THE ZODIAC POSTAGE

4/20/2020

Vallejo Times-Herald, July 31st 1969, 4 X 6c Franklin D. Roosevelt stamps.
San Francisco Examiner, July 31st 1969, 2 X 6c Franklin D. Roosevelt stamps.
San Francisco Chronicle, July 31st 1969, 2 X 6c Franklin D. Roosevelt stamps.
San Francisco Examiner, August 4th 1969, hand delivered, no envelope.
Paul Stine Letter, October 13th 1969, 2 X 6c Franklin D. Roosevelt stamps.
Dripping Pen Card, November 8th 1969, 2 X 6c Franklin D. Roosevelt stamps.
Bus Bomb Letter November 9th 1969, 2 X 6c Franklin D. Roosevelt stamps.

Issue Date: January 29, 1966.

Fairfield Letter, December 7th 1969, 1 X 5c George Washington stamp.
Fairfield Letter, December 16th 1969, 1 X 5c George Washington stamp.

Issue Date: November 17, 1967.

Melvin Belli Letter, December 20th 1969, 6 X 1c Thomas Jefferson stamps.

Issue Date: January 12, 1968.

My Name Is Letter, April 20th 1970, 2 X 6c Franklin D. Roosevelt stamps.
Dragon Card, April 28th 1970, 2 X 6c Franklin D. Roosevelt stamps.
Button Letter, June 26th 1970, 1 X 6c Franklin D. Roosevelt stamps.
Kathleen Johns Letter, July 24th 1970, 1 X 6c Franklin D. Roosevelt stamps.
Little List Letter, July 26th 1970, 1 X 6c Franklin D. Roosevelt stamps.

Issue Date: January 29, 1966.

Thirteen Hole Postcard, October 5th 1970, 1 X Apollo 8 Moon Orbit stamp.

Issue Date: May 5, 1969.

'Zodiac Is Going To' Postcard, October 17th 1970, 2 X 3c Statue of Liberty stamp.

Issue Date: June 24, 1954.

Halloween Card, October 27th 1970, 1 X Apollo 8 Moon Orbit stamp.

Issue Date: May 5, 1969.

Los Angeles Times Letter, March 13th 1971, 2 X 6c Franklin D. Roosevelt stamps.

Issue Date: January 29, 1966.

Pines Postcard, March 22nd 1971, Abraham Lincoln 4c Card.

U.S. Postcard rate from January 7th 1968 to May 16th 1971 = 5c.

Albany Medical Center Letter, August 1st 1973, 3 X 6c Franklin D. Roosevelt stamps.

Issue Date: January 29, 1966.

Exorcist Letter, January 29th 1974, 1 X 8c Dwight D. Eisenhower stamp.
SLA Letter, February 3rd 1974, 1 X 8c Dwight D. Eisenhower stamp.

Issue Date: May 10, 1971.

Citizen Postcard, May 8th 1974, Samuel Adams 8c Card.

U.S. Postcard rate from March 2nd 1974 to September 14th 1975 = 8c.

Red Phantom Letter, July 8th 1974, 1 X 10c Famous Works of Art: Goya stamp.

Issue Date: June 6, 1974.

Mary Pilker Christmas Card, December 27th 1974, 2 X 10c Contemporary Christmas: Currier and Ives "Winter Road" stamp.

Issue Date: October 23, 1974.

1978 (I Am Back With You) Letter, April 24th 1978, 2 X 13c Americana Series: Liberty Bell stamp.

Issue Date: November 25, 1975.

Atlanta Letter, March 8th 1981, 1 X 15c 1980 Americana Series stamp.

The 1986 (Freeway) Letter, May 6th 1986, 1 X 22c Flag Over Capitol stamp.
The 1987 (Cars Make Nice Weapons) Letter, October 28th 1987, 2 X 22c Flag Over Capitol stamp.

Issue Date: March 29, 1985.

Celebrity Cypher Postcard, September 25th 1990, 1 X 25c Literary Arts: Marianne Moore stamp.

Issue Date: April 18, 1990.

Eureka Card, December 1990, 1 X 25c Contemporary Christmas: Tree and Greetings stamp.

Issue Date: October 18, 1990.

Happy New Year Card, January 10th 2001, 1 X 34c Statue of Liberty stamp.

Issue Date: December 15, 2000.

11 Comments

Rubislaw 32 link

4/20/2020 01:50:58 pm

Some great reference information , Richard , and nicely presented .

I suspect the postage stamp employed for the 2001 New Years Card was simply added , at a later date . It appears to be in pristine condition , as seen on the envelope ( ? ) .

Richard

4/20/2020 02:01:13 pm

Much like the comparison between the Red Phantom and SLA letter, and Eureka card and 2001 card, laying the Zodiac postage visually in chronological order may show links or patterns. I thought it may come in handy for you Rubislaw.

Richard

4/20/2020 02:56:24 pm

The Melvin Belli letter was the first communication to use the correct postage. Then the Button, Kathleen Johns and Little List letter.

