1.
Airmail
–
Airmail is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of being airborne. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send, Airmail may be the only option for sending mail to some destinations, such as overseas, if the mail cannot wait the time it would take to arrive by ship, sometimes weeks. The Universal Postal Union adopted comprehensive rules for airmail at its 1929 Postal Union Congress in London, since the official language of the Universal Postal Union is French, airmail items worldwide are often marked Par avion, literally, by airplane. For about the first half century of its existence, transportation of mail via aircraft was usually categorized and sold as a separate service from surface mail. Today it is often the case that mail service is categorized and sold according to transit time alone, thus even regular mail may make part of its journey on an aircraft. Such air-speeded mail is different from nominal airmail in its branding, price, specific instances of a letter being delivered by air long predate the introduction of Airmail as a regularly scheduled service available to the general public. Although homing pigeons had long used to send messages, the first mail to be carried by an air vehicle was on January 7,1785. It was flown by Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries, the letter was written by an American Loyalist William Franklin to his son William Temple Franklin who was serving in a diplomatic role in Paris with his grandfather Benjamin Franklin. The first official air mail delivery in the United States took place on August 17,1859, weather issues forced him to land in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and the mail reached its final destination via train. In 1959, the U. S. Postal Service issued a 7 cent stamp commemorating the event, balloons also carried mail out of Paris and Metz during the Franco-Prussian War, drifting over the heads of the Germans besieging those cities. Balloon mail was carried on an 1877 flight in Nashville. Starting in 1903 the introduction of the airplane generated immediate interest in using them for mail transport, an unofficial airmail flight was conducted by Fred Wiseman, who carried three letters between Petaluma and Santa Rosa, California, on February 17,1911. The worlds first official airmail flight came the day, at a large exhibition in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. The letters bore an official frank First Aerial Post, U. P, the aircraft used was a Humber-Sommer biplane, and it made the journey in thirteen minutes. The first official American airmail delivery was made on September 23,1911 by pilot Earle Ovington under the authority of the United States Post Office Department, the first official air mail in Australia was carried by French pilot Maurice Guillaux. On July 16–18,1914, he flew his Blériot XI aircraft from Melbourne to Sydney, at the time, this was the longest such flight in the world. The service was terminated due to constant and severe delays caused by bad weather conditions. In Germany, dirigibles of the 1920s and 1930s were used extensively to carry airmail, it was known as Zeppelin mail, the German Zeppelins were especially visible in this role, and many countries issued special stamps for use on Zeppelin mail
2.
Postage stamp
–
Postage stamp may also refer to a formatting artifact in the display of film or video, Windowbox. A postage stamp is a piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are printed on special paper, show a national designation and a denomination on the front. They are sometimes a source of net profit to the issuing agency, stamps are usually rectangular, but triangles or other shapes are occasionally used. The stamp is affixed to an envelope or other postal cover the customer wishes to send, the item is then processed by the postal system, where a postmark, sometimes known as a cancellation mark, is usually applied in overlapping manner to stamp and cover. This procedure marks the stamp as used to prevent its reuse, in modern usage, postmarks generally indicate the date and point of origin of the mailing. The mailed item is delivered to the address the customer has applied to the envelope or parcel. Postage stamps have facilitated the delivery of mail since the 1840s, before then, ink and hand-stamps, usually made from wood or cork, were often used to frank the mail and confirm the payment of postage. The first adhesive postage stamp, commonly referred to as the Penny Black, was issued in the United Kingdom in 1840, there are varying accounts of the inventor or inventors of the stamp. The postage stamp resolved this issue in a simple and elegant manner, concurrently with the first stamps, the UK offered wrappers for mail. S. Postal service for priority or express mailing, the postage stamp afforded convenience for both the mailer and postal officials, more effectively recovered costs for the postal service, and ultimately resulted in a better, faster postal system. With the conveniences stamps offered, their use resulted in greatly increased mailings during the 19th and 20th centuries, as postage stamps with their engraved imagery began to appear on a widespread basis, historians and collectors began to take notice. The study of stamps and their use is referred to as philately. Stamp collecting can be both a hobby and a form of study and reference, as government-issued postage stamps. The postage for the item was prepaid by the use of a hand-stamp to frank the mailed item. Though this stamp was applied to a letter instead of a piece of paper it is considered by many historians as the worlds first postage stamp. Rowland Hill The Englishman Sir Rowland Hill began interest in postal reform in 1835, in 1836, a Member of Parliament, Robert Wallace, provided Hill with numerous books and documents, which Hill described as a half hundred weight of material. Hill commenced a study of these documents, leading him to the 1837 publication of a pamphlet entitled Post Office Reform its Importance
3.
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin
–
LZ127 Graf Zeppelin was a German-built and -operated, passenger-carrying, hydrogen-filled, rigid airship which operated commercially from 1928 to 1937. When it entered service in 1928, it became the first commercial passenger transatlantic flight service in the world. It was named after the German pioneer of airships, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, during its operating life, the airship made 590 flights covering more than 1.7 million kilometers. It was designed to be operated by a crew of 36 officers, the LZ127 was the longest rigid airship at the time of its completion and was only surpassed by the USS Akron in 1931. It was scrapped for fighter plane parts in 1940. S, the LZ-126 had been delivered at NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey, in October 1924, where it was commissioned as the USS Los Angeles. Construction began in 1926 with the aid of a government grant although the majority of the necessary 2 million Reichsmarks in funding would eventually be raised by public subscription, the LZ127 was completed and launched in September 1928. It was powered by five Maybach VL-2 12-cylinder 550 hp engines that could burn either Blau gas or gasoline. Although the Graf could achieve a top airspeed of 128 km/h at its power of 1,980 kW. Some flights were made using only Blau gas carried in the dozen power gas cells which enabled the airship to cruise for up to 100 hours, using gasoline alone it was able to cruise for 67 hours, and up to 118 hours using both. The Graf Zeppelin had a lift capacity of 87,000 kg with a usable payload of 15,000 kg on a 10,000 km flight. An ascending ladder located in the map room allowed access to a keel corridor inside the hull, the map room also had two large windows, one on each side, which permitted navigators to shoot the horizon and sky with a sextant. The passenger cabins were set by day with a sofa which converted to two beds, one above the other, at night, the crews quarters were located inside the hull and were reached by a catwalk. The galley was equipped with an electric oven with two compartments and hot plates on top for cooking. One luxury that was not provided on the Graf Zeppelin was heating, the main generating plant was inside the hull and consisted of two fuel-burning generators. Two small ram air turbines attached to the main gondola on swinging arms supplemented electrical power for the room, internal lighting, the galley. Batteries stored the electrical energy so that operation was independent of airspeed. The gondola also had a generator for emergency power. The Graf was outfitted with the most modern equipment then available
4.
United States Post Office Department
–
The Post Office Department was the predecessor of the United States Postal Service, in the form of a Cabinet department officially from 1872 to 1971. It was headed by the Postmaster General, the Postal Service Act signed by President George Washington on February 20,1792, established the Department. Postmaster General John McLean, in office from 1823 to 1829, was the first to call it the Post Office Department rather than just the Post Office. The organization received a boost in prestige when President Andrew Jackson invited his Postmaster General, William T. Barry, the Post Office Act of 1872 elevated the Post Office Department to Cabinet status. The Postal Reorganization Act was signed by President Richard Nixon on August 12,1970 and it replaced the cabinet-level Post Office Department with the independent United States Postal Service on July 1,1971. The regulatory role of the services was then transferred to the Postal Regulatory Commission. Postage stamps and postal history of the United States
5.
Germany
–
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
6.
Brazil
–
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
7.
Great Depression
–
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place during the 1930s. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, in most countries it started in 1929 and it was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. In the 21st century, the Great Depression is commonly used as an example of how far the economy can decline. The depression originated in the United States, after a fall in stock prices that began around September 4,1929. Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide GDP fell by an estimated 15%, by comparison, worldwide GDP fell by less than 1% from 2008 to 2009 during the Great Recession. Some economies started to recover by the mid-1930s, however, in many countries, the negative effects of the Great Depression lasted until the beginning of World War II. The Great Depression had devastating effects in both rich and poor. Personal income, tax revenue, profits and prices dropped, while international trade plunged by more than 50%, unemployment in the U. S. rose to 25% and in some countries rose as high as 33%. Cities all around the world were hit hard, especially dependent on heavy industry. Construction was virtually halted in many countries, farming communities and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by about 60%. Facing plummeting demand with few sources of jobs, areas dependent on primary sector industries such as mining and logging suffered the most. Even after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 optimism persisted for some time, john D. Rockefeller said These are days when many are discouraged. In the 93 years of my life, depressions have come, prosperity has always returned and will again. The stock market turned upward in early 1930, returning to early 1929 levels by April and this was still almost 30% below the peak of September 1929. Together, government and business spent more in the first half of 1930 than in the period of the previous year. On the other hand, consumers, many of whom had suffered losses in the stock market the previous year. In addition, beginning in the mid-1930s, a severe drought ravaged the agricultural heartland of the U. S, by mid-1930, interest rates had dropped to low levels, but expected deflation and the continuing reluctance of people to borrow meant that consumer spending and investment were depressed. By May 1930, automobile sales had declined to below the levels of 1928, prices in general began to decline, although wages held steady in 1930
8.
