One odd result of living in Thailand is that I have become more involved in certain Western holidays than I was when I moved away from the States. Although I’d always whole-heartedly embraced Christmas while growing up, in my adulthood living far from my family it had become a non-event. Halloween was even farther from my interests, probably since I’d stopped trick-or-treating myself around the … Continue reading Halloween: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
This is the final stamp collecting-themed article for October’s National Stamp Collecting Month this year (tomorrow’s post will be about Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”). I thought it would be appropriate to take a look at a place where collectors and others interested in stamps and postal history can go every day of the year. Unfortunately, I have yet to visit the Smithsonian’s … Continue reading National Stamp Collecting Month: U.S. National Postal Museum
I am intrigued by the process of printing, whatever medium it may be reproduced upon, but my favorite method has always been images created from steel (or line) engraving and printed by intaglio (or recess) printing. This, of course, is the combination that produced so many of our classic postage stamps and is also seen on currency and prints or illustrations, mainly from the 19th … Continue reading National Stamp Collecting Month: The Art of Engraving & Intaglio Printing
On October 28, 1776. the Battle of White Plains was fought during the New York and New Jersey campaign of the American Revolutionary War near White Plains, New York. Following the retreat of George Washington’s Continental Army northward from New York City, British General William Howe landed troops in Westchester County, intending to cut off Washington’s escape route. Alerted to this move, Washington retreated farther, … Continue reading The Battle of White Plains
Stamp collectors collect (or accumulate) all manner of postally-related objects, not all of which were intended for the delivery of mail. Long considered “album weeds”, cinderella stamps saw their peak popularity in the 1930s and 1940s and remain an interesting sideline to philately. The term is a very broad one, covering all manner of items intended to have the appearance of a stamp but not … Continue reading National Stamp Collecting Month: Cinderellas, Seals, Fantasies & the Craziness of Phuket’s Vegetarian Festival
In the earliest stamp albums introduced in the 1860s, stamps were adhered to the pages using either their own gum (as if put on an envelope) or glue. Stamp hinges — small, folded, transparent, rectangular pieces of paper coated with a mild gum — were introduced soon after, allowing stamps to be removed without major damage to either the stamp or the album page. In the second … Continue reading National Stamp Collecting Month: Hinges, Mounts & the Faroese Overland Postman
Although people have used some form of card to send messages probably since the earliest days of postal systems, cards with some image as a part of their design have only been around as long as the postage stamp itself. Postal cards were soon being produced with an imprinted stamp with picture postcards becoming extremely popular by the end of the 19th century and the … Continue reading National Stamp Collecting Month: Postcards & Postcrossing
October 24 — United Nations Day — marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the Charter of the United Nations. With the ratification of this founding document by the majority of its signatories, including the five permanent members of the Security Council, the United Nations officially came into being, The day is devoted to making known to people of the world the … Continue reading United Nations Day 2018
A Stamp A Day 