All four of the communications between January and July of 1974 used the correct postage. Letters switched from 8c to 10c on March 2nd 1974. Postcards switched from 6c to 8c on March 2nd 1974. So whoever mailed these four communications knew of the switching date. Up to January 29th 1974, the Zodiac Killer had only correctly applied the correct value of stamps five times (including the Oct 17 1970 card). That is 5 times out of 19, up to January 29th 1974. Then four correct postage values in a row for the 74 letters. Strange eh?

Melvin Belli, Button, Johns, Little List and "Zodiac Is Going To"

Richard

4/20/2020 03:04:29 pm

All three Mikado letters - of Kathleen Johns (So now I have a little list, starting with that woeman + her baby that I gave a rather intersting ride for a coupple howers one evening), the Little List letter itself and the Exorcist letter, all carried the correct postage.

Rubislaw 32 link

4/20/2020 03:31:26 pm

Yes , some things will probably remain , to baffle , Richard , but good to have this postage information , assembled together .

The Pines Card was part of a '' pre-dated '' envelope ( ? ) , and could have gone back to 1963 , I seem to remember on research .

In effect , offering the FBI '' manna from heaven '' , in that the FBI could have set it aside , and then '' produce '' it , whenever they chose . Which I believe that they did , adding further mystery to the responsibility for the disappearance of Donna Lass ,

Rubislaw 32 link

4/20/2020 04:53:57 pm

When one sees some of the discrepancies , between posting dates , and original stamp issues ( i.e. Belli letter - two years ) , the Zodiac has to have been , at least a semi-serious stamp collector .

A case of '' needs must '' , at a given time ( ? ) .

5/4/2020 04:18:32 pm

Hi Richard, Just uploaded that video I mentioned. Not sure if I care for it but it's a start for someone who doesn't generally make videos. Might even redo it... here's the link if you wish to view it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9F27WWpIOk

5/4/2020 06:56:32 pm

Actually, I just updated it. A little bit better as far as being able to read the text. Title is: Zodiac Killer Coincidence.

link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbM1O8mEhGs

Richard

5/5/2020 02:48:20 am

Nice one JD, especially like the Shadow links. We certainly know the Zodiac Killer was inspired by the Tim Holt comic and short story by Richard Connell, all relatively easy reading. He seemingly took the By Knife, By Gun, By Fire and By Rope weaponry from the comic, so it's only logical to consider other light reading material such as The Shadow to discover content in his communications. His inspiration for ciphers may have originated in one of The Shadow's pages. I explored a similar approach when noticing that Edgar Allan Poe's "A Secret Writing" contained an alphabet split into two. The Zodiac was often inspired to communicate with investigators when prompted, so it wouldn't be all that surprising if he was equally inspired to design his ciphers from material he read. As you are doing, look at his correspondence, his choice and style of ciphers, and couple this with law enforcement/newspaper prompts in the weeks before his mailings. I am sure some of the newspaper articles (such as the DCB Marsh article) were designed to govern and shape the Zodiac response and hopefully trip him up. On a cautionary note, as you know only too well, the notion of extracting numbers from the Halloween card is beset with pitfalls. You can literally manufacture it to read anything, produce any birthdate or address you like. Overall, I think you have the right approach. Putting aside my contention that the ciphers were never unsolved and placing on my objective hat, the Zodiac Killer didn't live in a bubble and unless it was all a ruse, he was inspired by the 1885 Mikado, the 1924 'The Most Dangerous Game' by Richard Connell (and 1932 movie), the Tim Holt comic books from the 1940s and 1950s, and quite possibly the Dick Tracy codes of yesteryear. The Shadow, who was created in the 1930s and appeared in many comic books, fell bang in the right time period for a teenage Zodiac. Hope you do a few more videos JD, covering the case as a whole, as well as the ciphers.

The only thing I would change JD is the background music, not because I don't like the music, but because when you want to concentrate on the content of the video, your ears get blasted by rock music. I know the music volume can be turned off, but that defeats the object of a mood setter. This of course is just my take and I'm sure others will disagree. To me, the Zodiac case is a sombre one, with a sinister and mysterious overtone. I personally would choose low level eerie music such as https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/royalty-free-music/downloads-c/scary-horror-music/8

The latter is a minor point and please don't think it is meant to be critical in any way. It's just my take on background music. Hope to see the next instalment soon. Have you ever considered creating your own blog to accompany your Youtube Channel?

5/5/2020 08:40:03 am

Hi Richard. Thanks for the input! I hope to have another video soon. I know what you mean about reading too much into anything, i.e. the numbers on the Halloween card, but that falls along the line of what I'm wanting to do with the videos. I was using the 1426 as a house number, hoping to find the name Cross and instead found Skelton. Zodiac may have never even heard of Mr. Skelton and it's just a wild coincidence, but those are the type of things I love to highlight. Sort of going down the rabbit hole, so to speak. I'll keep in mind the music... I have to get a new computer at some point, the volume is rather low on this one so not quite sure how it sounds on another computer.

db79

7/23/2020 06:57:18 pm

Apollo 8 was launched just hours after the Faraday Jensen shootings and the legend on the stamp is the "In the beginning..." passage. I think he broke from his normal stamps to commemorate his first murder. I think three of those stamps (the Presidents, 1,5,6 cent) were in a book together. I think he mostly worked out of a single book of stamps.

THE ZODIAC POSTAGE

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