Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
First, I haven't written about the New Jersey collection in a while. I will create another post about the current status of the entire effort.
Second, I want to share a bit about an incident. On May 9th, I was leaving my office in New Brunswick early. It was 3pm and I thought I could hit a few post offices in town. I headed to North Brunswick and received a post mark without any issue. Onward to Handy Street Station in New Brunswick. No problem, though I was surprised that the cancel was plain vanilla "New Brunswick" without any branch information. The clerk didn't know why, he said it's always been that way.
Then I headed to South River. An older town where the post office has been in service since 1824. The current post office was built in 1940 and has nice architecture. I went into the office and asked for a cancel. The desk clerk said he needed approval and yelled for his superior. An older woman appeared and told me under no circumstances would I get a cancel. I stayed nice, she refused to look at the USPS regulation I carry with me. I showed her the fresh cancels from the last two offices and she said she I intimidated the clerks there and she wasn't falling for it too. She said I was there to commit fraud against the government. She was certain I'd use the canceled envelopes for illegal activity and if I didn't leave she was calling the police.
The woman was outright nasty, and I'll admit in the last volley I yelled back. She was also condescending to the two clerks as she ordered them around. I asked for her name and she refused. As I went to walk away, the clerk whispered it to me, so I could tell he wasn't too happy with his employment under her.
As I was leaving the building, a police car came around the corner quickly and my heart sank. Fortunately it was coincidence and he drove past. The last thing I want is a legal confrontation over a hobby. This is supposed to be a fun thing and I left there a bit more than rattled. A bit spooked, I haven't gone to a post office since.
Since eBay is my friend, I found a South River cancel for my collection to avoid ever going into that town again! Since May I have added another 20 or so covers to my collection via eBay.
That brings me to my summer vacation. My daughter invited us to join her husband's family to Wildwood Crest, NJ. All we had to do was book our own room at the same hotel. We jumped at the chance to spend a week with our 7 month old granddaughter Kelsie! That's me on Monday.
Wildwood is an interesting place. Many of the 1950s motels still exist with colorful names and driving down the main drag at night is like going back to neon heaven! Above is the Waikiki Motel with it's tacky Hawaiian theme, complete with palm trees. It hasn't changed much since this 1970 era post card, so it's fun to stay in Wildwood. This was our home base for the week. Our 4th floor view of the ocean was great!
Knowing I'd be spending a week in Cape May County I went to my resources and honed the list down to current post offices that I needed for my collection. I added the address of each office to the list and printed it at home. Cape May County is the bottom corner New Jersey and with it's shore heritage, has some of the nicest town names in the state. So of course I wanted the post marks. I decided to give it a shot.
There were a total of 9 post offices on my list. Tuesday morning everyone was going to the beach, and I decided to make my break! I pointed the big Buick north and headed towards the most northern post office I would attempt, Strathmere. I left the parkway and headed on the coastal road out to the isle. Literally most of the shore in this area is an isle with water on both sides. During superstorm Sandy, the entire isle was covered with water in some towns. As I hit the island, GPS told me to make a left. I spot what looks like a post office building on the corner... it's the Sea Isle City post office. Of course I make the stop.
The Sea Isle City post office is a modern building. Inside there is an entire wall of photos of every post office building since 1882 when the office was founded. I get into a pleasant conversation with the clerk and got my cancel. Alert eyes will see that it was a cancel from the day before. That shows how little the clerks actually use a cancel these days, and why town postmarks are becoming rare.
She looks at my list of towns and tells me the order I should tackle the route. I thank her and resume my trip to Strathmere, about 2 miles away. Even though the GPS squawked "You Have Arrived" I drove right past it!
As you can see the Strathmere post office is in an old shore house. I parked on the street and approached the door. Inside was a very small vestibule and a single window which was a two part door. The man inside smiled and said, "I was expecting you!" Apparently the nice lady in Sea Isle City called ahead to make sure I was accommodated! The best treatment I've ever received in my postal jaunts!
I set GPS for South Seaville... remember what I said about colorful town names! We head off the peninsula as the rest of the offices we'll visit are on solid land. Again the lady there was expecting me.
And I easily received a very nice cancel. Yes, I see the irony of the Christmas stamp in the middle of the summer at a shore town! It just happened to be in the big envelope of ready covers I keep in the car glove box. The nice lady wanted to know where I was headed next, and then gave me good directions on back roads to Dennisville. She said the way the GPS would take me would have traffic. So I took here advise and was there in minutes.
Dennisville is a historic town of older homes. The lady described the post office as the small building behind the old school house that now houses the historic society. I made a mental note to come back and explore the area again someday.
The post office here was founded as Dennis Creek in 1802. In 1854 it was renamed Dennisville and has been here ever since. You can see that these are tiny post offices serving small communities. They aren't busy at all, so the clerks are happy to see people and have a conversation. This lady was right in character, and went down my list. She saw I had marked Cape May Point as a DPO since i couldn't find it in the USPS directory. She said it was there the last she knew, so she called them! Next thing I know I have the address and a confirmation that I'll stop by on Thursday. And I received a nice cancel, the first 4 bar killer of the day.
