SIAMESE STANDPIPE: NUMBER 27, SPRING 1954. [This Is A Private Journal About An A.

[Yokohama 1954, Wesson]. Black stiff wrappers, silver color cover illustration, 8 color illustrations, 11.5 x 15.5 cm., [20] pages, excellent condition, comes with original author/ publisher's envelope,Japanese postage stamp & post mark.RARE . *** **** *** . . AN OBSCURE, SELF-PUBLISHED PERIODICAL . . .PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN COUPLE LIVING IN YOKOHAMA . . . Helen A. Vivarttas & Sheldon C. Wesson . . * Per the last page, "SIAMESE STANDPIPE.is predicated on the belief that there hasn't been enough hell raised in the previous 26 [issues]." . This is issue number 25, issued in Yokohama, spring 1954. . The periodical/journal was edited & first published in 1945, by the couple, and issue irregularly. The record is unclear as to the exact location of printing and publishing. While the couple lived in Yokohama, National Library of New Zealand's entry shows Forest Hills, N.Y. See below reference on that citation. . This item comes with the original Washi [Japanese hand-made paper envelope, with return address printed: "SIAMESE STANDPIPE, Helen & Sheldon Wesson + address in Yokohama. With a 10 yen cancelled Japanese postage stamp & postal system dated [Nov.1,'54] 1954 post mark, with typed address, See photo posted to our website. . Each issue contains several essays [most signed] by either Helen or Sheldon, with illustrations and doodles in color. The last page shows details on the kind, name and special attributes of the paper cover, text pages and font. . Highly collectable, seldom found on the market. Subscription list was a group of the couple's personal friends, nothing that could be bought on the open market, more in the line of a gratis 'keepsake." Beautifully arranged, printed and presented. . *** THE AUTHORS, PUBLISHERS & PERSONAL DETAILS: . Sheldon C. Wesson: While working as a teenage copy boy at the New York Times in the late 1930s, He was introduced to the hobby of amateur journalism by Burton Crane. He quickly became an active letterpress printer and publisher in the National Amateur Press Association. . He met Helen A. Vivarttas, a leader of the American Amateur Press Association, at a gathering of local amateurs, and they soon began publishing Siamese Standpipe for both organizations. . Helen and Sheldon were married shortly before he shipped out to fight in World War II. He spent time in both the European and Japanese theaters. . The Wesson's' flair for colorful printing and writing made their amateur papers among the best ever seen. . Professionally, he spent thirty years working for a variety of Fairchild Publication newspapers and was located in New York and Tokyo. He was director of press relations for the American Iron and Steel Institute for 13 years before his retirement in 1992. He died in January 1997. . * Helen V. Wesson, of Weehawken, New Jersey. Awards: The Fossils in 1955 had awarded the Wesson's the Gold Composing Stick "for exquisite Craftsmanship in that Labor of Love which is Amateur Journalism." Helen cherished this token to her dying day, and we are happy to learn that daughter Pamela will see to its preservation. See link below. . See link below for essays and tributes to Helen in The Fossil: thefossils-org/awards/HelenWesson-html . The story won the Fiction Laureate Award for 1938, and so was launched the 60 year, and still counting, career of Helen Vivarttas Wesson. . *** SUBJECT OF THE ESSAYS: The Wesson's were fascinated with Japan, her customs, people and attitudes. This journal liberally discusses life of foreigners in Japan and instances of travel reports, impressions and good insights to things Japanese. . *** Color photos are posted to our website. . *** CONDITION: The booklet is in excellent, near original condition, no marks, flaw or issues. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope per above, with usual signs of typical rubbing, signs of being internationally mailed &d. . A nice pair of items, good association. . *** REFERENCE: Please Google the couple's names where ample entries ex. …