Memorial Day Has Its Roots in the Civil War

National Geographic News reports, "Every year Memorial Day brings people together in the United States to honor fallen service members on the last Monday in May. Since its post-Civil War beginnings, the holiday has changed considerably and now may be best known as the start of summer vacation season—prompting some critics to call for moving the date away from a three-day weekend.

Reporter Brian Handwerk writes, "Unlike Veterans Day on November 11, which honors all who have served their country, Memorial Day is set aside for special remembrance of those who laid down their lives for U.S. national defense. Despite the modern spirit of patriotic camaraderie, Memorial Day has its roots in one of the most divisive events in U.S. history: the Civil War."

He goes on to say, "Soon after the bloody conflict ceased, General John A. Logan—commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans—called for a holiday to be observed every year on May 30.At the time, that holiday was known as Decoration Day, because Logan wanted to honor the fallen by 'strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating, the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion."

The first national Memorial Day holiday, designated by Congress, was held in 1971.

Shown above, Decoration Day postcards circa 1866.

For more on this story, click here.

Peculiar Postage - Unusual Stamps from Around the World

For a look at some of the more peculiar, quite unusual, slightly odd and downright weird postage stamps from around the world, click here.

Lime Scented Stamps

The Star Online reports, "Stamp collectors who buy the new miniature sheet from Pos Malaysia's limited edition Aromatic Plants stamp series are in for a pleasant lime scent treat. Produced in the Netherlands, the sheet is the first of its kind in Malaysia and will give out a whiff of kaffir lime leaves when rubbed."

Pos Malaysia's Stamp and Philately head Yasmin Ramli is quoted in the article as saying the collection features three aromatic plants kaffir lime on the RM5 sheet, peppermint on the RM1 stamp and kesum leaves on the 60 sen stamp set. However, only the RM5 sheet featuring the kaffir lime is printed as an aromatic sheet.

Shown above, Pos Malaysia employee Nurul Azreen Razali showing the limited edition Aromatic Plants stamp series

To learn more, click here.

Celebrate Memorial Day Weekend with Patriotic Covers

Janet Klug writes on the Linn's Stamp News website, "With Memorial Day approaching, this article is dedicated to all members of the armed forces who served our country and sent and received patriotic covers during their time of service.

In her "Refresher Course" article, Klug pens, "The encouragement and pride shown in the covers that emanated during World War II were, with notable exceptions, upbeat and positive. Some were poignant, some were funny, and some would be considered politically incorrect in today's world.All of these are collectable and reflect the mood of the times. They are history you can hold in your hands, and are still surprisingly affordable. Many of the people who had been creating cacheted first-day covers prior to World War II turned their attention to patriotic themes during the war."

She goes on to say, "Collecting World War II patriotic covers can be complicated because of the sheer number of cachetmakers who were producing them and the variety of subjects shown on the covers. The good news is that there is a catalog that lists and describes in detail more than 11,000 different World War II patriotic covers.The book is titled United States Patriotic Envelopes of World War II by Lawrence Sherman. Check with your favorite philatelic literature dealer to find a copy."

To read her entire article, click here.

'Delivered By Royal Mail' Postmark To Be Used on Letters

Alan Jones of Britain's Independent reports, "A new 'Delivered By Royal Mail' postmark is to be stamped on letters and other items to distinguish post delivered by the group and its competitors."

He goes on to say, "The company announced it will introduce the new mark to most of the 15 billion letters and parcels carried by the business every year, saying it is important that customers know the difference between post delivered by Royal Mail and its competitors."

According to Jones, "The move followed a survey of more than 1,000 people, which showed that almost four out of five would welcome clarity on which company delivered which item of mail to avoid confusion."

The change will start next month.

For more on this story, click here. 

Happy Birthday Goofy! 80 Years Young!

According to the Disney Insider website, "May 25 is an auspicious date because way back in 1932, a little cartoon appeared in America's movie theaters called 'Mickey's Revue.' It starred the already well-known and beloved Mickey Mouse, but there was an unfamiliar face in the audience watching Mickey. That face had long droopy ears, a protruding tooth, and looked, frankly ... goofy. Although he was originally known as Dippy Dawg, he came to be called Goofy and has been delighting audiences ever since. Whether we need a handy tutorial on how (not!) to ski or dance, or just a quick laugh, Goofy's our guy."

Happy 80th big fella!

To see Goofy and his pals on various postage stamps from around the world, click here.