Rio de Janeiro
–
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the second-most populous municipality in Brazil and the sixth-most populous in the Americas. The metropolis is anchor to the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area, Rio de Janeiro is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazils third-most populous state. Part of the city has designated as a World Heritage Site, named Rio de Janeiro. Founded in 1565 by the Portuguese, the city was initially the seat of the Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro, later, in 1763, it became the capital of the State of Brazil, a state of the Portuguese Empire. Rio stayed the capital of the pluricontinental Lusitanian monarchy until 1822 and this is one of the few instances in history that the capital of a colonising country officially shifted to a city in one of its colonies. Rio de Janeiro has the second largest municipal GDP in the country, the home of many universities and institutes, it is the second-largest center of research and development in Brazil, accounting for 17% of national scientific output according to 2005 data. The Maracanã Stadium held the finals of the 1950 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, the city is divided into 33 administrative regions. Europeans first encountered Guanabara Bay on 1 January 1502, by a Portuguese expedition under explorer Gaspar de Lemos captain of a ship in Pedro Álvares Cabrals fleet, allegedly the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci participated as observer at the invitation of King Manuel I in the same expedition. The region of Rio was inhabited by the Tupi, Puri, Botocudo, in 1555, one of the islands of Guanabara Bay, now called Villegagnon Island, was occupied by 500 French colonists under the French admiral Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon. Consequently, Villegagnon built Fort Coligny on the island when attempting to establish the France Antarctique colony, Rio de Janeiro was the name of Guanabara Bay. Until early in the 18th century, the city was threatened or invaded by several, mostly French, pirates and buccaneers, such as Jean-François Duclerc, on 27 January 1763, the colonial administration in Portuguese America was moved from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro. The kingdoms capital was transferred to the city, which, thus, as there was no physical space or urban structure to accommodate hundreds of noblemen who arrived suddenly, many inhabitants were simply evicted from their homes. The first printed newspaper in Brazil, the Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro, from the colonial period until the first independent decades, Rio de Janeiro was a city of slaves. There was an influx of African slaves to Rio de Janeiro, in 1819. In 1840, the number of slaves reached 220,000 people, the Port of Rio de Janeiro was the largest port of slaves in America. As a political center of the country, Rio concentrated the political-partisan life of the Empire and it was the main stage of the abolitionist and republican movements in the last half of the 19th century. Rio continued as the capital of Brazil after 1889, when the monarchy was replaced by a republic, until the early years of the 20th century, the city was largely limited to the neighbourhood now known as the historic city centre, on the mouth of Guanabara Bay. Expansion of the city to the north and south was facilitated by the consolidation and electrification of Rios streetcar transit system after 1905, though many thought that it was just campaign rhetoric, Kubitschek managed to have Brasília built, at great cost, by 1960
9.
Friedrichshafen
–
Friedrichshafen is an industrial city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance in Southern Germany, near both the borders of Switzerland and Austria. It is the capital of the Bodensee district in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. Friedrichshafen has a population of c, Friedrichshafen was established in 1811 as part of the new Kingdom of Württemberg, an ally of France during the Napoleonic Wars. It was named for King Frederick I of Württemberg, who privileged it as a free port, Friedrichshafen was created from the former city of Buchhorn, whose coat of arms it adopted. The new city incorporated the former village of Hofen, whose monastery was refurbished to serve as the summer residence of the Württemberger kings. King William I continued improving the city, including the purchase of the steamship Wilhelm, ministers and senior officials built villas around the royal castle, and many foreign tourists visited the city as well, including Tsar Alexander II of Russia. The first track laid by the Royal Württemberg State Railways connected the port to Ravensburg in 1847, heilbronn was connected in 1850, and a ferry to Romanshorn, Switzerland, began operating in 1869. Ferdinand von Zeppelin established his famous dirigible factory at the end of the 19th century, the 128m-long LZ1 airship rose from its mooring on July 2,1900. Other aviation companies, including Maybach, also arose in Friedrichshafen to help service the industry, the 1937 Hindenburg disaster and a subsequent embargo of American helium to Germany, however, effectively ended the production of German dirigibles. As of 2012,12 scheduled routes were offered with additional flights to selected cities, presently, a yearly aviation conference hosts the latest in European aircraft designs. AERO Friedrichshafen hosted an attendance of 33,400 in 2011, aero 2013 took place on 24–27 April 2013 at Friedrichshafen Airport. Friedrichshafen served the Nazis as a resort for workers, the presence of Zeppelin, Maybach, Dornier, and Zahnradfabrik also made it an important industrial center for Germany during World War II. Between 1942 and 1945, these factories employed hundreds of concentration camp prisoners from Dachau and Dora-Mittelbau and they were housed first at Zeppelins hangar and then, following its destruction during a raid, the V-2 factory Raderach. The prisoners were used to dig underground tunnels near Friedrichshafen to protect production sites from the repeated bombing. Between June 1943 and February 1945, the city was the site for eleven Allied bombing attacks, the most serious took place on April 28,1944, and destroyed most of the old town center. Approximately two-thirds of the city was destroyed over the course of the war, following World War II, Friedrichshafen was part of the French occupation zone before its incorporation into Baden-Württemberg, West Germany. The German aeronautics industry was again banned for years after the war. The citys principal recovery dates to its establishment as the seat of the Bodenseekreis district of, West Germany
10.
Seville
–
Seville is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville, Spain. It is situated on the plain of the river Guadalquivir, the inhabitants of the city are known as sevillanos or hispalenses, after the Roman name of the city, Hispalis. Its Old Town, with an area of 4 square kilometres, the Seville harbour, located about 80 kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean, is the only river port in Spain. Seville is also the hottest major metropolitan area in the geographical Western Europe, Seville was founded as the Roman city of Hispalis. It later became known as Ishbiliya after the Muslim conquest in 712, in 1519, Ferdinand Magellan departed from Seville for the first circumnavigation of the Earth. Spal is the oldest known name for Seville and it appears to have originated during the Phoenician colonisation of the Tartessian culture in south-western Iberia and, according to Manuel Pellicer Catalán, meant lowland in the Phoenician language. During Roman rule, the name was Latinised as Hispalis, nO8DO is the official motto of Seville. It is popularly believed to be a rebus signifying the Spanish No me ha dejado, meaning It has not abandoned me, the eight in the middle represents a madeja, or skein of wool. The emblem is present on the flag and features on city property such as manhole covers. Seville is approximately 2,200 years old, the passage of the various civilisations instrumental in its growth has left the city with a distinct personality, and a large and well-preserved historical centre. The city was known from Roman times as Hispalis, important archaeological remains also exist in the nearby towns of Santiponce and Carmona. The walls surrounding the city were built during the rule of Julius Caesar. Following Roman rule, there were successive conquests of the Roman province of Hispania Baetica by the Vandals, the Suebi, Seville was taken by the Moors, Muslims from North of Africa, during the conquest of Hispalis in 712. It was the capital for the kings of the Umayyad Caliphate, the Moorish urban influences continued and are present in contemporary Seville, for instance in the custom of decorating with herbaje and small fountains the courtyards of the houses. However, most buildings of the Moorish aesthetic actually belong to the Mudéjar style of Islamic art, developed under Christian rule and inspired by the Arabic style. Original Moorish buildings are the Patio del Yeso in the Alcázar, the city walls, in 1247, the Christian King Ferdinand III of Castile and Leon began the conquest of Andalusia. The decisive action took place in May 1248 when Ramon Bonifaz sailed up the Guadalquivir, the city surrendered on 23 November 1248. The citys development continued after the Castilian conquest in 1248, Public buildings constructed including churches, many of which were built in the Mudéjar style, and the Seville Cathedral, built during the 15th century with Gothic architecture
11.
Spain
–
By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
12.
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
–
The BEP does not produce coins, all coinage is produced by the United States Mint. With production facilities in Washington, DC, and Fort Worth, Texas, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing has its origins in legislation enacted to help fund the Civil War. In July 1861, Congress authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to issue currency in lieu of coins due to the lack of funds needed to support the conflict. The paper notes were essentially government IOUs and were called Demand Notes because they were payable on demand in coin at certain Treasury facilities, at this time the government had no facility for the production of paper money so a private firm produced the Demand Notes in sheets of four. These sheets were then sent to the Treasury Department where dozens of clerks signed the notes and scores of workers cut the sheets, initially, the currency processing operations in the Treasury were not formally organized. For years, however, the operations were known by various semi-official labels, such as the Printing Bureau, Small Note Bureau, Currency Department. It was not until 1874 that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing was officially recognized in legislation with a specific allocation of operating funds for fiscal year 1875. From almost the beginning of its operations, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing designed and printed a variety of products in addition to currency. As early as 1864, the offices which would become the BEP made passports for the State Department. Passports are now produced by the Government Publishing Office, other early items produced by the BEP included various government debt instruments, such as interest-bearing notes, refunding certificates, compound interest Treasury notes, and bonds. The production of stamps began in 1894, and for almost the next century the BEP was the sole producer of postage stamps in the country. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing officially took over production of stamps for the United States government in July 1894. Paper currency was produced on hand presses around 1918, utilizing plates capable of printing four notes per sheet. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing officially took over production of stamps for the United States government in July 1894. The first of the works printed by the BEP was placed on sale on July 18,1894, and by the end of the first year of stamp production, the BEP had printed and delivered more than 2.1 billion stamps. The United States Postal Service switched purely to private postage stamp printers in 2005, starting in 2011 the United States Postal Service in housed all postage stamp printing services. Plate capacity on power presses increased from four to eight notes per sheet in 1918 in order to greatly expanded production requirements related to World War I. Due to this reduction in size, the Bureau was able to convert from eight-note printing plates to twelve-note plates, the redesign effort came about for several reasons, chief among them a reduction in paper costs and improved counterfeit deterrence through better public recognition of currency features
13.
