Ephemeral Treasures is a mostly philatelic web site which showcases items from my collections — old envelopes (aka covers), stamps, and postcards. But it also highlights some of the adventures I've had in my life, among them surviving a plane crash in New Mexico's Black Range and being badly wounded in Vietnam.

I started collecting stamps when I was about 10 years old, and continued through most of my teenage years, stopping when hormones, a plane crash, the military, marriage, fatherhood, and family responsibilities, took most of my time.

I took up collecting again when I was in my late 30s. I am immediate past-president of the British Columbia Philatelic Society.

Stamp collecting has evolved since its beginnings in the mid-19th Century. Most collectors today are adults; many of us are historians who understand that our collectibles are artifacts that played a role in past events large and small. In my web pages, I try to illuminate that past, concentrating on the Second World War, the Vietnam War, early airmail and the "mid-period" of commercial aviation history (the 1930s through the 1950s). Along the way I take some interesting detours. I hope that you enjoy sharing my journey with me.

Bob Ingraham

Loy Kee writes to Jing-Zun Pan: A cover from Vancouver's Chinatown to Silver City, New Mexico

An old cover takes me home: Growing up in historic Silver City, New Mexico with Billy the Kid, Geronimo, and Roy Rogers

Box 28, Arenas Valley, New Mexico: A tiny country post office played a big role in my youth

I survived a plane crash in New Mexico’s Black Range

A Navy corpsman goes to war: With 3/1 in Vietnam

The war stories of M/Sgt Philip Ingraham

Sgt. Joe Hicks’ War: In April 1942, Royal Canadian Air Force No. 420 Squadron makes a fateful raid on Rostock, Germany

British Columbia Philatelic Society. Join us at one of our meetings.

Collecting Stars on Stamps — astronomy for the beclouded Astronomer: A philatelic exploration of astronomy past and present