Stamps In Popular Culture Essay Research Paper

Stamps In Popular Culture Essay, Research Paper

Postmaster General John Wanamaker stirred up quite a commotion back in 1893 when he issued the nation’s first commemorative postage stamps. He was rebuked by a congressional joint resolution that protested the ”unnecessary” stamps. Wanamaker, an astute businessman, defended his actions by saying that the commemorative stamps could become moneymakers. Little did he know the impact commemorative stamps would have on the American culture in future years. Stamp Collecting has become the most popular hobby in the world.

The controversial first commemorative stamps were the Columbian Exposition Issue. Printed by the American Bank Note Company, the stamps were issued to commemorate the World Columbian Exposition held in Chicago, Illinois, from May 1 to October 30, 1893. The stamps celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the New World. The series consisted of 15 stamps with face values ranging from one cent to five dollars. Each bore the dates 1492 and 1892. Postmaster General Wanamaker added a 16th, eight-cent stamp to the series when the fee for registering a letter was reduced from 10 cents.

Like commemorative stamps today, these stamps were immensely popular with collectors and customers. The critics denounced them. Various artists who visualized Columbus differently based the designs on paintings. The one-cent Columbian showed Columbus clean-shaven, spying land from aboard his ship. The two-cent, taken from the Landing of Columbus painting in the Rotunda of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., showed him landing, presumably a few hours later, with a full beard. These discrepancies were quickly pointed out.

Even the denominations of the stamps were condemned. Because First-Class postage was only two cents per ounce and only four pounds could be mailed, the Chicago Tribune pointed out that even with the addition of the eight-cent stamp for registration fees, the most that could be spent on anything mailed First-Class was $1.36. This made the two-, three-, four-, and five-dollar Columbian stamps useless for mailing. Further, the only way to get the full value for the five-dollar Columbian would be to mail a 62-pound, eight-ounce package of books at the book-rate class of postage.

Wanamaker replied that regular stamps also were available and that nobody had to buy the Columbians. Further, some people did mail packages of books abroad using the First-Class stamps. To show his confidence in the stamps, Postmaster General Wanamaker spent $10,000 of his own money to buy 5,000 of the two-dollar stamps and put them in his safe as an investment. The stamps, still in the safe when Wanamaker died in 1926, were valued at $4.50 each.

In spite of the criticism, the new Columbian stamps were a sensation. Hundreds of people stood in line at the Columbian Exposition and elsewhere to buy the stamps. Two billion commemorative Columbian stamps were sold for 40 million dollars and were credited as a factor in the Exposition’s success.

Times have certainly changed since Wanamaker issued the first commemorative stamp. Today, The U.S. POSTAL SERVICE is stamping out American culture. Hardly a week goes by that the agency doesn’t come out with a stamp honoring someone or something, depicting an achievement or noting a problem. The stamps come in a rustling, slithering flood of 5 billion to 6 billion a year: singles, sheets, rolls, blocks, and booklets. Who can keep up with them.

As I grew up I remember my Gram, who was a stamp collector, could pretty well stay abreast of American stamp issues, largely by getting my aunts, uncles, and neighbors to save envelopes for her. My Mom did the same, although from time to time she’d have to dip into her allowance to buy unusual issues from mail-order companies.

No more. For one thing, used stamps seem to be going out of style, except for first-day covers, stamped envelopes postmarked on the day and at the place where they were first issued. Otherwise, most collectors now buy ”mint” stamps by the block or booklet, pane or sheet. Dealers and serious collectors have open accounts with the Postal Service so that they receive new issues automatically.

There are still plenty of hobbyists out there, casually collecting stamps by such whims as subject, style or color and mounting them in albums, but stamp collecting has become big business. Linn’s Stamp News runs stamp index graphs the way the Wall Street Journal tracks stock markets. And, just as the New York Stock Exchange long ago grew away from men cutting deals on a Wall Street curb, stamp trading has gone electronic and online. eBay auctions stamps under more than 100 major categories, each embracing many subspecialties. Sales and swaps are widely available among more than 20,000 private, commercial and official Web sites. If there’s someone out there who shares your particular philatelic passion, you can find him.

As the popularity of collecting has grown, so has the clamor from organizations and interest groups for stamps honoring their favorite people, places and events. The Postal Service gets some 40,000 new stamp proposals a year. Many are casual, or too crude or clumsy to consider, but most represent the best efforts of sincere citizens and are taken seriously by the 15-member Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee, established in 1957. The members, whos