You Can't Tell a Program by its Cover  

by Scott Pelcyger

 

Frequently in ceremony program collecting you have to delve beneath the surface to find varieties.  The covers of two or more programs may be the same but the ceremonies may be different. 

 The first example of this is the program for the Breast cancer research semipostal stamp.  The covers appear nearly identical but the inserts take you across the country and two weeks into the future.  The First day ceremony was at the White House while the supplemental ceremony was held in Sacramento , California . The only participant at both ceremonies appears to have been Congressman Vic Fazio.

 

 Figure 1 Breast Cancer issue covers (note that Washington Program has Text in Upper Right Corner)

 

Figure 2 Inside of Breast Caner Issue Programs

 Figure 3 Inserts for California and Washington, DC Programs

The Dinosaur issue had 3 programs with similar covers  

 Figure 4 Covers for Supplemental Dinosaur programs

Figure 5 Amarillo TX Program

 

 Figure 6 Lubbock, TX Program

Figure 7 Oklahoma City Program

And of course the Greetings From America issue had probably the most with all 50 states and a couple of extra cities sharing the program cover.  There were a couple of cities that that did not have a program insert and at least two, Arizona and Hawaii , that had two different inserts. The Arizona insert with the larger cactus was printed on the back of the information card.  The Hawaii insert at left is printed on translucent paper.   Without the other variety for comparison it would be assumed that all inserts for a specific state were printed on the same paper.

 Figure 8 Cover for Greetings for America Issue and Most Issues Produced in 2002

Figure 9 Arizona Greetings Programs Note Difference in Background Cacti

Figure 10 Hawaii Programs, Left Insert is Transparent

 

Ceremony program collecting is certainly challenging.  Programs like these demonstrate the need for a catalogue that includes the illustration of the entire program not just the covers.  By comparing programs to the illustrations our members will be able to find varieties and document them.  Perhaps you have a previously unreported variety in your collection.