Sociable Stamp Society

This is our blog for current stamp news and views of interest to the philatelist and beginner. Daily updates provide items on shows, new issues, events, what's selling, and timely facts.

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Thursday, April 07, 2005

8c U.S. Grant, olive green, May 1, 1923

Malaria on Stamps
Summer's coming so we may as well get in the spirit of the season, and malaria stamps are just the thing that says hot, steamy, swarming clouds of summer fun. Actually, a nice topical site for a theme I hadn't ever thought about, though it was a keystone for people everywhere when the cause, prevention, and treatment were finally learned. ...malaria

Harburg
Yip Harburg gets his 37c stamp of approval 28 April in New York City. This has got to be one of the more obscure people commemorated by the USPS.


"Stamps Take Flight" at National Postal Museum
WASHINGTON — One-of-a-kind priceless “uncollectible collectible” envelopes and stamps—ranging from the first U.S. airmail delivery nearly 150 years ago to lunar postmarks—are now showcased in the Postmaster General’s Collection housed at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in Washington, DC. The collection is a major component of the Museum’s “Stamps Take Flight” exhibit that highlights the history of U.S. stamp-making.

Not long after the first U.S. stamps were issued in 1847, the Postmaster General’s Collection began as a Post Office stamp reference file in the 1860s. Thousands of stamps later, it evolved into a unique philatelic resource encompassing the full range of U.S. stamp production—original stamp artwork, die proofs, color proofs, press sheets, full panes, test printings and unused stamp designs. The new exhibit, with artifacts worth millions of dollars, is a tiny fraction of the collection.

The “Stamps Take Flight” exhibit also includes historic one-of-a-kind treasures from the National Postal Museum. Unless otherwise noted, the following sampling of items is from the Postmaster General’s Collection.

§ The Postmark from the Moon. The Apollo 15 Mail Pouch, inkpad and the postmarked envelope—as evidenced by fingerprints of lunar dust when postmarked on the Moon’s surface.

§ The 1918 Inverted Jenny stamp often is considered the world’s most famous stamp error. At that time, intaglio printing required stamp sheets to pass through a press once for each color. One sheet was inadvertently turned upside down between passes, resulting in the mistake.

§ The “Top Secret Stamp,” known as the Project Mercury stamp, celebrated John Glenn’s 1962 orbit of the earth. It was issued at the same time as the event it celebrated and designed and printed in total secrecy in case the mission failed.

§ The 1859 Balloon Jupiter envelope. The only known surviving piece of mail from the first official U.S. airmail flight—made by the hot-air balloon Jupiter—which flew 30 miles from Lafayette, Indiana, to Crawfordsville, Indiana, in August 1859 (Smithsonian).

This temporary exhibition will be held from March 15, 2005 through March 19, 2006 at the Smithsonian Institute, National Postal Museum, in Washington, DC.

the lanai guy | 11:26 AM | 0 comments |  

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