The Special Postal Cancellation for Pelham's October 1954 Tercentennial Celebration
Last year Pelham commemorated the 350th anniversary of the signing of the treaty between Thomas Pell and local Native Americans on June 27, 1654. By that treaty, Pell acquired the lands that later became Pelham, New Rochelle, East Chester, City Island and surrounding areas. The celebration lasted an entire year and included a large number of events.
In 1954, Pelham similarly celebrated the Tercentennial anniversary of the signing of the Pell-Siwanoy Treaty. The Chairman of the Committee that oversaw the celebration, Lockwood Barr, arranged a host of events held principally during the weekend of October 15, 16 and 17 that year.
Dedicated local philatelists may know that on October 18, 1954, the United States Post Office held a special postal cancellation dedicated to the Tercentennial celebration. An image of a so-called "proof example" of the cancellation appears immediately below.
The special cancellation shows a design on the left with a Native American and a Pilgrim family standing on each side of the words "TERCENTENNIAL 1654-1954 PELHAM, N.Y. October 15, 16, 17 CELEBRATION". The three cent U.S. Postage printed to the right appears next to a cancellation marked "PELHAM P O [Post Office] N.Y. OCT 18 '54".
A number of these appear to exist and at least two have auctioned recently on eBay.
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posted by Blake A. Bell @ 5:48 AM
1 Comments:
Too bad that Pelham is full of elitist assholes who believe that it's actually IMPORTANT to drop Pelham residents off first when picked up at the MetroNorth station. This rather than making the logical choice of dropping off those who are the closest to the station.
Pelham is a great town to live in if you're a racist asshole.
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