History of White Ace Stamp Albums

One of the most popular stamp albums in the United States has been the White Ace specialty album series for United States stamps. The albums, produced by the Washington Press, have had lasting popularity for over fifty years. The albums are printed on high quality paper and use attractive page layout and design. The paper they are printed on is acid free, an important consideration in stamp albums, as it protects the stamps from being damaged by acids leaching from the paper onto the stamps. The albums were sold in many formats – singles, plate blocks, and blocks being the three most popular – so, that collectors can buy just the sections that they need. This has been one of the main reasons for the enduring popularity of White Ace stamp albums. Collectors could buy just the sections that they needed for the stamps they were collecting at any given point in times so that these collectors didn’t need to spend more money on albums than they need to.

White Ace and the Washington Press were founded by two brothers – Leo and Sam August. They began in business in 1933 and by the end of WW II, they were producing and selling more United States stamp albums than any company besides the Harris Publishing Company. White Ace albums were more expensive and well produced than Harris albums and served a different niche-sort of like a Lincoln to a Ford. Collections that are mounted in White Ace albums tend to be made by collectors who have taken their hobby seriously and many of them are collections of great value.

The August brothers were very successful philatelic publishers. In addition to the White Ace United States album line, White Ace produce first day cover cachets under the name Artcraft. Artcraft cachets are the envelopes that were made into literally millions of First Day Covers. The August brothers have been very philanthropic in the philatelic world, donating large amounts of money to the American Philatelic Society to help encourage stamp collecting.

There are many excellent (and not so excellent) collections that have been made over the years that are found in White Ace albums. Apfelbaum is one of the largest buyers of these collectors. If you have found or inherited or made such a collection yourself, please contact us, and we will guide you through the process of selling the collection.