Selvage
–
A selvage or selvedge is a self-finished edge of fabric. The selvages keep the fabric from unraveling or fraying, the selvages are a result of how the fabric is created. In woven fabric, selvages are the edges that run parallel to the warp, in knitted fabrics, selvages are the unfinished yet structurally sound edges that were neither cast on nor bound off. Historically, the term applied only to loom woven fabric. The terms selvage and selvedge are a corruption of self-edge, and have been in use since the 16th century. In the print industry, selvage is the area of a printed or perforated sheet of any material. The term is widely used in philately. In textile terminology, threads that run the length of the fabric are warp ends, threads running laterally from edge to edge, that is from left side to right side of the fabric as it emerges from the loom, are weft picks. Selvages form the lateral edges of the fabric and are formed during the weaving process. The weave used to construct the selvage may be the same or different from the weave of the body of the fabric cloth, most selvages are narrow, but some may be as wide as.75 inches. Descriptions woven into the selvage using special jacquards, colored or fancy threads may be incorporated for identification purposes, for many end-uses the selvage is discarded. Selvages are finished and will not fray because the weft threads double back on themselves and are looped under and over the warp. A loom with a shuttle, such as most hand weaving looms, will produce a very different selvage from a loom without a shuttle, also in industry sometimes the selvage is made thicker with a binding thread. Selvages of fabrics formed on weaving machines with shuttles, such as hand looms, are formed by the weft turning at the end of each pick or every second pick, to prevent fraying, various selvage motions are used to bind the warp into the body of the cloth. Selvages are created to protect the fabric during weaving and subsequent processing but ideally should not detract from the finished cloth via ripples, contractions or waviness. In handweaving the selvage is generally the same thickness as the rest of the cloth, a plain weave selvage is the other option, where the last few threads on either side are woven in plain weave. In industry the selvage may be thicker than the rest of the fabric, more simply, they finish the left and right-hand edges of fabric as it exits the loom, especially for the ubiquitous criss-cross simple or tabby weave, referred to in industry as taffeta weave. Selvages on machine-woven fabric often have holes along their length, through the thick part
14.
Postal history
–
More precisely, philatelists describe postal history as the study of rates, routes, markings, and means. Postal history has become a philatelic collecting speciality in its own right, the specialized area of philatelic history defines postal history as the study of rates charged for postal services provided, routes followed and special handling of letters. Areas of special interest include disrupted or transitional periods, such as wars and military occupations, the philatelic-based definition of the term developed as the discipline developed. Philatelic students discovered that understanding and authentication of stamps depended on knowing why postal authorities issued particular stamps, where they were used and how. For instance, a stamp apparently used before any other stamp of its type could be proved a forgery if it was postmarked at a location known not to have received any stamps until a later date. Much information is not known about the workings of postal systems. The postal history topics described below are some of the better known, regional studies are typically based on a geographical area, such as countries of origin, native districts, cities, towns or villages, places associated with family roots, or workplaces. It is best to select a topic to study that is broad enough because narrow geographical boundaries will likely bring frustration due to the lack of material available, examples are, Postal History of Brünn 1638-1875, and Private and Foreign Post Offices in St. Thomas. Postal routes are alternate geographical based study areas that provide great variety due to the places and services available along a route. The era for a geographical based study can add dimension depending on the available or the changes that took place. The period should seek to tell a story and not limit the chosen topic. Aerophilately specialises in the study of airmail, crash covers, Imperial Airways Empire route mail to Australia and South Africa, CAM or FAM routes to and from the United States are a few topics. Balloon mail was employed during the Siege of Paris to get out of the city during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. Balloons can be manned and unmanned but balloon mail is not a common form of mail transport. Maritime mail is a theme that offers a variety of possibilities. Many ships applied their own endorsements so collecting examples of all ships of a shipping line can be aspired to. Maiden voyages and wreck covers are very desirable, naval mail can also fall in the Military mail category and are also known to apply identifying endorsements or postmarks. Rocket mail is the delivery of mail by rocket or missile and is a collecting area of aerophilately called Astrophilately
15.
First day of issue
–
Sometimes the issue is made from a temporary or permanent foreign or overseas office. Depending on the policy of the nation issuing the stamp, official first day postmarks may sometimes be applied to covers weeks or months after the date indicated. The ceremony may also be held in a location that has a connection with the stamps subject, such as the birthplace of a social movement. Computer vended postage stamps issued by Neopost had first-day-of-issue ceremonies sponsored by the company, personalised postage stamps of different designs are sometimes also given first-day-of-issue ceremonies and cancellations by the private designer. The stamps issued by private local posts can also have first days of issue, event covers, instead of marking the issuance of a stamp, commemorate events. A design on the side of the envelope explains the event or anniversary being celebrated. Ideally the stamp or stamps affixed relate to the event, cancels are obtained either from the location or, in the case of the United States, from the Postal Services Cancellation Services unit in Kansas City. The earliest known use of a stamp may or may not be the same as the first day of issue and this can occur if, Stamps are inadvertently sold or stolen, and cancelled on an envelope or package by unaware postal officials prior to the first day of issue. Minor changes, such as a different perforation, are noted by postal officials and this is also true of some major stamp issues, especially during periods of civil unrest or if government records have been lost. Some earlier stamps, especially high values, have not found any customers using them on the day of issue, EKUs for these may be weeks or even months after the official first day. Some stamps have not have had a designated first day of issue. The search for EKUs of both old and new stamps is an area of philately, and new discoveries are regularly announced. As the collecting of first day covers became more popular they began to appear on prepared envelopes, earliest Reported Postmark on stamped envelopes. The Official Blackbook Price Guide to United States Postage Stamps 2010
16.
Zeppelin mail
–
Zeppelin mail was mail carried on zeppelins, the German airships that saw civilian use from 1908 to 1939. The first zeppelin to carry mail was LZ4, in July 1908, followed shortly by LZ3. The early flights did not use any special markings, the first was an oval reading LUFTSCHIFF / SIGNALPOST around the edge and Z III in the center, used on LZ6 from August to October 1909. By 1911 a number of different postmarks were in use, an example was a circle reading AN BORD DES / ZEPPELIN / LUFTSCHIFFES, with a date in the center. These were actually applied on board the zeppelin while in flight, the zeppelins were taken into military service in 1914, and thereafter did not carry civilian mail, although military commanders had special handstamps applied to their mail. In late 1919, LZ120 Bodensee resumed flights and mail carriage, using postmarks much as before the war, LZ126 carried mail briefly in 1924 before it was delivered to the United States and renamed the Los Angeles. The Los Angeles carried mail between Lakehurst, New Jersey, Bermuda, and Mayagüez, Puerto Rico several times, LZ127 Graf Zeppelin had a long and celebrated career. Within weeks of its first flight in September 1928, the Graf Zeppelin carried the first airmail to go directly from Germany to the US, Germany issued special 2-mark and 4-mark stamps for the occasion. On the return trip, the zeppelin carried almost 52,000 postcards and 50,000 letters, in 1929, Graf Zeppelin circled the globe, with stops in Tokyo and Los Angeles. By the time it was out of service in June 1937. Although LZ129 Hindenburg is most famous for its end, for the 14 months of its existence, it carried considerable amounts of mail overseas. Most of the 17,609 pieces of mail on the last flight were destroyed in the fire, but a handful were recovered, some stamps were regular issues overprinted while other were specially designed. 1930 Graf Zeppelin stamps of the United States LZ127 Graf Zeppelin Airship Zeppelin Notes References Sources Zeppelinpost Spezial-Katalog eZEP
17.
Cancellation (mail)
–
A cancellation is a postal marking applied on a postage stamp or postal stationery to deface the stamp and prevent its re-use. Cancellations come in a variety of designs, shapes, sizes. Modern United States cancellations commonly include the date and post office location where the stamps were mailed, the term postal marking sometimes is used to refer specifically to the part that contains the date and posting location, although the term often is used interchangeably with cancellation. The portion of a cancellation that is designed to deface the stamp, some stamps are issued pre-cancelled with a printed or stamped cancellation and do not need to have a cancellation added. Cancellations can affect the value of stamps to collectors, positively or negatively, the cancellations of some countries have been extensively studied by philatelists and many stamp collectors and postal history collectors collect cancellations in addition to the stamps themselves. The first adhesive stamp was the Penny Black, issued in 1840 by Great Britain. The cancels were handmade and depicted a Maltese cross design, the color of the stamps was also changed to red-brown so as to ensure that the cancellation showed clearly. Britain soon abandoned the Maltese crosses and in 1844 began to employ cancellations displaying numbers which referred to the location of mailing, Early cancellations were all applied by hand, commonly using hand stamps. Where hand stamps were not available, stamps often were cancelled by marking over the stamp with pen and these methods generally involved the scraping or cutting-away of part of the stamp, or perhaps punching a hole through its middle. High speed cancellation machines were first used in Boston between 1880–1890 and subsequently throughout the country, today, cancellations may either be applied by hand or machine. Hand cancellation is used when sending unusually shaped mail or formal mail to avoid damage caused by machine cancellation. Postal meter stamps and similar modern printed to order stamps are not ordinarily cancelled by authorities because such stamps bear the date produced. Bullseye cancellation also called Socked on the nose or SOTN, is a collectors term for a cancellation, typically of circular design. Such cancellations are popular with stamp collectors because of their neatness and the fact that the time, date. The prevalence of bulls-eye cancellations varies considerably by country and time period, cancelled-to-order stamps, also known as CTOs, are stamps that have been cancelled by a postal authority, but were never used to transmit mail. CTOs are created by postal authorities to sell the stamps cheaply to stamp collectors, many Eastern European countries and others sold great numbers of CTOs to collectors in the 1950s - 1990s strictly for revenue. CTOs often may be identified as the stamps still retain their original gum, some authorities use the same canceller for all CTOs, and apply it very neatly in the corner of four stamps at one time. In some instances, the cancellations are actually printed as part of the stamp itself, deferential cancellation is a cancellation designed so as not to deface the image of the ruler or regent on the stamp
18.
