MITULA, JR., ALBIN JOSEPH

Copyright 2011-2018 John N. Lupia, III

Albin Joseph Mitula, Jr. (1896-1972), was born on January 16, 1896, at Galveston, Texas, son of Polish immigrant father : Albin J. Mitula (1862-1944), and Norwegian mother, Anne Marie Holm Mitula (1861-1937).

Albin Joseph Mitula preferred to be called "Joe", and was popularly known simply as Joe Mitula.

He graduated his local high school and entered the workforce in the advertising industry.

He was a member of the Galveston Advertising Club, and in May 1923 was elected the delegate to the national convention of the Associated Advertising Clubs.

He lived at 2409 35th Street, Galveston, Texas.

On November 23, 1925, he married Mrs. Mary Edna Burns, nee Thompson (1892-1979).

From 1926-1930, he was president of Mitula Publishing Company, the publisher and manager of Houston Greeters Guide. Henry L. Doherty & Co., were his sales distributors.

He lived at 2025 Brun. Houston, Texas.

In 1930, he opened and operated the Albin J. Mitula Inc., Dealer in Postage Stamps, located in the Union National Bank Building, Room 420, Houston, Texas. He advertised in the Houston Chronicle.

Fig. The Houston Chronicle reported August 1, 1931, page 3 that his garage was burned down by a fire.

Fig. The Houston Chronicle reported on October 7, and October 12, 1934, that $2,000 of rare stamps, some 4,000 stamps in number, were stolen along with other articles from a car Mr. Mitula had parked in the 1100 block of Rice while visiting another stamp dealer. The thieves soon found that they could not easily sell the stamps, and a dealer they took them to refused to accept them, so they burned them. A sad remnant of social prejudice typical at this time the men were referred to simply as "Negroes". Fortunately, Mr. Mitula knew exactly what stamps had been taken and had the stamps covered by insurance.

In the 1940s, he expanded to become the Mitula Stamp & Coin Company.

In April 1944, he was ANA Member No. 10221, and would advertise in The Numismatist.

Fig. W. F. Maier correspondence sent to the A. J. Mitula Stamp & Coin Company, Union National Bank Building, Houston, Texas, postmarked Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 12, 1946. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library.

He was a member of the Galveston County Coin Club.

Fig. Mitula Stamp & Coin advertisement - The Numismatist, May (1956) : 610

He was somewhat famous for the rumor that he had accumulated a million 1950-D nickels during those 1950s. Q. David Bowers wrote about Mitula's having made much money off the 1950-D nickels in his Historian's Diary column in The Numismatist, February 2009.