I attended my first philatelic society meeting. I traveled up to Nashville with my husband to attend the Nashville Philatelic Society December meeting. He's a member, and I decided to join as well. I have to wait until my name is read out twice to be an official member. So, next month!
The club meets at a German beer hall restaurant at a local mall. I wish it were closer, but the location is decent with plenty of parking. The beer hall provides a nice private room with plenty of tables and space. We get our own server and many folks get food and drink. The location was a bonus in that the mall has a Nashville souvenir store and a Madame Tussaud's museum complete with a gift shop. I was able to purchase some postcards for sending out via Postcrossing or just randomly to friends and family.
It is nice to make personal connections and learn from folks. One of my takeaways was the existence of the American Philatelic Society's circuit books. I browsed through the ones available and ended up purchasing this lovely cinderella.
I guess this would fall within the "I collect things I fancy." But, it also has a nice city skyline - so architecture. But, what caught my eye was the artwork and the fact it was released as part of an Elks convention.
I did a quick Google to find out a bit more. This convention was
the Elk's 39th national convention, but the first national convention held in the State of Florida. The arrival of conventioneers made the front page of the Miami Daily News on July 5, 1928.
George Murray Hulbert was elected as the national leader. Hulbert served as a US Representative from New York as well as a US District Court judge. You can read the speech he gave at the convention in the
August 1928 Elks Magazine. The Elks website has a treasure trove of historical images and information on the order.
But, what I found most interesting was that the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was founded in 1868 as a private club to elude the New York City laws governing the opening hours for public taverns. I cannot wait to start to do some more research on that for the Walker Library's Distilling, Fermenting, and Brewing collection!
