Bill Senkus is the driving force behind the Website Alphabetilately. Recently, I spoke with Bill about collecting philatelic ephemera and things alphabetical.
ephemera: Let's start with A for alphabetilately. When did your passion for alphabetilately collecting begin?
Senkus: I can tell you the exact day: February 8, 1997. I had a friend who was Communications Director of the San Francisco chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts. She had the idea for an event called, "Ephemera Philatelica: an Evening about Postage Stamps".
I had been sharing with her for several years my love of postage stamps and things philatelic, and she suggested that I present a talk to her group about some of the items and stories I had collected. We share a love of things alphabetic, so it was a natural choice to structure the talk as an alphabet. I made a list of candidate topics, and we selected the 26 that we felt would be the most fun to share with a group of people who knew nothing about stamp collecting. Then it was my job to find examples and put together a slide show and narrative. The premier presentation was for the AIGA on May 15, 1997.
Subsequently I presented the slide talk five more times, with my own title, "Alphabetilately," and in June, 1998, I created a Website based on it. Once I got started with the concept, of course, I was hooked. I wanted the best examples I could get for each topic, and once it was a Website, I was no longer limited to one topic per letter, so I added some of my favorites that did not fit the slide-show format, but worked well online. I have been revising and expanding the Website ever since, adding new topics and expanding old ones, as my interests and resources wax and wane.
ephemera: What challenges or obstacles do you encounter in collecting? How do you overcome these challenges?
Senkus: The biggest challenge of the initial project was its diversity. Each of the 26 topics was a separate collectible area, and while I owned good examples of some, such as advertising covers and setenants, others such as Persian Rugs were beyond my financial reach. Since my collection was only virtual, though, I could get by with good pictures or borrowed examples. My collection of philatelic auction catalogs provided superb images of many items, and my AIGA friend, networker supreme, arranged the loan of others. That set the pattern for my collecting ever since. My Website is now my chief exhibit, and I collect images mainly from the Internet. Sometimes the challenge is to select the objects that exemplify the topic best. For instance, I own hundreds of advertising covers, which ten or so will convey most why I find them so appealing?
ephemera: I face similar challenges in working on this site. What are your favorite items in your collection, and how do they inspire you?
Senkus: That's a tough choice to make. Some of my favorites are the items I created or acquired as part of the slide shows. Many are items I created myself, as souvenirs, while others were created by artists who participated in one of the presentations. And there are some I like simply because they were so hard to acquire. I suppose my current favorite is always the one I just acquired, since it is usually something I have been seeking for a long time. For example, one topic I find particularly fascinating is philatelic souvenirs from the Vienna International Philatelic Exhibition of 1933. Recently a viewer of my site sent me an image of a full sheet of poster stamps from the exhibit, something I had been seeking for twenty-five years!
ephemera: Neat. Cool story. What’s your advice to achieving success as alphabetilately collector?
Senkus: Pick your topics carefully. The idea is to educate viewers, by sharing something you care about in a way that inspires others to collect whatever interests them. Your alphabetilately isn't the same as mine. Make it reflect your experience and passions.
ephemera: Thanks for the A-to-Z tour of Alphabetilately, Bill. It's one of the most unique takes on ephemera collecting I've encountered, and I'm sure it's something that will fascinate and entertain the readers of the ephemera blog.
Dear Mr. Senkus,
IN a very old house some stamps were found. I was browsing around the internet to find a time line on some of the stamps and came across your web site. To my surprise I saw a picture of one of my stamps. It is a blue 3 cent stamp with a train on it. Your web site states that it was issued in 1869 and it was the first U.S. stamp to have a train on it. I was wondering if you may be able to take a few moments to tell me a bit more about this stamp. I am not a collector but would like to know as much as possible. For example, how many of these stamps are know to still exist? I also have another stamp with a train on it but I did not see it on your site. It is a rectangle 2 cent stamp that is red in color with what looks to be an old passenger train facing to the left. Thank you for your time and information.
Posted by: Jenneane Harvill | May 27, 2007 at 08:48 PM
I have a few collections of stamps, that I brought from Cuba in 1980. Do you know who will be interested in buying them?
305-525-7807
Posted by: Betty Marsan | October 18, 2007 at 07:22 PM
Hi Bill,
A co-worker in adjacent cube came to borrow a stamp from me, and I thought about you and wondered what you're up to. I was not surprised to find you here. I am thrilled that you are still "into" stamps - I guess that's an understatement. I remember getting stamps from you at Impell and not wanting to use them because they were so unique. When I write letters (yup, someone still writes letters), I refuse to use a plain old flag stamp, it's got to be special.
Posted by: Maria (Cober) Scott | September 08, 2008 at 03:50 AM
Mr. Senkus I was on line one day and ran across some wonderful articles of yours on stamps. why I'am writing is because I have stamps that were my fathers. I have a whole album of stamps that were in your article. they are blocks of 4 never used.They range from 1 cent and up.They are the same ones in the story I read on alphabetilately sbcglobal.net My question is,how do go about finding out value of them. I'am a widow have no money and was told it cost alot to find out value. Is this true? If you can help I'd really apreicate it. Please reply. thank you Patricia Miller
Posted by: Patricia Miller | October 08, 2008 at 09:18 AM
Gooday,
I'd like to explore some unique plate blocks that I have
some full sheet plate blocks from the 40's 50's
all 4 corners w/ the same #
and some w/ 4 and some w/ 6 stamps w/all4 corners w/same #
any intrest
any help
Thanks
Posted by: JERRY GALILEY | October 05, 2010 at 01:06 PM
How does the USPS decide how and when to issue a commenorative stamp. Is there a committee or does The President make this decision?
Posted by: Betty Seaton | December 18, 2010 at 08:18 PM