Fishing Flies Eynhallow, Scotland Canada Iceland United States, Michigan

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1 Fishing flies are the angler s deceptive tool that would not exist if it were not for the talented ability of flytiers. Tying artificial insects, first documented in 1486 by Dame Juliana Berners in England, has always been about imitating some form of fish prey. There are many fly-fishing patterns, registered and private, most imitate insects at different stages of their metamorphosis eggs, pupa, larvae or nymphs, duns, spinners and adults. Insect patterns native to territorial waters entice fresh and salt water fish to bite them. This exhibit is a comparison of two artistic disciplines focusing on the beauty of fly-fishing patterns stamps and fly tying. There are more than fifty stamps and registered fly-fishing patterns are identified, some with the same name, but with color and material variations. From an artist s brush stokes transferred to a printer s press, printed stamps take on the appearance of imitative insects. But, a flytier s skillful hand tediously attaching fur and feathered confections on tiny hooks produce an entirely different rendering, one that makes fish hungry. Fur and feathers from endangered animals were substituted with synthetic materials for the patterns in this exhibit. All fishing flies on these pages were professionally tied to match the patterns appearing on the stamps. Many stamps are associated with fly-fishing, but few are identified with registered patterns. Only stamps with recognizable identified fly patterns are included in this exhibit. Fly-fishing patterns are functional and artistically beautiful. Each of the patterns in this exhibit include a brief history, their creator, and the fish they attract. Few countries issued stamps showing named fly-fishing patterns. None have been found prior to The search continues to discover more, but for now, this exhibit displays the majority of those known to exist. Fishing Flies Eynhallow, Scotland Canada Iceland United States, Michigan New Zealand Ciskei, South Africa Transkei, South Africa United States, New Hampshire Fly Tying United States

2 Exhibit Synopsis Feathers & Fur on Stamps & Hooks For centuries, anglers have studied insects in an attempt to deceive fish. Creating artificial insects was initially documented in 1486 by Dame Juliana Berners in England. Since then, the artistic craft of fly tying has been about imitating some form of fish prey. Imitative insects are not limited to the arts; they more often include the sciences which study insect metamorphosis and the environment they share with fish. The purpose of this exhibit is to compare two artistic disciplines associated with the beauty of fly-fishing patterns the printer s press and the flytier s skillful hand. Stamps with fly-fishing patterns were not produced prior to 1960, but most of the fly patterns, especially the beautiful salmon flies were created during the height of Victorian exotica, two centuries ago. The flies in this exhibit were professionally tied by a local expert and his associate at Rainbow Fly Shop, Independence, Missouri. Their knowledge and experience produced fishing flies matching each of the patterns shown on the stamps in this exhibit. That is important because every registered fly pattern can have variations, like the very beautiful salmon fly, Jock Scott (refer to the patterns for United States, Canada, and the Republic of Transkei, South Africa). Fly-fishing patterns on stamps is not a dense subject, especially when the story for this exhibit is compressed to focus on named patterns, those stamps where the pattern is properly identified. Many stamps, postage and revenue, are associated with fly-fishing, but most show large fish with unidentified tiny flies too small to recognize. Stamps with named fly patterns are not plentiful, but in most cases easy to obtain. Since most of these stamps were produced since the 1980's, their value is less than the fishing-fly patterns accompanying them. It is important to mention that all attempts to obtain any of these stamps on cover to show postal usage beyond First Day Covers has failed. A dedicated search for any postal usage continues. August 3 6 Richmond, VA (matted in dark blue) First Day Cover signed by Barry Kent, designer and artist of the 1989 Ciskei fish hatchery sheet stamps. Signed personal communication from Barry Kent, as president of his South African company, High Flies (Pty) Ltd. This exhibit was arranged applying a format pleasing to the eye. Nearly all stamps known to have named fishing-fly patterns on them are present. There is too much material to squeeze into a single-frame exhibit, but not enough to expand into a two-frame exhibit. Some of the patterns represented by the former Republic of Transkei, South Africa were tied under special contract with the designer and artist, Barry Kent. Some of his original fly patterns, which bear his surname as part of the pattern s names (Kent s Lightning, Kent s Marbled Sedge, and Kent s Spectrum Mohawk) are impossible to locate or obtain. These patterns were recreated for this exhibit by Matt Sutton, owner of Rainbow Fly Shop. Eynhallow, Scotland Canada Iceland New Zealand Ciskei, South Africa Transkei, South Africa United States United States Feathers & Fur on Stamps & Hooks Brochure Missing from the Republic of Transkei, South Africa pages is a First Day Cover bearing the accidental issuing of the control strip set of five stamps which were used on ± 6% of the FDCs issued. It is referred to as The Wickham s Fancy Cover. My search continues to hook one. American Topical Association, Handbooks, Fish/Angling/Fisheries; Insects on Stamps, Vol. IV Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, Vol. 1-6 Scott Classic Specialized Catalog of Stamps & Covers Catalogue of British Local Stamps, edited by Gerald Rosen, London, British Local Stamps Catalogue Pub. Co. [1970] Phillips British Locals Philatelic Bureau, CD, Volume I, edited by Ralph Phillips, [2009] Research confirms there are no published philatelic articles on this subject. by Robert T. Burney For centuries, anglers have studied insects in an attempt to deceive fish, The artistic craft of fly tying has been about imitating some form of fish prey. Imitative insects are not limited to the arts; they more often include the sciences which study insect metamorphosis and the environment they share with fish. Take a copy home and continue the experience! Thursday, 3 August Sunday 6 August

