Stamp of the Day

"A visit to Dr. Thoreau" is the journey I'm going on with today's #stampoftheday, a 5-cent stamp picturing Henry David Thoreau, author of "Walden or Life the Woods," which was published on August 9, 1854. The stamp itself was issued on July 12, 1967, which would have been Thoreau's 150th birthday and was my 10th …

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 America" …

"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 …

Today's #stampoftheday honors the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment requiring that women be allowed to vote (and the day after Michelle Obama's extraordinary speech at the Democratic National Convention). It does so via a 3-cent stamp, issued in 1938, picturing Susan B. Anthony, who played a pivotal role in the women's …

I am sitting watching the third night of the virtual Democratic National Convention thinking that today's #stampoftheday, which marks a critical early 19th century naval battle fought by the USS Constitution, is a reminder that today we have to fight for the U.S. Constitution. A 3-cent stamp issued in 1947, the stamp pictures an architect's line …

Oddly enough, today's #stampoftheday, which features flora from four different parts of the US, captures a thought I had in the shower last night, not long after I posted yesterday's #stampoftheday. It occurred to me that in the "before time" (i.e the time before COVID), we would often travel and one of the things I loved …

Seminal political debates featuring two of the country's most skilled orators delivered provocative, reasoned and (occasionally) morally elevated arguments on issues that were tearing the country apart are the focus of today's #stampoftheday. Issued on August 27, 1958, the 4-cent stamp marked the 100th anniversary of a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln and U.S. …

A 3-cent stamp issued in 1952 on the 125th anniversary of the granting of a charter for the B&O Railroad brings Tom Thumb, Cooper Union, and McSorley's Old Ale House to the fore as today's #stampoftheday. The stamp pictures the first American-built steam locomotive, and steam locomotives are important because in the early 1800s most railroads …

There's something poignant about the image and subject of today's #stampoftheday, a 3-cent stamp issued on August 29, 1049 to commemorate the last (and 83rd) annual encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a fraternal organization of men who had fought for the Union in the Civil War. While the GAR had more than …