As I write this #stampoftheday, I'm sitting on a screened-in porch watching it rain on a lake in Maine and I'm remembering a long-ago trip that I believe was my family's last vacation together. The stamp spurring these memories is a 4-cent stamp issued in 1934 that portrays Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado, which …
All Essays
Another rainy day in Maine so I'm again sitting on the screened in porch thinking about how to write about today's #stampoftheday, which, because it honors the Boy Scouts of America, is producing a range of reactions including nostalgia, anger, revulsion, and puzzlement. A mid-century classic that was the first of several honoring the Boy Scouts, …
With the calendar turning to July, it seems appropriate that today's #stampoftheday honors school teachers (and other educators), who hopefully are getting a well-deserved break after an especially tumultuous spring and what is likely to be a very challenging fall. Of course, none of what it means to be a teacher today was envisioned when the …
The fourth (of five) presidents to have a beard as well as the first (and still the only) person to be elected to the presidency directly from the House of Representatives, takes the stage for today's #stampoftheday. A 5-cent stamp issued in 1882, the stamp portrays James A. Garfield, who was shot on July 2, …
The largest ocean liner constructed entirely in the United States which also was the fastest ocean liner to cross the Atlantic in either direction, "sails into view" as today's #stampoftheday. In fact, it might even sail into your living room tonight via a gala online special. Actually there's not really a stamp. Rather, it's an envelope …
Seeing a fair number of American flags, several Trump/Pence signs (but no Susan Collins signs) and an occasional Black Live Matter placard as we meandered home from mid-coast Maine today, made me choose a 1957 4-cent American flag stamp as today's #stampoftheday. (It won out over a 1956 stamp featuring Independence Hall and 1950 stamp …
"Search for peace," a good message at any time, seems particularly important in this troubled summer. So it's nice that today's #stampoftheday is a 5-cent "Search for Peace" stamp issued on July 5, 1967. Although the stamp was issued at the height of the Vietnam War (and increasing protests against that war), it wasn't a …
Since I started my #stampoftheday project in April, the goal has been to find a stamp or other object in my late father's stamp collection that had some connection with that day. Sometimes, this is easy; in fact sometimes I have to choose between several different stamps issued on the same day (as on July 4th …
As this #stampoftheday odyssey continues, I've learned that there are different types of days. Yesterday, I wrote about how it's sometimes challenging to find anything to write about. Other times, the process of writing these posts reveals wonderful strange pieces of information. Who knew, for example, that the "Lion" in Lions Club International stands for …