David M. Frye collects and studies postal items that inspire him to research and write stories about mail services and the people who send, handle, and receive letters and parcels. A past member of the Board of Directors of the Postal History Society, he lives in Franklin, Massachusetts, and works in nearby Framingham as a lead clerk for the U.S. Postal Service.
Published Articles
Note: These articles have appeared in various philatelic and postal history publications. A number of the bodies that produce these journals make back issues available to the public online. Visit the respective Web sites to discover more about these organizations and their foci of research.
The Airpost Journal
“Air-Mail Auxiliary Markings on Letters from Post-Colonial Tanzania,” The Airpost Journal, Vol. 91, No. 3, Whole No. 1077, pp. 100–104, March 2020.
“Air-Mail Auxiliary Markings on Letters from Post-Colonial Tanzania,” The Airpost Journal, Vol. 91, No. 3, Whole No. 1077, pp. 100–104, March 2020.
“Air-Mail Auxiliary Markings on Letters from Post-Colonial Tanzania,” The Airpost Journal, Vol. 91, No. 3, Whole No. 1077, pp. 100–104, March 2020.
“AIRMAILGRAM: A 1940s Navy Department Dispatch Mail Marking,” Part I, The Airpost Journal, Vol. 91, No. 10, Whole No. 1084, pp. 408–413, October 2020.
“AIRMAILGRAM: A 1940s Navy Department Dispatch Mail Marking,” Part II, The Airpost Journal, Vol. 91, No. 11, Whole No. 1085, pp. 450–457, November 2020.
“‘Air-Mail Saves Time’ … When You Use It,” The Airpost Journal, Vol. 93, No. 4, Whole No. 1102, pp. 167–170, April 2022.
“‘By Balloon Over Africa’ with Jan Boesman, Aeronaut and Aerophilatelist,” The Airpost Journal, Vol. 91, No. 1, Whole No. 1075, pp. 13–18, January 2020.
“Post-Colonial Air-Mail Etiquettes on Mail from Tanzania, Part I,” The Airpost Journal, Vol. 91, No. 1, Whole No. 1075, pp. 13–18, January 2020.
“Post-Colonial Air-Mail Etiquettes on Mail from Tanzania, Part II,” The Airpost Journal, Vol. 91 No. 2, Whole No. 1076, pp. 60–63, February 2020.
Auxiliary Markings
“Auxiliary Markings on Three Registered-Mail Letters from Tanzania,” Auxiliary Markings, Vol. XVII, No. 3, Issue No. 67, July 2020, pp. 6–7.
“Bilingual Postage-Paid Marking—Taxe Perçue—on a Postcard from Lithuania,” Auxiliary Markings, Vol. XVIII, No. 2, Issue No. 70, April 2021, pp. 2–3.
“A Brooklyn Delivery Instruction: ‘Ring Bell / Put Deep in / Mail Box,’” Auxiliary Markings, Vol. XIX, No. 2, Issue No. 74, April 2022, p. 12.
“‘SEA MAIL’ Auxiliary Marking on a Letter from Kobe, Japan, to Franklin, Massachusetts,” Auxiliary Markings, Vol. XVII, No. 2, Issue 66, April 2020, pp. 8–9.
“‘SERVICE TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED’ to the Netherlands,” Auxiliary Markings, Vol. XIX, No. 3, Issue No. 75, July 2022, pp. 8–9.
“‘MISSENT TO BERMUDA on the Way to Germany,” Auxiliary Markings, Vol. XX, No. 2, Issue 78, April 2023, p. 10.
“Notations of Damage and Repair in Savannah, Georgia,” Auxiliary Markings, Vol. XX, No. 2, Issue 78, April 2023, p. 11.
“Registration Labels of Post-Colonial Tanganyika and Tanzania,” Auxiliary Markings, Vol. XVI, No. 1, Issue No. 61, January 2019, pp. 8–14.
“Tanzanian Auxiliary Marking: ‘Under Certificate of Postage,’” Auxiliary Markings, Vol. XVII, No. 1, Issue 65, pp. 10–11.