Cachet
–
There are official and private cachets. They commemorate everything from the first flight on a particular route, cachets are also frequently made, either by private companies or a government, for first day of issue stamp events or second-day stamp events. They are often present on event covers, the first cacheted FDC was produced by prominent philatelist and cachet maker George Ward Linn in 1923, for the Harding Memorial stamp issue
19.
Cover (philately)
–
The term does not include the contents of the letter or package, although they may add interest to the item if still present. The term originates from the practice of covering a letter by folding a separate sheet about it to protect it. In the first half of the 19th century it became the fashion to cut the cover into a diamond or lozenge shape and this was the precursor of the version of the envelope known today. A philatelic cover is an envelope or post card prepared with a stamp and address, there are several different basic categories for covers. Names for cover types is also usually used by collectors of stamps. There exist a variety of covers that can fit into several basic categories. The categories begin with the most common types of collectible covers, sometimes there will be an area of overlap in the subject of categories. For example, there are First day covers that were sent with mail aboard airplanes on First flight mail runs. Event covers can include, First flights, or other types of covers. A military cover sent to a head of state can also be referred to as a Historic cover, a first day cover is typically an envelope with a postage stamp canceled on its first day of issue. The design or theme of the stamp may be printed on the cover to enhance its appeal to the philatelic community, an event cover celebrates an event or notes an anniversary. This is a cover that is collected as an example of a given stamp postally used on a cover, however older stamps with recent cancellations are usually philatelic, a pre-stamped cover is a cover that already has an imprinted stamp. First flight covers are those carried on an aircraft, usually authorized by a government or postal administration, commemorative covers can include a wide variety of subjects and usually have a commemorative design and often a special postmark that designates the place and date of the specific event. Military covers can include a variety of subjects that may include first flight covers. Mail sent from an Army Post Office or a Navy Post Office are common types of military covers, railroad covers is mail that was processed aboard special rail cars outfitted with an official post office where mail is processed en route to its general destination. Historical covers are those that have historical significance above and beyond that of the average collectible cover. These can include mail sent by Kings, Presidents or other heads of state, if the historical cover is i. e. to or from a General in an Army the cover then can also be classified as a military cover. Names for cover categories are used as general reference in philately
20.
Century of Progress
–
The theme of the fair was technological innovation. A Century of Progress was organized as an Illinois nonprofit corporation in January 1928 for the purpose of planning and hosting a Worlds Fair in Chicago in 1934. City officials designated three and a half miles of reclaimed land along the shore of Lake Michigan between 12th and 39th streets on the Near South Side for the fairgrounds. Held on a 427 acres portion of Burnham Park the Century of Progress opened on May 27,1933, the fairs opening night began with a nod to the heavens. Lights were automatically activated when the rays of the star Arcturus were detected, the star was chosen as its light had started its journey at about the time of the previous Chicago worlds fair—the Worlds Columbian Exposition—in 1893. The rays were focused on cells in a series of astronomical observatories. The fair buildings were multi-colored, to create a Rainbow City as opposed to the White City of the Worlds Columbian Exposition, the buildings generally followed Moderne architecture in contrast to the neoclassical themes used at the 1893 fair. One famous feature of the fair were the performances of fan dancer Sally Rand, other popular exhibits were the various auto manufacturers, the Midway, and a recreation of important scenes from Chicagos history. One of the highlights of the 1933 Worlds Fair was the arrival of the German airship Graf Zeppelin on October 26,1933, after circling Lake Michigan near the exposition for two hours, Commander Hugo Eckener landed the 776-foot airship at the nearby Curtiss-Wright Airport in Glenview. It remained on the ground for twenty-five minutes then took off ahead of a weather front bound for Akron. This triggered dissension in the days following its visit, particularly within the citys large German-American population, but it was Packard which won the best of show. Marine artist Hilda Goldblatt Gorenstein painted twelve murals for the Navys exhibit in the Federal Building for the fair, the first Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held at Comiskey Park in conjunction with the fair. To cap its record-breaking speed run, the Zephyr arrived dramatically on-stage at the fairs Wings of a Century transportation pageant, the two trains launched an era of industrial streamlining. Both trains later went into revenue service, the Union Pacifics as the City of Salina. The Zephyr is now on exhibit at Chicagos Museum of Science, Frank Buck furnished a wild animal exhibit, Frank Buck’s Jungle Camp. Over two million people visited Buck’s reproduction of the camp he and his native assistants lived in while collecting animals in Asia, after the fair closed, Buck moved the camp to a compound he had created at Amityville, New York. Planning for the design of the Exposition began over five years prior to Opening Day, local architects on the committee included Edward Bennett, John Holabird, and Hubert Burnham. Frank Lloyd Wright was specifically left off the commission due to his inability to work well with others, members of this committee ended up designing most of the large, thematic exhibition pavilions
21.
Airmails of the United States
–
After an intermittent series of government sponsored experimental flights between 1911 and 1918, domestic U. S. S. Army Air Forces temporarily took over the routes — with disastrous results — when all CAM contracts were cancelled by President Franklin D. Roosevelt owing to the Air Mail Scandal. In 1959 the United States Postal Service issued a 7 cent stamp commemorating Wises flight in the Jupiter, balloon mail was also carried on an 1877 flight in Nashville, Tennessee. After being duly sworn in by U. S, postmaster General Frank Hitchcock as the first U. S. Emphasizing the concept, in 1912 the United States printed a 20-cent stamp in the Parcel Post series showing a flying machine and titled, the mailbag behind the pilot is labeled No.1. Fleet and operating on a route between Washington, D. C. and New York City with a stop in Philadelphia. Among those who were on hand for the departure of the first flight from Washington, D. C. were President Woodrow Wilson, postmaster General Albert S. Burleson, and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt. Army 2nd Lt. George L. Boyle was selected to pilot aircraft #38262 on the first northbound flight which, unfortunately, turned out to be a somewhat less than successful initial venture. Almost immediately after taking off at 11, 47AM, Boyle became disoriented and started flying South when he followed the set of railroad tracks out of the city. Realizing that he was lost, Boyle attempted to find out where he was by making a landing just 18 minutes later at 12, 05PM in Waldorf, Maryland. Unfortunately, however, he broke the prop on his airplane when he made a hard landing, However aviators 1st Lt. Torrey H. Webb and 2nd Lt. James C. Edgerton completed the scheduled southbound relay with 144 pounds of mail, the site of the first continuously scheduled air mail service is marked by a plaque in West Potomac Park in Washington, D. C. The route was extended to Boston three weeks later on June 4, additional monochromatic stamps of similar design to C-3 were also issued contemporaneously with these rate changes in 16 cent and 6 cent denominations. In addition to New York and San Francisco, the route included thirteen intermediate stops where mails were exchanged and aircrew relieved. This was accomplished at airfields located at Bellefonte, Cleveland, Bryan, Chicago, Iowa City, Omaha, North Platte, Cheyenne, Rawlins, Rock Springs, Salt Lake City, Elko and Reno. For the first eight years of the Air Mail service, all mails were flown entirely in U. S. Government owned and operated airplanes, dean Smith was one of those that helped instigate the pioneer air mail services and was the first to fly mail by night. Better known as The Kelly Act, it directed the U. S, as of September 1,1927, all U. S. Air Mail routes were being flown under contract by commercial carriers. The contractor for both routes was the Ford Motor Company, operating as Ford Air Transport, using a fleet of six Ford built Stout 2-AT aircraft
22.
Commemorative stamp
–
A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event, person, or object. The subject of the stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike definitive stamps which normally depict the subject along with the denomination. Many postal services issue several commemorative stamps each year, sometimes holding first day of ceremonies at locations connected with the subjects. Commemorative stamps can be used alongside ordinary stamps, there are several candidates for the title of first commemorative. A 17-cent stamp issued in 1860 by New Brunswick, showing the Prince of Wales in anticipation of his visit is one possibility. The United States 15-cent black stamp of 1866 depicts Abraham Lincoln, and was the first stamp issued after his assassination in 1865, the U. S. also issued a 5-cent stamp in 1882 showing the recently murdered President James A. Garfield. In addition, the United States issued stamped envelopes for the Centennial Exposition in 1876, although technically these are postal stationery and not stamps. In 1870 Peru issued a 5¢ scarlet Locomotive and Arms stamp and is regarded as the first commemorative postage stamp, other premier commemorative stamps were issued by New South Wales in 1888 to mark its 100th anniversary, the six types all include the inscription ONE HUNDRED YEARS. Commemoratives followed in 1891 for Hong Kong and Romania, in 1892 and 1893 a half-dozen nations of America and Spain issued commemoratives for the 400th anniversary of the Wests discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. The organization broke up after attempts at getting collectors at large to comply with their wishes. Today the early commemoratives are still prized by collectors, definitive stamp Airmail stamp Stamp collecting Postage stamp Commemoration of the American Civil War on postage stamps Territories of the United States on stamps
23.
