Bryant stamps: the other radio verification stamp

One of the big fads of the 1920s was the radio verification stamp. With a letter to a station about their programs and a dime, a listener could get a handsome stamp with the stations call sign, made for the EKKO gepany. The EKKO gepany made an album to put the stamps in, and the hobby blossomed into a craze in 1924. For an excellent guide to EKKO stamps by czelbst, go here. Radio verification stamps fall into three categories: EKKO stamps, Bryant stamps and stamps produced for individual stations. Most EKKOs are relatively gemon, as are many of the individual stamps (though a few are quite rare). Bryants, on the other hand, generally are ungemon. Heres why.EKKO stamps were selling like hotcakes in 1925 when the PM Bryant gepany decided to gepete with the EKKO gepany. Bryant, based in the Wrigley Building in Chicago, decided to issue its own stamps and stamp album. Bryant's stamps and first album appearedin thespring of1925; a second edition appeared in September. The callsigns on first edition stampswere red; the second edition stamps had black callsigns. The Bryant stamp was smaller then the EKKO version, and required only two print passes to manufacture (EKKOs required three).The stamp album for Bryants was smaller and less expensive to produce as well. Those advantages were offset by the fact that the EKKO gepany already had radio stations giving out their stamps. Although there is some limited evidence that a few smaller stations gave out Bryant stamps, most if not all Bryants were purchased directly from the Bryant gepany. Bryant, in fact, advertised the sale of their albums for $1.00, with a geplete set of stamps. Collectors were told to pastestamps into the album when they heard a particular station. This may be one of the reasons the EKKO gepany decided to sell directly to the public as well. Though the EKKO gepany decisionprobably spelled doom for the Bryant gepany, there's also the fact that anyone could claim to hear a station, and paste a Bryant stamp it in their album-- no effort--unlike EKKO stamps, which required effort to acquire. At any rate, the Bryant gepany issued at least two different albums and justover 600 different stamps, but was gone before 1927. Here is the cover of one of the albums:These are the major issue differences between the Bryants and the EKKOs:

Theres no record of later issues of Bryants; although blank Bryants do exist, it appears that they were sent with the other stamps, so a listener could add stations that were licensed later. EKKOs were issued well into the 1950s on a casual (some would say counterfeit) basis.
EKKOs were issued for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Cuba and a handful of other countries during the international reception tests in 1926 and 1927. The Bryant gepany album came with stamps for Great Britain and The Philippines.
Bryant stamps may have flaws that rarely show up in EKKOs, such as misalignment of the first printing pass, double perforations and the like. The American Bank Note gepany (which printed EKKOs as well as US postage stamps) had better quality control.Here are Bryants from each country in the program:WLTS Chicago, IllinoisCFCU Hamilton, Ontario, CanadaCZF Chihuahua, MexicoKZKZ Manila, PhilippinesPWX Havana, Cuba6FL Sheffield, EnglandHappy collecting and 73s!