Stamps Headlines
- Fifty Years Ago Today Space, Man, and Stamps Came Together February 20, 2012At the time the Project Mercury stamp was released -- at every post office in the U.S., unlike most that have their first day of issue at one site -- the rule was that no living person could be depicted on a stamp. But like the stamp released for Lindbergh's crossing of the Atlantic, which even named the flyer on the stamp and pictured his plane The S […]
- Stamp Deals -- And Dealers -- Abound Online February 13, 2012Near the beginning of the 21st century, a time when the hobby of stamp collecting was being dragged kicking and screaming into the Internet age, there was an article in the philatelic press about a stamp dealer who was offering questionable philatelic material on eBay. It was not just any dealer, as the article breathlessly pointed out, but one who consisten […]
- The A Part of the Philatelic Q & A February 12, 2012Well, those of you who tried to find the outhouse stamps in the Q part of our Philatelic Q & A were obviously stumped...or didn't want to touch the challenge with a ten foot pole. Anyway, the two stamps that contain images of the rural American privy are......Read Full Post […]
- Stamp Collectors as Guardians of History February 12, 2012Barry Landau, the so-called presidential memorabilia super-collector, has pled guilty to stealing historical documents, which may include drafts of FDR speeches, a land grant signed by President Lincoln, a letter ...Read Full Post […]
- Quick Take On Stamps: We Are The Stamp Market February 12, 2012"The collector is in reality the stamp market. It is he, for whatever irrational reasons, who buys this otherwise worthless piece of paper and puts it in an album never to sell it until dotage or death. One group of market analysts watches the larger stamp dealers, who sell primarily to collectors, to see what they have in short supply-- for it is colle […]
- RIP Whitney February 12, 2012Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 - February 11, 2012) Stamp image © Poste De Cote D'Ivoire Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 - February 11, 2012) Stamp image © Poste De Cote D'Ivoire […]
- Stamp Collectors Lead Interesting Lives January 31, 2012I dealt with some of the changes in the stamp collecting world in Top U.S. Stamp Stories 2011. For such a relaxing and sedate hobby there is certainly a lot going on, especially as clubs and their publications, not to mention stamp dealers, migrate to the Internet. It almost makes one think of that curse people would throw at enemies: "May you live in i […]
- Philatelic Q & A: In Search of a Vanishing American Icon January 30, 2012Looking at the new USPS international rate stamp picturing an Amish horse and cart on a road in Lancaster County, PA I noticed something in the background. A closer look showed me that they were cars and vans, parked near the barn-like structure. I was struck by the randomness of that. Most stamps are thought out to the extent that there is nothing extraneo […]
- Lawrence Block's Not-so-Hardboiled Philately January 29, 2012Are you up for some philatelic adventure? If you like philately in literature to play a large role in your vicarious fictional reading adventures, look to the exciting hard-boiled fiction of Lawrence Block. His character Keller is a philatelist and Block's stamp knowledge comes through in the stampish touches he puts in his novels. It is a great way for […]
- Delivering Mail: National Postal Museum Wants You to Know What It Takes January 29, 2012The National Postal Museum wants us to be aware of what it takes to move the mail from here to there. Their new exhibit is titled "Systems at Work." It's filled with hands-on attractions that allow visitors to virtually cancel stamps from various eras with ever changing canceling devices; sort and scan, to get a feel for what a postal job feel […]