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How mother got her day Today, few of us realize that Mother's Day, as we know it, has been in existence for only 74 years. Carlton Cards recently delved into the hisory of this special day and uncovered some interesting facts: -a day for honoring mothers, known as 'Mothering Sunday' was observed in Victorian England. Falling in mid-Lent, this day was dedicated to wor- ship Mary, the mother of Christ. During this time, children work- ing as domestics were allowed to 4s Stamps "d4by Larry McInnis return to their families and visit their mother. -Julia Ward Howe made the first-known suggestion for a Mother's Day in the United States in 1872. She suggested that people observe a Mother's Day on June 2 as a day dedicated to peace. For several years, she held an annual Mother's Day meeting in Boston. -But it wasn't until 1907 that An- na Jarvis of West Virginia laun- ched a widespread compaign for Mother's Day that eventually achieved national recognition and support. -Before her death, Anna's own mother maintained that a day honoring mothers might help to bind a nation still bitterly divid- ed after the American Civil War. Anna took on this labour of love in her mother's memory. -Over the next few years, Anna would write thousands of letters to public officials eliciting sup- port. Within time, state after state joined the movement. Even the normally unsentimental Mark Twain wrote, "I do not know how many more anniver- saries of Mother's Day I will see, but on those that I have remain- In a previous column I told you about a U.S. error that was rendered virtually worthless when the postmaster general ordered a reprinting so everyone could have a copy. It was the 4-cent com- memorative (Scott 1203) issued Oct. 23, 1962, to honour Dag Hammarskjold. The stamp error 'vas an invert, of colour,:not of design. It was the first invert to be sold to the public since the May 1918 sale of a sheet of 24-cent airmails with the airplane upside down, now famous as the "Inverted Jenny."' Amazingly enough, in 1962 another error was made, but a move to make it common was frustrated by court action. It was not a U.S. stamp in the technical sense, but one for the Canal Zone, the U.S.-operated territory astride the Panama canal. On Oct. 12, 1962, the Canal Zone issued a 4-cent stamp (Scott 157) to mark the opening of the Thatcher Ferry Bridge that spanned the canal. It was printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in © Washington, D.C., the official government printer. The stamp shows a grey and black map of the Americas, spanned by the bridge, in silver. The stamps were printed in ~ sheets of 200, then cut into panes of 50. One sheet inexplicably did not receive the silver printing show- Shown above is Miss Bourgeois' Gr. 6 class from St. Martin School when they visited Moore's of Terrace Bay as part of their V.!.P. program. Also shown, Mike Moore, back left, and Constable Block Parent The annual meeting of the Terrace Bay Block Parents will take place Wednesday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the Curling Club lounge. At this meeting, the election of next year's executive and a review of our first year will take place. De pe a RS a Pe ee ee ee ing the bridge. Although it's known as the "bridge error" more technically it's the bridge/ess error. Postal officials of the Canal Zone caught the error, but a touch too late. Although they confiscated three of the panes, the fourth was already in the possession of Henry Ellis Harris of Boston, Massachusetts. Harris owned H.E. Harris & Co. Inc., at the time the world's largest stamp firm. He was not a newcomer to the philatelic business, having founded his firm in 1916. When the error was discovered, Canal Zone officials ordered 100,000 reprints of the error, to be sold to the public at its face value of four cents each. Harris went to court, getting an injunction . preventing the Canal Zone authorities from distributing the reprints. It took two years, but Harris was finally victorious, although the outcome was bizarre. John W. Douglas, assistant at- torney general for the civil divi- sion of the U.S. justice depart- ment, ruled that of the three con- fiscated panes of 50 containing the error, one pane would be destroyed, one would be laminated and donated to the- Smithsonian. Institute in Washington, D.C., and the other would be laminated and donated to the Canal Zone government.. The other was for Harris to sell, and sell it he did. Unlike poor Leonard Sher- man, who received nothing for his Hammarskjold color error, the Harris pane was brolken up and sold for big bucks. A perfect stamp today catalogues at only 35 cents in mint condition, but the error weighs in at $10,000. A single mint copy of the er- ror went for $13,500 at the April 24, 1982, Rarities of the World auction by Robert A. Siegel Auc- tion Galleries of New York, pro- bably the world's foremost auc- tioneer of really rare, expensive stamps. Almost exactly a year earlier, on April 29, 1981, he got $16,500 for a copy. This is a high price for a miss- ing color error, and it was possibly because of the publicity that surrounded Harris' court case. The Canadian Seaway invert error of 1959 (Scott 387a) is much more spectacular, with its upside-down centre, yet it fetches about the same as the Canal Zone missing bridge, which is a missing color. If there's a lesson in all this, it must be that if you find a major error, be careful how you handle a. Letters Letters are invited. Please send enquiries to the writer at P.O. Box 40, Beauharnois, Quebec, J6N 3Cl. Gary Callaghan, back middle, who is working with the kids in conjunction with St. Martin School. (Story next week). Major Appliance Repairs Servicing dona in your own home to ranges, washers, dryers, dishwashers, fridges, electric hot water tanks and electric heating units. Parts on hand for most makes and models. Bill Campbell Electric 824-2743 or 824-2574 Servicing Jackfish, Terrace Bay, Schreiber Rossport and Pavs Plat. Terrace Bay-Schreiber News, Wednesday, May 13, 1987, page 5 Do you know where Mother's Day found its origin? ing I will wear a white flower, the emblem of purity and my mother's love." -Anna's correspondence mounted. She took a leave of absence from her job and never returned. Memoralizing mother became her life and in December, 1912, she incorporated herself as the Mother's Day International Association. -Politicians were willing to take a firm position in favor of motherhood and on May 10, 1913, the House unanimously passed a resolution to make the observance of Mother's Day of- ficial. The president and all other officials of the Federal Govern- ment were required to wear a white carnation (Anna's mother's favorite flower) on the second Sunday in May in obser- vance of Mother's Day. And it wasn't long after that Canadians joined in the spirit of this special day. -Anna hoped this declaration would inspire gestures of love and affection: a card or letter to mother, a carnation in the lapel- mementos that enable 'rich and poor alike to keep the day dedicated to the being whose name is first lisped by a liitle child and the last whispered by the dying soldier, 'Mother'.' Around the world -In India, Mother's, Day was established as a memorial to the wife of the political and spiritual leader Mohandas K. Gandhi. Celebrations are held on Feb. 22. -Other countries that observe Mother's Day include Afghanistan, Costa Rica and Spain. 100 year old Railroad Inn 824-3213 ROSSPORT INN Est. 1884 '"Overlooking . Rossport Harbour"- Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner Licenced dining in the charming atmosphere of a Comfortable overnight accomodations Rossport, Ont. Granny's Foods Terrace Bay 825-3858 STORE HOURS THURSDAY - till 8:00 p.m. XK