 Collecting postmarks
...is a GREAT way to get children started in the fun
hobby of stamp collecting! Collecting the postmarks of The Olathe Poste
is great fun, too!
Why? Because we firmly believe that mail
should be as pretty to look at, when it arrives, as it is fun to receive. Being somewhat
traditionalists at heart, we also believe that traditional postmarks, versus modern day
sprayed-ons, are much more pleasing to the eye.
Not to overlook the original intent of postmarks, either. Yes, a postmark's primary
purpose in life is to deface a postage stamp so that it cannot be re-used (the USPS and
other postal authorities refer to this as "revenue protection").
But the next most important purpose of a postmark was to document where
a piece of mail entered into the world's mail stream. Along with the date that the mail
piece began it's journey from sender to recipient. Today, however, the high speed
automated equipment that cancels mail ala sophisticated ink-jet only gets applied to mail
in large mail processing centers. Conglomerating mail from wide areas of a state or region
to be postmarked in a large metropolitan location, far away from where it was mailed.
Hence, losing the local personality and name of the town where it actually came from.
Personally, we're proud of our little town and would like more people to know that
Olathe, Colorado is a real place. With real people. Not to somehow meet with extinction
postally or, to be confused as a suburb of the town where our mail would otherwise be sent
for postmarking, some sixty miles away.
Mailer's Postmark Permit
In order to accomplish our goal of keeping Olathe postally "alive," we long ago
decided to cancel our own mail. Another fun thing to do and which anyone living in the
U.S. can also do, whether you're a collector or not. All that's required is a Mailer's
Postmark Permit from the USPS and you may cancel your own mail. But more on that in a
moment.
What to look for...
First of all, our postmarks are all from Olathe, Colorado. Our Mailer's Postmark Permit is
number "001." These MPP cancellations will be found on cards, letters and
packages that we have mailed from here via First Class Mail®.
Like any other postal authority, we also use a variety of postmark designs to keep
things lively throughout the year. Some are pictorial cancels that coincide with seasonal
holidays, some contain philatelic slogans, and some are just for the fun of being
different. Currently, we have over 60 postmarks that we use for our daily mailing duties.
Obviously for some, a challenging collecting project of it's own. One can only ask
themselves... "can I collect them all?"
Get Started Right Now . . . Collect Olathe!
To help you collect our postmarks, we've prepared some
documents to assist you in organizing your own Olathe, Colorado collection. Download these
free files, print and use them as album pages or simply as a checklist for getting your
own collection started - or completed.
How to...
There are a variety of ways to obtain our Olathe, Colorado postmarks. One way is to simply
become one of our customers. That will pretty much garantee one or two pieces of mail from
us bearing one of our postal cancels. Some of our covers can be found on Ebay or other
auction sites, such as StampWants (now BidStart). Check here for possible covers bearing our postmarks.
Or if you're a member of the Mailer's Postmark Club, you'll
find that there's a number of other ways to obtain our postmarks.
And, if you're a member of the Mailer's Postmark Permit Club
or, simply considering collecting postmarks of one kind or another, be sure to follow this
link for More Info About Collecting Postmarks - there's
much more information and even more free album pages to be had!
As mentioned above, to learn more about how you can obtain a Mailer's Postmark Permit
for cancelling your own mail, follow this link for More
Information About Mailer's Postmarks.
Happy Collecting!
Please Note: Some First Day of Use or
other covers with certain postmarks may still be available. Please check with us for
availability and pricing.
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