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Post by elfstone99 on Oct 25, 2021 19:17:00 GMT
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,654
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Oct 25, 2021 19:56:25 GMT
Thanks for your post, elfstone99. I can't honestly say that I specifically remember the examples in your post, since I grew up in North America, but I certainly remember the days of post offices with "philatelic windows" where collectors were served by clerks who had at least a reasonable understanding of what their customers wanted. That was fun, for sure, but I know that it's a different philatelic world that we live in today.... for lots of reasons. Stay stampy, all!
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Jerry B
Departed
Rest in Peace
Marietta, Georgia USA
Posts: 1,485
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Post by Jerry B on Oct 25, 2021 20:40:56 GMT
Hi
Brings back fond memories.
In New York City at the Grand Central Station Post Office there was a Philatelic Window (late 50's early 60's). One would stand in line waiting their turn at the window. Once you got to the window you handed the clerk a "want list" with your name on it and left to come back later. You could also ask for stamps, but he preferred a want list. This clerk would fill your want list with current US stamps and/or older stamps that he had previously purchased. There was no telling him how many stamps you wanted. If you only wanted one, you may have gotten 2 or 3 or more. No one complained. The Post Office management even approved. He was once written up in the Daily Newspaper and people from all the boroughs came to place "orders". The lines then became longer than ever. There was even a line to pick up your order. If the window was closed, you knocked and he opened it to give you your "order". Needless to say one never ran out of postage for regular mail.
If one finds a philatelic window today, would there be a line?
Jerry B
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,266
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Oct 25, 2021 21:02:54 GMT
The red ones still turn up if you buy from the Philatelic Bureau or buy at the Royal Mail stand at Stampex or a big international show.
Indeed if I send you some stamps for trade I probably still recycle these.
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,348
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on Oct 26, 2021 11:38:00 GMT
Are there any philatelic windows in the USA these days?
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,654
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Oct 26, 2021 12:21:29 GMT
Al ( angore), the short answer is that I don't know. I haven't seen a philatelic window at a US post office in a few decades. That said, I can mention that I have seen philatelic counters at post offices in other parts of the world in more recent years. There are nice ones at the main post offices in St. Petersburg, Russia and in Prague in the Czech Republic. The biggest and nicest I have ever seen is in the basement of the main post office in Seoul, South Korea. I have visited all of those within the last 10 years, so they are at least more recent than my US experiences.
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Post by elfstone99 on Oct 26, 2021 13:08:32 GMT
Are there any philatelic windows in the USA these days? Honestly, I haven't seen one in ages. Whenever I do go to the post office, usually two windows are open, staffed by salty employees who really have no interest in assisting customers. When you ask for something other than booklet stamps, they sigh, pull out a dirty old notebook that looks as if it hasn't been cleaned in 40 years, and moan as they look for the particular item you need. I no longer collect US stamps (my collection stops at 1996), so fortunately I don't have to visit the post office much, except when I have international mail to post, or to retrieve mail that has gone missing and finally found and held at the post office for me to collect.
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tomiseksj
Moderator
Woodbridge, Virginia, USA
Posts: 6,265
What I collect: Worldwide stamps/covers, Cinderellas, Ohio Prepaid Sales Tax Receipts, U.S. WWII Ration ephemera
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Post by tomiseksj on Oct 26, 2021 22:22:12 GMT
Are there any philatelic windows in the USA these days? Earlier today, I posed the below questions to the USPS Historian, via email: "Do any post offices still maintain philatelic windows? If not, which was the last post office to have a philatelic window and when did that close?" Shortly thereafter, I received this reply from a USPS Senior Research Analyst in Postal History: "I will see what I can find out about philatelic windows and let you know." I look forward to receiving a response and will share it here, if and when it arrives.
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,348
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on Oct 27, 2021 10:03:44 GMT
I had visited one in main post office in Raleigh, NC regularly in the 90s but the special setup closed down. The person also handled passports. This was all before the USPS Stamp Fulfilment center in Kansas City.
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hank
**Member**
Posts: 23
What I collect: USA, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Russia and other Eastern Europe.
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Post by hank on Oct 28, 2021 14:55:55 GMT
I'm just lucky that my local post office still gets commemeratives in, most of them here don't anymore. Even asking for definative stamps can get you a tut and a roll of the eyes in some places.
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drblade
Member
Posts: 726
What I collect: GB Unmounted mint & Machin definitives Q.E.II Used commemoratives
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Post by drblade on Oct 29, 2021 8:59:36 GMT
I can still remember receiving various items from the Philatelic Bureau in these, years ago. There are still a few around today, despite their change of address etc. I have 10 left, of the type in my scan, use some to send my ebay orders out.
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Doudar
**Member**
Posts: 17
What I collect: British Stamps (mainly pre-QEII)
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Post by Doudar on Jan 6, 2022 13:23:16 GMT
My local stamp shop is still using them.
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Jerry B
Departed
Rest in Peace
Marietta, Georgia USA
Posts: 1,485
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Post by Jerry B on Jan 6, 2022 14:24:55 GMT
Hi
I just remembered.
In Quito, Ecuador, years ago, the "philatelic window" was an entire room. You asked for a stamp and the clerk would look in a "filing cabinet" to see if he had one. You did this for each stamp you wanted. I don't know if it is the same today. TSF member Anglobob may know and also how it is in Guayaquil, Ecador.
Jerry B
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drblade
Member
Posts: 726
What I collect: GB Unmounted mint & Machin definitives Q.E.II Used commemoratives
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Post by drblade on Apr 25, 2023 14:55:01 GMT
Received this one today from an eBay seller, enclosing some booklet stamps I purchased.
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Linda
Member
Ex-mathematician turned visual artist and touring cyclist to bike across Canada, Europe, Japan etc.
Posts: 1,262
What I collect: Mostly Canadian and European stamps about art / science / landscape
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Post by Linda on Apr 27, 2023 14:23:20 GMT
There are still some 'philatelic windows' at certain post office in Taiwan. It's where previous issues are retained. Local post offices, on the other side, only keep the newest issues and send the older one to be destroyed.
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,348
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on Apr 28, 2023 9:43:31 GMT
I have a bunch thanks to Londionbus1.
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