NORDIA 2001 logo

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Welcome to NORDIA 2001

The Nordic Stamp Exhibition in the USA

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ARIPEX/NORDIA/APS Exhibition Slated for Tucson
The first World Series of Philately exhibition in the new millennium takes place January 19-21 at the Tucson Convention Center on Church Street in Tucson, Arizona. The annual ARIPEX exhibition is also the site for the NORDIA 2001 show and the American Philatelic Society's winter meeting. The combined show will feature outstanding entries not only from competitive exhibitors here and abroad but also extraordinary items, many never seen before, from postal museums and administrations of the United States and the Scandinavian area countries.

In addition to the materials on display, the noted stamp engraver Czeslaw Slania will be present all three days of the show to autograph souvenir items of his art for collectors. The show is preceded by tours to many of the important sightseeing attractions in the vicinity of Tucson as well as a two half-day postal history symposium featuring experts from the U.S. and Nordic countries.

See also:
Rarities on Skilling Square
Territorial Post Road
The United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Nordic Postal Museums and Administrations
Nordic Country Exhibitors
ARIPEX and APS
Pre Show Events for Collectors and their Families

Six collectors who have won high international honors have accepted NORDIA 2001's invitations to show five frames each of what are recognized as the Gems of Nordic Philately.

The Smithsonian Institution's National Postal Museum will display plate proofs of the 24-cent jenny air mail that illustrate how the famous inverted air mail occurred. Included in this exhibit is a block of four of the valuable invert on loan from a private collector. The Museum also will display the $1 U.S. lamp invert, better known as the CIA invert because of its being purchased by a CIA employee for the CIA. The American Philatelic Society (APS) will show the original Hammarskjöld stamp pane that was found inverted and that led to the U.S. Post Office Department purposely printing millions more of these inverted stamps to destroy the finder's value.

John Birkinbine of Arizona will exhibit frames of Arizona covers that explain the importance of the territory in linking the East to California during America's gold rush. George J. Kramer of New Hampshire will display his Pony Express covers that have won numerous philatelic awards.

All this will be in addition to a 500-frame competitive NORDIA 2001 exhibition, a 300-frame ARIPEX World Series of Philately national competition, a 100-frame single-frame APS exhibition, and a 50-frame youth competition showing that will include both youngsters from the U.S. and Nordic countries. Entries for the NORDIA 2001 competition are closed, but prospectuses are still available and applications are being accepted for the APS, ARIPEX and Youth competitions.

Eight Nordic postal administrations and the U.S. Postal Service will be on the floor with their own employees selling current stamps. The 75-dealer bourse with a good representation from Europe is all but sold out.

The special tour programs are filling up. They have been arranged so that collectors can take their spouse and enjoy a vacation in America's Southwest. Tours start on Tuesday before the exhibition opens and continue on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. On Wednesday and Thursday mornings a Postal History Symposium will be held at the headquarters hotel. Advance registrations are required for the tours and symposium. Registrants will be invited free to the Postal History Foundation's Mexican Fiesta on Thursday evening. It is not too early to download your Registration Form and return it so that you will not miss any of these events. This includes the dinner at Old Tucson on Friday and the Arizona Philatelic Ranger banquet-Nordia palmares on Saturday night as the number that can be accommodated is limited and many reservations already have been made. (You save money too by registering in advance.)

All the plans point toward a busy week. A large number of hotel reservations have been received from overseas as well as across the United States. The United States Stamp Society (formerly the Bureau Issues Association) and the Scandinavian Collectors Club are holding annual conventions. The APS is conducting its winter meeting at this event.

The headquarters hotel is the Presidio Plaza Hotel (formerly the Holiday Inn City Center) and expected to become a Radisson Hotel at the end of the year. Tel: 520-624-8711; Fax: 520-624-9963. Ask for the special NORDIA 2001 at ARIPEX stamp show rates which are $110 single and $117 double. The price includes a full breakfast.

Bulletin One
can be obtained from NORDIA 2001 commissioners. One of the highlights of this publication is an article on The Challenging Postmark by Don Halpern and Gordon Hughmark. This HB postmark is found on covers going to Denmark. The authors explain their research, list covers and provide conclusions about this early marking. It is a must for philatelic libraries of Nordic collectors.

