While today’s #stampoftheday pictures two extraordinarily (almost scarily) wholesome youth, the story behind the stamp leads me to some of my favorite lyrics from West Side Story (with a brief stop at an iconic 1990s movie as well). The stamp itself is a 3-cent stamp issued on August 11, 1948 with the heading “Saluting Young […]
Officer Krupke and My Cousin Vinnie Salute America’s Youth Read More »
While it’s sometimes called “the nation’s attic” for its eclectic holdings of 154 million items, the Smithsonian Institution, the subject of today’s #stampoftheday, also finds itself in the middle of today’s most heated issues. The stamp itself, was issued on August 10, 1946 to commemorates the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Smithsonian Institution,
Understand the Fullness, Complexity, and Nuances of History Read More »
“A visit to Dr. Thoreau” is the journey I’m going on with today’s #stampoftheday, a 5-cent stamp picturing Henry David Thoreau, author of “Walden or Life the Woods,” which was published on August 9, 1854. The stamp itself was issued on July 12, 1967, which would have been Thoreau’s 150th birthday and was my 10th
Visiting Dr. Thoreau Is Good for Whatever Ails Me Read More »
The ways that our institutions prevented Richard Nixon, an odious and out-of-control president, from fully undermining the foundations of our democracy, is the focus today’s #stampoftheday, a 3-cent stamp, issued in 1938, commemorating the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. The stamp itself was issued on June 21, 1938, the 150th anniversary of the day that
Will the Constitution Constrain Donald Trump? Read More »
The usually amicable but currently strained relations between the US and Canada are celebrated in today’s #stampoftheday, a 13-cent stamp, issued in 1977. The stamp, which commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Peace Bridge linking Buffalo, NY and Fort Erie, Ontario, comes from the part of my late father’s collection that consisted of folders and
The Peace Bridge and the Need to Maintain Strong Ties with Canada Read More »
Today, August 6, 2020 is the 75th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It’s also the 55th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1965, which was signed on August 6, 1965. There’s no stamp commemorating the former and the stamp commemorating the latter came well after my father stopped collecting
On the Anniversary of Hiroshima, Take Heed of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Words Read More »
Stop! Read this #stampoftheday post! Or maybe just speed through this post to get to whatever is next in your Facebook feed… I’m sorry, but who can resist such a lede when the #stampoftheday is a 5-cent stamp issued in 1965 with a stop light and the extremely controversial admonition to “Stop traffic accidents”? It’s
Stop! Read this Post About America’s First Traffic Light Read More »
The country’s oldest continuous seagoing service, sails onto the scene with “cool and temperate perseverance” as today’s #stampoftheday. A 3-cent stamp issued in 1945, it honors the U.S. Coast Guard, which was established on August 4, 1790. The Coast Guard came into being because the then-new US government needed money. Alexander Hamilton, who, as you
The Coast Guard’s Long History of “Cool and Temperate Perseverance” Read More »
For several reasons, I have a soft spot in my heart for the two 2-cent stamps that make up today’s #stampoftheday offering. The stamps were both issued on August 3, 1927. One explicitly celebrates the sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) of Vermont becoming an independent republic (named New Connecticut) in 1777 as well as the Battle of
I Love Vermont and Stamps that May—or May Not—Celebrate It Read More »
A president who presided over a famously corrupt administration often judged to be among the worst in US history, is the subject of today’s #stampoftheday, a 2-cent stamp issued in 1923 to honor President Warren G. Harding, who died unexpectedly on August 2, 1923. A well -liked politician who seems to have been best known
Warren G. Harding’s Army of Pompous Phrases Searches for an Idea Read More »