It was still early in the afternoon and I was way ahead of schedule. My final stop of the day was going to be Whitesboro. The post office was established here in 1909 so I was surprised to see it was in a trailer. The nice lady quickly gave me one of the modern circular cancels. I don't even care that she totally missed the stamp!
I had completed my intended tour in record time and with the least amount of controversy of any postal crawl! Amazing day!
I set the GPS for my hotel back in Wildwood Crest. As I do these trips, following the GPS, I can get turned around and not realize exactly where I am. This was one of those times. I had no idea where I was. I had taken the Garden State Parkway north to my first stop and meandered back south on back roads. Imagine my surprise when I got to the corner and saw I was at Rio Grande Avenue, the main road leading into Wildwood! I had shopped at the supermarket at that corner! So I was minutes from home.
I had a great day. I added five terrific covers to my collection. To complete Cape May County, I only needed four more current cancels. We had planned on going to Cape May on our way home, so I planned on hitting the two offices, Cape May Point and North Cape May then.
The two other cancels to complete the county are Marmora and a CPO (Contract Post Office) in Ocean City. Those were an hour north, and not worth the trip this time. They are closer to Atlantic City so I'll attempt them when I hit that portion of the state.
Now it's not over! I will add Part Two - my adventures on Thursday to this thread tomorrow!
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So nice that the majority of the clerks made up for the one bad clerk earlier. After that incident, a very fun story!
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I never suggest this, but I think you ought to file a formal complaint with the regional office and/or DC about your experience with the South River post office. What happened was unacceptable and needs to be followed up on.
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Great philatelic summer vacation story! Thanks for sharing.
I agree with Philatarium that the behavior of the post office person at South River warrants an official complaint. The USPS puts a lot of resources into trying to attract individuals into stamp collecting and provide stamps and other resources and she is definitely creating a service issue with her attitude and response.
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love the stories, even your John Dillinger impersonation, but I especially like Kelsie, who seems quite fond of Grampa
i love these Quixotic quests, the more so when the windmill is dressed as a bureaucrat. Armored in postal regulations (please do not read my other post today, as it gives lie to what follows) and righteousness, we prepare to joust or, failing that, jest.
Jesterday, seems so long ago
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"I agree with Philatarium that the behavior of the post office person at South River warrants an official complaint. The USPS puts a lot of resources into trying to attract individuals into stamp collecting and provide stamps and other resources and she is definitely creating a service issue with her attitude and response."
I agree. I have filed complaints before at USPS.com and never received any kind of acknowledgement or reply. On my first trip out, the clerk in Roebling, NJ refused to help me. When she was on the phone with her superior, she referred to me as "a crazy person".
She said I couldn't have hand back service, anything she cancelled had to go through the mail. I gave her my cover and she made sure the postmark on it was not readable. I submitted a complaint and received no response.
I submitted a second customer service issue to the site asking about the regulations regarding hand back cancel service. Again no response whatsoever.
As far as this incident, I was so upset it took me until now to be able to report it here. It's a few months old at this point. Plus, I find it interesting that all the offices that give me resistance are in the region of the Trenton main office. I'm wondering what they are teaching clerks in that area. Quite different that I received no issues at all in Cape May County, part of the "South Jersey" zone.
It would be my luck that there is a regulation barring hand back service of standard cancels and postal inspectors would descend upon me and seize my collection!
I am a member of the Post Mark Collectors Club, which is a large organization with a physical museum in Ohio. I receive their monthly printed magazine. This weekend I wrote a lengthily email to the managing director, who appears to also have ties to USPS, asking my questions. You'd think this organization would be on top of this issue. I haven't received a reply yet.
I'd love to have an official letter from a high ranking official sanctioning my requests to carry around. We'll see what happens next.
And since you waded through this post, I will give a bonus cover! South Dennis, NJ... right next to Dennisville. As you can see I already had this town.
I have recently finished the pages in my albums. The New Jersey Collection is now in 9 binders, all in the two pocket pages. In each pocket is a 7x5.5" card with the town information and a state map with the county highlighted. If there is a second cover for a town, it has a blank card behind it. It took me awhile and became so much a part of my life creating these, that now I wonder what to do with my time!
I will post Part Two of this saga tomorrow. My first day back to work from vacation took a toll on me!
Thank you to everyone for the support and kind comments!
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That's an awesome story- thanks for sharing. I am glad you are back on the road and collecting cancels again. I haven't tried it since my last unpleasant encounter with a crabby clerk. It really takes the fun out of it. Can't wait to read your next installment
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I think I posted on here previously about the time I complained to my local PO about all the pen cancels on my covers- our carrier was defacing neatly cancelled stamps including some FDCs.
I tried being polite but things degenerated and the clerk exploded at me that all stamp collectors ore crooks, it's 'just a way to reuse stamps and cheat us.' She was the only other person there, so I never filed a complaint but for years after I avoided her like the plague.
I second the idea you need to complain. Glad you got all the others.
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And onward!
Tuesday's adventure left me all happy and eager to do it again. Wednesday we did the typical New Jersey shore things, and we left on Thursday. Checking out of the hotel at 11am we planned on heading south to Cape May (the shore resort) not to be confused by Cape May County, in which Cape May (the shore town) is located!
As an aside, our entire week "down the shore" as Jersians call it, was picture perfect. Bright sunny days. One day we woke up to dense fog that quickly burned off. Unlike this week where it is raining there every day! 
