The region was flourishing at the end of the 1800s; Buffalo was the eighth largest city in the United States at the time. Jobs were plentiful, and The Queen City was a center of distribution for commerce of all kinds. Over 250 trains pulled into Buffalo every day, and waterfront traffic was booming, with 4,000 vessels arriving each year. One of the reasons the area was chosen as the site for the extravaganza was because over 40% of the U.S. population could reach Buffalo within a one-day ride by railroad.

A popular form of advertising around the turn of the last century was the use of souvenir stamps issued for a cause, a company or an event. They were sometimes called stickers, labels or seals, and yet though similar in appearance to standard government issued stamps used to mail letters or packages, these did not take the place of standard postage stamps. They were meant to accent pieces of mail, and senders used them to make their correspondence stand out from other letters people received. Consider these items similar to later-released Christmas Seals that first began circulating in the United States in 1907, and Easter Seals, which came into use in 1934. In collecting circles, the term “poster stamps” would later become somewhat prominent, and in 1959 all of these items were dubbed “cinderella stamps.” They were given that general title when, like the character from folklore who was not invited to the ball, some felt that significant discussion of them was not welcome in serious stamp collecting circles. Today the acceptance and pursuit of cinderella stamps is actually quite strong in the “philatelic” or stamp collecting world.

“. . . like the character from folklore who was not invited to the ball, some felt that significant discussion of [cinderella stamps] was not welcome in serious stamp collecting circles.”

In early 1899, preparations for the upcoming Pan American Exposition were in full swing, and savvy organizers put a huge emphasis on generating publicity for the city and the grand six-month event. Souvenir stamps had been used to promote prior activities and causes of all types, and several entities in Buffalo felt there was a potential for profit by producing and marketing cinderella stamps for the Pan Am. The Pan American Exposition Company itself did not authorize or officially sanction any (likely due to the sluggish pace of their subcommittees), yet the benefits from private entrepreneurs producing them was certainly acknowledged by Pan Am officials. Nearly a year after several souvenir stamps were in prominent use, the Expo’s Secretary, Edwin Fleming, reflected that scores of businesses around the country had inquired about acquiring Pan Am stickers for promotional uses. Fleming felt that the Exposition Company itself should have capitalized on the opportunity, yet he was pleased with the free advertising. By the spring of 1899, five different Expo-related designs had begun circulating, and two more surfaced in early 1900. They are identified by the artwork on each of them.

One amazing man was instrumental in popularizing these attractive souvenirs. Raynor Hubbell, who lived with his family on Franklin Street, was an enterprising young merchant born in 1874 who began his business career selling coins and stamps by mail. He could be called Buffalo’s Father of Philately, as in 1895 he opened the city’s very first retail outlet offering postage stamps for sale from around the world. Mr. Hubbell had two different storefronts in the Palace Arcade on Main Street (now called the Market Arcade), and he eventually moved further downtown. In 1898, The Raynor Hubbell Stamp Company moved to the lobby, or “Grand Court,” of the Ellicott Square Building, which was the largest office building in the world at the time. Besides servicing the local stamp collecting community, Hubbell expanded his base by attracting business from the structure’s brisk walk-in traffic.

Raynor Hubbell also had a prosperous mail order business and knew the power of advertising from placing notices in numerous stamp journals in the 1890s. He valued its importance even if the size of an advertisement was small. When news of the city’s world-class celebration began to unfold, Mr. Hubbell’s marketing acumen kicked into a higher gear. He envisioned various ways to celebrate Buffalo, promote the upcoming Pan American Exposition and turn a profit at the same time. The city had nearly a dozen local newspapers to choose from to run various classifieds and display ads, and Hubbell advertised frequently on an impressive scale. When souvenir stamps for the Pan American Exposition were printed in 1898, he promoted those as well as the city and his downtown location in local newspapers with classifieds that read: “Patriotic Buffalonians place Pan American stamps on their letters. Hundred assorted, ten cents. Raynor Hubbell Stamp Co. Grand Court, Ellicott Square Building, Buffalo N.Y.” This text appeared next to a tiny image of the “flag appropriations” souvenir stamp.  Another advertisement read: “Suppose every letter that leaves the city had a Pan American stamp on it. What would be the effect? Raynor Hubbell Stamp Co. Grand Court, Ellicott Square Building, Buffalo N.Y.”  Accompanying this second ad was a tiny image of the “map” souvenir stamp.

Hubbell sold six of the seven stickers (all but the blue, white and red diamond) in his packets of “100 Assorted Pan American Stamps” for ten cents. Buyers would receive blocks of various sizes inside, and there was no uniform configuration; all that mattered was that there were 100 stamps inside.