“U.S. Mail Traveling by Diplomatic Pouch Bears Thai Stamp,” Auxiliary Markings, Vol. XV, No. 4, Issue No. 60, October 2018, p. 12.
B.E.A.—The Bulletin
of the East Africa Study Circle
“‘Aboard the Warwick Castle’—Postcard News from Zanzibar,” B.E.A.—The Bulletin of the East Africa Study Circle, Vol. 26, No. 132, Autumn 2022, pp. 69–72.
“Dumisheni mila zeta jadi, na utamaduni: Original Cover Artwork by Mwariko A. Omari,” B.E.A.—The Bulletin of the East Africa Study Circle, Vol. 24, No. 126, September 2020, pp. 63–68.
“Express-Mail Labels on Letters from Post-Colonial Tanzania,” B.E.A.—The Bulletin of the East Africa Study Circle, Vol. 26, No. 130, Spring 2022, pp. 63–68.
“Kampala Slogan Cancel Marks ‘Makerere Golden Jubilee 1922–1972,’” B.E.A.—The Bulletin of the East Africa Study Circle, Vol. 27, No. 133, pp. 13–16, Summer 2023.
“A Mid-2000s Tanzania Priority Mail Label,” B.E.A.—The Bulletin of the East Africa Study Circle, No. 124, pp. 21–23, January 2020.
“Pitney Bowes Meter Stamp Notes Payment of Postage Due for a 1970 Ugandan Air-Mail Letter,” B.E.A.—The Bulletin of the East Africa Study Circle, Vol. 26, No. 131, Summer 2022, pp. 37–40.
“Posted Out of Course and Postage Due: Treatment of an Albany–Dodoma Air-Mail Letter,” B.E.A.—The Bulletin of the East Africa Study Circle, No. 127, pp. 18–20, January 2021.
“A Red-Inked 1980s Nairobi Machine Cancel: Query 20/8,” B.E.A.—The Bulletin of the East Africa Study Circle, Vol. 24, No. 125, May 2020, pp. 50–51.
“Registration Labels of Post-Colonial Tanganyika and Tanzania—Part I,” B.E.A.—The Bulletin of the East Africa Study Circle, Vol. 23, No. 121, January 2019, pp. 18–22.
“Registration Labels of Post-Colonial Tanganyika and Tanzania—Part II,” B.E.A.—The Bulletin of the East Africa Study Circle, Vol. 23, No. 122, May 2019, pp. 41–47.
“A Small Air Mail Painting: Query 21/2,” B.E.A.—The Bulletin of the East Africa Study Circle, Vol. 26, No. 130, Spring 2022, p. 25.
“A Trio of Late 1983 Short-Paid Air-Mail Letters from Kenya to Crowborough, England,” B.E.A.—The Bulletin of the East Africa Study Circle, Vol. 26, No. 132, Autumn 2022, pp. 64–66.
Forerunners
The Philatelic Society for Greater Southern Africa
“‘World United Against Malaria’ Slogan Cancel Appears on 1970 Swaziland Letter,” Forerunners, Vol. XXXIII, No. 4, Whole No. 98, Nov.–Dec. 2020, pp. 77–78.
The Journal
of the Rhodesian Study Circle
“‘100 Years Surveying and Mapping’—Centenary Noted on Bulawayo Slogan Cancel,” The Journal of the Rhodesian Study Circle, No. 284, Vol. 71, No. 1, March 2021, pp. 67–69.
“‘Airmail Second Class / PRINTED / MATTER’ Marking on Letter Mailed from Lusaka, Zambia, to Aachen, West Germany,” 2021; The Journal of the Rhodesian Study Circle, No. 287, Vol. 71, No. 4, September 2021, pp. 249–250.
“‘INSPECTED’ Auxiliary Marking on Mid-1990s Intra-Lusaka Letter,” The Journal of the Rhodesian Study Circle, No. 283, Vol. 70, No. 7, December 2020, pp. 490–491.
“Postage-Due Labels Pay for Delivery in Harare,” The Journal of the Rhodesian Study Circle, No. 289, Vol. 72, No. 1, January 2022, pp. 27–29.
