It is confirmed, Dave Bennett confirmed he made the anniversary postmark. Hi Dave ———— Charlie is correct — yes, I designed that pictorial cancel! All the best ———  Dave I will make a note for the 3rd edition of John Wells' book. Dave Gill RILP - PMG

I received a reply from Charlie Delgado, and he says the postmark was done by Dave Bennett. Dave did a cover for me, so when I get a chance I will look up his design and try to confirm it. Dave Gill RILP-PMG

In the 60's & 70's should be over a 1,000 envelopes a year from several sources. There would be outgoing from the year-round care takers, the Rattlesnake Island Club (RIC) would have a fair amount of out going mail to members and paying expenses, and staff, members, and visitors sending postcards. When Luscious McKelvey bought the island in 1989 and shut down the RILP, the amount of mail never recovered even though Dr. Frackelton restarted the RILP in 2005. Between email, the RIC book-keeper living on the mainland, and learning to do without mail for 16 years, it was never the same. I have been been steadily encouraging the staff and members to use the service. One interesting postcard that was sent by a restaurant employee was to her family in China. Dave Gill RILP-PMG

Grrrr. I wrote a lengthy response and lost it when trying to log in to post it. I will re-write it later today. Working on listing more interesting covers on eBay. Dave Gill RILP-PMG

Steve, based on the art style, my guess is Charlie Delgado may know as he did many cachets in 2005 & 2006 and is a member of ACE along with Bob Fritz. I first thought he may have drawn it but his snake heads look different. I will ask Charlie this month as we are both members of the Black River Stamp club in Elyria, Ohio. Dave Gill RILP-PMG

Thank you very much. Our artist, Beth Lynne Gregerson makes small pieces of artwork that are quite affordable to collectors.

According to Bill Schultz RILP Catalog, the medium colored rectangle stamps are from a 2nd printing. See attached page 3 & 4 of his 4th printing of the RILP catalog. Dave Gill

Another thought about the paper and printing ink is that there was paper left over from the first printing. When they started the 2nd printing, they used the left over paper first and started printing the darker stamps. As they were printing, the ink level was increased to make the stamps even darker. So, the medium dark blue could be from either printing. I would suggest that the duller paper was only on the second printing. (at least that is what I have found so far) Dave Gill

Thank you for your post and I apologize for not responding earlier. Rattlesnake Island as a whole does not have a flag I'm aware of. However, the Rattlesnake Island Club may have a burgee as seen painted on the stern of the RIC boat. .

Thanks for posting Steve. You may have a heavier inked 1st printing. I have been working on a way to identify 1st or 2nd printings of the 5 cent stamps and discovered under long wave UV light, most of the first printings used bright paper and the 2nd used dull or non-bright paper. The medium dark stamps I have are on bright paper. Dave Gill

Hello again Steve. This month I have learned much more about perforation errors. Looking through some old Rattlesnake Island Local Post Inc inventory I discovered several perf errors from 1967-1973. Also, in talking with Portland Stamp Company I have come to the conclusion the stamps from 67-73 were not perforated with a die but used the same kind of 80-100 year old machine Portland Stamp Company uses to apply in-line perf 12's. Roughly 3-5 sheets would be laid in the machine which would apply 1 row of perfs each time and then moved for the next row. This would take 15 motions as there are 5 horizontal, 5 diagonal left, & 5 diagonal right rows. Of course forgeries may exists, however I believe there are many perf errors from 1967-73 that exist. Also, I came across 3 error lists for sale from the 1979 & the 80's from Jacob Kisner New York, NY. His mailing included how they bought a large inventory of sheets from the RILP, Inc. and found the errors throughout the stock. I started an ERRORS tab and posted the ones I personally found in the RILP, Inc. Inventory I purchased with the company rights. Dave Gill

Perforation Error Key I would like to submit this "Key" for describing perforation errors. A few of examples might be; Missing D3 perf. = The center horizontal perforation is missing Double Line DR3 perf. = The diagonal right perforation is doubled Extra line between H4/H5 = An extra stray line of perforations towards bottom of sheet Extra line of perfs at H0 = An extra horizontal row of perforations at top of sheet. As I'm looking at the sheet drawing, I see 5 possible complete octagons and several partials. Color Errors I'm still developing a color error list key. Here are some I've encountered recently 1. A missing color - such as black 2. A different blend or shade of color - A greenish overall tint 3. Miss-registered printing plates leading to shadows and/or blurry image Misc. Errors I also have encountered a printed date error - on 25c - 2008 sheet - one date is 2007 & 1 is 20087. Please submit any thoughts on description "Error key" ideas. Dave Gill

Thank you for posting Steve. I have an interview on tape with Dr. Frackelton on Oct. 17th, 2007 in which he states all the triangle stamps were perforated with a die and believes all stray and angled perf errors were done on imperf sheets. In my search for perforating services I have found a couple that can do "straight line" perforating one row at a time. So I could see how easy it would be to take an imperf sheet and run normal and stray lines of perforating. I microscopic examination of regular sheets and error sheet perfs may put the question to bed. Comparing the hole shape, diameter, and if there is any direction to the perf hole may shed some light on this long standing from Dr. Frackelton that perf errors can't be made from a die. Dave Gill