Two timely clarion calls – one for robust federal action, the other (from a notably conservative Supreme Court) on the limits of executive power – are messages conveyed by today’s #stampoftheday, a 3-cent stamp issued on August 15, 1933 to spread the word about the newly created National Recovery Administration (NRA). A centerpiece of recently […]

“And now for something completely different” – a postage stamp encased in metal, complete with advertising on one side. This is not a commercial oddity. Rather, during the Civil War, it was a replacement for coins that became scarce during the civil war. And, with apologies to Monty Python, it’s today’s #stampoftheday because on August

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

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

Townsend Harris, an obscure 19th century American diplomat who not only was portrayed by John Wayne in 1958 and was a character a satirical Japanese manga-based anime, but also founded what became the City College of New York and is the namesake of a well-known New York City public high school, is the unlikely focus

Unlike the past few days, when I really had to dig around to find a good #stampoftheday, there’s a wealth of easy and wonderful choices for today’s stamp. There’s a 2-cent stamp featuring the Grand Canyon issued on July 24, 1934 that was part of a series of 10 stamps issued that year that pictured

Ducks, Little Orphan Annie, and a once-famous but now obscure Indiana writer take the stage as today’s #stampoftheday, a 10-cent stamp, issued in 1940, featuring James Whitcomb Riley, a writer and poet who died on July 22, 1916. Although the stamp was part of the series of 35 stamps honoring “Famous Americans” issued in 1940,

The instance of land being set aside specifically for preservation and public use by the U.S. federal government is honored in today’s #stampoftheday, a 1-cent stamp issued on July 16. 1934 featuring a picture of Yosemite National Park. The stamp was the first of ten stamps issued in the latter half of 1934 picturing notable