My daughter had planned on going to Cape May but was going to the shopping district. We were going to the waterfront. Cape May is known for quaint 19th century shore homes and we wanted to walk around a bit. My first agenda item though was to head out to Cape May Point to visit the post office there. As you read in the original post, I thought this was a DPO but found it was still current.
The post office was in this neat old shore style building, that also housed apartments. Did you notice that the post offices in this area are all small and interesting?
We achieved the postmark quick and easy since the lady knew we were coming. This was where I discovered that the Ball stamps are rather thick and the postmarks will skip on their edge. Of course it did so on "Point" the word that made the postmark unique!
My wife sat in the car and while I was inside, her phone rang. Daughter discovered that the shopping area was too busy so she was sitting in a waterfront restaurant and wanted us to join them. My wife jumped at the chance to see Kelsey again. Never mind that I wanted to explore around the "Point" a bit and see the old concrete ship in person. So we headed back to town for lunch.
(photo credit Jay Lloyd)
So here's the ship I never got to see. It was the SS Atlantus, one of a few experimental ships build during World War I out of concrete. It turned out to be too heavy (no duh!) and it was towed here in 1926 to become a reef. There are photos of it over the years in various stages of decay.
Once we had our lunch and walked in the blazing hot sun for a bit, we pointed the big Buick north, planning on hitting North Cape May on our way outta Dodge. This office is in a shopping center and the clerk was happy to oblige, with a red 4 bar killer cancel!
I didn't need to stop at the Cape May main post office, bonus cover!
And people show up in Cape May (the shore town) looking for the Cape May Zoo but it's not there, it's up near the County Seat, a half hour north! And why not another bonus cover? Cape May Court House.
Since we had the whole afternoon ahead of us I thought we'd wander north on the west coast of New Jersey, along the Delaware River, on the old Route 47. I hadn't preplanned anything, but I did have my entire spread sheet on my phone along with the USPS app. I saw town names in Cape May County that I either had or had visited on Tuesday. As we hit Cumberland County I started to see intriguing post office names on my phone screen.
Our first hit was Delmont and luck would have it, the post office was right on the highway we were traveling. Even though the GPS squawked our arrival I blew right past it because all I saw was the fire station. A quick drive around the building found the post office on the side of that building!
The clerk here appeared happy to see another human. He admitted it was slow there, and easily applied this modern bullet cancel, missing the stamp. This also wins our ugliest post office of the trip award! In the meantime, my wife has been texting with my daughter the whole trip. As we drive up the old highway through the legendary New Jersey Pine Barrens, she's not seeing any of it, her nose is glued to the phone. Of course she's telling my daughter that I'm holding her hostage as I hit all these ugly, boring old post offices. My daughter is curious so my wife texts her this photo. Now my daughter has joined the trip. Successful, we set the GPS for Heislerville.
As we headed to this coastal town we discovered that the entire coastline there is a tidal marshland animal refuge. Literally miles deep. We eventually emerged on a country road we could imagine was probably a dirt road not that long ago.
Like many of the small post offices we visited, this one seemed to be the hub of town activity. I couldn't get a photo of it without people and cars! I'd wait and as one vehicle pulled out another pulled in! Again we got our cancel with no issues. My wife is sharing my photo of each post office via text to my daughter who is very amused. She says she might want to go on a jaunt someday!
Once again the clerk missed the stamp entirely. I decided good enough since she canceled it in good spirit. I'm glad I'm visiting these small offices since they are interesting and the people friendly. Also, I'm not likely to find a cancel for towns this small in the philatelic market!
Leesburg was about two miles from Heislerville on that same country road. I made a left and was in a small sparse town of older homes. Here on the corner was one of the few purpose built USPS post offices. This style building is maybe late 1960s. The clerk I approached turned to her supervisor to ask if she could give me a cancel. She immediately answered, "Sure!" and came to the counter herself. The three of us engaged in a conversation and I pulled out all the covers I had canceled on my trip and they found it all very interesting.
I told them I was headed to Dorchester and they warned me that it was 4:05pm and that office closed at 4:15pm. So I took off in that direction. When I arrived it was 4:18pm and I expected to find a locked door, but it was open. As I went inside the lady there said she was waiting for me. Aha! The nice ladies at Leesburg must've called.
Dorchester was a tidy little office with fresh vinyl siding. The pavement was brand new and had that smell of fresh asphalt. The entry you see here is actually the back of the building. The side facing the road is a blank wall. There is one driveway marked "In" and one marked "Out" as if traffic control would be a problem! Also notice the neat row of pine trees to the right in this photo. We are in the Jersey Pine Barrens where most of the trees are pines and the soil is sand. People here are known as "Pineys" and this is supposed to be the home of the mythical Jersey Devil, our very own version of Bigfoot.
And I received a very careful cancel on my beige card. She actually cleaned, reinked and practiced a few times on paper to make sure it would be clear. She asked me if I was going to "Morristown". I was confused since Morristown is way up north and there is a Moorestown too. So I pulled up my list on my phone and she went to "Mauricetown" which I guess the locals pronounce "Morristown". She thought they closed at 4:30pm and called over. The phone wasn't answered so I guess they went home. So nice little Dorchester became our last cover of the day! Mauricetown will be the subject of another hunt day!
