For reasons I can’t really explain, I really like the image of large propeller plane that’s on today’s #stampoftheday, a 6-cent airmail stamp issued on November 18, 1949. The stamp depicts a DC-4, America’s first large four-engine plane and one that had both significant military and commercial uses in the 1940s and early 1950s. The […]
An Iconic Stamp For an Iconic Airplane Read More »
“Everyone,” Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously s said, “is entitled to his own opinion.” “But, he added, “they are not entitled to their own facts.” Moynihan’s words are particularly appropriate in the current fraught moment when, in my opinion, the current President of the United States and his supporters refuse to acknowledge basic facts about the
Higher Education, Opinions, and Facts Read More »
Sometimes a fish is more than a fish. Consider, for example, what we can learn from the King Salmon featured on today’s #stampoftheday. A 3-cent stamp issued on November 9, 1956, it was the third in a what turned out to be a 22-year series emphasizing the importance of wildlife conservation. Viewed from the lens
King Salmon’s Lessons on Climate Change Read More »
Some classic American humor from the 1920s and early 30s is featured in today’s #stampoftheday, which aims to provide a temporary respite for those of us who’ve had an exhausting night, a tension-filled day, and an unsettled but hopeful evening. The humor comes courtesy of Will Rogers, a famed stage and film actor, humorist, newspaper
Will Rogers Provides a Welcome Respite Read More »
Very few stamps were issued during first years of World War II and most that were issued related directly to the war and the war effort. But one of the handful that were issued was today’s #stampoftheday, a 3-cent stamp issued on October 31, 1944 honoring the 50th anniversary of motion pictures. (The event commemorated
Pumpkins and the Power of Storytelling Read More »
Is the man driving the truck in today’s #stampoftheday a “doodah man” who told people “you’ve got to play your hand?” Or is he up in Buffalo thinking he’s “got to mellow slow?” Or is he just “a goin’ home back where [he] belongs?” Quite likely it’s none of those things since these lyrics from
A Trucking Stamp Demands the Grateful Dead Read More »
A bear so famous that he needed his own Zip Code to handle all his fan mail lurks behind the scenes of today’ #stampoftheday, a 4-cent stamp honoring Forest Conservation that was issued on October 26, 1958. It was released in conjunction with the American Forestry Association’s annual meeting. It also marked the 100th anniversary
Smoky the Bear Had His Own Zip Code Read More »
On this brisk late fall day, I have been sitting on my patio warmed (slightly) by an outdoor heater, looking at the remaining leaves on the trees and ruminating on what I was certain was slim pickings for today’s #stampoftheday. But, as it turns out, I was wrong and the stamps led me on unexpectedly
Architecture, Ideals, and Power at the Palais de Nations Read More »
When I started preparing this post, I thought that today’s stamp was an innocuous offering that I had to include to continue my 185-day long streak of writing a daily #stampoftheday ” piece. It’s easy to see why I thought so little of this 7-cent airmail stamp, which was issued on October 22, 1960. The
Jet Planes Transformed America Read More »
“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 »