Tag: USA stamp

Coming up on the 400th anniversary of the voyage of Christopher Columbus, America thought it a great time to celebrate it with a World’s Fair. They further decided to hold it in the west in Chicago to display how far things had come on the “frontier”. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

First we should take a little time with this stamp issue. In my opinion a masterpiece of a stamp issue. Rather than just show the World’s Fair. Instead we get a 15 stamp issue taking us through the history of Columbus’s negotiations with Queen Isabella, the highs of the first landing, the difficulties of the new colonies, the lows of Columbus being returned in chains to Spain and even the redemption he experienced in Barcelona late in life when people realized the magnitude of what Columbus accomplished. All this from 1893 when most stamps were royal portraits.

Todays stamp is issue A72, a 2 cent stamp issued by the USA in 1893. It was a 15 stamp issue with denominations as high as $5,( at least $132 in todays money, the CPI calculator only went back to 1913. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 40 cents used. High values in the set seem to stick with unused, never hinged copies especially the few imperforates and those with no gum. The $5 stamp is up at $9500.

It was an ambition of the USA to host a World’s Fair comparable with earlier ones in London and Paris. An earlier one in Philadelphia was unsuccessful. The Columbus anniversary was the excuse and Congress had to decide between bids from New York City, Chicago, and Saint Louis. Financial packages were heavily considered and it was quite the effort but Chicago outbid New York. It was also argued that Chicago had more space, cleaner air, and better represented a country whose center of gravity wasthen moving west.

Chicago also had a great advantage of new urban architects including Daniel Barnham  and Fredrick James Almsted to work on the project. They designed a beau arts style “White City” with a large reflecting pool representing Columbus’s ocean journey. There were 42 pavilions displaying different countries and record producer Sol Bloom designed an amusement park for the kids.

The fair started as a success. One of the displays was a “street in Cairo” that featured America’s first belly dancer doing the suggestive dance called the Hokky Pokki. The dancer was known as Little Egypt and was really from Syria and married to a local Greek restaurateur. The tune she moved to was composed by Sol Bloom and is today known as the Snake Charmers song.

The Fair ended early after the mayor was assassinated and it was thought more appropriate for the fair to close early. Surprisingly given the time, the Mayor wasn’t killed by an anarchist but a crazy man who thought that railroads were killing too many people at crossings and the Mayor should have fixed it. Clarence Darrow took the assassins’ case hoping to have him declared insane. The prosecution pointed out that he had loaded his revolver for safety by not having a bullet in the first chamber showing a right mind. It was one of Clarence Darrow’s few trial losses.

You can probably gather that the fair would not pass the smell test of the modern politically correct. Even in the period, black civil rights leader Fredrick Douglas wrote a pamphlet complaining that black people’s contributions to Columbus were being ignored. In more modern times the tact changed. Now the idea of an idealized white city is thought racist. The country pavilions were recast as freak shows. Special attention was directed at the Woman’s Pavilion which had a display of woman made Indian, Samoan, and African crafts under the banner of “Woman’s work in savagery”.

The powers that be in Chicago have changed a little since 1893. The Mayor is now a mixed Indian/African American lesbian named Lori Lightfoot. Earlier this year she authorized the removal of the Christopher Columbus statues in Chicago.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the people who put fairs together that celebrate progress or perhaps spill it on people that would take it all down. Come again on Monday when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

After giving the Wright brothers no fewer that three stamps honoring their work as pioneers of aviation, it was time to dig deeper and honor lesser figures. Here we have a man who was on the staff of several important pioneers and ended his long career as a well paid consultant long after technology had moved beyond his work. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The stamp designers did their best to make Mr. Verville seem interesting. Verville had been on the staff of General Bill Mitchel and from him received many ideas on how planes could go faster based on a survey of European aviation development after World War I. The ideas were incorporated into Sperry-Vervillle Racers as shown on the stamp that competed  for speed records at air races held in the 1920s.

Todays stamp is issue C113, a 33 cent airmail stamp issued by the USA on February 13th, 1985. It was a two stamp issue the other of which honored the Sperry Brothers that were also involved in the plane shown. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used. The catalog politely claims unused versions of this stamp are worth more than face value to prevent the survivors being used up on modern postage.