I'm a little sad that the day has come to an end and am ready to pounce on one more, but my wife has had more than enough, so I point the Buick north towards Pennyslvania and home. I will return one day to Mauricetown and complete the west coast crawl.
All in all, my two days of postmark hunting were the highlight of my vacation! I'm still smiling. Everyone I met was fantastic. I had no hurdles or issues at all. Our overall tally was 5 covers on Tuesday and 6 covers on Thursday for a total of 11 new towns for my collection. Whenever I go through my albums I will always look upon these covers with those memories and a smile!
Another bi-product of my jaunts are the photos of post offices. The Post Mark Collectors Club (Postmarks.com) has a collection of US post office photos. I always check their collection against what I've taken, and was able to send them 6 new photos. Check out their albums, they are pretty cool and you may be able to contribute your local post office to this effort!
I hope you've enjoyed this installment of our mad postal dashes! As of today we have 761 unique cancellations in the collection for 35% completion. I am back in the saddle and look forward to the next adventure!
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Tom,
looks like you had fun, granddaughter and collecting postmarks. I was was in Wildwood the week before, July 7-16th. Stayed in North Wildwood, 2nd and Ocean. I had great weather too. Where I stay is a few blocks from the Anglesea Blues Festival and NJ State Bar-B-Que championship. Three days of Blues & Que! There were some good groups playing. Your story of hitting all those post offices remind me of when I was growing up there was several trips 'down the shore' each summer. My mother would keep us kids busy by playing who can find the most roadside items, flags, cows, water towers, post offices, etc. Since my dad worked for the USPS he knew where they all were. I still use the back roads to travel to the Shore and play that game with my granddaughters.
Another memory of my dad was he worked on the mail trains and when they were phasing out his job he took a promotion to supervisor and he had to memorize zip codes, city and states. They were printed on business size cards and stored in boxes that remind me of the red boxes for size #102 stock cards.
Vince
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Tom, loved your story. What a great fun trip with great memories! Thanks so much for sharing; very enjoyable!
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By the way, I went to postmarks.com to check out the site you mentioned, but it wasn't there -- that is the wrong address -- it is postmarks.org -- just for anyone else who may be interested in checking it out.
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Sorry - me again -
I checked out their list of Post Office photos -- we have 3 in our town and and 1 in a neighboring town, none of which are represented. I'll take some photos and send them in! Two of them are older, and two are new and boring - but I'll send them in anyway. Fun!
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Thanks for pointing out that the site is .org ! On the domains I am responsible for my clubs I bought both .com and .org and pointed them at the same target website, since people are more inclined to think.com... see! I proved my own theory here!
I am impressed with their post office photo collection and how much they have covered! It just makes you want to participate! They are pretty complete in NJ, so it’s not often I can contribute. I notice a few local offices they are missing here near my house in Pennsylvania, so I should drive around!
For anyone wishing to contribute, I use my iPhone 6 and send Evan the full size file, one or two in each email.
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Ah, and that answers my next question - how to submit the photos.
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I'm sure you must already have this, but I found it interesting that I accidentally just ran across this "Rules for Collector Cancellations" excerpt from the Postal Operations Manual on another stamp collecting website. Link here in case it is of any interest to anyone.
http://virtualstampclub.com/pom_print.html
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Very nice reference to the regulations/recommendations for handling postal cancellations. It definitely shows that the USPS does have an interest in providing service on a reasonable level for the stamp collecting fraternity/(sorority? 
).
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thank you for bringing that page to my attention. It's exactly what I needed. I did want something a bit more official since the clowns I've dealt with in post offices have accused me of making up the page myself! So I did a bit of digging and found the entire manual. (Go to page 120)
https://www.apwu.org/sites/apwu/files/resource-files/POM%209%20Postal%20Operations%20Manual%20%5Bupdated%20through%2010-13%5D.pdf
231.4 Hand-Back and Mail-Back Service
Postmarks should be used to provide the following philatelic services
whenever they are available:
a. Hand-back Service
(1) When a customer personally presents an addressed or
unaddressed envelope, postal card, or other item described in
section 231.63 to a Postal Service employee for postmarking, the
Postal Service employee must examine the item to ensure that it
is clearly intended for philatelic purposes. Bill payments, tax
returns, applications, and/or other date-sensitive mail cannot be
handed back. Only after careful examination should a philatelic
item be postmarked and handed back to the customer/collector.
(2) The envelope, card, or other item does not enter the mailstream.
All such materials requesting postmarking must bear uncanceled
postage at the applicable First-Class Mail® rate
Note that there is a clause that the clerk has discretion on date sensitive items, and no doubt the witch I was dealing with would claim that. So I will print this all out and add it to the section I currently carry. It would be interesting to print the entire 562 pages and plop that binder on the counter when confronted!
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How about some bonus images? These are all towns in Cape May County that I already owned....
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I'm so glad that was useful! I wish you would take that back to that horrible woman and let us all know what happens.
I wonder if there isn't somewhere to get a printed copy of the manual - you know how there are so many ".gov" resources to order printed materials of other kinds for IRS or Social Security etc. I couldn't immediately find one available for this, but didn't spend too much time searching.
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Yes, it's related to New Jersey postmarks!
