To commemorate Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Trans History Month , BPMA Archivist Helen Dafter examines the Post Office’s past attitudes to homosexuality and homosexual employees. When thinking of The Royal Mail Archive most people immediately think of stamps, or how letters got from one place to another. It is less common for people to consider how the materials in the archive might reflect wider social history. One aspect of this social history... 

There are plenty of interesting Vietnamese stamps, but one of my personal favorites is this striking doubled frame print error on CTO-used stamp commemorating the birth of Raphael. First, here’s an image of the normal stamp: And here’s the error stamp with doubled print on gold colored (inner and outer) frames: I don’t know if  Read More →

“dhwriting” pens on the Helium website, “All of us have probably received packages or envelopes that were posted with beautiful or otherwise very collectible stamps used to pay the mailing cost. Any stamp collector worth his or her salt feels a thrill a desirable stamp arrives this way, out of the blue. In some cases, however, those lovely stamps arrive badly defaced by postal employees using thick marker pens or ball point... 

A stamp bearing the likeness of the late Romeo LeBlanc, governor general of Canada from 1995 to 1999, was unveilved Friday at Rideau Hall. The ceremony was hosted by Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean. Romeo LeBlanc died on June 24, 2009. LeBlanc was born in Memramcook, N.B., in 1927, and was the first governor general from the Maritimes. LeBlanc died after a slow decline from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 81. As minister of fisheries in the Trudeau... 

The German version of PostSecret – PostSecretDeutsch – opened an exhibit of cards yesterday at the Tübingen City Museum, in Germany. The KSU PostSecret Exhibit opened last week in the Sturgis Gallery . Contact International Arts & Artists for PostSecret Exhibit information. Contact Keppler Speakers for Live PostSecret Event information. PostSecret Media Contact I’ll see you this Saturday at the American Visionary Art... 

(from iPhone)  Read More →

Postal delivery was suspended Saturday for Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., Southern Maryland, and Suburban Maryland, MyFoxDC.com reported. Patrick Murphy, spokesperson for the Postal Service for Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., made the announcement early Saturday morning as a blizzard continued to batter the Mid-Atlantic region. Several thousand people in West Virginia, Virginia and Pennsylvania had lost electricity and more outages... 

(from iPhone)  Read More →

New Orleans officials estimate that more than 700 people packed the Post Office trying to get a limited edition, Super Bowl commemorative envelope. “The Post Office expected a crowd, but nothing like this , and not every customer was happy when the limit changed from five to two per customer,” according to WWL-TV. The envelopes went on sale at 7 a.m. and by 10 a.m., the collector’s items were sold out. Officials say they are... 

by David Rossall, Stamp Active Network Stamp Active Network is the national organisation, under the auspices of ABPS, which endeavours to encourage young people to take up stamp collecting as a hobby. Once called the National Youth stamp Group, it comprises a small core team of dedicated volunteers to coordinate actions. It works primarily through Federation Youth Officers, plus publicity in the philatelic press, federation and society newsletter,... 

The Palm Beach Post reports the French post office has released semi-postal to help victims of Haiti’s earthquake. The cost of the stamp is 1 euro (US$.1.45). For each one sold the French Red Cross will receive euro 0,44 (US$. 0.638), to help the earthquake victims in Haiti. According to the Associated Press article, France occupied Haiti for more than 100 years, from 1697 to independence in 1804 after the world’s first successful... 

It’s been a long time since I showed some of the EFO’s, but I think they will match perfectly with my current writings about stamp quality. Here’s something I picked up last night from kiloware I had soaked few days earlier. The first below stamp is the normal copy, and beneath it is the “whacked”  Read More →

Arleigh Albert Burke, the famous World War II Navy commander, left his mark on his hometown of Boulder, and now his stamp will go on America’s mail. Burke is among four Navy heroes depicted on the stamps. The stamps, designed by Phil Jordan of Falls Church, VA, are based on photographs from Navy archives. Text along the top of the stamp sheet identifies the four sailors, the  Read More →

According to the National Postal Museum’s Arago website, “…during the Civil War, the Union blockade proved critical in restricting goods from entering and leaving the Confederacy. Southerners faced increasing shortages of supplies, including paper and envelopes. Writers began to use whatever was handy as letter writing paper and envelopes. These items are known by philatelists as adversity covers.” It goes on to say,... 

According to the National Postal Museum’s Arago website, “…during the Civil War, the Union blockade proved critical in restricting goods from entering and leaving the Confederacy. Southerners faced increasing shortages of supplies, including paper and envelopes. Writers began to use whatever was handy as letter writing paper and envelopes. These items are known by philatelists as adversity covers.” It goes on to say,...