Smithsonian Institution
–
The Smithsonian Institution, established in 1846 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge, is a group of museums and research centers administered by the Government of the United States. Originally organized as the United States National Museum, that ceased to exist as an administrative entity in 1967. Additional facilities are located in Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York City, Texas, Virginia, more than 200 institutions and museums in 45 states, Puerto Rico, and Panama are Smithsonian Affiliates. The Institutions thirty million annual visitors are admitted without charge and its annual budget is around $1.2 billion with 2/3 coming from annual federal appropriations. Other funding comes from the Institutions endowment, private and corporate contributions, membership dues, and earned retail, concession, Institution publications include Smithsonian and Air & Space magazines. The British scientist James Smithson left most of his wealth to his nephew Henry James Hungerford, Congress officially accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation, and pledged the faith of the United States to the charitable trust on July 1,1836. The American diplomat Richard Rush was dispatched to England by President Andrew Jackson to collect the bequest, Rush returned in August 1838 with 105 sacks containing 104,960 gold sovereigns. Once the money was in hand, eight years of Congressional haggling ensued over how to interpret Smithsons rather vague mandate for the increase, unfortunately, the money was invested by the US Treasury in bonds issued by the state of Arkansas which soon defaulted. The United States Exploring Expedition by the U. S. Navy circumnavigated the globe between 1838 and 1842, in 1846, the regents developed a plan for weather observation, in 1847, money was appropriated for meteorological research. The Institution became a magnet for young scientists from 1857 to 1866, the Smithsonian played a critical role as the U. S. partner institution in early bilateral scientific exchanges with the Academy of Sciences of Cuba. The Smithsonian Institution Building began construction in 1849, designed by architect James Renwick Jr. its interiors were completed by general contract Gilbert Cameron and the building opened in 1855. The Smithsonians first expansion came with construction of the Arts and Industries Building in 1881, Congress had promised to build a new structure for the museum if the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition generated enough income. It did, and the building was designed by architects Adolf Cluss and Paul Schulze, meigs of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The National Zoological Park opened in 1889 to accommodate the Smithsonians Department of Living Animals and this structure was designed by the D. C. architectural firm of Hornblower & Marshall. More than 40 years would pass before the museum, the Museum of History. It was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White. That same year, the Smithsonian signed an agreement to take over the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum opened in the Old Patent Office Building on October 7,1968. The first new building to open since the National Museum of Natural History was the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
24.
National Postal Museum
–
The National Postal Museum, located opposite Union Station in Washington, D. C. United States, was established through joint agreement between the United States Postal Service and the Smithsonian Institution and opened in 1993. The museum is located across the street from Union Station, in the building once served as the Main Post Office of Washington, D. C. from 1914. The building was designed by the Graham and Burnham architectural firm, the building in which the museum is housed, also serves as the headquarters of the United States Department of Labors Bureau of Labor Statistics as well as a data center for the United States Senate. The museum houses many interactive displays about the history of the United States Postal Service, also on display is a vast collection of stamps. As a Smithsonian museum, admission is free and this museum also houses a library. In 2005, the museum acquired John Lennons childhood stamp collection, in September 2009, the museum received a $8 million gift from investment firm founder William H. Gross to help finance the expansion of the museum. The museum now hosts the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery named in his honor, since 2002, the museum has presented the Smithsonian Philatelic Achievement Award every two years. List of philatelic libraries Owney U. S
25.
International Standard Book Number
–
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
26.
Provisional stamp
–
Linns World Stamp Almanac defines a provisional stamp as a postage stamp issued for temporary use to meet postal demands until new or regular stocks of stamps can be obtained. An interesting example of issuing provisional stamps occurred during the Spanish–American War when supplies of stamps were low and they are known as the Puerto Principe provisional stamps of 1898–1899. These were replaced by another provisional set produced by overprinting U. S. stamps in the United States for Cuba and this second set of provisional stamps was sold for about eight months before the U. S. could print Cuban stamps. The U. S. civilian provisionals also included overprinted postal cards, Provisional stamps are usually made by overprinting, surcharging and occasionally by bisecting pre-existing stamps. Many of these stamps are notable for their rarity, or for their relative crudity of design. Postmasters provisionals also played a significant role in history of the Confederate States of America. Many localities began furnishing them after U. S. mail service ceased delivering Confederate mail in June 1861, st. Louis Bears Gallery of U. S. Postmasters Provisional Stamps, 1845–47 U. S. provisional issue stamps Postage stamps and postal history of the Confederate States
27.
Alexandria "Blue Boy" Postmaster's Provisional
–
The Alexandria Blue Boy is a very rare stamp. It takes its name from the feature makes it unique. Postally used, the Blue Boy remains affixed to its original envelope, although the use of provisional stamps was officially prohibited after the introduction of a national stamp system, it continued sporadically, including in the case of the Blue Boy. During the Alexandria provisionals period of use, the city was in the process of being retroceded from the District of Columbia to the state of Virginia, the Alexandria provisionals were produced under the auspices of the citys postmaster, Daniel Bryan. The provisionals were printed in pairs from a form that produced two not-quite-identical images, classified by philatelic experts as Type I and Type II. The Blue Boy is one of the four surviving Type I stamps, both types conform to same general circular design, which presents an outer rim of rosettes surrounding a smaller ring of text, ALEXANDRIA * POST OFFICE. *, and, at the center, the horizontal word PAID with the numeral 5 below it. However, while Type I has forty rosettes, only appear on Type II—which, moreover, differs from Type I in its spacing of letters. The provisionals two-at-a-time production indicates that at least one Type II Blue Boy must have once existed, the single surviving Blue Boy today remains attached to the yellowish envelope on which it was originally mailed, cancelled with a PAID handstamp. Its last recorded sale took place in 1981, when a German collector acquired it through the dealer David Feldman for one million dollars, value and statistical singularity are not the only factors that have made the Blue Boy the subject of stamp lore. A romantic story also attaches to it, which was recounted in a Washington Post article. The stamp only narrowly escaped destruction, for at the bottom of his letter James wrote Burn as usual and he and Janette had to wait almost six years before they could marry, at last tying the knot on February 17,1853. At some time, Janette put the letter into a box, and it was not found there until 1907. Later that year, a collector acquired the envelope for $3,000, the letter remained among the family papers. List of notable postage stamps US provisional issue stamps A Gallery of U. S. Postmasters Provisional Stamps, 1845-47 The Primitives, USA Postmaster Provisionals David Feldman
28.
New York Postmaster's Provisional
–
That law, passed on March 3,1845, standardized nationwide mail rates, with the result that the use of stamps became a practical and reliable method of postal prepayment. Baltimore announced the issue of a provisional stamp one day after New York, on July 15, the New York issue has been cited as the most elegantly executed and widely used of the group of provisionals issued by eleven different offices between 1845 and 1847. Preparations for issuing the New York provisional were among the first acts of the city’s Postmaster, Robert H. Morris, for the production, Morris contracted a leading security printer specializing in banknotes, Rawdon, Wright and Hatch. Creating a design around a stock image of George Washington. Louis Bears appeared in 5¢, 10¢ and 20¢ values--Morris deemed a single stamp sufficient for New York. Although New York Provisional, introduced on July 14,1845, was the first stamp issued by a local U. S. Postmaster. New Yorkers were already familiar with stamps previously offered by mail carriers. Indeed, they were accustomed to seeing stamps that bore George Washingtons image. S. Post Office purchased the company as a subsidiary for continued local mail pick-up, the New York Provisional was available only at the citys post office, and to guarantee authenticity, the Postmaster or one of his representatives initialed every stamp in red ink. In all, Rawdon Wright and Hatch made eighteen shipments of the Provisionals to the New York Post office, the appearance of the first U. S. national postage stamps on July 1,1847 put an end to the necessity for provisionals. For the 1847 U. S. stamps, the printer furnished a design similar in style to that of the provisional issue, New York Postmaster’s Provisionals exist in a welter of collectible varieties which differ widely in value on the philatelic market. Unused examples also fetch a premium--particularly those with gum, which are quite rare, while most of the stamps were printed on a bluish wove paper, different paper types are occasionally found, and examples on these, too, can be quite costly. The Postmasters provisionals offered by U. S, US provisional issue stamps A Gallery of U. S. Postmasters Provisional Stamps, 1845-47
29.