First, I haven't written about the New Jersey collection in a while. I will create another post about the current status of the entire effort.
Second, I want to share a bit about an incident. On May 9th, I was leaving my office in New Brunswick early. It was 3pm and I thought I could hit a few post offices in town. I headed to North Brunswick and received a post mark without any issue. Onward to Handy Street Station in New Brunswick. No problem, though I was surprised that the cancel was plain vanilla "New Brunswick" without any branch information. The clerk didn't know why, he said it's always been that way.
Then I headed to South River. An older town where the post office has been in service since 1824. The current post office was built in 1940 and has nice architecture. I went into the office and asked for a cancel. The desk clerk said he needed approval and yelled for his superior. An older woman appeared and told me under no circumstances would I get a cancel. I stayed nice, she refused to look at the USPS regulation I carry with me. I showed her the fresh cancels from the last two offices and she said she I intimidated the clerks there and she wasn't falling for it too. She said I was there to commit fraud against the government. She was certain I'd use the canceled envelopes for illegal activity and if I didn't leave she was calling the police.
The woman was outright nasty, and I'll admit in the last volley I yelled back. She was also condescending to the two clerks as she ordered them around. I asked for her name and she refused. As I went to walk away, the clerk whispered it to me, so I could tell he wasn't too happy with his employment under her.
As I was leaving the building, a police car came around the corner quickly and my heart sank. Fortunately it was coincidence and he drove past. The last thing I want is a legal confrontation over a hobby. This is supposed to be a fun thing and I left there a bit more than rattled. A bit spooked, I haven't gone to a post office since.
Since eBay is my friend, I found a South River cancel for my collection to avoid ever going into that town again! Since May I have added another 20 or so covers to my collection via eBay.
That brings me to my summer vacation. My daughter invited us to join her husband's family to Wildwood Crest, NJ. All we had to do was book our own room at the same hotel. We jumped at the chance to spend a week with our 7 month old granddaughter Kelsie! That's me on Monday.
Wildwood is an interesting place. Many of the 1950s motels still exist with colorful names and driving down the main drag at night is like going back to neon heaven! Above is the Waikiki Motel with it's tacky Hawaiian theme, complete with palm trees. It hasn't changed much since this 1970 era post card, so it's fun to stay in Wildwood. This was our home base for the week. Our 4th floor view of the ocean was great!
Knowing I'd be spending a week in Cape May County I went to my resources and honed the list down to current post offices that I needed for my collection. I added the address of each office to the list and printed it at home. Cape May County is the bottom corner New Jersey and with it's shore heritage, has some of the nicest town names in the state. So of course I wanted the post marks. I decided to give it a shot.
There were a total of 9 post offices on my list. Tuesday morning everyone was going to the beach, and I decided to make my break! I pointed the big Buick north and headed towards the most northern post office I would attempt, Strathmere. I left the parkway and headed on the coastal road out to the isle. Literally most of the shore in this area is an isle with water on both sides. During superstorm Sandy, the entire isle was covered with water in some towns. As I hit the island, GPS told me to make a left. I spot what looks like a post office building on the corner... it's the Sea Isle City post office. Of course I make the stop.
The Sea Isle City post office is a modern building. Inside there is an entire wall of photos of every post office building since 1882 when the office was founded. I get into a pleasant conversation with the clerk and got my cancel. Alert eyes will see that it was a cancel from the day before. That shows how little the clerks actually use a cancel these days, and why town postmarks are becoming rare.
She looks at my list of towns and tells me the order I should tackle the route. I thank her and resume my trip to Strathmere, about 2 miles away. Even though the GPS squawked "You Have Arrived" I drove right past it!
As you can see the Strathmere post office is in an old shore house. I parked on the street and approached the door. Inside was a very small vestibule and a single window which was a two part door. The man inside smiled and said, "I was expecting you!" Apparently the nice lady in Sea Isle City called ahead to make sure I was accommodated! The best treatment I've ever received in my postal jaunts!
I set GPS for South Seaville... remember what I said about colorful town names! We head off the peninsula as the rest of the offices we'll visit are on solid land. Again the lady there was expecting me.
And I easily received a very nice cancel. Yes, I see the irony of the Christmas stamp in the middle of the summer at a shore town! It just happened to be in the big envelope of ready covers I keep in the car glove box. The nice lady wanted to know where I was headed next, and then gave me good directions on back roads to Dennisville. She said the way the GPS would take me would have traffic. So I took here advise and was there in minutes.
Dennisville is a historic town of older homes. The lady described the post office as the small building behind the old school house that now houses the historic society. I made a mental note to come back and explore the area again someday.
The post office here was founded as Dennis Creek in 1802. In 1854 it was renamed Dennisville and has been here ever since. You can see that these are tiny post offices serving small communities. They aren't busy at all, so the clerks are happy to see people and have a conversation. This lady was right in character, and went down my list. She saw I had marked Cape May Point as a DPO since i couldn't find it in the USPS directory. She said it was there the last she knew, so she called them! Next thing I know I have the address and a confirmation that I'll stop by on Thursday. And I received a nice cancel, the first 4 bar killer of the day.
