Newport Smilers

Because 2007/8 was the 60^th anniversary of the first meeting, a special Smiler sheet and postcard were produced for postmarking on the actual day of the first meeting, 16 October.

The first printing was limited to 14 sheets with print number 1541389. Two of the sheets were broken up to service 39 postcards, with the remaining copy from the sheet being retained as an archive copy. The remaining 12 sheets were then issued as whole or part sheets based on pre-orders following the first use on 16 October 2007. The significance of the date is that this was the first meeting of the club in 1947. The 14 sheets represent the number of members at the first meeting. The postmark used was the Caldicot Delivery Office hand-stamp, which is reserved for occasional use for local deliveries in the area. Because of the glossy nature of the stamp and label, the impression is variable in quality.

The second printing comprises a further 30 sheets from 29 January 2008 with print numbers 2133300, 2198523 or 2225865. The second printing is from the same computer image as the first. The first printing was uniformly pale; the second a strong bistre. This is due to Royal Mail and not to the image used. I understand from Royal Mail that they changed their processing equipment in 2007 and that may explain the difference.

The design of the label is based on the logo of the club, from a design by Vic Sheppard. It shows the Civic Centre in Newport, which is the location of the club, with the time on the clock set to 7.15 pm, which is when our meetings used to start. The design was first used in1991.