Album Pages on GermanStamps.net

I discover a major typo on the title page of all the Post Office Abroad pages. If you've already downloaded a copy, you'll want to go re-download the corrected version.

I just uploaded A4-sized pages for the Generalvouvernement. As with all Third Reich-era A4 pages, they're also available in StGB-compliant versions for any German users out there.

As usual, downloads are here.

In addition, I decided to undertake a major project before it grew any larger — consistency, a.k.a. the bane of a page designer's existence.

When I started making these pages available, I merely took my existing pages and removed the catalog numbers. However, because those pages had been built piecemeal over a period of about 5 years, there was a general lack of consistency in the formatting. For example, on some pages, the title was slightly higher than on others; some flags and photos were flat, while others had a slight embossing effect applied; the photo captions were all over the map in terms of positioning, size, and capitalization. Some of this can be fixed through editing the master templates I use, but most of it is page specific because each page has its own stamps, photos, text, etc.

In 99% of the cases where there were inconsistencies, they wouldn't be obvious to you, the end user. They're hard to see in the PDFs, but they're extremely obvious in InDesign because I can tell when things aren't lined-up with the on-screen guides.

I have a minor case of OCD, and this was driving me nuts. So, I decided to tackle it before it grew even further out of hand. I went back into every page I've build for distribution to "fix" these minor inconsistencies — by my count, 5,450 pages in total. The formatting of all the pages I've released should now be about 99% consistent.

The changes were minor, so anyone using the older pages shouldn't feel like they have to move their stamps to new pages. Even holding the pages side-by-side, you'd be hard pressed to detect most of the edits without a ruler. But, if you were planning on using these pages and haven't yet started mounting stamps to them, I recommend you go download the newest versions so they'll be as close as possible to matching across the various page sets.

PostmasterGS I have now downloaded your first sett Deutsches Reich and started to mount my collection. Thanks a lot

Today's episode:

What happens when a specialized collector starts down a rabbit trial?

- or -

Let's start the insanity...

All photos link to larger versions

My collection is Germany and related areas from 1872-1945. That's already fairly specialized, but I have one area which you might call a sub-speciality -- the German Colonies and Post Offices Abroad.

One thing I never attempted to do, however, was to collect postmarks of the Colonies and PO Abroad. Postmarks in the Colonies are "easier" to collect than in many collecting areas, since the PO's were only in operation for about 30 years, the numbers were fairly limited, and the dates, locations, and cancels are all well documented. In short, it's a well-defined area that, with enough investment of time and money, is do-able. I never wanted to attempt it, though, because I still had too many stamp holes to fill to divert money to postmarks.

But... not too long ago, I saw an unusual German New Guinea cancel on eBay and I snapped it up. I then needed a page to display it, so I built one.



But... the page looked lonely in my album, as it was the only postmark page. It just looked out of place. So, I decided to build pages for all the German New Guinea postmarks. There are only 24, so it should have been short and sweet.

But... the cancel catalog also listed postmarks of German naval vessels that were used on German New Guinea stamps. Might as well do those, too. That's another 23 pages.

But... there were also civilian mail steamers with cancellers that were used on German New Guinea stamps. Have to do those, too. That's another 31 pages.

So my 1 postmark page turned into 78. And there went my weekend.

I haven't made these available on my website yet because I'm in the middle of another server move, but here are a few samples.

The PO pages have a map with a dot showing the location of the PO and some basic info on the PO and the cancel. A few pages have photos of the PO, if available. The public versions won't have stamp boxes, since it's difficult to get the sizes right (the stamps on which these were used were 5-6 different sizes, not to mention those on-piece). Instead, I just left a large blank space to accommodate stamps of difference sizes, more than 1 stamp, etc.



The pages for the naval cancels (Marineschiffspost) have info on the ships and the dates when those ships were in the German New Guinea area.



The pages for the mail lines have info on the lines, the ships that were in use, and the cancellers.



I also included pages for some unauthorized cancels that were used in a few instances on ships carrying mail within the colony.


So now that German New Guinea's done, on to German East Africa...

For those who use the GermanStamps.net album pages, I've added a subscription option on the download page. If you enter your e-mail address, you'll received an e-mail notification anytime I add new pages or make edits/corrections to previously-released pages.

...assuming I set it up correctly.

Added pages for the WWII Occupation of Alsace. Pages are available in basic or specialized; Letter, A4, Leuchtturm/Lighthouse, or Schaubek sizes; with or without stamp photos; StGB compliant/non-compliant versions.

As usual, downloads are here.

I recently bought a new binder for my German collection and noticed that you posted a photo of the same back in 2016. I have yet to add the pages, though. I was wondering how the binder has held up over the years. Any splits or cracks in the plastic?

I just happened upon your website, quite impressive. It will be an excellent resource fir my Weimar Republic/Third Reich collection.

John