In 1899, Morris Schoenlein, a Buffalo stamp collector, came up with a stunning image to boldly represent the upcoming expo. He got permission from sanctioning bodies to copyright the celebratory use of a U.S. flag. The artwork had the traditional red and white stripes, and the upper left corner contained a blue background with white stars. That corner also pictured a bison head in a circle with “Pan American Exposition 1901” around it as well. In the fall of 1899, Schoenlein produced postcards with this image on the front, and Raynor Hubbell would become one of the largest mailers of Schoenlein’s design. The stamp dealer offered a flag postcard with five Pan American Exposition labels stuck to the front of it. One of the intriguing aspects of these items is that the labels were affixed in a wide variety of ways, and the angle in which the red diamond shaped stamps were applied created even more distinct versions. Mr. Hubbell sold an incredible number of them for 5 cents each, and these handsome collectibles are still very popular, sought-after items. They were welcome souvenirs to those interested in the upcoming Pan American Exposition, and sales were also high within the philatelic community.

Raynor Hubbell was particularly prolific in selling these in the spring of 1900, and some of the most desirable ones that survive today are from that time period before the flood of expo souvenirs hit the market. Mr. Hubbell’s lively sales between January and May can be postulated because there are at least five different postcard backs (four with varying text and one blank), meaning he had to reorder them from the printer frequently. And his trade was quite spirited, not just in the United States, but elsewhere too. By this time Raynor’s business was truly global, and international customers purchased flag postcards as well. 

One of the rarest surviving Hubbell/Schoenlein flag postcards is postmarked February 8, 1900, and was sent to British Guiana. It was mailed to William A. Abrahams of Booker Brothers, a company that played a huge part in the economic history of the colony and was its largest employer. Business mail to “Booker Guiana,” as it was nicknamed, is extremely scarce. It is pretty amazing that Mr. Hubbell’s labels were being sent to a customer nearly 3,000 miles away! 

At some point, commemorative souvenir stamps for the 1900 Paris Exposition wound up in Raynor Hubbell’s inventory. They had been produced by Alfred Baguet, who was an engraver in Paris. He was known in philatelic circles for production of a large number of poster stamps, exhibition labels and cinderella material. When Mr. Hubbell acquired them, and noted collectors’ interest in them, his marketing juices flowed. He saw a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to further promote Buffalo’s Expo, and knew he could capitalize even more on the aggressive sale of souvenir labels.

In 1900, twenty Pan American Exposition-related images were printed on souvenir stamps in five different colors. The set included drawings of 19 Expo buildings plus one of Niagara Falls. Some of the labels show native scenes rather than an Expo pavilion, as many architectural sketches for various structures had not yet been completed. Background details about the production of these collectible stamps are still being sought; hopefully, such details—along with more specific distribution data—has not been lost forever. As of now, it remains a true mystery as to who produced the building stamps; neither historians nor stamp collectors have been able to uncover definitive facts. This is amazing, since these were not part of a one-off commercial venture; there were millions of these stamps produced, yet information on their origin continues to be a fascinating, unsolved riddle!

What is known is that when sheets of stamps became available, Raynor Hubbell rushed to obtain quantities of them so he could impress his customers with the new collectibles. Blue, brown, green and red were the colors produced first; purple souvenirs were later issued. There are fewer purple stamps available than the other colors, yet they are by no means rare as all were printed in large quantities. The Pan Am “building sets” were sold in 8 ⅞” by 3 ⅞” envelopes which had four or five random labels stuck to the front. Like Hubbell’s previous packets, there was a selection of 100 inside and the contents were always referred to as stamps, not stickers or labels. These envelopes described the contents as “The Only Stamp Collection of Exposition Buildings”.

Raynor Hubbell was probably not intricately involved in the design or production of any of the various Pan American Expo stamps he sold, with the exception of the bison and shield example that bears his company’s name in tiny letters. Besides The Raynor Hubbell Stamp Company, three other entities retailed the building sets in deluxe printed envelopes. Even though the sets of Pan American building stamps were sold by several outfits, the stamps inside the different packaging were uniformly the same. Regardless of who made these Pan Am souvenirs, Mr. Hubbell certainly was their largest distributor; in over two years, he did an absolute blockbuster business in them. 

A 1914 French catalogue of commemorative stamps, written by Dr. Albert Cazin and Albert Rochas, stated that the set of building stamps was produced by Ernst Besser & Sons, who had a bustling stationary business in Buffalo. The Bessers’ store, at Main and West Huron Streets, sold sets of 100 Pan Am Expo building stamps and their brown envelope has “Pan American Souvenir Stamps” on it, with “The Only Stamp Collection of Exposition Buildings” and an “ESB” logo in the middle. 

These envelopes are incredibly rare, which likely means that only a limited number of sets were sold through this retail outlet. Yet after exhaustive searches by many parties, confirmation of the Cazin & Rochas notion that Besser & Sons produced the building labels has still not come to light. Other possible ideas have surfaced however.