St. Louis Bears
–
St. Louis, whose postmaster, John M. Wimer, instigated the production, was one of eleven cities to produce such stamps. Bears were offered in three denominations, 5¢, 10¢ and 20¢, the earliest known postmark date on a stamp of the issue is November 13,1845, moreover, none of the ten other cities produced a provisional stamp design so ambitious in its visual content. The use of provisionals ceased in the U. S. after national postage stamps became available on July 1,1847, the drawing is meant to suggest that the bracketed final ds are covered by the bears paws, but fails in this aim because artist miscalculated the letter-spacing. A third bear is discernible within the disc, which contains a crescent moon. Although in use for only a year-and-a-half, the St. Louis plate was twice modified, in its original form, it produced only 5¢ and 10¢ stamps. At some time in 1846 the Postmaster decided that a 20¢ denomination would be of use, after sufficient quantities of 20¢ stamps had been stocked the plate was again reworked to restore the original 5¢ denominations. It is known that the first two printings produced 2,000 5¢ stamps,3,000 10¢ stamps and 1,000 20¢ stamps, “The use of these stamps of the St. Louis postmaster was entirely optional, and they never became very popular. The writer has examined a number of files of letters written from St. Louis in 1845,1846 and 1847 without finding a single stamp thereon. ”Most of the bears were apparently acquired by two firms—Nisbet & Co. Private Bankers, and Crow & McCreery, Wholesale Dry Goods—which used them for business correspondence and made available to their employees. These were authenticated by the noted philatelic expert Charles Haviland Mekeel and enabled him to confirm the existence of the 20¢ denomination. At that time, Mekeel could write “No stamps in the world have commanded the price that certain of the stamps of St. Louis have realized. ”More Bears have since surfaced and their prices have been far outstripped by scarcer philatelic treasures, nevertheless they remain impressively rare, particularly examples of the 20¢ value. Almost all of them, moreover, are in poor condition. The most common varieties of 5¢ and 10¢ Bears are valued in the Scott catalogue at $8,000 in used condition, examples on other paper types are more costly still. US provisional issue stamps A Gallery of U. S. Postmasters Provisional Stamps, 1845-47
30.
1869 Pictorial Issue
–
The 1869 Pictorial Issue is a series of definitive United States postage stamps released during the first weeks of the Grant administration. The term pictorial denotes a revolutionary aspect of the 1869 series, here the designers rethought the concept of what constituted an appropriate stamp subject, changing the established convention that U. S. postage stamps should present images only of dead statesmen. Such statesman-portraits appear, in fact, on three values of the pictorial issue, the 1-cent Franklin, the 6-cent Washington and the 90-cent Lincoln. The other seven denominations contain a variety of images, three stamps illustrate means of postal transportation, delivery on horseback, by locomotive and by steamship. Two others present historical tableaux drawn from paintings of crucial hemispheric events, John Vanderlyns Landing of Columbus. The remaining values are variants of a patriotic eagle-and-shield design, an innovation no less striking of the 1869 pictorials was the introduction of the first two-color stamps of U. S. postal history, on the four denominations of 15 cents and greater. The 12-cent value, with its image of the S. S. Adriatic, is described often as a particularly beautiful stamp. Most other values in the series, by contrast, are rare, especially the greater denominations, quite different, however, was the reception the pictorials faced in the months after their release during 1869. Early philatelic reviews were favorable, but soon severe criticism began to appear in the press, at the pleasure of the Postmaster General, without additional cost to the department. The remarkably brief tenure of the pictorials meant that relatively few stamps could be printed, the truth, however, seems to be more complicated, for the tone of much of the press commentary about the pictorials suggests that an organized campaign was attempting to discredit them. That the pictorials had been created by the widely reviled Johnson administration was likely to win them adherents. Grants postmaster and his team were constrained to issue them without having had any say in their design or production, and thus had no reason either to like or to defend the new issue. Moreover, even before the pictorials appeared they had already acquired enemies as a result of the previous years unusually contentious competition for the contract to produce the 1869 U. S. stamps, the pictures, in fact, were only one unusual factor. The stamps were smaller in dimension than previous ones and nearly square in format and it is perhaps not a coincidence that public criticisms frequently deplored the small size and unfamiliar shape of the pictorials. Not all objections, however, can be dismissed as illegitimate and it was surely impolitic to oust Washington from his accustomed place on the normal first-class-letter stamp and replace him with a Baldwin locomotive. The New York Evening Mail fulminated, Our old three cent stamps were as perfect as well could be…. They were National and American, as ought to have been. The head of Washington was venerable…, but now think of the miserable, confused looking thing, with its wretched printing, that the Post Office has given us for the present three cent stamp
31.
Black Jack (stamp)
–
After the War was over, poverty inspired people to wash off the cancellation from the stamps and attempt to use them again. The Government then decided to put a device onto the stamps known as a grill. The first grill applied to a Black Jack stamp is known as the Z grill, over the next few months, the Post Office successively employed three smaller grill patterns in the production of this stamp. Definitive stamp US Presidents on US postage stamps Siegel Auction Galleries - 1867–68 U. S
32.
Columbian Issue
–
The Columbian Issue, often known as simply the Columbians, is a set of 16 postage stamps issued by the United States to commemorate the Worlds Columbian Exposition held in Chicago during 1893. Fifteen denominations of the series were placed on sale by post offices on Monday and they were available nationwide, and were not restricted to the Exposition in any way. A sixteenth stamp—-8 cents, to provide for the newly lowered registered letter fee—- was added during March, as a result, the face value of the complete set was $16.34, a substantial sum of money during 1893. In approximate 2009 dollars, the set would cost almost $390, as a result, of the most expensive stamps, especially the dollar values, only a small number were sold. Unsold stamps were destroyed after the Columbian Issue was removed from sale on April 12,1894, in all, the American Banknote Company printed more than 2 billion Columbian stamps with a total face value exceeding $40 million. Opinion regarding the Columbian Issue at the time was mixed, the set sold well and did not have the sort of criticism that resulted in the withdrawal of the 1869 Pictorial Issue. Ridiculing the $5 stamp, the Chicago Tribune stated that it could be used for one purpose. The Columbians did not immediately increase in value after being removed from sale, however, as of 2006, depending on condition, a full set might be valued at $100,000 or more. It was not only in design and commemorative purpose that this proved a watershed in U. S. stamp history. The Columbians, like all previous U. S. stamps, had been produced by private security printers on limited-term contracts periodically presented for bidding and they proved, however, to be the last U. S. stamps printed by a private company for many years. Not until 1944 would a company again produce U. S. stamps. Entitled Columbus in Sight of Land, this lowest value in the set was based on a painting by William Powell and was one of several to be engraved by Alfred Jones and this stamp was used primarily to pay postage on third-class mail. By a substantial margin, this is the most common stamp of the Columbian Issue, more than 1 billion copies were printed, more than 70 percent of the total number of Columbian Issue stamps, in part because it paid the first-class rate for domestic mail. Damage to one transfer roll resulted in a notch in the hat of the third man on Columbus right on some copies of this stamp. Entitled Flag Ship of Columbus, this depicts the ship Santa Maria. It is generally believed that a Spanish engraving was the model for this stamp, regardless of its original source, Robert Savage performed the engraving used. Although more than 11 million were printed, this also did not pay any standard postal rate during 1893. Instead it was considered a stamp, meant to be used in combination with other small denomination stamps to pay higher rates
33.
Hawaiian Missionaries (stamps)
–
The Hawaiian Missionaries are the first postage stamps of the Kingdom of Hawaii, issued in 1851. They came to be known as the Missionaries because they were found on the correspondence of missionaries working in the Hawaiian Islands. Only a handful of these stamps have survived to the present day, in the early 19th century, mail to and from Hawaii was carried by ship captains on an ad hoc basis. By 1849, partly as an effect of the California Gold Rush. In response, the Hawaiian government established a post office and set postal rates, henry Martyn Whitney, the first postmaster, was authorized to print stamps for those rates in June 1851, which he did using the printing press of The Polynesian, a weekly government newspaper. The design was simple, consisting only of a central numeral of the denomination framed by a standard printers ornament. The top line read Hawaiian / Postage for the 2- and 5-cent values, & U. S. / Postage for the 13-cent value, reflecting its unusual role of paying two different countries postage. A thin line surrounded by a thicker line framed the stamp as a whole, all stamps were printed in the same shade of blue on pelure paper, an extremely thin tissue-like paper prone to tearing, 90% of known Missionaries are damaged in some way. Although the stamps were in use until as late as 1856, of the four values issued only about 200 have survived, of which 28 are unused. The 2-cent is the rarest of the Hawaiian Missionaries, with 15 copies recorded, an astonishing lore surrounds this stamp, in 1892, one of its earlier owners, Gaston Leroux, was murdered for it by an envious fellow philatelist, Hector Giroux. The most valuable of all Missionary items is a cover sent to New York City bearing the only use of the 2-cent value on cover, as well as a 5-cent value. This is known as the Dawson Cover and it was in a bundle of correspondence shoved into a factory furnace around 1870, but packed so tightly that the fire went out. The factory was abandoned,35 years later, a workman cleaning the factory for reuse discovered the stuffed furnace, moore agreed by early December, and the Honolulu Post Office opened on December 21,1850. In 1920,43 additional Missionaries appeared on the philatelic market and they came from a Charles Shattuck, whose mother had apparently corresponded with a missionary family in Hawaii, were acquired by George H. Grinnell and then sold to dealer John Klemann for $65,000. But in 1922, the stamps authenticity became the subject of a court case and they have been studied on a number of occasions since then, but opinion remains divided. Further analysis showed that the ink and paper were consistent with 1850s types, even so, the Royal Philatelic Society declared the stamps to be counterfeit. A book detailing their findings was published in 2006 titled The Investigation of the Grinnell Hawaiian Missionaries by the Expert Committee of the Royal Philatelic Society London by Patrick Pearson. In May 2006, Mystic Stamp Company announced that they had acquired 36 of the Grinnells from the descendants of George Grinnell, many of the surviving Missionaries are repaired, and David Beech has commented that they probably would not have survived had they not been
34.
