posted 01-10-2021 03:34 PM               

So, below is my favorite "what I thought was a Sarzin," postmarked August 27, 1962 for the Mariner II launch to Venus, addressed to Sarzin. But here is my quandary – if the first Sarzin space covers were for Tiros 8 in 1963, is the cover somebody else's cachet that just happened to get sent to Sarzin? Or did he do some earlier than Tiros 8?

Thoughts anyone?

posted 01-10-2021 05:48 PM               

I've always thought that Sarzin's cover and stamp dealership in the North Shore area of Long Island, NY, started after he came back from WWII. But it wasn't until the late 1950's when Clyde first started producing space cover issues, from what I have always believed, and with the help of the Cape postal cancelling team of Nickel and Finney during that era.

But for Chris, though, are you sure Tiros-8 in 1963 was Sarzin's first space cover release? If I am not mistaken, as I can't be certain after so many decades have gone by, the fist Explorer satellites and possibly only a handful of major space feats beforehand may be his first issues, but I am just not certain.

I've also got the well-known attractive color cachet for Mariner II in Aug. 1962 and did consider it to be a Sarzin. His "printed" name and address were on hundreds of early space covers (with multiples of each) with the same-type cachet designs and envelope-used styles. There was even another address, though rubber stamped and not printed, that had been used during the mid/late 1960's on a hand-back basis from the servicing post offices. It read, "Electro-Voice, c/o Sarzin, Port Washington, N.Y."

Sarzin also printed on parchment paper his well-known "Historical Space Document" series of all the pioneering Mercury spaceflights from 1961-63, more than two years before Tiros-8. Most of them were a 4-page foldout design, however, his first for MR-3/Freedom 7 was only a 2-pager. But all were hand posted on the launch date from the Cape and with Port Canaveral until Schirra's MA-8. But he also did individual Mercury covers since 1959 as well, based on my understanding, of which I can show here if there is any interest.

posted 01-11-2021 09:05 PM               

It's too bad that we don't have a full listing of Sarzin space covers, both metallic and others that he did as regular space issues. Another NY-area space cover dealer similar to Sarzin was John Zaso, another early pioneer-of-sorts in astrophilately, in my opinion.

posted 01-11-2021 11:16 PM               

Pictured (thanks to Antoni from SCOTW 457) are good and suspect covers for the launch of the Space Mice – Sally, Amy, and Moe.

The top cover with the rocket at the 10 pm position is the genuine cover while the lower cover with the rocket at the 2 pm position is suspect with the '0' of 1960 being applied over the top of the '1' of 1961. This cover cancel is actually very close to being over the '1' – on many of the covers the '1' is clearly seen.

There have also been some collectors who question the Port Canaveral cancels on Sarzin covers. Nice "clean" Port Canaveral cancels versus the known genuine Port Canaveral covers with heavier inking and some smearing (see genuine Space Mice cancels and Ham cover (top cover below) versus the "clean" Echo cover Port Canaveral cancel on the bottom cover - also note the odd placement of the '0' in 1960 only seen on Sarzin covers).

Very similar to Orbit's plugged 9 covers – why is the '9' only plugged on Orbit covers? - their question is why would Sarzin be the only servicer to receive covers with a clean Port Canaveral cancel.

Sarzin is also noted for the creation of many space covers having a Port Washington, New York cancel – while having the correct date for the space event there was no relationship of Port Washington to the space program … but it was the location of Sarzin's company. For almost all Port Washington covers created there are covers that have that same date from "space" locations ... Cape Canaveral. KSC, Houston, etc.

Sarzin also created some X-15 covers that confuse collectors as they describe X-15 flights but are not cancelled on actual flight dates.

posted 01-14-2021 11:33 AM               

Concerning John Zaso, an early cover collector, he was the first owner of the Colorano silk cachet cover firm in New Hyde Park, NY, with the first "silk" cachet productions for space cover collectors. I did process and service a lot of his early shuttle covers here at the Cape/KSC area until Jim Roselle (and later with Paul Schmid) took over the company. I've got his file folder here somewhere, probably buried in a file cabinet, that I'll need to check over for another report here.

About Tom's post, yes, I am aware of possible suspect covers that Sarzin may have been involved with. But throughout his long space cover career from the very start, in my opinion, he was a pioneer space cover dealer. Possibly without Sarzin's early space cover efforts, we may have never known of some space activities, or I mean to say, in commemoration of specific space event covers that he did. His overall photo-type cachet productions were informative and put-together well of the events they commemorated during the early days of our nation's missile, space, and satellite programs.

I do agree with Tom about Sarzin using Port Washington postal cancels on a lot of his space covers. I really don't know why Sarzin used the New York area location strikes on so many of his prime space events, when in fact, Sarzin did have the same-type event covers processed at the Cape and other "on-site" space postal locations. Perhaps when printing so many space covers, especially for each day of a manned spaceflight mission, it was just easier and cheaper in delivering them to a nearby post office in his home town. But why even choose Port Washington when the city had nothing to do with space events at all, is a bit confusing to me.

Concerning the two different types of older Port Canaveral (PC) hand cancel devices made reference to, Tom, I certainly do see the differences of the two cancel impressions and with the year-dater change on an earlier space mice launch coverage.

But I've always believed there had been at least two separate hand cancel devices in use at PC during those earlier years. The clearer device I have seen on other similar-era space cover issues, and for the same events, were not Sarzin made nor addressed to.

The "Plugged 9" topic is another that I may have a different take on than other space cover collectors. It has always been a strong opinion of mine that the noted "Plugged 9" dull gray-ink type impressions used on Orbit cachet covers from 1965-69 were not official USPS hand cancel applications at all, but rather fake hand stamp devices arranged by the cover producer's firm.

Perhaps a different hand stamp device had been pre-set with popular launch dates, but not changeable as official cancels are. In most all cases that I know of, I'm only aware of "Plugged 9" strikes of more popular and sellable Orbit Gemini and Apollo launch dated covers, such as Gemini 3, 4, Apollo 8, and 11. But of course, though, Orbit also did a full series of all Gemini and most Apollo flights with the same-type plugged variety that I do feel are fake and not authentic postal cancellations.

Unknown to most collectors was another "Plugged 9" variety also at Cape Canaveral during the mid-1970's. But this one known hand cancel device was a legitimate in-use hand stamp, but was later replaced with a better "unplugged" version, at my request.

Tom's observations about Sarzin's "no known flight event" of those two X-15 rocketplane flight dates from Edwards AFB is unusual, to say the least, but I just don't know the full story behind those cover events. As a cover servicer and producer myself, of course in later years though, there were situations that involved wrong dates appearing on cachet covers, but only in error.

With the recorded X-15 Sarzin cover on Sept. 20, 1963, as Tom points out, it does appear on the surface very odd since there were no X-15 flights at all in September of that year. Why such a difference, I just don't know, and if Sarzin knew such covers were in error, why were they not destroyed instead of publicly released, if that had been the case.

posted 01-15-2021 04:42 PM               

Other suspect cover dealers all produced significant number of "true" space covers along with their suspect ones.

Bill Ronson is known for a number of early space recovery ship covers that seems like no one else sent for or were able to obtain (e.g. Grissom secondary recovery ships) as well as Orbit Covers' great coverage of the manned and unmanned space program launches - as well as classic prime recovery ship covers with both Orbit and Navy RS cachets on them. With no internet sources, Ronson obviously tried ships he had some knowledge might participate in Grissom's recovery. There are known secondary ships like the USS Lowry (thanks to Ross Smith for the scan) and some for ships that did not participate - USS Strong and USS Waller.