Stamp Merit Badge Power Point Presentation Available

Facebook friend Aimee Poitevin Devine writes to say, "The Wisconsin Federation of Stamp Clubs has a Boy Scout stamp collecting merit badge PowerPoint presentation available on its website. It follows, in order, the requirements from the merit badge book."

Based on material from Brian Jones and Carol Edholm, the 109 page, color presentation (which is also downloadable as a pdf) is filled with interesting stamps and text.

While designed primarily for use with Boy Scout groups, it's a great tool to help teach anyone - young and old - the basics of the hobby.

Shown above, the Boy Scout Stamp Collecting Merit Badge.

To take a look, click here.

Dog Bite Prevention Week

Today marks the first day in National Dog Bite Prevention Week. 

Did you know that of the 4.7 million Americans bitten by dogs annually, more than half are children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The U.S. Postal Service, the medical community, veterinarians and the insurance industry are working together to educate the public that dog bites are avoidable. 

Mark Anderson, postmaster of Los Angeles, where 83 of nearly 5,600 postal employees nationwide were attacked last year is quoted in a USPS press release as saying,"Don’t worry — my dog won’t bite’ is often heard by our letter carriers before they’re attacked. Given the right circumstances, any dog can attack. Dog attacks are a nationwide issue and not just a postal problem. Working with animal behavior experts, we’ve developed tips to avoid dog attacks, and for dog owners, tips for practicing responsible pet ownership.”

The Postal Service, along with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP); the American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery (ASRM); the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA); the Insurance Information Institute (III); and Prevent The Bite (PTB); are driving home the message that dog bites are a nationwide issue and that education can help prevent dog attacks to people of all ages.

To learn how to train dogs to stop biting, click here.

Hotels on Stamps

Reporter Alysia Gray Painter writes on the NBC Bay Area website, "A lot of people who oversee hotels are forever thinking about ways to get the word out about their properties. Advertising?  Deals? All of the above? There are many solid paths to connecting with customers. But here's a novel one: Be on a stamp."

She goes on to pen, "Of course, getting on that stamp may take some time and some luck. And your hotel may share the small rectangle with a famous director and the cinema history's most celebrated sex symbol, which are both pluses in our book." 

This week, San Diego's Hotel del Coronado will appear (along with Marilyn Monroe) on the new USPS stamp saluting legendary film director Billy Wilder.

According to Wikipedia, "Hotel del Coronado (also known as The Del and Hotel del) is a beachfront luxury hotel in the city of Coronado, just across the San Diego Bay from San Diego, California. It is one of the few surviving examples of an American architectural genre: the wooden Victorian beach resort. It is one of the oldest and largest all-wooden buildings in California and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977, and is a designated California Historical Landmark.When it opened in 1888, it was the largest resort hotel in the world. It has hosted presidents, royalty, and celebrities through the years."

The hotel has been featured in numerous movies and books in including the screwball comedy Some Like It Hot. Wilder directed the film in 1958. Monroe starred along with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis.

For more on the Hotel del Coronado, click here.

Happy Armed Forces Day!

President Harry S. Truman led the effort to establish a single holiday for citizens to come together and thank our military members for their patriotic service in support of our country.

On August 31, 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced the creation of an Armed Forces Day to replace separate Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force Days. The single day celebration stemmed from the unification of the Armed Forces under the Department of Defense. 

Click here to visit Steven L.Ossad's Military History Depicted in US Postage Stamps website for a philatelic salute to our men and women in uniform.

Calgary Stampede Stamps Feature "Augmented Reality"

Canada's Calgary Herald reports, "To mark this year's centennial of the Calgary Stampede, Canada Post has unveiled two commemorative stamps. Both stamps, featuring a rodeo horse and a silver and gold belt buckle, were designed by Calgary graphic artist Xerxes Irani - who admits he broke down and cried uopn learning his designs had been chosen."

“It’s amazing for a designer to see his work reprinted millions of times,” Irani says of the estimated four million Stampede stamps that are now on sale in post offices and through Canada Post.

Canada Post’s Genevieve Latour is quoted in the article by Valerie Fortney as saying, "One unique feature of the Stampede stamp is that it comes complete with what is called 'Augmented Reality'; it’s the first time that owners of smart phones or tablets can download a corresponding app, which in this case includes a barrel race and interactive experience with a horse.

Shown above, Xerxes Irani and the stamps he designed.

To read the entire article and watch a video about Canada's first "augmented reality" stamps, click here.

Royal Mail Makes a Philatelic Fashion Statement

Georgia Bobley writes on the Guest of a Guest website, "Between the Royal Wedding, the Queen's Jubilee, and the upcoming Olympics, it's been a big year for Great Britain. With so much international focus on the country, English fashion has been thrown into the spotlight -- and now it's being displayed on stamps."

