I was bitten by the stamp “bug” at an early age watching my father work on his U.S. stamp collection. After sufficient pestering, I was given a small starter album, a large packet of U.S. and foreign stamps, hinges and a tongs; I was promised more based on continued interest. I was about six years old and I was hooked! I wasn’t the normal stamp collector. In fact, I wasn’t the normal kid. Here’s why:
My parents owned a retail ready-to-wear store, with over twenty employees, in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. They were hard-working, loving, “old-school” parents. Each had grown-up during the great depression working in their different parents’ businesses; each had started working at the age of eight. My parents felt strongly I should have the childhood they never had, so I started working in the family business at the ripe-ole-age of 10! My parents weren’t believers in child labor, they believed that you weren’t handed anything in life. I was taught: the value of a dollar, how to save, and budget. I learned that if I wanted something you earned it–nothing in life was free.
Talking about Forrest Calkins: David Phillips sent me a scan of a card with a chop on it. That chop was made by Forrest Calkins himself. The chop is difficult to read, but it states his name in Hangul as either 골긴스 or (more likely) 콜긴스. I seem to remember Forrest Calkins was in Korea with the very first US troops in 1945, but I am not quite sure, perhaps someone knows if he ever wrote about this in KP?
Great article, thanks a lot!
kind regards
Florian