WOODSTOCK 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Today marks 52 years since the beginning of the most famous rock festival in history – Woodstock.  The USPS issued a Woodstock stamp commemorating the festival’s 50th anniversary.  The stamp’s design uses the same dove illustration found on the original Woodstock promotional flyers.  The festival was also honored in the popular US Celebrate the Century Series in 1999.

1969 Woodstock poster

US #5409 2019 U.S. Woodstock 50th Anniversary Commemorative Stamp

 

PUERTO RICO OVERPRINTS

U.S. Stamps Bearing Puerto Rico Overprints are Hard to Find

Although it lasted less than six months, the Spanish-American War marked the emergence of the United States as a world power.  On December 10, 1898, Spain signed the Treaty of Paris granting Cuba its freedom and ceding Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines to the US.  After the signing of the treaty, the use of US money and postage was made official, and in 1899, overprinted US stamps replaced the provisional issues used previously.  These Puerto Rico Overprints carried the inscription “Porto Rico.”  Later overprints were spelled “Puerto Rico.”

Shop Puerto Rico Territory Sta

 

SCOTT #2624-29 COLUMBIAN SOUVENIR SHEETS

 

US #2624-29

1992 Columbian Souvenir Sheets Printed with Original 1893 Dies

America’s first commemorative stamps (#230-45) are faithfully recreated on the 1992 Columbian souvenir sheets.  The sheets honor the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s voyages to the New World.  And the issue of those first commemoratives.  But did you know the stamps engraved on these sheets were produced from the same dies as the original 1893 stamps?  And they’re every bit as beautiful.  Plus, each one has original lithographed artwork in the sheet margins, telling the story of Columbus and his expedition.  Six sheets altogether – 

GRILLED STAMPS

What is a grill and why was it used on some U.S. stamps? In the 1860s, some people were afraid others removed cancels and reused the stamp, cheating the Post Office.  They tested a machine that embossed small waffle-shaped marks on the stamp, breaking the paper’s fibers and allowing ink to soak in.

What does a grill look like? It looks somewhat like the pattern on a waffle, a grid of horizontal and vertical lines.  It’s hard to see a grill on the front of a stamp, so here’s a picture of the back of a grilled stamp. Why are the grills named by letters? About 100 years ago, a stamp collector named William L. Stevenson discovered unknown grills and assigned letters to each different grill type or family.  He thought A grills were created first, then B grills, then C, and so on.  In 1926, Scott Catalogue changed its listing based on Stevenson’s work.  Eleven different types of grills were used on US stamps in the seven years – 1867 to 1873.

Example of a stamp grill

 

GRAF ZEPPELIN

 

On August 8, 1929, the Graf Zeppelin began its most famous flight.  It took off in Lakehurst, New Jersey and was the very first flight to carry passengers around the world.  Aboard the ship were 60 men and one woman, including journalists, American naval officers, a polar explorer, representatives of Japan and the Soviet Union and more.  Thousands of people around the world looked to the skies to watch the Graf fly over their homes.

The popularity of this trip created “Zeppelin Mania” and inspired several later flights.  The

The Graf Zeppelin flying over New York

following year, the Graf Zeppelin made another trip across the Atlantic, and the US issued three stamps to frank mail on that flight.  These famous stamps are artifacts from that exciting time in postal history. The Zeppelin airmails are also really scarce.  They were on sale for only five weeks, and very few sold.  All leftover stamps were destroyed!  And with the passage of almost a century, their scarceness has only increased.  Serious collectors around the world dream of owning them.

US #C13 1930 65¢ Zeppelin Over Atlantic Ocean US #C14 1930 $1.30 Zeppelin Between Continent US #C15 1930 $2.60 Zeppelin Passing Globe

On October 2, 1933, one of my favorite US stamps was issued in New York City – #C18.  The stamp had a total of five First Days of Issue – one at each city the Graf Zeppelin stopped at from New York to Chicago.  Today, stamps have only one First Day of Issue, so this was quite unusual!  Only about 32,000 of the 324,070 #C18s printed were sold.  That means the remaining 90% of the Post Office Department’s stock was destroyed, making #C18 scarce today in any condition. US #C18 1933 50¢ Zeppelin Century of Progress Issue

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SCOTT #2967 MARILYN MONROE 32 CENT

Early on August 5, 1962, the world was shocked by the loss of a shining star, actress, and entertainer – Marilyn Monroe.  In her short life, she went from an unknown, albeit pretty, face working in a World War II airplane factory, to the world’s most famous blonde bombshell.

Since losing Marilyn, countries around the world have issued postage stamps in her honor.  Each stamp captures a different facet of Marilyn – all the beauty and personality that made her one of the most famous woman of the 20th century.

In 1995, the United States featured Marilyn on the first stamp in the popular Legends of Hollywood Series (#2967) – a fitting place for the legendary Marilyn Monroe.  The design is based on a 1950s painting of her.  Originally, the selvage was supposed to picture the

US #2967

the scene where her dress was blown up by a subway grate, but her estate felt this painting did her justice.

 

MARIHUANA TAX STAMP

These Marihuana Tax stamps were taken directly from the vaults of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum!  They chronicle over 80 years of social evolution from the roaring days of Prohibition, through the Psychedelic Sixties, to today’s marijuana legalization debate.  The stamps weren’t listed in Scott Catalogue until 2006, so many collectors didn’t even know they existed.  Due to stringent government regulations, very few were ever sold…

US #RJM1 Unused 1937 U.S. $1 Marihuana Stamp

US #RJM2 Unused 1937 U.S. $5 Marihuana Stamp

US #RJM3 Unused 1937 U.S. $10 Marihuana Stamp

 

BUGS BUNNY

 

Last year, Bugs Bunny made his second appearance on US postage stamps.  He’s the star of 10 different designs, each one picturing him in a different costume or disguise he’s worn over the years.  These stamps are pieces of nostalgia from the days we spent watching cartoons as kids, then watching them again with our own children and grandchildren.  Bugs Bunny is timeless, and so are these fun stamps.

PHOSPHORESCENT TAGGING

 

On August 1, 1963, the United States Post Office Department issued our first stamp with “phosphorescent tagging” – the 1963 8¢ Airmail.  The tagging was done in an effort to speed up mail sorting and the cancellation process.  

After working with private companies, the US Post Office developed a new way to more quickly sort mail – with luminescence.  By the late 1950s, mail volume around the world was increasing dramatically.  Many countries began to explore new ways to sort and postmark their stamps in a more efficient way.  This is a process in which stamps receive an invisible coating that can only be seen under ultraviolet (UV) light.  When exposed to this light, the stamps would glow.   Tagged US #1342 stamp under ultraviolet light

US #C64c  America’s First Tagged Stamp Booklet Pane of 5 with Zip Code Label US #C64a #C64a Fleetwood FDC with “First Day Use of Luminescent Tagging” Cancel