If interested in attending, click on the commissioners' page and notify your commissioner you want Bulletin One and the Pre-Registration Form for the Show, Tours and Events.

Hopi Indian Pottery Selected as NORDIA 2001 Grand Prix Awards
We've chosen Hopi Indian pottery for the three top awards in this 550+ frame Nordic exhibition. You can view them on this web site: The Grand Prix Awards.

The five Nordic federations are cooperating in this exhibition which was proposed by officers of the Scandinavia Collectors Club in the United States as early as 1985. Active planning has been under way for more than a year. About 75 dealers will be on the bourse. Besides an outstanding showing of Nordic philatelic material, the exhibition will highlight Arizona postal history and let visitors actually see the stagecoach (not a replica) that carried mail from Tucson to Tombstone, Arizona, the town that was too tough to die. Any visitors who arrive early will have the opportunity to take NORDIA 2001-arranged tours to visit Tombstone, see the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and view the Kartchner Caverns which were a million years in the making.

This is one stamp exhibition that you won't want to miss.

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To All Stamp and Postal History Collectors:
A Symposium on Methods and Topics of Postal History has been added to the schedule of events to be held by NORDIA 2001 when it conducts its exhibition in cooperation with the Scandinavian Collectors Club (SCC) at ARIPEX, a national stamp exhibition being held at the same time in Tucson, Arizona, USA 19-21 January 2001.

The Symposium featuring presentations on various aspects of postal history will take place on Wednesday and Thursday mornings, 17-18 January 2001, just prior to the opening of the exhibition. Collectors interested in postal history will have the opportunity to learn from recognized experts not only about their findings but also how to do their own research. The program will go beyond providing just Nordic information so that collectors of other areas also will find information of interest at the symposium.

The American Philatelic Society has scheduled its winter meeting with NORDIA 2001 and ARIPEX.

The leading U.S. Philatelic Specialist Society
formerly the Bureau Issues Association, will hold its annual convention at ARIPEX January 19-21, 2001 in conjunction with the NORDIA 2001 exhibition. With the participation of the United States Stamp Society, the largest philatelic organization dedicated to the research and study of United States postage and revenue stamps, collectors attending this event are assured broad exposure to U.S. stamps as well as the best of Scandinavian philately.

With all this activity, this exhibition will truly be a Philatelic Stampede into the New Millennium.

We are inviting collectors from Nordic area countries and members of the Scandinavian Collectors Club (SCC) to show exhibits of their finest stamps and postal history. Three Grand Prix awards will be given - Grand Prix NORDIA, Grand Prix Nordique and Grand Prix International. The jury will judge the exhibits according to FIP standards, as is traditional for NORDIA shows in the Nordic countries.

Purpose of the Exhibition
We on the NORDIA 2001 Board of Directors have set the purpose of this event as the promotion of Scandinavian philately in the United States and the creation of international friendships with Nordic area collectors elsewhere.

Our goal is to make this more than an exhibition and traditional stamp show. We are in the process of planning tours and social events to produce a fun-filled international event for the entire family with time for meeting others, socializing and vacationing, as well as learning more about the Nordic area and about Scandinavian philately.

San Xavier Del Bac!
The Spanish mission San Xavier Del Bac 11 miles south of Tucson.
A day tour is scheduled to visit this mission. Photo: Don Halpern.

Come, join the fun in the sun in Tucson
Special tours are being planned to explore the desert and America's Southwest during the week just prior to the opening of the exhibition. A photo tour north out of Tucson will follow the event, giving families an opportunity to visit some of the better known sites in the area. It is not too early to set aside the vacation time and to plan to fly to Tucson during the weekend of January 13-14, 2001 (a week prior to the exhibition) so that you and your entire family can participate in a fun-filled one-week or two-week philatelic vacation program.

Arrangements
NORDIA 2001 is being arranged by NORDIA 2001, INC., an independent not-for-profit corporation established by the Scandinavian Collectors Club and organized under the laws of the State of New York. It is a 501(c)(3) corporation and contributions from US citizens are tax deductible to the full extent of the law. Those wishing to support this undertaking may join NORDIA 2001 by submitting the Member-Sponsor Application and Contributions Form.

