Merry Christmas to All and To All a Rate Hike Next Year

Postal regulators on Tuesday approved a temporary price hike of 3 cents for a first-class stamp, bringing the charge to 49 cents a letter starting Jan. 26.

Shown above, the first U.S. Christmas stamp.

For more on the first Christmas stamps, click here.

Canada Suspends Sale of 'P' Stamps

Kelly Pedro of the London Free Press reports. "Canada Post is playing Grinch and beating Canadians to the punch, suspending the sale of permanent stamps."

A Canada Post spokesperson is quoted as saying the move was to prevent people from buying ­permanent stamps to avoid the price hike.

According to the report, "You can’t buy the permanent stamps anymore — those with a ‘P’ on them, which Canada Post introduced in 2006 to save it from having to print millions of one-cent stamps and protect Canadians from postal rate hikes. They won’t be back on the market until March 31, 2014. That’s when it’ll cost you $1 for a stamp to mail a letter — 37 cents more than it does now."

Canada's 'P' stamps are similar to the United States 'Forever' stamps.

To read the entire article, click here.

Philately Keeps Him Company in Old Age

The Times of India features an article about 67-year-old Brijmohan Modi, a retired engineer, who recently won a silver medal at World Philatelist Exhibition in Rio de Janeiro.

Modi, whose collection of about 8000 stamps is themed on architecture and depicts architectural history between 3000BC and the 21st century.

"Stamps tell you a story beautifully," Modi said in the article.

He went on to say hobbies such as stamp collecting keep you company when you are old and alone.

Modi is quoted as saying, "Because of philately I never feel alone or sad. It keeps me company in my old age, keeps me occupied and energized."

To read the entire article, click here.
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Canada Post Plans to Phase Out Door-to-Door Delivery

Canada's Gander Beacon is reporting that "Local postal workers are reeling from the news that door-to-door delivery is being phased out."

According to the article, "Canada Post is phasing out urban home delivery and raising rates to cope with dwindling volume and mounting losses, the Globe and Mail is reporting.

"Besides job cuts, the federal Crown corporation announced five initiatives today to overhaul the postal system, including a move to so-called community mailboxes, higher postal rates effective March 31, 2014, expanding network of franchised post offices."

Shown above, stamps from the 1974 "Centenary of the Canadian Letter Carrier Delivery" series.

To read the entire article, click here. 

USPS Responds to Amazon's Drones Announcement

Thanks to Billy Greenwood who posted this via Facebook friend Mark A. Kellner.

Gingerbread House Christmas Stamps

Connecticut's Litchfield County Times reprints an article from Passport Magazine about the lady whose fanciful gingerbread houses grace a set of U.S. postage stamps for this Christmas season.

According to the piece, "Theresa Layman of Warren has made innumerable miniature houses in her career, both permanent structures meant for year-round display and the more perishable gingerbread houses that abound during the holiday season. This year her ephemeral gingerbread houses have achieved a certain immortality as they were chosen to appear as one of the U.S. Postal Service’s holiday stamp series."

Layman is quoted as saying, “The whole process took two years and I could not tell a soul. They are sticklers about that—they don’t want it to be public knowledge what a series will look like.”

Sally Anderson-Bruce, who took the photos that are used on the stamps, is also quoted.

“After she made her first house, the U.S.P.S. art director’s reaction was, ‘We’re almost there, but not quite.’ I sat down with her and we sketched houses and discussed colors. She said, ‘That’s all wrong,’ and I said, ‘You have to trust me on this—I’m a photographer thinking in stamp scale.’ We even altered the color of the gingerbread dough, so it was not so dark and dense.”

To read the entire article, click here.

Christmas Island Christmas Stamps

Christmas Island's Christmas stamps are always fun. This year's issue are no exception.

"Santa has taken to the air, but not in his traditional mode of transport. Here, he rides on the back of a Frigatebird, with a banner streaming out behind him, announcing tidings of the festive season.

"In the other design, a Frigatebird and a Red Crab ferry a payload of presents in a hot-air balloon, while Christmas Island can be seen far below in the blue waters of the Indian Ocean, " is how StampNews.com describe them

According to Wikipedia, "The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It has a population of 2,072 residents... It is called Christmas Island because it was discovered on Christmas Day."

Stamp Map of the United States

Reporter Kevin Warwick writes on the Chicago Reader website about a map of the United States made out of stamps.

The map belongs to Daniel Orkin who inherited the map from his great-aunt.

According to Warwick, "... the map, nearly four-by-five-feet in size, is rumored to have won a blue ribbon at the Minnesota State Fair in 1954. And not only is it incredible in its craftsmanship, each stamp represents the state in which it appears. For instance, Wyoming is cut solely from Devils Tower stamps." 

Orkin is quoted as saying the map is often mistaken from afar as a print. However, once they get close to it, they can see the depth and color, much of which hasn't faded.

To read the entire article, click here.

Postmarked December 7, 1941

One of the artifacts in the Smithsonian's Delivering Hope: FDR and Stamps of the Great Depression is an envelope postmarked December 7, 1941.

According to the writeup, "Private John R. Rion inadvertently left a mark on postal history by mailing an envelope from Honolulu, Hawaii, postmarked on December 7, 1941, the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor."

It goes on to say, "On December 6, 1941, Rion dropped an oversize envelope at the Honolulu post office, destined for his business partner back home in Perry, Iowa. Rion and his friend operated a barbershop. The envelope contained a photograph of a lovely young Hawaiian woman in a grass skirt with floral leis but no message. No message was necessary. Life in 'paradise' suited Rion, who spent his days cutting hair, trimming mustaches and beards, and shaving his fellow servicemen.