One plausible theory that has emerged is that Raynor Hubbell teamed up with F. A. Busch & Company, which was located just blocks away from Hubbell’s Ellicott Square Building booth. Mr. Hubbell could have easily made the five-minute walk from the Grand Court to do business, and he may have helped streamline the Busch firm’s philatelic activities.

Frederick A. Busch was a Western New York lawyer who practiced in the Mooney-Brisbane Building, today known simply as the Brisbane Building. This prestigious Main Street address was the largest mercantile and office building in the city for one year until the Ellicott Square Building was finished. Busch moved his Delaware Avenue law office to the Mooney-Brisbane Building when it opened in 1895. Other family businesses located there too, and over time the Busch clan would occupy four offices in the building. George and Charles Busch were electrical engineers; they made up the brain trust of Busch Brothers, who worked out of the building in 1899. Buffalo City Directories do not affiliate attorney Frederick A. Busch with the Busch Brothers, yet F. A. Busch & Company was the entity, with an address of 523 Mooney-Brisbane Building. The company produced a set of 12 commemorative Pan American Exposition postcards (plus a few variations), each picturing five stamps in the Pan Am building set. It is interesting to note that the design of those was copied directly from postcards which had been produced for the 1900 Paris Exposition…by none other than French engraver Alfred Baguet.

Regardless of the Busch family’s business structure or lack of previous philatelic involvement, F. A. Busch & Company was also a retailer of the building stamps sets. The labels they sold came in two different envelopes somewhat similar to those printed with Raynor Hubbell’s company name on it. The text on one reads:

“One Hundred Assorted Pan American Souvenir Stamps, TEN CENTS ‘The Only Stamp Collection of Exposition B’ld’gs’, 523 Mooney-Brisbane Bldg., Buffalo, N.Y.”

The address above confirms it was a Busch family offering even though there was no merchant name on that envelope. Their second envelope had a different look and a variation of that text including a slight change to the slogan:

“ONE HUNDRED Pan American Souvenir Stamps, Published by F.A. Busch, 523 Mooney-Brisbane Building, Buffalo, N.Y., TEN CENTS, The Best Stamp Collection of Exposition Buildings”

Another seller of building stamp sets was S.H. Knox, who had several 5¢ & 10¢ stores in Buffalo. Years later, Seymour Knox would make $12 million from the sale of more than 100 locations when his company merged with Woolworth’s. The envelopes of souvenir stamps offered at the Knox stores were almost identical to the ones with F. A. Busch & Company printed on them. Other than the areas with the Busch name and address, they looked the same and were produced using the same font. Instead of “Published by F. A. Busch,” these said “Put Up For S.H. Knox” and listed addresses of three different stores. It is highly unlikely that S.H. Knox or his company had any involvement in the production or distribution of the sets of building stamps. The likely party who created them was probably within walking distance of two of the three Knox stores listed on the envelopes.

Ruling out Knox as a viable architect of the building sets leaves only three plausible options as to who coordinated their production. It could have been Besser & Sons (as Cazin & Rochas suggest). It could have been the F. A. Busch Company.  Or it could have been Raynor Hubbell. The fact that Hubbell’s envelopes, though scarce, turn up much more frequently today than the Besser, Knox or Busch envelopes could be a determining factor. Though Mr. Hubbell did not produce the stamps themselves, he was the most active middle man for whomever did manufacture them. Raynor Hubbell was the only retailer deeply involved in the stamp business, though Knox and Besser did sell souvenirs and novelties. And since it is likely that no one but Hubbell had a connection to Alfred Baguet, Hubbell was also the likely party who provided a 1900 Paris Exposition postcard to F. A. Busch & Company to create their Pan American Exposition postcards. More information is certainly needed to make such a conclusion, but how wonderful it would be for this mystery to be solved!

Whatever the text on the outside of the envelopes with building stamps inside, people who bought packets of 100 never received a complete collection of all 20 designs in all five colors. This was due to the placement and duplication of various designs on the original sheets of stamps. Whether this was an oversight or was done on purpose to sell more stamps to those who wanted to own complete sets, is not known. Buyers usually got four blocks of 15 stamps along with four blocks of 10 stamps; a few intact sets with 10 blocks of 10 stamps have also been uncovered. Locating envelopes of any kind with their contents (blocks of stamps) completely intact is nearly impossible. It is also extremely difficult to find empty envelopes today; that said, ones from the Raynor Hubbell Stamp Company are the most prevalent.

Though at this time it is unknown who produced most of the Pan American Exposition cinderellas, it is evident that Raynor Hubbell became the point man for the distribution of the U.S.-released Expo stamps. Nobody else had the foresight to promote the souvenir stamps with anywhere near the same degree of success as Mr. Hubbell, and by November 1901 when the Pan Am closed, he had sold an astounding 4 ½ million souvenir stamps. It was an absolutely remarkable feat, accomplished over just 2 ½ years, by a man who, when he was finished, was only 27 years old. And imagine doing all of this incredible marketing and sales before the advent of radio, television or the Internet!