NORDIA 2001 will stage about 550 frames, while ARIPEX plans an additional 250 in a national competition. The American Philatelic Society will hold its winter meeting in association with this event and will continue its annual one-frame exhibitions with at least 100 frames. All three competitions will be judged by separate juries for separate awards.

With both the Scandinavian Collectors Club and the American Philatelic Society holding conventions, a large attendance is forecast. The headquarters hotel is the Holiday Inn City Center, which is adjacent to the Convention Center. The hotel is now accepting reservations for special rates. Telephone: 520-624-8711 or Fax: 520-624-9963 and ask for the special rates for NORDIA 2001 at ARIPEX. Each day brings us closer to this extraordinary event. You want to make your hotel reservations and send in your show pre-registration form as soon as possible.

In the meantime, I will be pleased to respond to any questions about arrangements. You and your family will find NORDIA 2001 one of the best vacations you have had, mixed with just the right amount of philately-and Nordic area philately at that. Hope to see you there.

Gordon C. Morison
President, NORDIA 2001

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Origin of NORDIA 2001
In 2001 there would not normally be a NORDIA exhibition because of the International Stamp Exhibition HAFNIA 01 later in the year in Copenhagen, Denmark. However, the Scandinavian Collectors Club, based in the United States but with members all over the world, felt that a NORDIA show should nevertheless be held in 2001 and suggested a change in venue with the show taking place in the USA. The idea was greeted with interest and enthusiasm among leaders in Scandinavian philately on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Since 1995, plans have been under way to conduct such an exhibition in the early part of the year 2001. To carry out this objective, the Scandinavian Collectors Club established a not-for-profit corporation, NORDIA 2001, INC., drawing on the Scandinavian collecting community for its organization. A large exhibitions committee has been formed with some of the best known people in philately in the U.S. volunteering to serve. Two major Advisory Committees also were set up.

Show Site
After a review of several locations, Tucson, Arizona was selected as the site of the exhibition. A warm weather location was desired in contrast to the usual winter cold that is associated with this time of year. Tucson is the home of the national exhibition ARIPEX held each year by the Arizona Federation of Stamps Clubs. Since that show is held in January, it was appropriate to have both exhibitions take place at the same time in the same convention hall. The Scandinavian Collectors Club has selected this site for its annual convention. About 75 philatelic dealers and postal administrations will occupy the bourse. The United States Postal Service is planning an extensive computerized children's collecting area.

Postal History Foundation
Tucson is also home of the Postal History Foundation, a national organization with an excellent philatelic library. The Foundation has been recognized for its outstanding work with youth. A special reception will be held at the Foundation on Thursday evening prior to the official opening of the exhibition. Collectors from around the world will be able to see first hand the important reference holdings in the Foundation's collections. Those who pre-register for tours or events will receive a free invitation to attend this Mexican Fiesta at the Foundation. Click on the pre-registration form, download it and send it in to ensure your registration.

American Philatelic Society
The American Philatelic Society will conduct its winter meeting and one-frame exhibition at this event. That participation will attract a large number of collectors from throughout the United States to visit and to compete. The one-frame exhibits have been growing in popularity in the United States.

Scandinavian Collectors Club
The Scandinavian Collectors Club, which established NORDIA 2001, INC, to conduct this exhibition, will hold its annual convention in Tucson during the exhibition. The SCC, founded in 1935, is a specialty stamp society catering to collectors interested in the philately of the Nordic area. It publishes an award winning journal called the Posthorn, and has its own library of reference materials including books, pamphlets, slide shows and copies of exhibits, all available to members by mail.

Contact to NORDIA 2001
Exhibitors wishing to participate should contact the commissioner assigned by their federation or, in the United States, the commissioner assigned to the appropriate geographic area. Dealers or postal administration officials who wish to participate should contact:

Gordon C. Morison
President, NORDIA 2001, INC.
P.O. Box 59305
Potomac, MD 20859 USA

Tel: +1 301-299-7103
Fax: +1 301-299-0751
e-mail: morisong@worldnet.att.net

Arizona Stamp

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2000.12.25 - DuBois / Nørby