Ted Gruber

Southwestern Washington, about 8:45pm Pacific time tonight.

There is no need to insult your mom's old suitcase.

Head south, current satellite map shows cloud cover clearing around Olympia. Nice clear skies here in Cowlitz County right now, hope we get a show tonight.

Black tail deer matter.

I'm proud to announce my book "Postal History of Cowlitz County, Washington" was awarded a gold medal in the philatelic literature exhibition held at the 2025 Great American Stamp Show (GASS) in Chicago from August 14-17. GASS is the premier annual national philatelic event in the US.
#GASS #Cowlitz

The Berti challenge was obviously made because there was no point in leaving the challenge on the table at the point of the game. But yes, I agree CC should have challenged the PCA call, especially given PCA felt he beat the tag.

So they scored 50 tonight?

There is really no need to insult pound cake.

Picture post card with a Pigeon Springs type B 4-bar postmark dated February 6, 1920. Franked with a one cent Washington stamp, the card is addressed to Portland, Oregon. Its message mentions good fishing.

The Pigeon Springs, WA post office operated from 1913 to 1924 at a rustic resort and hotel (really more of a lodge) about 17 miles up the Kalama River. Access from Kalama proved costly and difficult, contributing to the demise of the enterprise.

#cowlitz #postalhistory #kalama #pigeonsprings

Divided back post card franked with a one-cent stamp cancelled by an Elk Creek type B 4-bar postmark dated October 17, 1913. Sent to Oakville, Washington.

This post card bears the only known example of an Elk Creek, WA postmark. This remote post office operated 1912-1917 and its site is within the 1980 Mount St. Helens blast zone. The card was sent in 1913 by Pearl Gould, the first and only Elk Creek postmaster.
#cowlitz #postalhistory #mountsthelens

I will be participating in the Columbia River Author Festival at the Longview Library in Longview, WA on Saturday, May 17, 2025. Book signing from 10:00am to 4:00pm, short presentation on the history of the Longview post office at 12:30pm.

#cowlitz #postalhistory #washington #longview #pnw

I will be giving a presentation on Cowlitz County postal history at the annual meeting of the Pacific Northwest Postal History Society at 1:00pm on Saturday, May 3 at the PIPEX stamp show in Clackamas, OR. A book signing will follow. All are welcome to attend.

#cowlitz #postalhistory #pipex #pnwphs

Unaddressed envelope with a cachet at left showing a sketch by Charles Stevens of the 1853 Mount St. Helens eruption (from the Oregon Historical Society). The envelope has a Cougar type F/2a 4-bar postmark dated April 9, 1980 that ties a 15-cent definitive stamp.

This event cover commemorating the March 27 eruption was postmarked in Cougar on April 9, soon after the video in this post was made.

#cowlitz #postalhistory #cougar #mountsthelens #pnw

No doubt this will Make Antarctica Great Again.

I'll take "Things That Happened Today for $1,000" Alex (sorry, Ken).

Registered cover from Tucker, Washington franked with Scott #226 and two copies of Scott #220 on an uprated 2¢ postal stationery entire. A lightly struck Tucker postmark dated April 9, 1891 is at lower right. It was sent to Woodburn, Oregon by Captain C. N. Hogan, who had earlier purchased the land holdings of Tucker’s first postmaster, Noyes Smith. Hogan's wife Mary was postmaster when this cover was mailed.

This 1891 registered cover from Tucker, WA is franked with 16¢ postage paying the 10¢ registration fee plus the 6¢ first class rate for a letter weighing more than two ounces but not more than three ounces. Tucker post office operated from 1885 to 1906.

#cowlitz #postalhistory #washington #tucker

This is an insult to dirt. Dirt at least serves a useful purpose.

Birds eye view of Kalama, Washington showing houses, businesses, and churches.

Birds eye view of Kalama, Washington from about 1910.

#cowlitz #postalhistory #kalama #washington

The image shows a small wooden structure with a central door and two windows, one on each side of the door. The window to the right has a post office decal. There is a small sign between the door and the window to the right. The sign reads "US Post Office" on the top line and "Silver Lake" on the bottom line. The ZIP code 98645 is immediately below the sign and appears to have been added later. A small mailbox mounted on a post is just to the right of the door. A flagpole with a United States flag is immediately to the left of the building.

The Silver Lake, WA post office operated from 1875 to 1876, and again from 1885 to 1985. It moved into this building about 1964 and operated there until it was discontinued in 1985. A community mailbox now marks its site. Photo taken June 1972.

#cowlitz #postalhistory #postoffice #silverlake

Postal card (Scott #UX18) with a Saint Helen, Washington circular date stamp (CDS) and target killer. Postmarked January 10, 1903, it was sent to the Assistant Land Commissioner for the Northern Pacific Railroad in Tacoma.

The Saint Helen, WA post office operated from 1893 to 1936 in at least four locations in the North Fork of the Toutle River valley about 25 miles east of Castle Rock. This 1903 example shows the earlier of the two known Saint Helen postmark types.

#cowlitz #postalhistory #sainthelen #mountsthelens

How the heck could somebody NOT vote Ichiro into the HOF? That reporter should lose his HOF voting privilege.

Oh I agree, suspicions abound. I'm just saying simple math doesn't bear out the 158 billion to 1 number.

Dude. In a case like this, facts are more convincing than hyperbole.

How do figure that? Assuming he had a 50-50 chance of winning each of the 7 swing states (generally commensurate with final polling numbers), that's "only" 128 to 1. It's still a large number and points to something fishy.

Tuberville's phone number: "What the hell did I ever do to deserve this?"

The first mail across the bridge was the afternoon trip from Rainier to Longview, just two hours after the bridge opened. An elliptical marking struck in purple was applied to mail carried on the first trip. Note the sender’s “Please save” annotation.

Post card franked with a 1¢ stamp (Scott #632) and postmarked with a Rainier, Oregon machine cancel dated March 29, 1930. The card is addressed to Longview, Washington. The sender's message states this is the first mail across the bridge and asked the sender to "please save" the card. An elliptical marking struck in purple is at the bottom center and was applied to mail carried on the first trip.

The Columbia River Bridge (now Lewis & Clark Bridge) connecting Longview, WA with Rainier, OR opened at 2:00pm on March 29, 1930. Before the bridge opened, the mail route between Longview and Rainier used a ferry across the river.

#cowlitz #postalhistory #longview #columbiariver #bridge #rainier

The picture shows the dual Northern Pacific railroad tracks running through the small town of Olequa, Washington. A residence and a two-story building are on the left side of the tracks. A small covered platform on the right side of the tracks is the Olequa railroad station. Just to the right of that is a two-story building that housed the George Bertrand store.

This view of Olequa, Washington from about 1909 shows the Bertrand store, the two-story building on the right side of the Northern Pacific tracks. Olequa post office operated from 1875 to 1912, and at the time of this photo, was inside the Bertrand store.

#cowlitz #postalhistory #olequa #washington

What did the poor ice floe do to deserve this?