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8 SYNOPSIS THE ATLANTIC PUFFIN (Fratercula arctica) ITS HABITAT AND HABITS (Revised 25 April 2017) APS Richmond August 2017 Purpose and Scope Revised This single-frame display exhibit for educating viewers about the Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica). All materials were produced in countries within the habitat range of the Atlantic puffin. This exhibit does not cover the other two Pacific species in the genus Fratercula, the tufted puffin (F. cirrhata) and the horned puffin (F. corniculata). Treatment/Importance This bird is a significant tourist attraction for Canada, Iceland, and the British Isles. Revised Research has uncovered only one Atlantic puffin exhibit (Roger van Laere, Belgium, Atlantic Puffin Clown of the Ocean ). It was shown once in the United States at New York 2016, and twice in Europe. I recently obtained his plan and he intends make his exhibit available on-line in the future. Our exhibits were developed independently so our exhibits have some items unique to each and significant differences in approach/organization despite the number of identical items and similar sub-topics. The 2017 Tufted Puffin postal exhibit (Jay Bigalke) in Reno, NV was about the U.S. stamp not the bird. Condition/Rarity All stamps are MNH except for the Great Britain s Britannia Rules the Waves which is unused hinged. All covers and postcards are either mint, philatelic usage, or CTO except as noted below. 1. Revised The strike post cover using a local Puffin stamp in lieu of any Royal Mail stamp is the only one known. It was sent on the first day of the strike. British local postage was authorized for legal use on Royal Mail during the strike. All other (12) known covers using this stamp are second day or later and have the local stamps back in the top left as France required subsequent covers to have proper French postage for mail delivery. 2. French and Norwegian maxi-cards are postally used. 3. Added Norwegian fisherman s retirement home seal with blue shift in printing. Title Page 1 p. 1. Taxonomy and etymology 1 p. 2. Description 1 p. 3. Habitat 6 p. 3.1 Western North Atlantic 3.2 Artic North Atlantic 3.3 Eastern North Atlantic (not Great Britain) 3.4 Great Britain and Isles 3.5 Predators Revised Exhibit Plan 4. Habits 4 p. 4.1 General 4.2 Breeding 4.3 Feeding 4.4 Flying 5. Relationship with Humans 2 p. 5.1 Arts, Tourism, and Money 5.2 Fisheries and Conservation 6. FAQs 1 p. Habitat is the largest portion of this exhibit, attributable to the puffin s geographic range covering the entire North Atlantic. This is typical of pelagics (seabirds). Presentation and Completeness Revised The exhibit is organized based on the Atlantic puffin s habitat and habits, depicting factors affecting the life of this species. It uses materials