"The next morning -- December 7, 1941 -- the Honolulu post office cancelled Rion’s envelope at 8 a.m., the exact time that Japanese torpedo planes struck nearby Pearl Harbor and the unprepared U.S. Navy battleship force. The harbor filled with flames and smoke as Japanese bombs sank five of eight battleships and destroyed other ships and combat planes. Over 2,400 Americans died."

To read the entire article and view other items in the online exhibit, click here.

Nelson Mandela 1918 - 2013

For more postage stamp tributes to Nelson Mandela, click here.

FDR: The Stamp Collector in Chief

Artist Sues Over Lady Liberty Stamp Mix-up

Hannah Dreier of The Associated Press reports, "An embarrassing mistake involving a Statue of Liberty stamp could come back to haunt the U.S. Postal Service. The 'forever' stamp design released in 2011 was not based on the statue in New York Harbor, as intended, but on a replica outside the New York-New York casino hotel in Las Vegas. Now, the sculptor who made the Lady Liberty of the Las Vegas Strip is suing the government for copyright infringement."

According to the piece, "The two ladies do look unmistakably different. The Las Vegas sister has more stylish hair, and appears to be smirking slightly. Her crown also features a plaque, visible but not legible in the stamp, that reads, 'This One's For You Mom.'"

Drier points out that "In September, the artist who created the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington won a settlement of more than half a million dollars from the Postal Service on similar copyright infringement grounds."

To read the entire article, click here.

The Debate Rages On Over Potter Postage

Even the prestigious Los Angeles Times editorial board has weighed in on the controversy over the new Harry Potter stamps... "Proficiat Postaliosa! If Harry Potter commemorative stamps can cast a solvency spell on the U.S. Postal Service, that's some magic we can get behind. Tradition-bound philatelists should back off from their complaints."

It goes on to say, "Indeed, the Potter stamps combined all the ingredients guaranteed to upset traditionalists — commercial, photographic rather than artistic, and foreign to boot. Postal Service officials didn't even consult the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee — a panel formed more than 50 years ago to recommend stamp subjects that have culturally enduring value — probably in the full knowledge that they were writing a new installment of mail history that might best be titled "Harry Potter and the Philatelic Furor."

It concludes, "The goal of the Postal Service is clear: It hopes to conjure up some cash, to disapparate some of its red ink. In this era of its financial independence from government, that's a necessity, and there are worse ways to accomplish it than with a popular boy wizard, even one who isn't American."

To read the entire opinion piece, click here.

Inspector General Seeks Public Opinion on Harry Potter stamps

The Washington Post reports, "The U.S. Postal Service‘s inspector general is seeking public opinion about the recently released Harry Potter stamps as a test of how Americans feel about a new commercial direction for postage."

According to reporter Lisa Rein, "Inspector General David Williams  is asking stamp fans to weigh in on its blog and wondering whether the fictional British boy wizard created by author J.K. Rowling will 'cast a spell' on young collectors as the Postal Service hopes."

Rein pens, "The Washington Post first reported that the choice of Harry Potter by the Postal Service’s new marketing team had brought attention to an ongoing  battle between the marketers and a committee of high-powered cultural figures that has recommended images for new stamps for half a century. The staff  bypassed the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee in choosing Harry Potter, as it has for several other stamps."

Some of the things the Inspector General would like to know include;

• Should the Postal Service market stamp images that focus on a younger audience in hopes of reaching beyond traditional collectors and generating sales?

• Should the Postal Service be allowed to develop themes and images that do not focus on American heritage for the sake of sales?

• Or, should stamps be works of art and pieces of history and not based on fads or celebrities?

• What stamp images would you like to see?

To read the entire article, click here.

To voice your opinion on the Postal Inspector's blog, click here.

QR codes Digitally Enhance Snail Mail

The Mobile Commerce website reports, "Australia Post is providing mail senders with an entirely new service. With these barcodes, customers in Australia can link them to video messages that they have recorded and then send them as stamps on physical envelopes that can be scanned by the recipient and viewed on their smartphones or tablets."

It goes on to say, "The quick response codes are printed on the envelopes for free for customers that are sending their mail through the Express Post or Express Courier International Service from the postal service. The service comes with an instruction card that signals to the recipient that this is more than just a standard barcode. It encourages them to download the Video Stamp app, for free, from the Apple App Store and from Google Play."

For more on this story, click here.

World's First Christmas Stamp

Jonathan Dean writes on Great Britain's Lethbridge Herald website, "In 1898 Canada became the first country to issue a postage stamp which had a connection to Christmas. Originally, it was not meant to be a Christmas stamp, but the Postmaster-General of the time, William Mulock, was caught in a dilemma. He had presented the design of a stamp, which displayed a map of the British Empire, to Queen Victoria for her approval. The stamp was to be issued for the inauguration of the Imperial Penny Postage rate."

He goes on to say, "Mulock proposed to issue the stamp to “honour the Prince” (meaning the Prince of Wales) but when Queen Victoria asked him in a displeased manner “what Prince?,” he had to think quickly. “Why, the Prince of Peace, Ma’am,” Mulock replied. Mulock then had the inscription “XMAS 1898″ printed on the bottom of the stamp which has since come to be considered as the world’s first (unofficial) Christmas stamp."

To read the entire article, click here.