“The Mississippi Delta was shining like a National guitar,” sings Paul Simon at the start of “Graceland,” his marvelous 1986 song. “I am following the river, down the highway, through the cradle of the Civil War. I am going to Graceland, Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee.” That road, presumably, was the Great River Road (GRR), which […]
When Will We Be “On the Road Again?” Read More »
It’s hard to believe today, but once upon a time, the people running the U.S. Post Office invested in facilities that were supposed to speed up mail deliveries. Moreover, they celebrated those efforts, most notably in today’s 4-cent #stampoftheday, which commemorated the opening of America’s first automated post office in Providence, Rhode Island on October
Once Upon a Time, the Post Office Tried to Speed Up the Mail Read More »
To paraphrase Freud, sometimes a stamp is just a stamp. In other words, I don’t have a deeper meaning, family story, or strange connection for today’s #stampoftheday, which is a 2-cent stamp issued on October 19, 1929 (ten days before the stock market crashed) celebrating the completion of a decades-long effort to improve navigation on
Sometimes a Canal is Just a Canal Read More »
What do you think of when you read the phrase “The Battle of White Plains”? While I know it’s juvenile and also snarky, I think of a fight that involves a shopping mall, maybe two bargain hunters coming to blows at a Black Friday sale or, perhaps, over the last parking space in the (pre-COVID)
The Battle of White Plains Was Not Fought in a Mall Read More »
After a much needed heavy rain, today is a brilliant day here in New England. The trees are at their peak; the sky today was a brilliant blue; and the air tonight is clear but cold. It’s beautiful but it’s a poignant beauty because of the cooler temperatures, the soon-to-fall leaves, and the increasingly short
Thank Thomas Edison for Netflix Read More »
I ended yesterday’s #stampoftheday post by asking “What were they thinking?” when they issued a stamp celebrating the forced relocation of Native Americans. Today, however, it’s clear “what they were thinking” when the Post Office issued three “National Defense” stamps on October 16, 1940 (which is why the stamps are today’s #stampoftheday). “They” – particularly
What is to Become of the Country We Know? Read More »
Somewhat amazingly, today’s stamp celebrates one of the most shameful episodes in American history. The 3-cent stamp issued on October 15, 1948 says “Indian Centennial” followed by a list of five tribes—Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole – and then at the bottom, the statement “The Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma.” So apparently, this is
Ignoring the Trail of Tears Read More »
While yesterday’s stamp, which celebrated the Future Farmers of America, presented a bucolic picture of agricultural life, today’s honors a man who played a key role in the mechanization of agricultural, a shift that in many respects fostered the decline of family farms and the industrialization of America. The honoree, who is pictured on a
Cyrus McCormack Harvested More than Grain Read More »
When the young “future farmer” portrayed on today’s #stampoftheday gazed over the bucolic farm and valley shown on the stamp do you think he was thinking that many decades later the owners of those fields would receive record amounts of politically motivated federal aid? That’s the question that comes to mind when I examine today’s
Future Recipients of A Federal Largesse Read More »
Like many of my generation, I learned that Robert E. Lee was special. Yes, we were taught that Lee fought for the Confederacy, which wanted to preserve slavery. But that uncomfortable fact was downplayed in favor of a narrative that instead highlighted both Lee’s military prowess and his strength of character, particularly his efforts to
How Could Robert E. Lee Be “A Guardian of Freedom?” Read More »