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NATIONAL TOPICAL
STAMP SHOW CELEBRATES THE
HORSEMEN WHO CONNECTED
THE COUNTRY
On April 3, 1860, a young man named Johnny Fry left St. Joseph, Missouri, on horseback as the first of a relay
of riders on a new
mail service to California.
The company he
worked for was originally called the Central Overland
California and Pikes
Peak Express Company. But
it became
better known as the “Pony Express” and was responsible for carrying
letters and
telegrams for 18 months until telegraph line technology surpassed their
speed
of transferring information almost 2,000 miles in 8 to 14 days.
Postage
rates of $5 per half ounce of mail were later reduced to $1 per half
ounce.
Overall, 35,000 letters and telegrams were carried across plains and
mountains
to their destination in Sacramento, California.
For
the sesquicentennial of that event, the American Topical Association
will have
the Pony Express as its theme for its June 25-27 annual show in Denver, Colorado. This year’s events will be held at
the Crowne Plaza
Denver International Airport Hotel, 15500 East 40th
Avenue.
This World Series
of Philately show is topical in its exhibits, meetings and management,
but
dealers from around the country will cover all aspects of philately,
several
bringing material that will be new to area collectors.
The National Topical Stamp Show (NTSS)
stands
out for not only giving thematic exhibits a singular place in which to
compete
on common ground but provides one of the most interesting and diverse
grouping
of exhibits for collectors and non-collectors to enjoy.
Another
aspect of the NTSS is that in each city in which it is held, the ATA
offers two
different tours. This year the Thursday afternoon half day tour will
included
stops at the Denver Mint, the (Unsinkable) Molly Brown House,
and a
visit to the Miller-Coors Brewery.
The
full Monday day trip will included panning for gold at
the
non-commercialized Phoenix Gold Mine and a visit to the nearby Idaho Springs Gold Mine Museum.
Visitors will be
allowed to bring back rocks with embedded gold, sold at the mine. The
bus will then visit the Buffalo Bill Museum and gravesite.
He,
as is well known, was one of those Pony Express Riders.
From there the group will enter the
breathtaking Red Rocks Natural Amphitheater for a photo stop. To see a list of the Award winners from NTSS 2010 click here
Click Here To See all the
NTSS 2010 details
Our Mission Statement
ATA Bylaws
Code of Ethics
PRESS
RELEASE, June 11, 2010
ATA Releases Five New DVDs
The American Topical Association (ATA) has released five new
multimedia presentations representing a variety of topics of interest to stamp
collectors. The DVDs are excellent for
stamp club programs and for the enrichment of individual philatelists. Thirty
DVD titles are now available from ATA. Titles of the latest releases are: Collecting
the Presidents, My Eclectic Collection, Firemen on Stamps, Integrating the U.S.
Navy, and When Presidents Die.
Melvin Morris, a member of the Americana Unit of the ATA,
provided the philatelic material used for Collecting
the Presidents and When Presidents
Die. Mel's contributions to
philatelic literature are well known. He
edited the Americana Philatelic News
from 1992 until early this year, and also wrote six ATA handbooks related to
the American presidents. A seventh
handbook will be released soon.
Linda Geerlings, an artist and ATA member from Oregon, has
contributed a lovely program called My
Eclectic Collection. Linda describes
beautiful and interesting scented stamps and stamps made of unusual materials
in this creative DVD.  The Fire Service in Philately Study Unit of the ATA and its
member Edward Flory have contributed Firemen
on Stamps to the ATA's new releases.
It is a welcome addition to the philatelic literature on a popular
collecting topic.
Harvey Edwards, ATA member from Nevada, has written and
illustrated a comprehensive DVD on Integrating
the U.S. Navy. Using both U.S. and
international stamps along with covers and other philatelic material, Harvey
brings history alive in the presentation. 
ATA DVDs are available to members and nonmembers alike for
$10 each plus postage of $1.50 (U.S.), $1.75 (Canada/Mexico), or $2.25
(overseas). Stamp clubs can lease the
programs for $5 plus postage. If more
than one DVD is ordered, cost is $9 each.
Up to five DVDs can be shipped for the listed postage prices. For a complete list of available DVDs,
contact the ATA Central Office.
The ATA Audio-Visual Program is conducted by Dennis Dengel
of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., ATA Second Vice President. Dennis is ably assisted by Harvey and Terri
Edwards, who provide technical and narrative support. Collectors who would like to share their
collections through audio-visual means are asked to contact the ATA Central
Office.
All thirty DVDs in ATA's multimedia repertoire will be
available at the National Topical Stamp Show in Denver, Colo., on June 25-27,
and also at the ATA society table at APS StampShow in Richmond, Va., on Aug.
12-15.