Lost Continental
–
The Lost Continental is a light-purple 24¢ United States postage stamp depicting General Winfield Scott, printed around 1873 on vertically ribbed paper by the Continental Banknote Company. Conclusive evidence did not begin to emerge until a collector named Eraldo Magazzu discovered the Lost Continental while examining a lot of old stamps he had purchased in 1967. Much debate and analysis followed before the stamp, on the evidence of its paper-type, was certified as authentic by the Philatelic Foundation in 1992. How many other copies of this Scott issue printed on paper by Continental still exist is a question that philatelists believe will never be answered. Accordingly, Continental took over the production and distribution of National’s existing 1870 definitive stamp series, which included the 24¢ Winfield Scott issue. National turned over the plates and dies for all twelve stamps in the issue. For the values between 1¢ and 15¢, Continental made new printing plates produced from dies it had slightly altered by adding small “secret marks” to them. One piece of evidence is the occasional use of ribbed paper for a stamp. Early experts soon found paper or ink characteristics that could identify a 30¢ or 90¢ stamp as either a National or a Continental. The denomination was seldom used, and, in fact, the Post Office discontinued it in 1875, finally, scholars believed that the total of remaindered 24¢ stamps eventually destroyed by the Post Office virtually equaled the total that had been delivered to it by Continental. “It is quite possible, ” wrote Lester Brookman, “that this stamp should be dismissed with the remark made by the old farmer when he first saw a giraffe, which was There ain’t no such animal. ”Eventually, the Scott Catalogue deleted its entry for the Continental 24¢ issue, not to restore it until the ribbed-paper copy received certification. Mooz believes that in subsequent deliveries of 24¢ sheets to the Post Office, during the years of National’s contract, the Post Office issued some 1,145,000 24¢ stamps. About ten years after the denomination was discontinued,364,950 copies were destroyed and it is unknown, of course, whether these included any remaining from the original National stocks. By ironic contrast, only about 2,000 copies were produced of the earliest National Banknote version of the 24¢ Scott stamp—the issue incised with the H grill. A grilled example of this extremely scarce stamp, postally used, is valued in the Scott catalogue at $7,500, no unused example with grill has ever been found
35.
Trans-Mississippi Issue
–
The Trans-Mississippi Issue is a set of nine commemorative postage stamps issued by the United States to mark the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition held in Omaha, Nebraska. The finely engraved stamps depict scenes of the West and are presently valued much by collectors. This was only the second commemorative issue offered by the U. S, an important factor in the creation of this series was that the Director of Publicity for the Exposition—- Edward Rosewater, publisher of the Omaha Daily Bee—- was something of an expert in stamps. Rosewater, nationally prominent in Republican politics, had selected by President McKinley to preside over the U. S. delegatation at the 1897 Congress of the Universal Postal Union. These stamps would have been of the large Columbian size but rotated in orientation, with the sides at the top. Indeed, Gary subsequently made the set even more expensive by adding four more stamps to the series, including a $2 denomination, the new set would have to compare favorably with—- or even better—- the preceding, privately produced Columbian commemoratives. Philatelic protests notwithstanding, they were received favorably by the general public and they were sold until the end of the year, and postmasters were directed to return unsold stock, which was then incinerated. Ears of wheat and corn appear in odd corners of the frame, while all have been praised for their quality, the $1 value, commonly called the Black Bull, stands out from the rest. Ironically, it does not reproduce a Western American scene, but was taken from a painting of cattle in the Scottish Highlands by John A. MacWhirter, the vignettes of the issue were executed by three engravers, Marcus Baldwin, George Smillie and Robert Ponickau. Baldwin also engraved all the frames except that of the 2¢ stamp, interestingly, the 2¢ stamp violates the convention of the time that no living person could be depicted on a U. S. Postal issue. In most of the images, the color scheme was preserved. The designs are reproductions, each has a small 1998 in the left corner. In a revival of the designs, the pictures in the 2¢ and $2 stamps were swapped. Trans-Mississippi Lester George Brookman, The Nineteenth Century Postage Stamps of the United States pp. 207–228 Trans-Mississippi at National Postal Museum Image of the bi-color re-issue of 1998
36.
Western Cattle in Storm
–
Western Cattle in Storm is a $1 stamp issued by the United States Post Office Department as part of the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Issue. Western Cattle in Storm is one of nine postage stamps in the series. The breed of cattle used in the issue were meant to represent the ruggedness of the American West, that’s because the design originated in a John MacWhirter painting depicting cattle in a winter storm in central Scotland. An engraving of this painting by one C. O and it was actually painted in a small farmhouse near the Scottish highland town of Calendar. The scene did not depict an event west of the Mississippi, but it might have been, little did the designer know that the scene depicted was in Scotland, not the Western U. S. as was supposed. A full apology was issued to the owner of the painting. Both the frame and the vignette of the stamp were engraved by Marcus W. Baldwin, the $1 stamp and the eight others in the Trans-Mississippi series were originally to be two-toned, with all the vignettes printed in black and the various frames printed in different colors. In preliminary bi-color die essays, a frame surrounds the cattle herd. The color initially chosen for the $1 value, announced by the Post Office on May 16, was light brown, only on May 26, four days before printing began, did the public learn that the denomination would instead be printed with black ink. The entire printing run of Western Cattle in Storm lasted three days, from June 1–3,1898, in all, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing shipped 56,900 copies of the stamp to post offices. The earliest known date of delivery to postmasters of stamps of the Trans-Mississippi Issue is June 15,1898, the assigned first day of issue was June 17. There had been considerable pre-issue publicity regarding the series, which resulted in a rush on the initial limited supplies available at post offices. But such interest was short-lived, especially as post offices replenished their stocks, the novelty of the new wore off. On December 31,1898, the sale of stamps to postmasters was discontinued, afterward, an unknown quantity of unsold stamps were destroyed. While today Western Cattle in Storm is regarded as one of the most attractive U. S. stamps ever produced, there have been detractors. John Luff, one of the most influential writers of his day, apparently did not think much of the stamp or others in the series. “The stamps are poorly conceived and executed, overloaded with ornaments, heavy in color and blurred in printing, ” he wrote in 1902. But by 1933, author Ralph Kimble described the Trans-Mississippi stamps as “perhaps the most attractive set of commemoratives which we have ever had, in 1934, Stamps magazine asked readers to vote on the most beautiful stamp in the world
37.
Z Grill
–
The Benjamin Franklin Z Grill, or simply Z-Grill, is a 1-cent postage stamp issued by the United States Postal Service in February 1868 depicting Benjamin Franklin. All three of these stamps were produced at the time, along with more common Z-grill versions of the contemporary 2-cent, 3-cent, 5-cent and 12-cent stamps. The purpose of grilling was to permit the canceling ink to be absorbed into the stamp paper. The use of grills was found to be impractical and they were discontinued after 1870. There are currently two known 1-cent 1868 Z-Grills, both with cancellation marks. One is owned by the New York Public Library as part of the Benjamin Miller Collection and this leaves only a single 1-cent 1868 Z-Grill in private hands. This 18681 cent Z-Grill stamp sold for $935,000 in 1998 to Mystic Stamp Company, siegel Auctions auctioned the stamp as part of the Robert Zoellner collection. Zachary Sundman, the son of Mystic Stamp Company President Donald Sundman, was the individual responsible for wielding the paddle. Later, in late October 2005, Sundman traded this Z-Grill to financier Bill Gross for a block of four Inverted Jenny stamps worth nearly $3 million, by completing this trade Gross became the owner of the only complete collection of U. S. 19th century stamps. Both Z-Grills were on display at the National Postal Museum along with the first part of the Benjamin Miller Collection from 27 May 2006 until 1 October 2007 and this anomaly arose because Scott created its system long before the Z pattern gained general recognition as a separate variety of grill. Accordingly, Scott assigned capital letters to the Z Grill denominations, the 1¢ Z Grill appeared as #85A and the 2¢ through 15¢ Z Grills were designated 85B through 85F. This expedient enabled Scott to retain the numbers for all subsequent stamps. Inverted Jenny List of notable postage stamps Classification and photos of grills of US stamps More information about the Benjamin Franklin 1-cent Z Grill
38.
All Aboard! 20th Century American Trains
–
In August 1999, the United States Postal Service issued a set of 33¢ postage stamps entitled All Aboard. 20th Century American Trains to pay tribute to American industry and design, paul and Pacific Railroad, the Super Chief of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and the 20th Century Limited of the New York Central Railroad. Descriptive text regarding each of the trains was listed on the side of each stamp. At the same time, the USPS offered for sale a booklet of 20 U. S. Postal Service Ready-To-Mail Stamped Postal Cards which contained four sets of the five paintings, 20th Century American Trains 1999 USPS Stamp Program Anthony J. Bianculli. Railroad History on American Postage Stamps
39.