It was still early in the afternoon and I was way ahead of schedule. My final stop of the day was going to be Whitesboro. The post office was established here in 1909 so I was surprised to see it was in a trailer. The nice lady quickly gave me one of the modern circular cancels. I don't even care that she totally missed the stamp!
I had completed my intended tour in record time and with the least amount of controversy of any postal crawl! Amazing day!
I set the GPS for my hotel back in Wildwood Crest. As I do these trips, following the GPS, I can get turned around and not realize exactly where I am. This was one of those times. I had no idea where I was. I had taken the Garden State Parkway north to my first stop and meandered back south on back roads. Imagine my surprise when I got to the corner and saw I was at Rio Grande Avenue, the main road leading into Wildwood! I had shopped at the supermarket at that corner! So I was minutes from home.
I had a great day. I added five terrific covers to my collection. To complete Cape May County, I only needed four more current cancels. We had planned on going to Cape May on our way home, so I planned on hitting the two offices, Cape May Point and North Cape May then.
The two other cancels to complete the county are Marmora and a CPO (Contract Post Office) in Ocean City. Those were an hour north, and not worth the trip this time. They are closer to Atlantic City so I'll attempt them when I hit that portion of the state.
Now it's not over! I will add Part Two - my adventures on Thursday to this thread tomorrow!
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re: What I Did On My Summer Vacation
So nice that the majority of the clerks made up for the one bad clerk earlier. After that incident, a very fun story!
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I never suggest this, but I think you ought to file a formal complaint with the regional office and/or DC about your experience with the South River post office. What happened was unacceptable and needs to be followed up on.
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Great philatelic summer vacation story! Thanks for sharing.
I agree with Philatarium that the behavior of the post office person at South River warrants an official complaint. The USPS puts a lot of resources into trying to attract individuals into stamp collecting and provide stamps and other resources and she is definitely creating a service issue with her attitude and response.
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love the stories, even your John Dillinger impersonation, but I especially like Kelsie, who seems quite fond of Grampa
i love these Quixotic quests, the more so when the windmill is dressed as a bureaucrat. Armored in postal regulations (please do not read my other post today, as it gives lie to what follows) and righteousness, we prepare to joust or, failing that, jest.
Jesterday, seems so long ago
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"I agree with Philatarium that the behavior of the post office person at South River warrants an official complaint. The USPS puts a lot of resources into trying to attract individuals into stamp collecting and provide stamps and other resources and she is definitely creating a service issue with her attitude and response."
I agree. I have filed complaints before at USPS.com and never received any kind of acknowledgement or reply. On my first trip out, the clerk in Roebling, NJ refused to help me. When she was on the phone with her superior, she referred to me as "a crazy person".
She said I couldn't have hand back service, anything she cancelled had to go through the mail. I gave her my cover and she made sure the postmark on it was not readable. I submitted a complaint and received no response.
I submitted a second customer service issue to the site asking about the regulations regarding hand back cancel service. Again no response whatsoever.
As far as this incident, I was so upset it took me until now to be able to report it here. It's a few months old at this point. Plus, I find it interesting that all the offices that give me resistance are in the region of the Trenton main office. I'm wondering what they are teaching clerks in that area. Quite different that I received no issues at all in Cape May County, part of the "South Jersey" zone.
It would be my luck that there is a regulation barring hand back service of standard cancels and postal inspectors would descend upon me and seize my collection!
I am a member of the Post Mark Collectors Club, which is a large organization with a physical museum in Ohio. I receive their monthly printed magazine. This weekend I wrote a lengthily email to the managing director, who appears to also have ties to USPS, asking my questions. You'd think this organization would be on top of this issue. I haven't received a reply yet.
I'd love to have an official letter from a high ranking official sanctioning my requests to carry around. We'll see what happens next.
And since you waded through this post, I will give a bonus cover! South Dennis, NJ... right next to Dennisville. As you can see I already had this town.
I have recently finished the pages in my albums. The New Jersey Collection is now in 9 binders, all in the two pocket pages. In each pocket is a 7x5.5" card with the town information and a state map with the county highlighted. If there is a second cover for a town, it has a blank card behind it. It took me awhile and became so much a part of my life creating these, that now I wonder what to do with my time!
I will post Part Two of this saga tomorrow. My first day back to work from vacation took a toll on me!
Thank you to everyone for the support and kind comments!
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That's an awesome story- thanks for sharing. I am glad you are back on the road and collecting cancels again. I haven't tried it since my last unpleasant encounter with a crabby clerk. It really takes the fun out of it. Can't wait to read your next installment
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I think I posted on here previously about the time I complained to my local PO about all the pen cancels on my covers- our carrier was defacing neatly cancelled stamps including some FDCs.
I tried being polite but things degenerated and the clerk exploded at me that all stamp collectors ore crooks, it's 'just a way to reuse stamps and cheat us.' She was the only other person there, so I never filed a complaint but for years after I avoided her like the plague.
I second the idea you need to complain. Glad you got all the others.
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And onward!
Tuesday's adventure left me all happy and eager to do it again. Wednesday we did the typical New Jersey shore things, and we left on Thursday. Checking out of the hotel at 11am we planned on heading south to Cape May (the shore resort) not to be confused by Cape May County, in which Cape May (the shore town) is located!
As an aside, our entire week "down the shore" as Jersians call it, was picture perfect. Bright sunny days. One day we woke up to dense fog that quickly burned off. Unlike this week where it is raining there every day!
