The
Uncle Sam Stamp Club, formerly the Troy Stamp Club, was founded in
1944 during World War II under Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration.
Our roots actually go back to 1943 when a small group interested in
coins and stamps started meeting in a coin shop owned by Charles French.
They met about once a month until the fall of 1944. In October they
officially organized under the name of the Troy Coin and Stamp Club.
At that time they started to hold meetings at the Troy YMCA.
In
1947, we became affiliated with the American Philatelic Society as
Chapter #240. In 1966 our bylaws were amended to eliminate the word
coin from our name and we became Tthe Troy Stamp Club. Then in 1986,
our vice president, Biff Owens, made a motion to change our name to
the Uncle Sam Stamp Club since Troy is where Sam Wilson became known
as Uncle Sam.
The
club is very active in creating covers to commemorate special events
both local and national. To date we have done covers for inductees
in the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, Elvis Presley, Marilyn
Monroe and James Dean, to name a few. We also create covers for the
annual Uncle Sam Day Parade and Victorian Stroll held in Troy. In
1959, Governor Nelson Rockefeller signed a proclamation making September
13 Uncle Sam Day in the State of New York. We have been vigorously
campaigning for about 20 years to get Uncle Sam on a stamp. We have
met with many dignitaries both in government and postal service to
discuss this matter. To date, our efforts have been unsuccessful,
which is a mystery to us. We welcome all clubs to join us in our efforts.
We
have very interesting programs throughout the year by members and
guests at our twice-monthly meetings. At our annual meetings, we also
hold a George L. Habbert Night to honor the man who was very instrumental
in the initial formation of our organization. We are always looking
for new members and new ideas to keep our club healthy and vibrant.
