The Israel Touring Stamp Exhibitions were the brainchild of an Israeli stamp dealer couple named Mr. & Mrs. M. Saslowski.
The couple felt that the national exhibitions failed to reach the large mass of people in the smaller towns as well as the large number of youths in the communities who were interested in stamps but had very little opportunity of meeting others similarly attracted to the hobby.
The slogan which the Saslowskis constantly kept before them in all their work was “Will this benefit our youth and increase their philatelic knowledge?” With this in mind the Saslowskis began the Israel Touring Exhibits in 1950 and continued the exhibits until May 1960.
Shown here (Figure 1) is the first exhibition cover canceled in Tel Aviv, Israel, on April 30, 1950, and the final exhibition cover cancelled in Lod, Israel on May 6, 1960 (Figure 2). The Lod cover depicts the sports theme and shows a javelin thrower and high jumper.
The cost of operating the exhibits was subsidized by the Saslowskis. Through 1954, and possibly later, the exhibit entrance fee was 6 cents.
At the larger exhibits a special souvenir cover was printed, which was distributed with each entrance ticket. The usual printing for the covers was 3,000, of which about 2,700 were sold. The remaining 300 covers were used as gifts to officials or were destroyed because of poor printing.