My daughter had planned on going to Cape May but was going to the shopping district. We were going to the waterfront. Cape May is known for quaint 19th century shore homes and we wanted to walk around a bit. My first agenda item though was to head out to Cape May Point to visit the post office there. As you read in the original post, I thought this was a DPO but found it was still current.
The post office was in this neat old shore style building, that also housed apartments. Did you notice that the post offices in this area are all small and interesting?
We achieved the postmark quick and easy since the lady knew we were coming. This was where I discovered that the Ball stamps are rather thick and the postmarks will skip on their edge. Of course it did so on "Point" the word that made the postmark unique!
My wife sat in the car and while I was inside, her phone rang. Daughter discovered that the shopping area was too busy so she was sitting in a waterfront restaurant and wanted us to join them. My wife jumped at the chance to see Kelsey again. Never mind that I wanted to explore around the "Point" a bit and see the old concrete ship in person. So we headed back to town for lunch.
(photo credit Jay Lloyd)
So here's the ship I never got to see. It was the SS Atlantus, one of a few experimental ships build during World War I out of concrete. It turned out to be too heavy (no duh!) and it was towed here in 1926 to become a reef. There are photos of it over the years in various stages of decay.
Once we had our lunch and walked in the blazing hot sun for a bit, we pointed the big Buick north, planning on hitting North Cape May on our way outta Dodge. This office is in a shopping center and the clerk was happy to oblige, with a red 4 bar killer cancel!
I didn't need to stop at the Cape May main post office, bonus cover!
And people show up in Cape May (the shore town) looking for the Cape May Zoo but it's not there, it's up near the County Seat, a half hour north! And why not another bonus cover? Cape May Court House.
Since we had the whole afternoon ahead of us I thought we'd wander north on the west coast of New Jersey, along the Delaware River, on the old Route 47. I hadn't preplanned anything, but I did have my entire spread sheet on my phone along with the USPS app. I saw town names in Cape May County that I either had or had visited on Tuesday. As we hit Cumberland County I started to see intriguing post office names on my phone screen.
Our first hit was Delmont and luck would have it, the post office was right on the highway we were traveling. Even though the GPS squawked our arrival I blew right past it because all I saw was the fire station. A quick drive around the building found the post office on the side of that building!
The clerk here appeared happy to see another human. He admitted it was slow there, and easily applied this modern bullet cancel, missing the stamp. This also wins our ugliest post office of the trip award! In the meantime, my wife has been texting with my daughter the whole trip. As we drive up the old highway through the legendary New Jersey Pine Barrens, she's not seeing any of it, her nose is glued to the phone. Of course she's telling my daughter that I'm holding her hostage as I hit all these ugly, boring old post offices. My daughter is curious so my wife texts her this photo. Now my daughter has joined the trip. Successful, we set the GPS for Heislerville.
As we headed to this coastal town we discovered that the entire coastline there is a tidal marshland animal refuge. Literally miles deep. We eventually emerged on a country road we could imagine was probably a dirt road not that long ago.
Like many of the small post offices we visited, this one seemed to be the hub of town activity. I couldn't get a photo of it without people and cars! I'd wait and as one vehicle pulled out another pulled in! Again we got our cancel with no issues. My wife is sharing my photo of each post office via text to my daughter who is very amused. She says she might want to go on a jaunt someday!
Once again the clerk missed the stamp entirely. I decided good enough since she canceled it in good spirit. I'm glad I'm visiting these small offices since they are interesting and the people friendly. Also, I'm not likely to find a cancel for towns this small in the philatelic market!
Leesburg was about two miles from Heislerville on that same country road. I made a left and was in a small sparse town of older homes. Here on the corner was one of the few purpose built USPS post offices. This style building is maybe late 1960s. The clerk I approached turned to her supervisor to ask if she could give me a cancel. She immediately answered, "Sure!" and came to the counter herself. The three of us engaged in a conversation and I pulled out all the covers I had canceled on my trip and they found it all very interesting.
I told them I was headed to Dorchester and they warned me that it was 4:05pm and that office closed at 4:15pm. So I took off in that direction. When I arrived it was 4:18pm and I expected to find a locked door, but it was open. As I went inside the lady there said she was waiting for me. Aha! The nice ladies at Leesburg must've called.
Dorchester was a tidy little office with fresh vinyl siding. The pavement was brand new and had that smell of fresh asphalt. The entry you see here is actually the back of the building. The side facing the road is a blank wall. There is one driveway marked "In" and one marked "Out" as if traffic control would be a problem! Also notice the neat row of pine trees to the right in this photo. We are in the Jersey Pine Barrens where most of the trees are pines and the soil is sand. People here are known as "Pineys" and this is supposed to be the home of the mythical Jersey Devil, our very own version of Bigfoot.
And I received a very careful cancel on my beige card. She actually cleaned, reinked and practiced a few times on paper to make sure it would be clear. She asked me if I was going to "Morristown". I was confused since Morristown is way up north and there is a Moorestown too. So I pulled up my list on my phone and she went to "Mauricetown" which I guess the locals pronounce "Morristown". She thought they closed at 4:30pm and called over. The phone wasn't answered so I guess they went home. So nice little Dorchester became our last cover of the day! Mauricetown will be the subject of another hunt day!
