Time present and time past Are both perhaps present in time future, And time future contained in time past. I open today's #stampoftheday post with these famous lines that start T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets" because Eliot was (somewhat amazingly) honored on a 22-cent U.S. postage stamp issued on September 26, 1988, 100 years after he was born in …
Topic: Culture & Society
Exploring Americana artifacts and other obscure areas of US history
These days, when the worst of America has been so prominent, I'm happy that today's #stampoftheday celebrates some of the best of America. Specifically, the 3-cent stamp, which was issued on October 4, 1948, celebrates volunteer fire fighters. The stamp, of course, is especially timely because of the many men and women who are putting …
Before email and smart phones, I would always send my mother a postcard whenever I travelled abroad. I'm reminded of that habit by today's #stampoftheday, which was issued on October 9, 1952 by the United Nations to honor the in honor the Universal Postal Union (UPU) on the 78th anniversary of the treaty that created …
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 #stampoftheday, …
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 a …
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 …
"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 is …
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 ever-useful …
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 …