The Stamp Collectors Corner

So many countries around the world were affected by WWII and many have created postage stamps to pay tribute to their fallen soldiers and those who served in what will hopefully be the last world war.

In May of 2004, the United States Postal Service also released a postage stamp to honor the men and women who served in the armed forces during WWII.  The postage stamp featured a computer generated image rather than an artist’s rendering.  The stamp showcases one of the two 43 foot memorial arches and shows a portion of the pillars that line the outer edge of the monument.  Although this stamp is nice, those of us who have seen the monument in person might agree that the digital image does not quite show the beauty of this amazing structure with its enormous pillars, memorial plaza and Rainbow Pool.

Stamp Center has a huge variety of postage stamps from all around the world that pay tribute to WWII.  Stop by and check out the WWII postage stamps from New Zealand, Solomon Islands, China, Isle of Man, Moldavia, Belgium, Nevis, Liberia, and St. Vincent to just name a few.

Some mythical creatures are believed to originate from real creatures that were often described from traveler’s tales.  For good storytelling purposes, mythical creatures often took on the form of two actual creatures combined into one making a new hybrid creature.  Others were just ones that were made up and downplayed for good storytelling purposes.  Over the years, mythical creatures have been featured in plays, movies, board games, video games and literary works.  With their continued popularity; it is likely that they will continue to do so for many years to come.

In June of 2009, Great Britain paid tribute to Mythical Creatures by releasing a set of six commemorative postage stamps.  These delightful stamps feature popular creatures that you often see in mythology.  Unicorns, dragons, giants, pixies, mermaids, and fairies can be found in this lovely set. One interesting addition that Great Britain added to these stamps is on the sheet margins.  On the margins you will see imagines of the mythical creature’s eyes.  The eyes however do not match the eyes of the actual creatures that are printed on the six postage stamps.

Please stop by Stamp Center to check out our wonderful selection of postage stamps we have in stock and consider us for all of your philatelic needs.

Anyone who has ever had the opportunity to visit Washington, DC and the pleasure of visiting the World War II Memorial can surely attest to the amazing beauty of the site.  Majestic and serene come to mind when I think of the times that I have been there in the past.  The incredible monument pays tribute to all those that served in the United States armed forces during World War II.

On May 29, 2004, the United States Postal Service issued a commemorative postage stamp that paid tribute to the WWII Memorial as well.  The dedication ceremony took place at the Memorial site in Washington, DC where thousands of distinguished WWII veterans and their families attended.

Stamp Center has the World War II Memorial First Day Cover available and it would make a fantastic addition to any stamp collection.  We offer free shipping to our US customers and $4.50 flat rate shipping to our international customers.  We hope to see you soon!

In August of 2005, car makers and sports car enthusiasts were given a special treat with a neat set of postage stamps issued by the United States Postal Service.  The “America on the Move: 50s Sporty Cars” commemorative postage stamps were a fantastic way of celebrating American car history and culture of the 1950’s.

In 1949 when many American servicemen were returning from the war, they were bringing home small two passenger cars called “sports cars”, that were already popular in Europe.  US car manufacturers took notice of these special new cars and quickly decided that they too had to design and develop their own versions of these new sleek machines. These postage stamps reflect the first sports cars made in the United States.

The stamps featured five classic cars that dazzled the American public.  The 1953 Chevrolet Corvette, the 1954 Kaiser Darrin, the 1952 Nash-Healey, the 1953 Studebaker Starliner, and the 1955 Ford Thunderbird were all nicely represented on these beautiful stamps.

If you are looking to add these super cool America on the Move: 50s Sporty Cars to your collection; you can find them available at Stamp Center today.  We offer free shipping to our US customers and only $4.50 flat rate shipping to our international customers.  Please consider Stamp Center for all of your philatelic needs.

The Punch and Judy puppet show can be traced back as far as the 16th century.  Originally of Italian roots, the marionette show made their debut in London, England in 1662.  It did not take long for the show, which was originally geared towards adult audiences, to become very popular among the crowds.  As word spread of this whimsical puppet show, many other regional variations of the popular pair were produced throughout Europe.  The show features Punch, who is known for his outrageous and sometimes aggressive behavior, and his wife Judy, the sensible character.

In the 18th century, The Punch and Judy show could be found in taverns, halls, and large tents.  You could often find sizeable crowds gathered at the tell-tale red and white striped puppet booths waiting for the Punch and Judy show at seaside resorts throughout England.  It did not take long for the show to cross over the Atlantic and grace England’s American colonies.  It was so popular that even George Washington is said to have bought a ticket to see the show! 

In September of 2001, Great Britain issued a set of commemorative postage stamps to pay tribute to the much loved characters that have provided hundreds of years of entertainment to countless amounts of people.  If you would like to add the Punch and Judy postage stamps to your collection, contact Stamp Center today.  We offer free shipping to our US customers and $4.50 flat rate shipping to our international customers.

