Spring River Local Post is so named because of the wonderful memories of days I spent on Spring River in Southwest Missouri, as a child, fishing, swimming and all the usual childhood activities. The name is a tribute to Spring River, known as one of the six “boils”, or springs-- that were in the Southwest Missouri area. For an explanation of the origin of the "Six boils" go to: http://www2.drury.edu/sterry/localhistory.htm
The first official SRLP issue was on August 17, 1983, with the stamp being produced as a “provisional”, with labels from mail-order giant Walter Drake, and consisted of a plain black and white address label; pressed into service as the first local post issue. The Missouri Counties in which Spring River Local Post has subsequently operated were Jasper, Greene, Newton, McDonald, Barton and Phelps. New SRLP issues for 2008-9 are planned to be issued from two Missouri mining cities, Webb City and Oronogo; and one mining town in Kansas; Galena; along with concurrent first day of use of Mailer’s Postmark Permits for those cities.
The next major issue was from Lamar, Missouri, for the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of President Harry Truman. Lamar was Truman’s birthplace, (Barton County) and the event also marked the first day of use of Mailer’s Postmark Permit #1 for Lamar, 64759. There were two major varieties of locals for that event, both being tied to cover by a Missouri-shaped cancel. I had ordered the label from Walter Drake to be printed with the wording “Harry S Truman” NOTE: The “S” did not stand for anything, so Missourians say it should be simply the capital letter S, not S. Fearing an error, Drake filled the order with “S.” and to their amazement, I requested a replacement. Covers exist with both dotted and dotless versions of this local, all postmarked on May 8, 1984. There were 250 of each, and about 50-60 total remained of both, combined. A large number were done for a pictorial cancel dealership out of Virginia, who sells special cancellations to collectors, and a mailing also went to members of the Mailer’s Postmark Permit Club. Something not known to me at the time was that the adhesive on the self-sticking labels would eventually deteriorate and all of the stamps have now fallen off the backing, with full gum remaining.
Unfortunately, all records of SRLP issues from 1983 to 2005 have been lost, due
to those records having been sold by my ex-wife, along with all the covers,
specimens and proofs. I do know that there were several issues during that time
period, all imperforate, on several colors of papers. An example which appears
on the internet is found at
http://www.personal.psu.edu/crr2/turtstmp/current/image_pages/springriver.html
On another occasion, there was a trip I made from Springfield, Missouri, to
Cheyenne,
Wyoming, and I made a special stamp for the
trip. No more than ten covers were produced. In practically every instance, the
small SRLP round cancel tied the stamps to cover, and the “courier” rubber stamp
which cites 18 U.S.C. § 1696 (the section of law that allows operation of local
posts) and which was inspired by the rubberstamped marking which Dr. Gale
Raymond used on his North Pole covers in 1979 during the
Wheeler Expedition;
being kind of a “safehand” courier marking, also used for forwarding of
international mail. Raymond described himself as a "lamplighter", a
term which is apparently used for international couriers, possibly those who
carry diplomatic pouches. See ASPP back issues for examples of
the Raymond marking…
Those series of stamps usually had the wording “W.G. Thorn and Sons, Couriers” in addition to the wording “Spring River Local Post”. Some of the issues were humorous, such as the Turtle issue, which was meant to poke fun at how fast SRLP delivered, compared to the USPS, which often runs at breakneck “turtle” speed.
On July 1, 2007, about eight separate issues were put into use for the mailing of the Mailer’s Postmark Permit Club's organ Permit Patter, all being “First Day of Use” #10 envelopes.
I would estimate over the years that there have been 25-30 separate issues, and other collectors may have purchased MPP or LP covers within the last few years at online auctions that may have came from my collection; and I would be most interested in renewing my collection by repurchasing any duplicates. Some SRLP items have appeared on eBay, and I suspect they were part of the parting-out of my collection.
My first space-related issue was in late 2007, with a special local post issue
marking the City of Joplin’s connection with the STS program. Two local
manufacturers provide support for the shuttle program, Eagle-Picher and LaBarge.
The stamp featured the shuttle and wording relating to the two industries in
Joplin which produce components. A single-line marking was also used, stating
space shuttle launch. I continue to service space covers from this
off-the-beaten-path space event city, and will do so, up to 5 per event; Joplin
MPP will be used.
In 2009, SRLP celebrated the 125th anniversary of the birth of native son, Harry
S Truman, and issued some special combo covers, postmarked in both Independence,
Missouri, as well as Lamar, Missouri, birthplace of Harry S Truman, 34th
President of the United States. There are still five (5) covers left. If
you are interested, contact me.
An address
for sending covers to receive the current SRLP treatment is on the Polar
Bear Local Post page.
Back to Polar Philately Page
QSL.net/KG0YH page last updated 05 August 2009, 1708Z