“Request for Booklets, Stickers, and Calendar Leaves Mala?i by Surface Mail,” The Journal of the Rhodesian Study Circle, No. 284, Vol. 71, No. 1, March 2021, pp. 72–74.
“Sealed for Final Delivery: Zimbabwe Customs Tape on a Registered Letter Destined for Harare,” The Journal of the Rhodesian Study Circle, No. 288, Vol. 71, No. 5, December 2021, pp. 378–379.
LPS Journal
“Lutheran Missionary in Liberia Sends Mail to Relative in Lebanon, Pennsylvania,” LPS Journal, Vol. 5, No. 3, Jul.–Sept. 2022, pp. 10–18.
“Missionary to Liberia Writes Home to Iowa,” LPS Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1, Jan.–Mar. 2023, pp. 12–19.
“Monrovia Slogan Cancel: ‘CLEAR ADDRESSING / SPEEDS YOUR MAIL,’” LPS Journal, Vol. 5, No. 4, Oct.–Dec. 2022, pp. 4–6.
The Meter Stamp Society
Quarterly Bulletin
“High-Value Neopost Meter Stamp Pays for Registered Air-Mail Service from Mombasa, Kenya, to Kent, England,” [forthcoming, MSSQB, 12/22].
“Update on ‘Overpaid Cover from the Government,” Meter Stamp Society Quarterly Bulletin, Vol. 75, No. 341, Autumn 2023, p. 18 [coauthored with Douglas B. Quine, Ph.D.].
The Miasma Philatelist
Malaria Philatelists International
“Amended ‘Senior Malaria Inspector’ Marking on a Letter to Bhutan’s Malaria Eradication Programme,” The Miasma Philatelist, Vol. 20, No. 2, Issue 51, June 2020.
“Ghana Malaria Stamp Underpays Postcard Rate to Denmark,” The Miasma Philatelist, Vol. 22, No. 1, Issue 53, January 2022.
“Helping Out with Some Malaria Research”—A Postcard from Uganda,” 2020, The Miasma Philatelist, Vol. 22, No. 1, Issue 53, January 2022.
“O.H.M.S. Envelope Postmarked with Anti-Malaria Slogan Cancel,” The Miasma Philatelist, Vol. 22, No. 1, Issue 53, January 2022.
“‘World United Against Malaria’ Slogan Cancel Appears on 1970 Swaziland Letter,” The Miasma Philatelist, Vol. 21, No. 1, Issue 52, February 2021.
Military Postal History Society Bulletin
The Military Postal History Society
“After the Civil War: Unknown Correspondence Between Two Massachusetts Veterans,” Military Postal History Society Bulletin, forthcoming 2023.
“AIRMAILGRAM: A 1940s Navy Department Dispatch Mail Marking,” The Military Postal History Society Bulletin, Vol. 61, No. 1, pp. 10–18, January 2023.
“[Portrait of a Recipient of an Air Mail Special Delivery Letter:] ‘Commander Spike Webb,’ Navy Boxing Coach,” Military Postal History Society Bulletin, Vol. 61, No. 2, April 2023, pp. 35–39.
Postal History Journal
American Philatelic and Postal History Congress
“1961–1973 Air Mail from Tanganyika and Tanzania to Europe: Inferring Rates from a Census of Postal Covers,” Postal History Journal, No. 165, October 2016.
“Abiding by the Neutrality Act of 1939: ‘AFFIDAVIT FILED’ Auxiliary Marking and a Story of Emigration, Postal History Journal, No. 176, pp. 7–19, June 2020.
“Review: African Americans and the USPS,” Postal History Journal, No. 163, pp. 22–23, February 2016.
“A Commemorative in Conflict: The Fort Sumter Issue of 1961,” Postal History Journal, No. 155, June 2013, pp. 2–18.
“‘Each Passing Tread Was a Reverberation’—A Collector’s Quest,” Postal History Journal, No. 167, June 2017, pp. 38–45.
