Customs Books
Customs Books
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Last Updated on Friday, 09 December 2011 22:11
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Written by John de Belle
Every now and again, I have the opportunity to come across books about Customs Administrations, about the hobby of collecting Customs Insignia and Customs Badges, even occasionally about the origins of Customs itself. Below, please find attached reviews and details of these assorted books. If you know of some that are of interest, please send me the details.
Official Administration Histories
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"The Collectors" - A history of Canadian Customs and Excise, Dave McIntosh, NC Press, 1984. ISBN 0-920053-29-7. A colourful history of the early Canadian Customs and Excise. "For a great deal of its history, Canadian Customs and Excise has operated on the far frontier. Some of its posts are still remote from any settlement. The customs officer often accompanied, and sometimes preceeded, the pioneers. Before the Mounties appeared, John Goodson collected duties on the Klondike Trail in the southern Yukon by camping on the shore of a lake and wading out in his hip boots to meet the gold seekers in their boats." (Introduction, 1984) |
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"Sumgglers and Sailors" - The Customs History of Australia 1788 - 1901, David Day, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1992. ISBN 0 644 24751 7 and ISBN 0 644 25239 1 (leatherbound)
"The early Customs officers were assigned to supervise trade and commerce, promote the manners and morals of their fellow pioneers and raise the all important revenue for the colonial treasuries....an unblushing account of the moulding of colonial Australia, as the Customs officers tried to impose order upon the often turbulent social and commercial landscape of the colonies."
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"Contraband & Congtroversy" - The Customs History of Australia from 1901, David Day, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1996, ISBN 0 644 33151 8 and ISBN 0 644 35545 X (leatherbound)
"It was Customs officers who were charged by the new Commonwealth government in 1901 with constructing and defending the tariff wall that was designed to protect Australia's growing industries while also providing revenue for the widening range of governemnt services and activities...It was Customs officers who enforced the tightening censorship imposed during the 1920s on everything from books and films to bubble gum wrappers and 'whoopie cushions'."
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"A Pictorial History of The United States Customs Service", Arthur Settle, Crown Publishers, New York, 1975, ISBN 0 517 519070
"This is the dramatic story of the United States Customs Service, one of the oldest government agencies in existence...this volume depicts the varied activities of this agency down through its long history, from the time when it was the infant nation's prime source of revenueto the present, when it still earns for the government more money than it spends."
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"World History of the Customs and Tariffs", Hironori Asakura, World Customs Organisation, Brussels, 2002.
This book details the development of Customs from ancient times in Mesopotamia through to the modern Harmonised System. There is some information contained within that relate to Customs symbols. A worthwhile and far ranging publication on the history of Customs throughout much of the world.
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Customs Insignia related publications
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"Federal Law Enforcement Patches, Volume II" An illustrated reference manual,
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, Taylor Publishing Company Dallas, Texas, 1987, ISBN 0 914503 01 4
Probably one of the seminal reference books of the current period detailing not only the insignia of the US Customs Service (referenced under Treasury), but also including many other federal agencies, including Defence, Justice, Interior and a myriad of others. A most worthwhile addition to any serious collectors reference library.
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"The Encyclopedia of Federal Law Enforcement Patches" A Comprehensive Collectors Guide to Over 4,000 Federal Agency Patches in Striking Full Color, Raymond Sherrard, Korea, 1999, ISBN 0 914503 07 3
An updated version of the seminal reference for US Federal insignia, updated with over 4,000 images of US Federal insignia. A most worthwhile addition to any serious collectors reference library.
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"G-Men Badges", A chronology of Federal Law Enforcement Badges,
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Senior, 2008, loose leaf three ring binder. This book is to US Federal badges what Raymond Sherrards books are to cloth insignia. A most worthwhile addition to any serious collectors reference library. If you are after only the history of the US Customs Service, there is a shorter booklet, copyright 2006, "US Customs Service" |
Fictional Customs related smuggling stories
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"Agent Undercover" John Lightfoot, Blake Publishing, Great Britain, 1998, ISBN 1 85782 2110
The story of an undercover agent working with handlers in the Manchester office of the Drug Investigation Unit of Her Majesty's Customs & Excise
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