[Steve D]

Originally Posted by steve B

The cover itself is a neat one.

The stamp was officially issued the day before in Cooperstown.
So why does this one have a cachet and look like a first day cover?

On the official first day the only place they were for sale was Cooperstown.
The next day was the first day the stamp was available nationwide.
For a while, stamps were always first for sale in Washington, then later official first days were held, usually in a place somehow related to the topic of the stamp. (a practice that continues, at least ceremonially)

Some old fashioned collectors didn't like this, and for a while some dealers made a bit of money providing "real" first day covers, cancelled on the actual first day of availability and not at some newfangled publicity stunt the day before.

Of course others provided first day covers from other places by being early at the official ceremony and mailing a few from each of various places on their way home.

I did a bit of detective work, and found that the addressee of the envelope, Clyde D. Gorman, was an auditor with the US Dept of the Treasury in the 1940 census, when he was 53 years old. Back in 1917, he was working for the US Dept of Agriculture in Washington DC.

So, he was in DC when Walter Johnson was active. He may have gotten the postmark himself, in the thought that it was the first day the stamp was available in Washington DC (where Walter Johnson pitched), and then sometime later got it signed by Walter. He may have requested Walter annotate his team affiliation to tie his career to Washington DC, and give further legitimacy to the postmark.

Steve