“Echoes and Reflections: Finding Traces of the U.S. Post Office Department in Today’s Postal Service,” Postal History Journal, No. 179, Winter 2022, pp. 4–8.
“Forms and Faces: Stories about Alternative Post Office Services,” Postal History Journal, No. 177, October 2020, pp. 48–58.
“The Pen-Cancel Debate: Marker Monkeys or Careful Clerks?” Postal History Journal, No. 175, pp. 47–49, February 2020.
“Tanzanian Slogan Cancels, Part I: Promoters of Postal Services,” Postal History Journal, No. 173, June 2019.
“Tanzanian Slogan Cancels, Part II: Promoters of Actions and Events,” Postal History Journal, No. 174, October 2019.
“Third-Class, Three Cents, and Three Cities: Using Auxiliary Markings to Manage a Forwarded Letter in 1937,” Postal History Journal, No. 175, February 2020, pp. 27–31.
“Traces of Transitions: 1961 Postage Stamps,” Postal History Journal, No. 150, October 2011, pp. 25–36.
Postage Due Mail
Study Group Journal
“Postage Due on Zimbabwean International Letters of the 1980s and 1990s,” Postage Due Mail Study Group Journal, No. 101, pp. 39–43, March 2022.
“Posted Out of Course and Postage Due: Treatment of an Albany–Dodoma Air-Mail Letter,” Postage Due Mail Study Group Journal, No. 97, pp. 37–41, March 2021.
Postal Label Bulletin
“Express-Mail Labels on Letters from Post-Colonial Tanzania,” The Postal Label Bulletin, Summer 2020, No. 138, pp. 10–12.
“A Mid-2000s Tanzania Priority Mail Label,” The Postal Label Bulletin, Summer 2019, No. 134, pp. 1–2, 4.
“Registration Labels of Post-Colonial Tanganyika and Tanzania,” The Postal Label Bulletin, #132, Winter 2019, pp. 1–2, 8–13.
Scribblings
Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library
“Postal History Society Explores Mail’s Cultural and Philatelic Stories,” Scribblings, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 1–2, May–June 2014.
Stamp Forum Newsletter
“‘Aboard the Warwick Castle’—Postcard News from Zanzibar,” The Stamp Forum Newsletter, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 8–12, October–December 2021.
“One Envelope from ‘A Steady Stream of Letters’,” The Stamp Forum Newsletter, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 8–13, October–December 2022.
“‘per SS Tarquah’” from Seccondee to St. Pancras Station,” The Stamp Forum Newsletter, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 4–10, January–March 2022.
“Philatelic Fade-Out: 1955 Postal Card’s ‘Silenced’ Connections,” The Stamp Forum Newsletter, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 7–12, January–March 2021.
“Philatelic Scofflaw Evades Collection Letter Forwarded to General Delivery in Chicago,” The Stamp Forum Newsletter, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 7–12, January–March 2021.
“A Registered Letter’s Journey: Three Countries in Twelve Days,” The Stamp Forum Newsletter, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 12–14, January–March 2023.
“Taxe Markings on Modern Postcards with Invalid Stamps,” The Stamp Forum Newsletter, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 5–8, April–June 2023.
“Two Types of Paper Used in U.S. 2020 Flag Stamped Envelopes,” The Stamp Forum Newsletter, Vol. 6, Issue 3, April–June 2022, pp. 3–6.
“‘You Only Know the Letter Writing Me’—Two Pen-Pal Letters from the 1920s,” The Stamp Forum Newsletter, Vol. 4, Issue 3, April–June 2020, pp. 19–24, and July–September 2020, Vol. 4, Issue 4.
The United States Specialist
“Author’s Response to ‘Regarding “Business Envelope Mailed with Counterfeit 2017 Forever Flag Stamp,”’” The United States Specialist, Vol. 91, No. 6, June 2020, pp. 245–246.
“Business Envelope Mailed with Counterfeit 2017 Forever Flag Stamp,” The United States Specialist, Vol. 94, No. 7, July 2023, pp. 289–297.
“Evolution of a Series’ Name: Art on U.S. Stamps 1961–1971,” The United States Specialist, Vol. 92, No. 4, April 2021, pp. 168–181.
