NARCOTIC TAX STAMP

 Do you know about the Narcotic Tax created on February 25, 1919?  After the Revenue Act of 1918, special stamps were created for the new tax.  These Narcotic Tax stamps were issued in an effort to raise money to fund World War I.  Drug importers, manufacturers, and producers all had to use place them on drug packages to show the tax had been paid.

APS BLACK LIST

 Did you know the American Philatelic Society (APS) used to have a “black blot” list of stamps?  It included all the stamps deemed to have “no postal necessity, excessive numbers of individual stamps, high values relative to the postal needs of the issuing country, or issues that included intentional errors or imperfs.”  Basically, it was a list of stamps the APS thought exploited the hobby by trying to intentionally appeal to stamp collectors.

The list originated in the 1960s and was updated with new issues through the early 1990s.  But the practice was discontinued when it became apparent that most new US stamps should be black blotted.

FUN FACT--GEORGE WASHINGTON

 

Today marks the 289th anniversary of George Washington’s birth.  Did you know he’s been pictured on more stamps than all other presidents combined? 

SCOTT #397-400 PANAMA-PACIFIC EXPOSITION 1 CENT TO 10 CENT

 

On February 20, 1915, the Panama-Pacific Exposition opened in San Francisco, California.  It honored the discovery of the Pacific Ocean and the completion of the Panama Canal.  The Post Office Department began planning a set of commemoratives for the exposition in 1904.  By 1912, nine designs were on sale.  Since the exposition didn’t open until 1915, the Panama-Pacific stamps remained current for nearly three years – longer than any other commemoratives!

ABRAHAM LINCOLN OUR 16TH PRESIDENT

 Since Abraham Lincoln died over 155 years ago, his legacy has been preserved on our postage stamps.  Did you know Lincoln has been pictured on 77 US stamps since 1866!?  Today marks his 212th birth anniversary – what better time fill your album with missing Lincoln stamps?

HITLER STAMPS

 On February 5, 1945, the United States hatched a secret operation to overthrow Adolf Hitler using postage stamps.  The plan included creating fake Hitler stamps, special bombs, and tricking the German postal service into delivering anti-Nazi propaganda!  So, how did it turn out?  And why was it called “Operation Cornflakes”?  Click here for the full story…

SCOTT #2948 LOVE ANGEL 32 CENT

 

On February 1, 1995, the USPS issued two Love stamps that were both popular and controversial.  They featured child angels taken from Raphael’s massive masterpiece, the Sistine Madonna.  The USPS thought they’d be perfect for new stamps in the Love Series.  However, C. Douglas Lewis, a curator at the National Gallery of Art and vice chairman of the Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee, warned that child angels represented death – not love.