Last September, the smiling face of a certain Great Lakes member was being stamped across envelopes and postcards in eastern Ohio, near Zanesville. Scott Mingus, known for his gorgeous Civil War games at conventions, was honored by the U.S. Postal Service with a "Pictorial Cancellation" event. Mingus, a pulp and paper scientist, helped develop the self-adhesive postage stamp used by virtually everyone across the country. "I was a part of a small project team that spent considerable time in Washington working directly with scientists, engineers, and businessmen at the USPS to finalize the requirements, do all the laboratory work, and then conduct extensive experiments to make sure that the new stamps functioned properly," he said. During the Pictorial Cancellation Event, people brought or mailed in anything with a stamp, and had it canceled with a special design by his hometown East Fultonham, OH, post office. The design, reproduced here, featured a drawing of Mingus and the phrase "No Lick Station" in honor of his accomplishments. Once the design was perfected, Mingus said they developed more types of stamps using a variety of papers, such as those that could be dispensed by vending machines. Mingus left Avery Denison in July, 2001, to work for a company in York, PA, that produces most of the postage stamp paper for the U.S., Europe, and some countries in Asia and South America. This move came with a happy bonus for the long-time Civil War buff and author. "I am fortunate to live 29 miles from Gettysburg, where I occasionally present 15mm ACW wargames at various venues around town," Mingus added. The Pictorial Cancellation was a one-time event, so Great Lakes members can't get a letter stamped with his face on it, anymore. However, if you come to Origins, Fall In, or any of the other events he attends, you can play in his Johnny Reb games and see his smiling face in person! Back to The Herald 62 Table of Contents Back to The Herald List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2005 by HMGS-GL. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com