The American Philatelist May 2018

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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When Rotnem was a dealer in the Twin Cities back in the
1920s, he also held many stamp auctions. His catalogs are not
easy to find, and I was fortunate to obtain a few of his recently
from a dealer on eBay.
Correction
A production error caused the wrong image of a stamp to
appear on Page 353 of the April edition. The image used for
Charles Posner’s story on the Wheatland Home of James Buchanan
stamp was incorrect. Shown here is the correct stamp,
Scott 1081. The story appears as bonus content online.
Article on Alabama Cover Sparks New Search
The article “182 Years On, a Stampless Alabama Cover
Goes Home,” by John Young in the February edition sparked
my interest.
I am now looking for postal items from towns where my
ancestors lived. One such town is Basham’s Gap, Alabama
where my ancestor was postmaster. Basham’s Gap I think is
there and the postmaster was James H. Basham.
Does anyone have information about Basham’s Gap or
James H. Basham?
Eric Edgerton
Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina
Editor’s note: According to the Wikipedia entry, Basham’s
Gap is now called Basham, an unincorporated community
in western Morgan County, Alabama. The community
operated under the name “Basham’s Gap” from 1847 to 1895
and under the name “Basham” from 1895 to 1907.
More on Victor Rotnem and Twin Cities Dealers
I just read your most interesting article about Fidelity
Stamp Co., Inc. in the electronic March edition of The American
Philatelist and I’d like to share some additional information.
In the Figure 1 photo in your article from the 1929 edition
of The AP, Victor Rotnem is the gentleman on the left hand
side of H.S. Swenson, who is in the center of the photo. I’m
basing that observation on the attached scan below of a photo
of him from the Official Program and Catalog of the APS 44th
Annual Convention that was held in 1929 in the Twin Cities,
Minnesota. He is in the top row at the center of the picture.
Besides Rotnem, another prominent Twin Cities dealer
at that time was A.B. Cassell, who is also in the photo in the
middle row, just to the left of Rotnem. Cassell was in the
stamp business with Carl Becken, and their store was called
the Minneapolis Stamp Shoppe, according to their 1931-32
price list. Rotnem, Cassell and Becken predated famed dealer
Lester Brookman in the Twin Cities by just a few years.
Brookman came to Minneapolis in the early 1930s from
Iowa, and founded the Brookman Stamp Company in 1934.
His first retail price list was issued in 1936. Today, the Brookman
Price List is owned by Brookman/Barrett & Worthen
and published by Arlene Dunn in Bedford, New Hampshire.
Ray Getsug
St. Paul, Minnesota
Correction: Michigan Coastline
My copy of the March edition of The American Philatelist
arrived today. I always read my entire magazine. Often I read
its entirety twice. But I seldom read through it on the day that
it arrives, until today. I wish to call your attention to an error
on page 291 in the section on new U.S. stamps:
“... 35 miles of eastern Michigan coastline along Lake
Michigan.” Obviously, it is Michigan’s western coastline that
faces Lake Michigan.
James Blaine
Claymont, Delaware
418 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / MAY 2018