9 created within the Atlantic puffin s. All but five of the 39 Atlantic Puffin stamps listed in the ATA checklist as of 1 August 2015 are used in the exhibit. Those five stamps either reflected no change in imagery from, or duplicated the visual information of, other stamps thus adding nothing to the exhibit s information. All are in my possession. Five Canadian philatelic items (not yet on the ATA list) are used in the exhibit. A new item issued by Iceland in January 2017 (also not yet on the ATA list and also in my possession) is also not included as it does not add new information. Highlights Indicated in the exhibit with a red box. Those items are a. Strike cover as discussed above. b. Added Norwegian maxi-card as discussed above. c. Added Norwegian fisherman s retirement home seal with blue shift in printing. d. Greenland 1 krone (overprinted 60 øre) 1956 Greenland s post only existed for a limited time. Polar bears do not prey on puffins. e. Great Britain Britannia Rules the Waves Research and challenges My interest in, and collecting materials about, puffins has been a 33- year journey. As a result of my research, three corrections were sent to ATA for their puffin checklist. Research included two major trips to remote Puffin sanctuaries to study the bird at close range. Personal research is presented in blue italicized type. The primary challenge was finding suitable materials for the correct puffin. The horned puffin is frequently confused with the Atlantic puffin, leading to numerous misidentifications in catalogs and checklists as well as by dealers. The FAQs in the exhibit were drawn from actual conversations with both dealers and collectors while assembling this exhibit. Revised A serious second challenge was the fact that no puffin stamps were created until 1973 thus limiting the amount of material with puffin imagery. It made finding suitable pre-modern stamps a challenge. Also, some locations (Spain, Greenland, and the U.S.) in the puffin s range have never issued an Atlantic puffin stamp. In support of ATA policy, although technically permitted, no bogus stamps (ones created solely for sale to collectors) were even considered. The Lundy stamps used are the UK locals and not the extremely common collectible errors. One last note. Puffins are considered a protected species in the U.S. under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 so no feathers or egg shells can be legally possessed or used in an exhibit. References ATA Checklist 582 Puffins (as of August 2015) Atlantic puffin. (2017, January 11). Wikipedia. https//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/atlantic_puffin Gudger, R. (2010). 40th anniversary of the 1971 postal strike. (2016, September 14) http// elic.co.uk%2findex_files%2f1971postalstrike.htm 1971 United Kingdom postal workers strike. (2016, September 14). Wikipedia. https//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_united_kingdom_postal_workers_strike Added Robson, L. (2016, January). The Atlantic puffin. The Canadian Philatelist,

10 THE ATLANTIC PUFFIN ITS HABITS AND HABITAT APS Richmond 2017 August 2017 Purpose and Scope This single-frame exhibit consists of philatelic and nonphilatelic materials to inform the viewer about the Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica). It uses only philatelic and nonphilatelic materials created by UPU members within the habitat range of the Atlantic puffin. This exhibit does not cover the other two species in the genus Fratercula, the tufted puffin (F. cirrhata) and the horned puffin (F. corniculata); nor does it use puffin-related materials created by countries outside the natural range of the Atlantic puffin. Plan of the Exhibit Title Page 1 page Behavior 3 pages Taxonomy and etymology 1 page Breeding Description 1 page Feeding Distribution 5 pages Flying Western North Atlantic Predators 1 page Artic North Atlantic Relationship with Humans 2 pages Eastern North Atlantic (not Great Britain) Arts, Tourism, and Money Great Britain Fisheries Habitat 1 page FAQs 1 page Items of special interest are in a red box. Philatelic notes about special material are in [brackets]. Research notes are in italicized blue type. Puffins have had a role in human lives since both groups first encountered each other. Puffins provided eggs, meat, and down to the earliest Vikings settling the Faroe islands. Thus the birds earned their place, in the lower right corner of this souvenir sheet, as integral to the early settlers.