To contact ATA about the Audio-Visual program or to order
DVDs, e-mail americantopical@msn.com,
call 618-985-5100, or write to PO
Box 8, Carterville, IL 62918-0008. For more information, visit the website at www.americantopicalassn.org ATA Slide Shows Now Available as DVDs
Order Now
Keep
up with ATA News ...
To see all our press releases Please
Click Here
Handbook News
President Obama on Stamps Press
Release, Handbook page
Marc Chagall on Stamps, by Mark
Shleifer: Press
Release, Handbook page.
Watercraft on Stamps II, by Katherine
A. Kirk: Press
Release, SOLD OUT!
Civil War Handbook, by Larry Dodson:
Press
Release, Handbook page.
Presidents of the 20th Century
Handbook, by Melvin Morris:
Handbook
page.
Computers on Stamps II Handbook, by
Larry Dodson: Handbook page.
The ATA's
60th Anniversary Celebration
ATA Celebrates its
60th Anniversary
The ATA was founded in
1949 by Jerome D. (Jerry) Husak, at the age of 17 in
his home town of Milwaukee. In the 1940s, topical or thematic
collecting was largely unrecognized in the field of philately. As a
young philatelist, Jerry recognized and publicized the creativity
inherent in topical collecting. With the founding of ATA and the
guidance of Jerry and other pioneers in the field, topical collecting
has assumed its place as a significant area of philately.
ATA
records show that more than 55,800 individuals have been members during
the 60 years of the organization’s existence. Jerry Husak was the ATA’s
first Executive Director; he continued in that role until 1984. Donald
W. Smith, Douglas A. Kelsey, Paul E. Tyler, and Ray E. Cartier have
also served in the post. The current Executive Director is Vera R.
Felts. All former ATA executive directors are still living; they
contribute fine “institutional knowledge” to the organization. Jack
André Denys is President of the ATA Board of Directors.
ATA
members enjoy outstanding connectivity with collectors of like
interests. Approximately 25% of ATA members reside internationally, in
60 different countries. The bi-monthly ATA journal, Topical Time, has a
distinctly international flair. The organization offers checklists on
540 different philatelic topics in a member-to-member service
coordinated by Karen Cartier. Some 60 handbooks and 25 DVDs are
available to any collector.
WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US!
From 1996-2001, Topical
Time ran a column by ATA past-President Don Beuthel which
answered reader questions about topical stamp collecting and
exhibiting. Now you can get a selected compilation of these
columns in the newly published Topical Helpline,
available through the ATA.
Download the order form
as a WORD
document, or as a PDF
file.
SPECIAL MONEY
SAVING OFFER FROM THE ATA
20% to 80% off all handbooks written before Jan.
01, 2004
Click Here to see ATA Special Handbook
Discount Offers
Ever wonder where
you can go to find more information on Topical
Stamp Collecting ? Click
here for the answer.
ATA PREFERRED ADVERTISERS
LIST NOW AVAILABLE
The American Topical Association
Website now features advertising from existing or new Topical Time
advertisers. Our new Preferred Advertisers
page provides links to Topical Stamp advertisers who support the ATA by
advertising in Topical Time.
ATA
COURSE - LEARN ABOUT TOPICAL STAMP COLLECTING
Learn
about Topical Stamp Collecting through our new interactive course
Topical
Stamp Collecting - The Basics ,
supplied by Mr. Dick Sine.
The
links to the right of each page can acquaint you
with many facets of the American Topical Association. We suggest you
start with About the ATA
to learn the history of the organization. After that, Benefits
will be a second informative stop for you. Next, take a look at the Topical Time
to get an idea of what our bi-monthly journal has to offer, while the Articles
button takes you to a summary of article topics that have previously
appeared in Topical Time and the
T. T. Indexes
button takes you to a listing of the Table of Contents for some of our
more recent issues. The News button
will give you an idea of the more recent press releases which have gone
out to the philatelic media.
Handbooks,
Checklists
and Audio/Visual
will each show some of the aids we offer to increase your collecting
enjoyment. Specials
will, from time to time, let you know of price breaks available on some
items - check back often to see what new offers are
available! The Study Units
will acquaint you with over 50 specialized groups of collectors who
have their own journals and/or newsletters. Also, the Chapters
lists 33 stamp clubs around the world in which topical collectors are
members. Navigating to the Stamp Shows
page will tell you about our annual National Topical Stamp Show (NTSS),
including dates and locations. On the Membership
page, you will see how easy it is to join the ATA, while the Officers
page lists all the information on who you can contact to learn more
about our various services. We also have a special section containing
many tips on collecting called Collecting for Seniors
(who make up a large majority of our organization). This section
will be useful to anyone who wants to start a new topical
collection. Finally,
the Member Links
and the Links
buttons can take you to further sources of information.
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