House of Farnam

Set of 5 unaddressed #6-3/4 (6-9/16" x 3-11/16") envelopes, each with “First Day of Issue” cancellations and postmarks. The envelope with the block of 4 additionally has Factoryville, PA and Laceyville, PA cancellations, both dated Aug 14 1987.

The set of 5 fdcs on the top of this page is a House of Farnam issue. HF was founded by Dusty and Vera Farnam in Cleveland, Ohio on May 9, 1936. It was sold to John Halliday of Whittier CA in the late 1970’s, and Artmaster took over Farnam First Day Covers in 1988. The cachet is executed in red, blue and bluegreen, deeply embossed. Farnam covers are known for their very high quality. The name Kribbs’ Kover, Jekyll Island, Georgia is stamped on the back of the 4 stamp block envelope. Kribbs’ Kovers issued hand drawn and colored cachets for virtually all USPS stamps and envelopes from 1978-1999. I am not sure of the connection between Kribbs and HF. The cover was probably commissioned from Ken Kribbs for Farnam.

The set at the end of the page has exactly the same cachet, with and 'HF' signature, but is labeled as "Brookman Limited Edition". The Brookman Cover Company is also owned by Artmaster. Although the cachet is the same, the envelope paper seems to be of a higher quality. Information as to how Artmaster and Brookman are related is a bit sketchy, I'll update this page with I figure it out.

first posted 1/10/2009