APFELBAUM, EARL P. L.
Fig. 1. Photo of Earl P. L. Apfelbaum circa 1945 at the time of assisting to found the Philadelphia Philatelic Museum.
Earl Panero Lopez Apfelbaum (1905-1985), was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 22, 1905, son of Maurice "Murray" Josef Apfelbaum (1877-1934), an Austro-Hungarian immigrant, and Sarah Sadie Blitz (1882-1964), a native of Pennsylvania.
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Fig. 2. Maurce Apfelbaum circa 1920, working selling and collecting stamps at 60 Park Place, Newark, New Jersey.
Murray Applebaum became associated with A. C. Roessler and apparently on his client list for FDC serving. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library.
In 1928, he married Anne Rosenbaum (1906-1976). They had a son Martin (1929-1988).
He claims to have established himself in the philatelic market as a stamp dealer in 1930, at which time he lived at 922 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Fig. 3. Perhaps the earliest known correspondence sent to Earl Apfelbaum for stamps from fellow stamp dealer John S. Campbell, Jr., postmarked May 6, 1932, Cadiz, Ohio, with six cents rate franked by Scott #707 and #709. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library.
In 1935, he was one of the advocates promoting the American Philatelic Congress.
In the May 1935 issue of Hobbies on page 36, he ran a small display advertisement selling better grade stamps from foreign countries at 52 N. 11th St., Philadelphia.
In 1935 he wrote a play The Stamp Widow, which was performed on December 27, in which he played the stamp dealer.
In 1940 he lived at 615 Boyer Road, Cheltenham, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. At that time he named his company Cheltenham Stamp Company and published Earl Apfelbaum's Stamp News, the house organ.
His philatelic column "Apfelbaum's Corner" was published in Linn's Stamp News and in Stamp Collector magazine.
Fig. 4. Apfelbaum's popular advertisement typically found in The American Philatelist.
Fig. 5. Apfelbaum at the time of his semi-retirement in 1969.
He was a recipient of the APS, John N. Luff Award.
In 1984 he published a collection of 200 of his essays titled : The Best of Apfelbaum's Corner (Dorrance & Co., Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania).
He died on August 12, 1985. He is buried in Roosevelt Memorial Park Cemetery, Trevose, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
He was inducted into the APS Writers Unit Hall of Fame.
His son Martin took over the firm of Earl P. L. Apfelbaum, Inc., until his tragic death in the terrorist bombing aboard Pan Am flight 103 as it was in flight over Lockerbie, Scotland. Subsequently the grandchildren have maintained the firm.
Bibliography :
U. S. Census - 1920 - Philadelphia
Hobbies, Vol. 40, No. 3, May (1936) : 36
Stamp News, 1936, page 42