Britain's Royal Mail has launched a line of stamps honoring England's top 10 fashion houses, including Alexander Wang, Vivienne Westwood, and Paul Smith.

According to Bobley, "The stamps, which were designed by London-based graphic designer Johnson Banks and shot by Solve Sundsbo, were created by photographing live models wearing the designers' clothing and later removing the models from the image."

In a related story on the Fibre 2 Fashion website, it's being reported, "When shooting the outfits that appear on the stamps Sølve Sundsbø worked with live models, but did not use their facial features, to allow the designs to speak for themselves. The shoot lasted two days, and relied on the use of the actual original clothes – either obtained directly from the designers or meticulously sourced from specialist vintage fashion stores. "

Click here for more information.

A Passion for Philately

Minneapolis stamp collector Gary Haas and Fresno, Calif., stamp dealer Gary Deitz are featured in an article by Rick Bentley of the McClatchy Newspapers.

Bentley writes, "Gary Haas squeezes between a pair of ceiling-high book cases, arranged to create a small office area and a central location for his stamp collecting hobby.Haas' passion for collecting is evident. Most of the shelves are filled with volumes and volumes of stamps, categorized by date, country, color and subject matter.

He goes on to say, "The collection is so massive that Haas has no idea of the total. It's the accumulation of more than 40 years of collecting, which started when Haas received a stamp collecting starter set for Christmas when he was 8 years old."

Haas is quoted as saying, "In the 1970s, I got a stamp collecting merit badge through the Boy Scouts, where I learned some of the basics of stamp collecting.I started going to stamp shows about six times a year. It's a slow learning process."

Deitz, who turned his 65-year-old hobby into a business, says he'd like to see more people like Haas.

"I got started collecting when there were no TVs or video games, " Deitz says. "Back then maybe 1 in 10 kids collected stamps. Now it's maybe 1 in 1,000."

To read the entire article, click here.

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/05/15/2522424/stamp-lovers-passion-for-hobby.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/05/15/2522424/stamp-lovers-passion-for-hobby.html#storylink=cHaas is quoted in the article as saying, ""In the 1970s, I got a stamp collecting merit badge through the Boy Scouts, where I learned some of the basics of stamp collecting. I started going to stamp shows about six times a year. It's a slow learning process."

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/05/15/2522424/stamp-lovers-passion-for-hobby.html#storylink=cpy

From a Post Office Far, Far Away

Erin Blasco posts on the National Postal Museum's blog, Pushing The Envelope, "A stamp marked 'Magyar Posta' is from Hungary. 'Deutsche Post' is from Germany. But stamps purporting to be from Tatooine or Alderaan, fictional planets from the Star Wars saga, are pure fantasy. That didn’t stop London-based graphic artist Stefan van Zoggel from creating postage stamps from the high tech world of droids and the Millennium Falcon. He even designed a fictional postmark featuring R2-D2 as postmaster general."

Blasco goes on to say the US Postal Service has issued its own Star Wars stamps, "although they're probably not enough postage to be used on interplanetary mail."

Blasco would like to know, "What fictional world do you think should get its own postage stamps next? Stamps inspired by "Lord of the Rings" for the sending of postcards between Minas Tirith and Pelennor Fields? Narnia? And how about postal service between the Twelve Colonies of "Battlestar Galactica?" And who would you appoint postmaster general?"

Click here to voice your opinion. 

To view more Star War cinderellas as shown above, click here.

Blind British Photographer Takes Photo for "UK A-Z" Stamp Sheet

U.K.'s Leicester Mercury reports a picture taken by a photographer who is visually impaired is on the "UK A-Z" stamps sheet

According to the article, Brian Negus, 65, who is legally blind, took the photo last year while on a trip to Belfast. He then posted it on the image sharing website Flickr, not thinking anyone would show much interest.

Well, they did.

About seven months later he was contacted by the Royal Mail to ask if they could use the shot and offered him £200. Negus, who is chairman of the Leicester sight loss charity Vista, donated the money to the organization.

Negus said he took up photography in 2000 after camera companies began putting large LCD screens on their digital SLR cameras. He uses the screen and a magnifying lens on one eye which enables him to see the image.

He's quoted as saying, "Before digital cameras I wasn't able to take photographs but now I'm hooked. I can't use the viewfinder, so the LCD screens are perfect. I still need a lens which magnifies the screen 12 times."

Shown above, UK A-Z stamps sheet. Negus' photo appears in the lower right hand corner.


To read the entire article, click here.