“A Long Time—and Way—Coming: The United States Specialist Missent to Kuwait,” The United States Specialist, Vol. 89, No. 5, pp. 203–204.
“Variant Versions of 2017 Celebration Corsage Forever Two-Ounce Stamp,” The United States Specialist, Vol. 91, No. 12, December 2020, pp. 566–569.
Vatican Notes
“MISSENT TO: APO AA 34038—Auxiliary Marking on a Postcard Sent from Vatican City to Santiago,” Vatican Notes, Vol. 68, No. 385, pp. 49–51, Third Quarter 2020.
The Vermont Philatelist
“A Monthly Checking Account Statement’s Journey,” The Vermont Philatelist, Vol. 63, No. 3, August 2018, pp. 14–15.
Unpublished Articles
Note: The following articles are “in the pipeline.” Several remain incomplete. Some await responses from journal editors. Others await submission.
East Africa
“The Friends Africa Industrial Mission: British East Africa Connections,” 2022.
“ICRC Posts Somali Letter in Kenya,” 2020.
“Mail Services Tariffs of the Tanzania Posts Corporation: 2004–2019,” [in progress].
“Nairobi Slogan Cancel: ‘Dr. J.L. Krapf / 1810–1881 / German Missionary / Pioneer in / Swahili Linguistics’”, 2021.
“Nairobi Slogan Cancel Promotes 1976 INTELSAT Assembly of Parties,” 2021.
“Pitney Bowes Meter Stamp Notes Payment of Postage Due for a 1970 Ugandan Air-Mail Letter,” 2020.
“Second-Class, Printed-Matter, and Christmas-Card Auxiliary Markings on Mail from Post-Colonial Tanganyika and Tanzania,” 2019.
“Uganda’s Office of the President Review Markings on 1970s International Letters,” 2021.
Korea
A Postal History Sketch of Bishop Choi Jae-seon John, Founder and Proponent of Korean Missions,” 2022.
Malawi, Rhodesia, Zambia,
and Zimbabwe
“Blantyre Slogan Cancel: Fetereza Amachulukitsa Zokolola,” 2021.
“Bulawayo Slogan Cancel: ‘Plant a Tree for Zimbabwe,” 2020.
“Harare Slogan Cancel: “Breastfeeding Is the Best Start in Life,” 2021.
“Limbe Bilingual Slogan Cancel: ‘Prevent Brush Fires.’”
“Limbe Slogan Postmark: ‘Prepare Your Gardens Early.’”
“Markings Noting Insufficient Postage for Airmail from Zimbabwe,” 2021.
“A Message from Mufulira: ‘Leprosy Can Be Stopped with Modern Drug Treatment,’” 2021.
“Multiple MPLSM Passes Yield ZIP-Code Suggestion Added to Zimbabwean Air-Mail Letter Marked Postage Due,” 2020.
“Portrait of an Air Letter’s Global Connections,” 2021.
“Postage-Due Markings on Zimbabwean International Letters of the 1980s and 1990s,” 2021.
Poste Vaticane Forwards Mala?ian Aerogramme to Assisi,” 2021.
“‘Printed Matter’ Auxiliary Marking on Zimbabwean Airmail Envelope,” 2020.
“A Quartet of Registered-Mail Indicators from Lusaka, 1978–1999,” 2021.
“A Quartet of Zambian Air-Mail Auxiliary Markings from Kafue and Chingola,” 2020.
“Registered Air-Mail Letter Sent from Harare to Yeoville, South Africa, Reflects 1992 Intracontinental Rates,” 2021.
Sister’s Aerogramme Lifts Up Leprosy Work in Zambia,” 2021.
“A Trio of ADS Registration Labels on Covers,” 2021.
“Zambian Slogan Cancel: ‘Invest in Ndola,’” 2021.
“Zambian Slogan Cancels Highlight Anti-Tuberculosis Efforts” 2021.
Vatican City
“Iconography of St. Benedict’s Life and Rule in Vatican Stamps and Cover,” [in progress].