I'm a little sad that the day has come to an end and am ready to pounce on one more, but my wife has had more than enough, so I point the Buick north towards Pennyslvania and home. I will return one day to Mauricetown and complete the west coast crawl.
All in all, my two days of postmark hunting were the highlight of my vacation! I'm still smiling. Everyone I met was fantastic. I had no hurdles or issues at all. Our overall tally was 5 covers on Tuesday and 6 covers on Thursday for a total of 11 new towns for my collection. Whenever I go through my albums I will always look upon these covers with those memories and a smile!
Another bi-product of my jaunts are the photos of post offices. The Post Mark Collectors Club (Postmarks.com) has a collection of US post office photos. I always check their collection against what I've taken, and was able to send them 6 new photos. Check out their albums, they are pretty cool and you may be able to contribute your local post office to this effort!
I hope you've enjoyed this installment of our mad postal dashes! As of today we have 761 unique cancellations in the collection for 35% completion. I am back in the saddle and look forward to the next adventure!
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Tom,
looks like you had fun, granddaughter and collecting postmarks. I was was in Wildwood the week before, July 7-16th. Stayed in North Wildwood, 2nd and Ocean. I had great weather too. Where I stay is a few blocks from the Anglesea Blues Festival and NJ State Bar-B-Que championship. Three days of Blues & Que! There were some good groups playing. Your story of hitting all those post offices remind me of when I was growing up there was several trips 'down the shore' each summer. My mother would keep us kids busy by playing who can find the most roadside items, flags, cows, water towers, post offices, etc. Since my dad worked for the USPS he knew where they all were. I still use the back roads to travel to the Shore and play that game with my granddaughters.
Another memory of my dad was he worked on the mail trains and when they were phasing out his job he took a promotion to supervisor and he had to memorize zip codes, city and states. They were printed on business size cards and stored in boxes that remind me of the red boxes for size #102 stock cards.
Vince
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Tom, loved your story. What a great fun trip with great memories! Thanks so much for sharing; very enjoyable!
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By the way, I went to postmarks.com to check out the site you mentioned, but it wasn't there -- that is the wrong address -- it is postmarks.org -- just for anyone else who may be interested in checking it out.
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Sorry - me again -
I checked out their list of Post Office photos -- we have 3 in our town and and 1 in a neighboring town, none of which are represented. I'll take some photos and send them in! Two of them are older, and two are new and boring - but I'll send them in anyway. Fun!
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Thanks for pointing out that the site is .org ! On the domains I am responsible for my clubs I bought both .com and .org and pointed them at the same target website, since people are more inclined to think.com... see! I proved my own theory here!
I am impressed with their post office photo collection and how much they have covered! It just makes you want to participate! They are pretty complete in NJ, so it’s not often I can contribute. I notice a few local offices they are missing here near my house in Pennsylvania, so I should drive around!
For anyone wishing to contribute, I use my iPhone 6 and send Evan the full size file, one or two in each email.
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Ah, and that answers my next question - how to submit the photos.
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I'm sure you must already have this, but I found it interesting that I accidentally just ran across this "Rules for Collector Cancellations" excerpt from the Postal Operations Manual on another stamp collecting website. Link here in case it is of any interest to anyone.
http://virtualstampclub.com/pom_print.html
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Very nice reference to the regulations/recommendations for handling postal cancellations. It definitely shows that the USPS does have an interest in providing service on a reasonable level for the stamp collecting fraternity/(sorority? ).
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thank you for bringing that page to my attention. It's exactly what I needed. I did want something a bit more official since the clowns I've dealt with in post offices have accused me of making up the page myself! So I did a bit of digging and found the entire manual. (Go to page 120)
https://www.apwu.org/sites/apwu/files/resource-files/POM%209%20Postal%20Operations%20Manual%20%5Bupdated%20through%2010-13%5D.pdf
231.4 Hand-Back and Mail-Back Service
Postmarks should be used to provide the following philatelic services
whenever they are available:
a. Hand-back Service
(1) When a customer personally presents an addressed or
unaddressed envelope, postal card, or other item described in
section 231.63 to a Postal Service employee for postmarking, the
Postal Service employee must examine the item to ensure that it
is clearly intended for philatelic purposes. Bill payments, tax
returns, applications, and/or other date-sensitive mail cannot be
handed back. Only after careful examination should a philatelic
item be postmarked and handed back to the customer/collector.
(2) The envelope, card, or other item does not enter the mailstream.
All such materials requesting postmarking must bear uncanceled
postage at the applicable First-Class Mail® rate
Note that there is a clause that the clerk has discretion on date sensitive items, and no doubt the witch I was dealing with would claim that. So I will print this all out and add it to the section I currently carry. It would be interesting to print the entire 562 pages and plop that binder on the counter when confronted!
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How about some bonus images? These are all towns in Cape May County that I already owned....
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I'm so glad that was useful! I wish you would take that back to that horrible woman and let us all know what happens.
I wonder if there isn't somewhere to get a printed copy of the manual - you know how there are so many ".gov" resources to order printed materials of other kinds for IRS or Social Security etc. I couldn't immediately find one available for this, but didn't spend too much time searching.
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