Some Stuff I Found In Dad's Collection. Neat Stuff!

Since this is the cover forum, I will post the
2 really neat looking covers I found in a book.
Remember that I don't know anything about this stuff,
but it sure looks neat-o!


The second two pics are more interesting.
The first is a cover of sorts, from Calf Creek Texas.
It is nothing more than a sheet of paper.
At first I didn't understand, but then I saw the note on the
back... Pretty self explanitory.

Next, this one is not really a cover.
I don't really know. The stamp is cancelled,
but it does't appear to have ever been sent
anywhere. ???
I get it though. The photo is the real life image as
the engraving on the stamp itself. Is this a common item?
The back of the photo is rubber stamped in red ink.
"GEO. W. WENTZ, JR"
"San Marcos, Texas"

It looks like history to me... Can anyone tell me any
more about this sort of cover????

This stuff is unreal.
I have only scratched the surface of Dad's collection.
It is HUGE!
Dozens of books, stamps old and new, stamps stuffed in legal
envelopes til the seams are about to bust, hundreds of old covers,
and on and on. Every time I just peek into the stuff, I find things
like these...

I am sure there are going to be plenty more pics and questions
posted by me for a long time to come.

Thanks for any info you can give me on some of this stuff!
Dave

Wow...having the actual picture that the stamp was made from...your dad
collected some really cool stamp stuff...cherish it or as least get a good price for it!

Oh my! Great stuff, ratio411! I can't wait to see some more!
Wish we all lived down the street from you and we'd be over there all the time helping you sort stamps!
Read and learn everything you can and most importantly--enjoy!

Gussyboy1

I Googled George W. Wentz Jr. and the only thing interesting I got was this:
http://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac2...1358!0#focus

Smithsonian Institution Library holdings.
The related terms are "stamp collecting", "stamp collectors", and such.

Now, I was thinking the stamp on the back of the pic may have been a photographer or printer taking credit for the picture.
However, now I am wondering if this person was a stamp collector that aquired the picture and stamped it to mark it as part of his collection. ???

A scary thought just hit me...
This guy couldn't have been the engraver or designer of that stamp, could he????

You may find this interesting on the photo
http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndirs...aphy/551.htm

Jim

Cool, thanks!

Well, I know I don't have the original photo.
The front of the horses are cut off the pic.

The photo is very old, but much smaller than what
they call for in that link.

I still wonder about this Geo. W. Wentz Jr.
He comes up 2 times when searching the San Marcos Texas angle...
One is the book about "rocket mail", and the other is a Las Vegas stamp dealer than lists a cover from the area, for sale, but there is no pic and no explanation why this name is in the description.

So it is encouraging to me that I find 2 philatellic links to this 3rd item I have. This guy is somehow tied to the hobby.

Very nice Ratio411. What neet interesting History on those covers.

Dianne

That's what I love about stamp collecting! Sometimes there are mysteries to be solved. Great philatelic stuff your dad had! Cherish it like I cherish my Dad's coin collections!

Gussyboy1

George Wentz is mentioned in Herman Herst, Jr.'s book "Fun and Profit in Stamp Collecting" in the chapter "There Is No Substitute for Knowledge." Herst describes how in the early days rocket flown covers were not held in high regard and referred to as "racket covers":

"An approval dealer named George Wentz conceived of a United States-to-Mexico rocket flight across the Rio Grande where it was probably no more than a trickle. For years he offered examples of this flown cover as approval premiums to encourage collectors to buy his wares."

So this guy must have put together gimmick stuff,
not unlike his trivial 'rocket covers'...
That could explain the picture/stamp combo with
his (assumed) mark on the back.

So he was a stamp collector, apparently with influence
on the USPS, that hawked trivial cover.

I say he had influence, as he was involved in official
mail transport. Could he have been a local postmaster?

A few years late...
I found this thread while searching for my grandfather who raised me. George W. Wentz, Jr. was a stamp dealer in the 1940's in San Marcos, Tx. He loved to make rubber stamps and stamp things. He was the Hays County School Superintendent for 20 years, then became V.P. of SWTPC. I have around 80 of his "First International Rocket Air Mail" books. Still sealed in plastic from the day they were made.

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/...hard/Rocket/

John A.,

Welcome to SCF!

Steve

Hey something interesting about that SLATE LICK PA cover. Since just after the civil war their has been a long going dispute about that name. The name comes from 2 little grist runs that was owned by two moon shiners (go figure). Slate Run and Lick run. Now this is a story I could never find in print but the story goes that the census came along and the census taker accidentally or otherwise wrote the two names close together about the adjacent properties. now that set off a feud. The over zealous moonshiners named the adjacent creeks to the former grist run's names (Slate & Lick) hoping that following census taker would notice. he didn't so the one moonshiner moved from the Clinton/Lycoming area to some where in Armstrong county and settled the feud except one thing...lol the name. So to review..In Clinton & Lycoming we have two creeks called Lick Run & Slate run {absolutely fabulous fly fishing in both} and in Armstrong Co. we have Slate Lick. That is a VERY old story but every once in awhile in the right circuits you hear tell of it. -Jay
One more interesting fact- it wasn't until 1982 that our "beloved" Lick Run was officially named! lol
edited for type-o's

I'll go ahead and answer the question in the OP. Dr. George Wentz, Jr. also owned a printing company and was a photographer. He made 4,000 postcards as shown above (in the OP) from the original negative used to make the stamp. He placed a canceled stamp on the postcards and gave them away, offering enlargements. We managed to find the negative and a few of the pictures he made from them. We don't know how he acquired the negative but he was an enthusiastic collector of stuff like this and loved to share them with anyone who was interested. I know it is a disappointment, but at least the father of the OP got some of his collection from a good source. :-)



Thanks for the warm welcome, Steve.
:-)

Great stuff JohnA, keep it coming, love to see it and read the discussion.

Ratio411 - great covers and stamps, the 1898 escpecially.