Alfred Verville was born in Michigan in 1890. As a child he sent fan letters to the Wright Brothers and to Glen Curtiss of Curtiss Aviation. The letters were answered with encouragement. After High School Verville took a correspondents course in electrical engineering and then worked at a series of automotive firms around Detroit. A few years later he decided he would rather be flying and again reached out to Glen Curtiss. Curtiss explained to him that pilots were plentiful what was needed were aircraft designers. Verville was hired by Curtis and was on the team that designed the first Curtiss flying boat and the famous for being upside down on the stamp Jenny biplane. I haven’t wrote up that stamp as I don’t own it but wrote up this later Chinese stamp featuring the Jenny here, https://the-philatelist.com/2018/11/09/china-1929-is-chaing-kai-shek-poison-for-stamp-values/  .

Verville later jumped to other aircraft firms that did not have as much going on but then landed on the staff of then Army Air Force General Bill Mitchel when he went on a tour to survey European progress on aviation after the war. He came back asking for planes to be sleeker and less like Wire filled mouse traps. Verville teamed with the Sperry Brothers for a series of racers that were monoplanes with retractable landing gear. They competed in barnstorming displays held throughout the country but few planes were sold.

Verville then designed for his own firm a four seat Air Coach that he hoped to sell to the well off for transport. He went bankrupt after building fewer than 20 planes. After that he mainly consulted for both private industry and ever more frequently the government. After World War II he was again on a European trip to survey their wartime aeronautical advancements but this time no new aircraft designs were inspired. He continued consulting until 1960 and died in 1970.

Well my drink is empty and I have an inkling to pour another and toast Glen Curtiss who seemed in this story to be the more accomplished. The USA postal service seems to agree as the gave Mr. Curtiss his own airmail stamp issue five years before. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

The USA was the real victor of World War II. Other important nations had fought on the winning side but they also paid a heavier price in men and treasure. The USA did less of the fighting and almost none of that on it’s own soil. So it came out on top. What better way than to revel in the new found power and prestige by cloaking the bragging with the uncontroversial postal service. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

A while back we did a surprising similar stamp from late 1970s Soviet Union. See, https://the-philatelist.com/2018/04/05/russia-1977-should-be-recruiting-for-the-kgb/ .The late 70s being perhaps when Soviet prospects in the cold war looked most promising. That stamp hinted more of intrigue while the Americans are showing off the then state of art hardware. 72 years later what  was an impressive assortment looks more quaint and period. So I will give my nod to the Russian offering, realizing that on the date of issue the nod might have gone the other way.

Todays stamp is issue A394, a three cent stamp issued by the USA on May 17th 1947. It was a single stamp issue commemorating 100 years since the first American stamp. In addition to showing modern mail delivery equipment, it shows the same portraits of George Washington and Ben Franklin that were on the original American stamp issue from 1847. According to the Scott catalog, this stamp is worth 25 cents whether it is mint or used. Mint copies of the original George Washington issue of 1847 are worth $35,000 with Ben Franklin coming in at $6,750.

Ben Franklin was wealthy and had many accomplishments both before and after American independence. During the later stage of the British colonial period he was employed by them as a Postmaster. With revolutionary sympathies, he used his position to read the mail of Loyalists to the Crown. When this was found out, he was hauled before the House of Commons and mocked. A great man, a Man of Letters who then stooped to reading other peoples mail. Franklin was guilty but also humiliated and it is said the experience made him a much more militant revolutionary.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to celebrate tax day soon being over. The day is less important for those due a refund as they send their returns in early but those who wait for tax day usually owe. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

In 1979, Russia invaded Afghanistan, something I am sure they quickly regretted. The USA decided to skip the upcoming Moscow Olympics after the celebratory stamps were out. This curiosity sure seemed like a grade A stamp investment to 11 year old me. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The stamp displays an American javelin thrower. An individual, who paid the price in not being able to compete. He likely would not have medaled as most medalist from the period were Eastern bloc or Finnish. Even at the 84 no Soviets Los Angeles Olympics, no Americans medaled. Maybe we didn’t open the gates for our athletes.

Todays stamp is issue A1179, a 10 cent stamp issued by the USA on September 5th, 1979. It displayed a Javelin thrower training for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. It was part of a four stamp issue showing various summer sports. There were thoughts that these stamps would be valuable due to the boycott. They are not. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether mint or used. Since this seems to be the minimum catalog value for any stamp, my childhood theory is conclusively and unfortunately disproved.

