After 4 years without a Redwood City stamp show, the PENPEX Stamp Show resumed on December 3-4, 1983. The show was held at the RC Community Activity Building at 1400 Roosevelt Avenue, Redwood City and has been running annually ever since.
The Peninsula and Sequoia Stamp Clubs and the Redwood City Recreation Department joined together to sponsor the show. Each club gave $250 seed money and because of the success of the show, was repaid the next year.
After the WESTPEX ’82 Stamp Show, Cy Thompson retired as WESTPEXs 12-year chair. As a member of the Sequoia Stamp Club, he now had time to assist in re-establishing the PENPEX Stamp Show. Eva Cumming served as Secretary and Landry G. “Dusty” Doster as Treasurer. The show hours were Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm and Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm.
1983 PENPEX Cachet
The show cachet was designed by area collector and later Sequoia Stamp Club President Noel A. Bond. The cachet shows the Interurban #40 San Francisco/San Mateo streetcar, which operated from 1903 to 1949. The artwork came from a photograph of Charles Smallwood in his book, The White Front Car of San Francisco. Known better today as trolley cars, the four streetcar stamps were first issued on October 8, 1983. Show cachets could be purchased for 75¢ each with a descriptive insert; $1.50 for a block of four stamps; or $2.50 for a set of four covers.
The exhibition had 42 frames of 12 pages each. Entry was free to sponsoring club members or $2/frame to others. The judges were Edward G. Rosen and Cyrus Thompson.