I’m not sure that Olympiad; and a anyone has an answer, save reproduction of George for the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee Bellow’s boxing painting entitled “Stag at Shark- (CSAC) and the Postmaster General himself. ey’s.” The bottom line here is that we Olympic and The years 1910 through 1919 includes two sports philatelists have become too complacent, renowned sports figures: boxer Jack Dempsey, assuming that an Olympic stamp would material- and 1912 Olympian Jim Thorpe, regarded as one ize without anyone lifting a finger. Because the of the greatest athletes of the 20th century. CSAC works years in advance, now is the time for Two further panes of this series are slated for each of us to pick up our pens and write them this year which will no doubt yield more sports with a request for Olympic stamps in honor of the and/or Olympic pieces for our collections. 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. All in all, then, 1998 shouldn’t be too bad a year for us – even without an Olympic stamp for Nagano! Journal of Sports Philately March/April 1998 1 2 March/April 1998 Journal of Sports Philately or many years, I have searched for the Belgian Olympic machine cancels from the 1920 Games in Antwerp. More specif- F ically, I have concentrated on discovering the various faults and varieties as well as trying to determine the first and last days of use. Many fellow Olympic collectors have assisted me by submitting photocopies of items from their own collections; it would be impossible to name 1920 them all. I would, however, be remiss if I did not thank a few of them. In the early days, my German friends Heiko Volk and Konrad Wärtgen helped me immeasurably, while in later years I collabo- rated with my Belgian colleagues Louis Neefs and Michel de Wit. Antwer The following research was originally devel- oped by Konrad Wärtgen and myself, and pub- lished by IMOS in the 1980's. I have since updated the data and rarity rankings, and added informa- tion on the Olympic registration labels and hand- p cancels. This study is certainly not finished, and I welcome any new discoveries of first/last days of use and cancel varieties. 1920 BELGIAN OLYMPIC MACHINE CANCELS Olympic Ten different machine slogan cancels exist for these Games: Antwerp (2), Brussels (4), Charleroy (1), Gent (2), and Liege (1). Each comprises two parts – a circular date stamp on the left, and a rectangular slogan to the right measuring 50 mm. Games wide by 20 mm. high. The text in the slogan box is as follows: VIIe OLYMPIADE/ANVERS/AOUT-SEPTEMBRE/ 1920/ ANTWERPEN/AUGUSTUS-SEPTEMB. Machine Cancels, Belgium is a bilingual country. To the north are Handcancel & Registra- Flemish-speaking Flemands, while the French- speaking Wallonians reside primarily in the south. tion Label The slogan and dual town designations in the circular date cancel reflect this. In the northern towns of Antwerp and Gent, the Flemish portion of the slogan text appears first. The reverse is true for the towns of Charleroy and Liege in the French areas of the country. Brussels, the capital, uses the “French first” version. Each of the ten different by Laurentz Jonker cancels are discussed below (in alphabetical order). Journal of Sports Philately March/April 1998 3 Details Varieties A. 1.VIII.1920: roman day digit “1" B. 11.VIII.1920: serif day digits “11" (day dig- its are normal non-serif on 10 and 12.VIII.1920 C. 11.VIII.1920: serif day digits inverted at hour “23-24" Variety “C” D. 19.VIII.1920: day digits larger than normal Common Characteristics: C “SEPTEMS.” instead of “SEPTEMB.” in slogan C “W” in “ANTWERPEN” cds appears as crossed double “V” Antwerpen/Anvers Variety “B” C “1920" in cds incomplete; hyphen under “1920" Known Dates of Use: 29.VI.1920 - 23.IX.1920 A.