The Olympic sport of javelin throwing involves throwing a 3 and one half meter metal arrow for the greatest possible distance. The gold medal in 1980 went to 21 year old Soviet Dainis Kula. The silver went to another Soviet and an East German won the bronze.

The medal is controversial for two reasons. The Javelin is supposed to land by poking into the ground but Kulas glided along the ground and many believe he was given a generous spot by the officials. There were also rumours among the Finnish team that when the home team threw the stadium gates were opened. This would allow more wind into the stadium and farther throws.

At an event in 1984 in Helsinki, when Kula went on the field, the Finnish crowd chanted “open the Gates” in remembrance of their perceived taint on his medal. Kula was let go from the Soviet team in 1988 but competed as late as 1993 for his new home country of Latvia.

The javelin event was held at the 88,000 seat Lenin stadium. The stadium was built in 13 months in 1953-54 and was the host stadium for the 1980 Olympics. It was recently updated and is now known as Luzhniki Stadium. It recently hosted this years World Cup.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the Soviet officials at Lenin stadium in 1980. At least they supported their countries team. The same cannot be said for American President Carter in 1980 or Soviet Premier Chermenko in 1984. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

I chose a Trumbull battle scene for my Fourth offering. At the battle of Bunker Hill, the British were bloodied and changed the wat they fought to lose less and the Americans realized to just stay in the game till the British tire. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and raise the flag. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Todays stamp is issue A967, a 10 cent stamp showing the Battle of Bunker Hill outside Boston in 1775. It was part of a series of stamps honoring the American Bicentennial in 1976. It is worth 25 cents whether mint or used.

The Battle of Bunker Hill came about when rebelling colonists tried to fortify the hills overlooking British held Boston. The British succeeded in taking the hill the same day but at a cost of shocking casualties. After this battle, the British changed their tactics to not confront dug in troops as much. This allowed the Continental Army to break away and escape from many encounters that otherwise might have spelled doom. The British also resolved to hire more mercenaries to fill out their ranks and further limit British casualties.

John Trumbull was an artist and a veteran of the Continental Army. He was the son of the Governor of Connecticut and attended Harvard. His paintings of American Revolutionary figures and battles are synonymous with the time. Other paintings of his grace the back of the two dollar bill and the Hamilton portrait on the ten. Post war he plied his trade in London and Paris but was only financially secure when he sold a large group of paintings to Yale in exchange for an annuity. Trumbull got his own stamp in 1968.

Well remembering the sacrifice that the painting and it’s stamp showed. It is time to watch the parade. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

The American rebellion against Britain saw the new armed forces influenced by France. When the Navy started to have big power ambitions, modernization was required. Not just in ships but in training. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Todays stamp celebrates the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Doing so, it displays midshipman in original and then current uniforms. This is meant to imply a long and storied history. The reality in 1937 was that America was still a second rate naval power and was really a statement of ambition. The ambition to become preeminent at least in numbers was soon to be realized and the Naval Academy was a big force in making the Navy more professional.

The stamp today is issue A267, a five cent stamp issued by the United States in 1937. It was part of a five stamp issue in various denominations honoring the United States Navy. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents.

The United States Navy was heavily influenced in it’s beginnings by the French. The British Royal Navy was the preeminent naval power of the time and other navies like the French were more set up for coastal defense and commerce raiding. In the early days, training was in the form of cadet midshipmen learning at sea on Navy ships. There were those that saw this was inadequate as the small crews on the small ships were untrained. An on shore naval academy was contemplated that would be a five year course on sea and land that could provide the Navy a professional, stable force of naval officers. A proponent of this was Admiral Perry. He had colonial ambitions for America that required a professional British style Navy.