Great Britain is often known for making seemingly normal everyday items into fantastic looking postage stamps.  In August of 2009, they released a miniature sheet of four stamps that feature England’s iconic wall mounted red mail post boxes.  Along with the set is a fully illustrated presentation pack that contains information about the past 200 years of England’s post boxes.  This is not the first time that Great Britain has featured their mailboxes on postage stamps.  In 2002, they also issued a set of commemorative mailbox postage stamps as well.

Before mail post boxes were created, post offices had a slot in the door to place the unstamped letters in.  France is credited with creating the first mailbox in 1653. The first post box appeared in Jersey in 1852.  Initially mailboxes were only of the pillar variety (free standing) and they were all painted green.  Over time others were created to include the wall box, pedestal box and lamp box and they were all painted red.  Here’s an interesting bit of England’s mailbox trivia…when the IRA bombed a shopping center in England in 1996, one of the only things that survived the bombing was a Victorian pillar mail post box that dated back to 1887.

Be sure to stop by Stamp Center to check out all of our fantastic postage stamps and philatelic supplies.  We offer free shipping to US residents and $4.50 flat rate to our international customers.

The Little Prince was written in New York in 1943 by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.  He was a French aviator who was working and living in the United States at the time of its writing and it was by far his most famous novel.  Although the book is considered a simple children’s tale, it is filled with profound riddles that speak to adults as well as children.  The book has been translated into over 180 different languages and is one of the best selling books of all time, boasting sales over 80 million books worldwide.

In 1998, France issued a set of beautiful postage stamps to pay tribute to The Little Prince.  The postage stamps depict five original illustrations from the famous novel by Saint-Exupery.

At Stamp Center you will find The Little Prince – two color trial proof sheets that feature all five illustrations from the famous novel.  Additionally, Stamp Center offers free shipping to our US customers and $4.50 flat rate shipping to our international customers.  Stop by Stamp Center for these and hundreds of other beautiful postage stamps.

The United States Postal Service joined forces with Great Britain in a joint issue with a couple of adorable postage stamps.  Issued on January 10, 2006, each set in the US and England contained eight stamps, but only two of the stamps in each set were issued in both sets.  The stamp sets featured popular children books with amazing illustrations that have universal appeal in both countries.

The two joint stamps are The Very Hungry Caterpillar from England and Maisy’s ABC from the United States.  There was one difference in the stamps when they were issued though.  The British version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar featured two “bites” from the hungry caterpillar and the US version did not.  Other books represented in the British set include The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher, Kipper, The Enormous Crocodile, Paddington Bear, Boots, and The White Rabbit.

You might not be able to find these cute Great Britain issued Animal Tales Illustrations from Children’s Literature joint issue postage stamps in England, but you can find them available at Stamp Center.  The great news is that we offer free shipping to our US customers and $4.50 flat rate shipping to our international customers too.

In continuation from Friday…

Once the artist for the stamp design was chosen for the Wildlife of the 50 States set, he went about his task of creating a list of the 50 forms of wildlife.  To his surprise 46 of the 50 that he submitted to the Citizen’s Advisory Committee was approved, at least initially that is.  This set of stamps sparked a series of debates and changes that lasted for quite some time within the Committee.  All of the members of the Committee went to great efforts to make sure that each state was adequately represented and that each detail on every stamp was perfect.  By the end of the planning period, some of the original designs were changed and this beautiful set is the end result. It should be noted that the stamps were not identified as belonging to individual states; rather each state was represented in some way within the set.

The next pane of 50 postage stamps issued by the United States Postal Service came in April of 2002 and was called “Greetings from America.”

The Wildlife of the 50 States would make an excellent addition to any stamp collection and Stamp Center has them in stock and ready to ship out.  We offer free shipping to our customers in the United States and $4.50 flat rate shipping for our international customers.

In continuation from Wednesday…

One of the reasons that the Citizen’s Advisory Board chose to create these wildlife postage stamps is that they found that the general public was more interested in animals than the other suggestions that were coming in from the public.  One road block that they encountered, however; is that not all states have a particular state animal that they claim as their own.  So it was decided that the stamps would depict one “wildlife” representative that lives in each of the 50 states instead.  Up for consideration for the postages stamps were mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, fauna, and crustaceans.

Here’s a little stamp history for you to enjoy.  The first wildlife postage stamps appeared in 1869.  They were in 10 cent and 30 cent values and pictured the bald eagle.  The USPS did not issue the next animal postage stamp until 1923 and that was of a bison.  It took the USPS another 24 years to issue the next animal postage stamp.  In 1947 they issued one of the great white heron.  Since 1956, animal postage stamps have been popping up at a much more regular pace, usually to promote environmental protection or conservation issues.

Please check back on Monday for the conclusion to this post.