Americana series
–
The Americana series was a series of United States definitive postage stamps issued between 1975 and 1981. Denominations ranged from one cent to five dollars and it superseded the Prominent Americans series, and was in turn superseded by the Great Americans series and the Transportation coils. The series consisted of twenty stamps issued in sheets, twelve issued in coils, while the stamps were not part of the Bicentennial Series of stamps released from 1971-1983, their theme fit in well with the idea of looking back over two hundred years. For the series celebrated basic American concepts that have animated the entire history. Unlike any previous series, the Americana set did not contain a single image of a president. Indeed, this was the first American definitive series in which no human being appeared. The preceding Prominent Americans series had been produced without basic design guidelines, resulting in widely diverse pictorial. In clear contrast, the Americana series strictly followed a plan that dictated the appearance both of individual stamps and of stamps grouped together in blocks of four. Each denomination is framed on two adjacent sides by text which curves around one corner of the stamp. The twenty sheet-stamps are planned so that, in a group of four rising values, the cycles through the four corners, top left, top right, bottom left. Each of the five resulting blocks accordingly appears with text that completely surrounds its perimeter, among philatelists, the Americana series is most famous for the CIA invert. An invert error of the $1 lamp stamp, it was so named because the sheet was bought by a CIA employee who had gone to the post office to buy some stamps. Copies have sold at auction for as much as $15,000, the 16 cent and the 29 cent were issued for a proposed, but never implemented business rate for first class mail, which was to be higher than the personal rate. The proposed rate was rejected by the Postal Rate Commission which chose instead a 15 cent rate for all mail, since the 16 and 29 cent stamps satisfied no rate, and were not a convenient round number, they saw little use. The design for the 1 cent stamp was originally designated for a never-issued 26 cent stamp, many of the stamps were issued in mid-November in New York City. At the time, it was usual to have a stamp issuance during the annual show for the American Stamp Dealers Association. The March stamps issued in New York were issued at the ASDA-sponsored INTERPEX show, the series was the first U. S. omnibus definitive series since 1875 not to include a five cent stamp. 11,1979 $1, rush lamp, Americas Light Fueled by Truth and Reason, San Francisco CA and nationwide, Jul
40.
Bicentennial Series
–
For the American commemorative coin mintings of 1975-1976 see United States Bicentennial coinage. The Bicentennial Series was a series of American commemorative postage stamps. It began with the issuance of a showing the logo for the Bicentennial celebrations on July 4,1971. While many of the stamps showed the Bicentennial logo as an element or contained the words US BICENTENNIAL or BICENTENNIAL ERA. After the initial issue, few other stamps were issued through 1974, an annual issue of four stamps took place, in 1972, honoring Colonial craftsmen, in 1973, Colonial communications, in 1974, the First Continental Congress. In addition, a block of four stamps was issued in 1973 for the bicentennial of the Boston Tea Party, in 1975, with the bicentennial of the start of the Revolutionary War, the series swung into high gear. Four stamps were issued honoring relatively obscure Contributors to the Cause and this painting format continued with an issue for the Battle of Bunker Hill in June. On January 1,1976, a set of three stamps was issued, showing the well-known painting, on February 23, a pane of 50 stamps with the State Flags was issued, each stamp containing the Bicentennial logo and the words BICENTENNIAL ERA 1776-1976. Four souvenir sheets were issued for the INTERPHIL international stamp exhibition in May and it was followed with a Bicentennial stamp honoring Benjamin Franklin. Originally, the United States Postal Service had planned to issue another 50-stamp pane, plans were shelved after the American Philatelic Society threatened the USPS with a black blot for excessive stamp issuance. Instead, a strip of four stamps showing part of the John Trumbull painting showing the presentation of the Declaration was issued on July 4, a painting-format stamp was issued January 3,1977 for Washingtons successful battle at Princeton. Similarly painting stamps were issued to commemorate the Battle of Oriskany, four stamps were issued on July 4 to honor craftsmen with the legend Skilled Hands for Independence. Additional stamps honored the Articles of Confederation and the arrival of Lafayette, one of the Christmas stamps that year, though not formally part of the series, showed Washington kneeling at Valley Forge. By 1978, not only was the nation losing interest in the Bicentennial, only a single stamp, noting the French Alliance, was issued that year. One Bicentennial stamp was issued in 1979, depicting John Paul Jones, the next stamp issue would not occur until 1981, when two stamps marked the Battle of Yorktown. The final stamp in the series, noting the Treaty of Paris in the format, was issued in 1983. A number of items of stationery were issued. Notably, the USPS found issuance of postal stationery a convenient way of marking the bicentennial of some of the more obscure, instead, a postal card was issued
41.
Celebrate the Century
–
Celebrate the Century is the name of a series of postage stamps made by the United States Postal Service featuring images recalling various important events in the 20th century in the United States. Ten of these sheets were issued, with each sheet depicting events of one decade of the 20th century, fifteen stamps were embedded into each sheet. For the first eight sheets of the fifteen stamps, one stamp of each sheet was printed using the intaglio process, all the sheets were printed by the Ashton-Potter USA printing company. These gummed souvenir sheets had a large format of 7½x9. The stamps were arranged on the sheets in four rows, an area was devoted to the description of the decade as depicted by the stamps on it. The description of each stamp was printed on the side of the sheet. The words Arts, Sports, Historical Events ran on the left edge, Technology, Entertainment, Science ran on the top edge, Political Figures. The stamp images for the first five sheets were selected by Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee, the CTC stamp program was publicised through an award winning travelling railway museum tour, named Celebrate the Century Express commissioned by the USPS consisting of a locomotive and three cars. This train travelled for eighteen months from 11 March 1999 through fall 19 November 2000 throughout the continental US to showcase the mail to the US public. During its journey it travelled through 100 cities in 42 states and had more that 111,000 visitors including 6,000 children, the CTC Express received the U. S. Transportation Departments Design for Transportation National Awards 2000, and the TRANNY Award of Excellence from the Transportation Marketing, on 25 May 2000 the US Congress commended the USPS for receiving these awards. The program kits were created for students from grades 3 to 6, in a survey taken in 1999 of 20,000 educators, it was revealed that the program was a big success. Title, Dawn of the Twentieth Century, du Bois, The Gibson Girl,1903 World Series, Robie House Background image, The Wright brothers stand beside their Flyer II, near Dayton, Ohio. Intaglio stamp, The Gibson Girl created by illustrator Charles Dana Gibson, inspired by the teddy bear stamp on this sheet, the USPS in 2002 issued a set of four teddy bear stamps. Title, America Looks Beyond its Borders, date of issue,3 February 1998. The stamp commemorating Carver was the second issued by the US Postal Service, date of issue,28 May 1998. Title, Depression, Dust Bowl, and a New Deal, date of issue,9 October 1998. Denomination, 32¢ No of stamps in sheet,15 The stamps, 1st row, the photo of Florence Owens Thompson, taken by photographer Dorothea Lange and titled Migrant Mother, is an iconic image of the Great Depression
42.
Federal Duck Stamp
–
It is also used to gain entrance to National Wildlife Refuges that normally charge for admission. It is widely seen as a collectable and a means to raise funds for wetland conservation, President Herbert Hoover signed the Migratory Bird Conservation Act in 1929 to authorize the acquisition and preservation of wetlands as waterfowl habitat. The law, however, did not provide a permanent source of money to buy, on March 16,1934, Congress passed, and President Roosevelt signed, the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act, popularly known as the Duck Stamp Act. Duck stamps are now issued by the United States government and all state governments, many foreign countries, including Canada, Australia, Mexico, Russia and the United Kingdom have also issued duck stamps. The issuing authorities within the governments that release duck stamps are usually conservation. These programs must be created by some form of legislation for the stamps to be accepted as a valid governmental issue. Labels featuring ducks also are issued by special interest groups, such as Ducks Unlimited. Their issues are referred to as society stamps and these items technically are not duck stamps because the fee structure and disposition of funds are not legislated. However, society stamps are very collectible and often appreciated, funds raised by these organizations are also used for waterfowl and conservation efforts. Valid organizations and societies of this type perform a service to conservation by their donations and efforts. Duck stamps are issued once a year, in most states, hunters are required to purchase both a federal and state stamp before hunting waterfowl. Waterfowl hunting seasons vary, but most begin in September or October, so naturally, currently, the federal stamp and more than half of the state stamps are issued by July. Many are issued on the first day of the new year, the annual federal duck stamp had a face value of $1 in 1934, jumped to $2 in 1949, and to $3 in 1959. In 1972 the price increased to $5, then up to $7.50 in 1979, $10 in 1987, $12.50 in 1989, in 2015 the price of federal duck stamp rose to $25. For every $15 stamp sold, the government retains $14.70 for wetlands acquisition and conservation. Most state conservation stamps have a value of $5. New Hampshire has the lowest price at $4, Louisiana non-resident is the highest at $25, funds generated from state stamps are designated for wetlands restoration and preservation, much like the federal funds, but with a more localized purpose. Most state agencies sell their stamps at face value, however, some also charge a premium to collectors buying single stamps, to help cover overhead costs
43.
Five cents John Kennedy
–
The five cents John Kennedy is the first United States postage stamp to pay tribute to President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. It was issued May 29,1964 for his 47th birthday, with a first day of issue cancellation in his hometown of Boston, the overall shape of the stamp is a horizontal rectangle, of a size standard for the time. Textual inscriptions form a frame around the design, and include a quotation from Kennedys 1961 inaugural address. And the glow from that fire can truly light the world, along with Kennedys full name and the years of his birth and death. The required U. S. POSTAGE inscription is positioned inconspicuously in small letters vertically next to the Eternal Flame, the stamp is in a single blue-gray color. Soon after the assassination of President Kennedy, the United States Post Office Department decided to issue a stamp to be issued on his next birthday. This was a challenging deadline, requiring the stamp to be designed, approved by the Presidents widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, the first proposals of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing were turned down in December 1963 and in early January 1964. The decision was made to call in the Loewy/Snaith design firm. Over the next three months, Loewys designers worked on the project, to maintain secrecy, Loewy locked the papers and projects in his safe every day, putting his thumbs fingerprint on them. Finally, Mrs. Kennedy was consulted, choosing both the design proposal and its color, a similar to that used in the interior of Air Force One. Reproductions of some proposals are printed with the article