An incident occurred in 1842 that lead to the decision to start the academy. A USN brig, the USS Somers was on it’s first cruise to Liberia. A brig is a small sailing vessel with a crew of less than 200 including many new midshipmen. The mission was to bring Washington dispatches to a larger USN frigate. They ended up missing the frigate in Liberia and hoped to catch up with it in the West Indies. On the way the Captain Alexander Mackenzie heard a story passed along from below decks. The story was that the midshipmen were planning to mutiny, stealing the ship and becoming  a pirate ship near the Isle of Pines. Captain Mackenzie instructed the Purser to keep an eye on the midshipmen who the story had come from. Late at night meetings were being conducted with many sailors where papers were presented with Greek writing and Pirate slogans. At this point the Captain took things much more seriously. They were two weeks from port. The Midshipman was placed in irons. He now claimed the pirate story from him was a joke and the late night meetings were recruitment for a fraternity. While no court marshal was held, the officers unanimously felt the conspirators had to be put to death and this was done. There was no mutiny.

Back at port, the Captain found himself facing the court marshal, the midshipman killed was the son of the Secretary of the Navy. He was exonerated on a split decision with many accepting his explanation of the great distance to port and the inadequate restriction facilities on the small boat. Captain Mackenzie’s naval career was over but he was a noted Naval Historian. The Naval Academy was founded in 1845. The Somers affair was fictionalized in a book by Herman Melville called “Billie Budd”.

The Naval Academy continues today and graduates about a thousand midshipmen and now women. About a quarter go in the Marine Corps. The Academy accepts les than 10 percent of applicants and most subjective lists rank it high nationally on the education provided. There is no tuition and midshipmen are further given a small stipend. The US Navy is now very much in the Royal Navy tradition with worldwide deployments and quality at the highest level. The Chinese Navy now has more ships.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another of Gin to toast the US Navy, Royal Navy style. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

How to follow up going to the moon, how about a space station? Okay until it comes back down.So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

60s and 70s space program stamps were a great staple. They were often oversized and brightly colored, something new at the time. The stamps were not just from the USA and the USSR. The third world often got into the act. you could even tell whose cold war team the country currently routed for based on whether they were touting the American or Soviet program. In 1975, Laos had an issue honoring American astronauts. In 1977, following the communist takeover, there was another stamp honoring Soviet cosmonauts.

Todays stamp is issue A932, a 10 cent stamp issued by the USA on  May 14th, 1974. The stamp featured the Skylab space station on the one year anniversary of its launch. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether it is mint or used.

The idea for a space station was first proposed by German rocket scientist Wernher von Braum in the early fifties. The science fiction writer Author C Clark was also an early proponent. A space based telescope and a venue for extended periods in space would be invaluable for research. At the time, there was also a competing United States Air Force program for a manned reconnaissance satellite. This program was cancelled when it was realized that unmanned satellites were much more cost effective.

Work on Skylab intensified in 1969 when Dr. von Braum looked for ways to keep NASA employed after the moon landings. The large Saturn 5 rocket that handled the lunar landing could be launched unmanned to get Skylab into orbit and leftover smaller Saturn Ib could be used to bring crews to the station. Several Saturn Ib launches had been cancelled during this period  allowing for their recycling economically into the Skylab program.

The launch of Skylab was mostly successful but part of it’s solar panel power array broke off and left the station with less power. Some repairs were successfully made on the first manned mission to it. Three of four scheduled missions were carried out. The last one left astronauts Gerald Carr, Edward Gibson, and William Progue in space for a then record 84 days. The space station had an airlock allowing occupancy in normal clothing and the astronauts had private beds and access to a shower and toilet. Human waste was not spewed out into space but tanked and returned to earth for analysis. No doubt a less glamorous job at NASA.

Although the space station was left with enough supplies on board for future missions that could have also regenerated the orbit, the last mission was cancelled. It was hoped that the then in development space shuttle could provide a more economical way to visit the station  but the space shuttle program was very late and quite the budget buster.

With no further missions Skylab’s orbit slowly deteriorated until it reentered the atmosphere and crashed to earth in Australia in 1979. A Soviet satellite had crashed to Earth in 1978 leaving much radioactive debris in Canada. Skylab did not contain anything radioactive but still created much hysteria about where it would land. No one was hurt but there was a widely seen light show has it gradually broke apart on its last orbit. NASA was surprised how long it held together during re-entry. The program cost $11 billion in todays money. The Chinese space station Tiangong 1 reentered the atmosphere yesterday near Tahiti. That station went up in 2011 and ceased functioning in 2016.

Well my drink is empty so I will pour another to toast the 9 astronauts that spent time on Skylab. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.