Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Stamped envelope as work of art


I love that you can still use old — sometimes super-old — U.S. postage to send postcards and letters and packages. (I understand, too, that it's not the greatest way to support our underfunded and incredibly important postal-system infrastructure, but, by most accounts, the use of old postage accounts for only a tiny fraction of all mail sent.)

This is most of the front of a package that I received last year. (The entire front measures about 13-by-10 inches and wouldn't fit on my scanner.) It's adorned with more than 70 stamps, some of them dating to the 1930s, in order to reach the required postage of $3.64. That makes the envelope a wonderful work of art, all by itself. Certainly suitable for preservation.

I still love sending old-fashioned mail, with both old and new stamps. Later this week, I'll be sending out a new batch of Postcrossing postcards using the USPS's dandy Snowy Day Forever stamps.

2 comments:

  1. Holy Copious Amount of Stamps, Batman :) Love the World's Fair the most.

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  2. Thank you for sharing this. I always try to use a variety of old and new stamps on letters and packages - hoping it will create an interest and desire in people to collect stamps. That once very popular hobby of stamp collecting has greatly diminished in recent years. That is such a shame -- I learned more from my stamp collection about geography, culture and world affairs than all of my school and college courses covering the same areas. I urge everyone to use a variety of of colorful stamps(both old and new)when sending mail. Perhaps it will encourage the great hobby of stamp collecting. If nothing else, it certainly can create a "work of art" and make receiving mail much more interesting. Long live stamp collecting!!!

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