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Collins FDC Catalog

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C2201

C2201 / Scott 2486

Flora and Fauna

African Violets


Collins Cover Announcement


AFRICAN VIOLETS


In all honesty, I have mixed thoughts about the final appearance of this COLLINS Cover. One thing is sure and that is that this unusual piece makes history in the hobby with another COLLINS "first" in cachet design. The scenario went something like this.


Originally discovered in Tanzania, the first African violet seeds were shipped to the U.S. in 1894. Today the flower has become a favorite house plant throughout the world, with tens of thousands of varieties offering a dazzling array of color combinations. As I was growing up, my mother and grandmothers always had several window areas taken up by colorful African violets. I considered several possible "settings" for the violets to be depicted in my cachet and one of the possibilities was a plant sitting on a table. For interest and contrast I thought maybe another item for the tabletop might be desirable. Keys? Coffee cups? Photos? Many items passed through my mind. Stamps? How about First Day Covers or a single cover? And then it hit me -- how about an African violet plant sitting on a table and near-by not only a FDC but this First Day Cover? The bottom line is that it happened, so I am pleased to offer for the very first time in the hobby a hand-painted cover that has itself as the cachet subject matter. Truly a unique and unusual item.


This stamp was issued in Beaumont, Texas during the annual meeting of the African Violet Society of America and has that city's First Day of Issue postmark. This is a novelty item that I think will gain popularity within the hobby because it is another COLLINS that introduces something new to the hobby that up until now hasn't been done. Out of Africa. A blooming good cover. A cover that features the cachet and a cachet that features the cover. Exactly one hundred years after African violets were discovered in 1894, COLLINS uses the occasion for a new cachet discovery in 1994. Item #C2201. $10.75.

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