I can’t think of a better example of stamps with a powerful message than the Overrun Countries Series. The series began on June 22, 1943. The stamps were created for international mail to encourage citizens of countries invaded by the Axis Powers during World War II… |
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US #909-21 |
1943-44 U.S. Overrun Countries Series, Complete Set of 13 |
In
1934, during the Great Depression, President Roosevelt ordered the
government to seize all silver, except silver coins, and put a 50% tax
on the profits from selling silver. Documentary stamps were quickly
overprinted and pressed into service to satisfy the tax. In 1941, a
Silver Tax stamp series featuring secretaries of the Treasury was
introduced.
This followed FDR’s 1933 executive order making it
illegal for people to own more than 5 troy ounces of gold and to turn in
their gold to the government.
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US #RG2 |
Sally Ride received instant fame once it was announced she’d be the first American woman to fly into space. On June 18, 1983,
she launched into space for the first time aboard the Space Shuttle
Challenger. In her career, she spent over 343 hours in space – more
than two full weeks in total!
Long before Sally made her mark on space history, she discovered a passion for collecting space stamps.
In 2018, her life and legacy was commemorated on a US stamp.
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US #5383 |
2018 Sally Ride Commemorative |
The first Express Mail stamp was issued on August 12, 1983, to coincide with the Challenger
Space Shuttle’s eighth mission. It was supposed to be issued on an
earlier date, but the flight was delayed. Since then, a new Express
Mail stamp has been issued for every rate change. And the stamps almost
always set a new record for the highest face value US stamp. .
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US #4269 |
2008 Hoover Dam
Express Mail Stamp
On
June 14, 1777, Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as
the flag of the United States. In 1949, President Harry S. Truman
signed an act of Congress officially making June 14 National Flag Day.
This was after many years of campaigns to establish the holiday,
dating back to the Civil War era!
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US #5654
Since
the first postmaster general was appointed in 1775, mail delivery
methods have continued to change, thanks to war, economic turmoil, and
breakthrough technologies. Mail has traveled by stagecoach, the Pony
Express, railroad, boats, airplanes – even hot air balloons and
spaceships! But… have you ever heard of missile mail?
The
idea of using rockets or missiles to deliver the mail goes all the way
back to 1810 in Germany. The idea was actually put into practice
decades later in Tonga, but proved to be unreliable. The first rocket
mail was launched in April of 1931 with 102 pieces of mail between
Schöckl and St. Radegund, Austria. That flight was successful and
several others were staged through 1932. The rocket mail craze spread
to several other countries and was usually supported by stamp
collectors.
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On June 8, 1959, the US Post Office Department launched its first missile mail from a submarine to the Naval Auxiliary Air Station in Mayport, Florida. It traveled about 600 miles per hour, reaching its destination 100 miles away in 22 minutes!
Scott
#F1 was the only US Registration Stamp ever issued, released on
December 1, 1911. It’s often overlooked by collectors, and it’s one of
the most beautifully designed Back-of-the-Book stamps! It was issued to
prepay registration fees and guaranteed exceptional treatment of a
letter or package.
This stamp was valid toward the registration
fee only, and could not be used as postage. While intended to simplify
the registration process, the stamp ended up confusing customers and
postal clerks who mistook it for regular postage. As a result, its
printing was discontinued in 1913, while the remaining stock was still
used.
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US #F1 |
The 1901 Pan-American Exposition celebrated the impressive progress America had made in engineering and industry. It ran from May 1 through November 2. Six stamps were issued in conjunction with the fair. They were the first stamps of the twentieth century and the first bi-colored general release since the 1869 Pictorials. A printing error caused a number of prized inverted stamps, including the 1¢ Pan-American stamp. It pictures the steamer City of Alpena. It was mistakenly inverted during its printing…
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US #294a
The
Sesquicentennial International Exposition marked the 150th anniversary
of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the 50th
anniversary of the 1876 Centennial Exposition. To advertise the expo,
the Post Office Department issued a new 2¢ Liberty Bell stamp. In fact,
one of the fair’s main attractions was an 80-foot replica of the bell
covered with 26,000 light bulbs!
John Wanamaker had helped plan
the Centennial Expo and conceived the idea for the world’s fair in
1916. At that time, Philadelphia had gained a reputation for
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political corruption and Wanamaker believed that a world’s fair could help improve how people saw the city.
The
Shanghai Overprints are overlooked pieces of postal history you’ll want
in your collection. They were issued in very limited quantities,
making them hard to find today. The first overprint stamp was issued
May 24, 1919. However, the stamps were short-lived, only available for
sale in Shanghai until 1922. For modern collectors, these stamps are a
direct tie to this interesting period in US-China relations. The time
after China opened its borders to American missionaries and before it
became a Communist nation…
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On May 22, 1997, the USPS issued the first stamp in the Looney Tunes Series, honoring Bugs Bunny.
The
Bugs Bunny stamp was issued in conjunction with a campaign to launch
the USPS’s “Stampers” program. As the official mascot of Stampers, it
was hoped Bugs would help revive youth interest in the hobby of stamp
collecting.
When the Bugs Bunny stamp was announced, many were
unhappy about picturing an animated character on a stamp. They felt
Bugs was too commercial and honoring him would cheapen America’s stamp
program. One
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Glenn
Curtiss started off as an expert in bicycles and motorcycles. After a
balloonist ordered one of Curtiss’s motorcycle engines to power his
balloon, he made the leap from motorcycles to aviation. In 1915, he was
awarded the first contract to build US Navy planes!
But he
didn’t stop there. Believing in the future of flight, he sought to
design an airplane that could be mass-produced. The result was the
JN-4, most commonly known as the “Jenny.” That was the first plane to
carry airmail – and pictured on the first US airmail stamps! .
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US #C100
On
the morning of May 15, 1918, a crowd of several hundred gathered at
Washington, DC’s Polo Grounds to witness history being made. Army pilot
Lt. George Boyle climbed inside a Curtiss “Jenny” airplane with bags
containing 5,500 letters destined to fly on the first airmail route in
US history.
As President Woodrow Wilson looked on with a crowd of dignitaries, mechanics tried to start Boyle’s plane. The propeller turned but the engine wouldn’t start… After four attempts, mechanics checked the gas
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tank and realized the plane was out of fuel. Furthermore, there was no gas on the field, so mechanics quickly siphoned fuel out of nearby planes. Boyle flew off for his journey to Philadelphia at 11:46 a.m. – 45 minutes late and barely clearing nearby trees!
On May 14, 1918, stamp collector William Robey discovered the world’s most famous stamp – the Inverted Jenny.
America’s
first airmail stamp (US #C3) was rushed. Engraving started May 4 and
the stamps were printed just three days before release. Because they
were bi-colored, the sheets were printed twice, starting with the red
frame. Then, the stamp sheets were set aside to dry and later printed
with the blue plate showing the airplane. A single sheet made its way
to the New York Avenue post office branch in Washington, DC.
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On May 14, 1918, 29-year-old Robey withdrew $30 from his bank account – a figure equal to more than $1,500 in today’s wages – to purchase a full sheet of the new stamps. When the unknowing clerk placed the sheet of inverted stamps on the counter, Robey said his “heart stood still.”
