We thank NobleSpirit of Pittsfield, NH for their support
of our events and programs.
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MUSEUM TO REOPEN JULY 8
The Museum will re-open on Thursday, July 8. Summer hours will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday from noon to 5:00. It will also be open on Sunday, July 11 from 12 to 5.
While closed, the Museum completed major improvements including repainting the main gallery and adjacent spaces, installing new LED lighting throughout the building, rebranding and updating signage, refreshing the Museum store, adding library services and preparing many new activities and books for children while expanding materials in the Museum’s Youth Club.
The two major exhibits now on display feature a history of the 19th Amendment and Women’s suffrage using stamps, and a celebration with stamps of the four-hundredth anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims. Other exhibits include medicine on stamps (which is also on display at New England Baptist Hospital), owls on U.S. and world-wide postage, the history of rural free delivery, children’s stamp games, antique stamp cases, Civil War letters and envelopes, zeppelin mail, the very first stamp (the One Penny Black of 1840) and the first US stamps. And the Special Exhibits Room features a women’s jacket and skirt hand made in 1935 using more than 2000 stamps.
Admission to the Museum is $8 for adults, $5 for seniors and $3 for children. Some area public libraries have free passes available. All children receive a free packet of stamps and can participate in a stamp hunt for prizes.
We hope to share all our changes with you sometime this summer.
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CELEBRATE THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND THE LIBERTY BELL WITH ARCHIE AND HIS JULY FOURTH COLLECTION. CLICK HERE FOR HIS SIX MINUTE YOUTUBE SHOW. video
Archie thanks Allana Muldoon of Weston Media Cable for all her editing help.
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OPEN HOUSE
On Saturday, June 19 more than 120 guests joined Museum board members, staff and volunteers to get a sneak-preview of the upgrades made to the Museum over the last year. In addition to mingling and enjoying refreshments, tours were conducted, mystery boxes were sold and the great weather helped make for a successful preparation for re-opening on July 8.
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CENTENARIANS ON STAMPS
In December of 2016, the Barbados Postal Service issued a limited edition series of 27 stamps celebrating some of its citizens who lived to the ripe old age of one hundred. The collection was the largest stamp issue the country ever released.
The stamps featured some Bajans who were still alive at the time of the printing and others who had since passed. Twenty of the stamps were of people who were one hundred, while the other seven featured Bajans who were either “semi-super centenarians” (who had lived to between the ages of 105 and 109) and “super centenarians” who lived to be one 110 or older.
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STAMPS COME ALIVE PROGRAMS START IN SEPTEMBER
Our popular "Stamps Come Alive" programs which feature guest speakers on subjects featured on stamps will begin on September 25 at 10:30 with a visit from Joy Marzoff who will bring several local wild animals and talk about how these animals and others prepare for the winter.
Other speakers in October and November will include clock expert Robert Frishman who will show clocks on stamps and give an informal evaluation of old clocks people bring,
Sheryl Faye who will do her recreation of Susan B. Anthony,
Eyes on Owls will be back again with two shows of live owls,
Debbie Lamb of Mass. Audubon will bring some animals from Drumlin Farm to talk about,
Animal Adventures of Bolton will bring some exotic animals including an alligator
and professional portrait artist David Wells Roth will talk about portrait painting.
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POSTAL HISTORY ANNUAL
SYMPOSIUM SEPT. 9
The Museum will hold its ninth Postal History symposium/webinar with the theme War and Innovations: A Postal Perspective on September 9 from 8:00 to 10:00
Like last year, the program will be held virtually. The topics and speakers are:
-Colonial Wars Leading to the American Revolution presented by Dr. Tim O’Connor,
-The Siege of Paris 1870-71 presented by Steven C. Walske and
-Medical Aspects of the Spanish American War given by Yamil H. Kouri, Jr.
The program is free but a registration is required. Reservations can be by sending an email the Museum at symposium. and the link will be sent to you.
The program is supported by NobleSpirit of Pittsfield, NH and The Collectors Club of New York.
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SPANISH STAMPS DEAL WITH RACISM
A recent NPR story discussed a set of four stamps from Spain that were issued to endorse diversity.
Unfortunately these stamps caused a controversy centered around the denominations of the stamps
The postal service calls them "Equality Stamps" and introduced them on the anniversary of George Floyd being killed by a police officer in Minneapolis. It said the stamps "reflect an unfair and painful reality that shouldn't be allowed" and that every letter or parcel sent with them would "send a message against racial inequality." Read the story about reactions to the stamps. Click here:
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AUSTRALIA STAMP CLUB
The Toowoombaa Stamp Club in Toowoomba Australia shares our newsletters and monthly almanac/calendars with its members. They are hosting a National On-Frame Exhibit in October. The Spellman has made a donation to support the show.
Their latest newsletter explains the exhibits and also much other information about the club and philatelic news. To view the site click on Australia/
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A BLOG ABOUT ITALIAN HISTORY
AND STAMPS
Recent Tufts University graduate and Museum member Anirban Chakraborty has created a stamp blog called The Casual Philatelist which covers a variety of subjects related to stamps. His latest entry gives an overview of the last two hundred years of Italian history as reflected in Italian stamps. Click on Italy Anirban has been collecting since in grade school.
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STAMP TRIVIA QUESTION
Our last issue asked "Who was first graduate of West Point, the US Military Academy, to appear on a US stamp? Answer: Ulysses S. Grant , 1894
This month we ask: "For what stamp were the two children of a former director of the Bureau of Engraving used as models?" Send your answer to trivia. We can also send you the answer. To read about other West Pointers on US stamps, click here: West Point
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GET YOUR FOREVER SAMPS NOW
SAVE THREE CENTS.
Have you heard? Postal rates may be going up from fifty-five cents to fifty-eight cents at the end of August.
But remember, the Forever stamps you have now will still be good when the rates go up and you will not have to add any more postage to your letters.. The first Forever stamp in the US was issued in April, 2007 - (pictured here) when a first-class letter cost forty-one cents to mail.
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FREE MONTHLY STAMP ALMANAC/CALENDAR
Our free monthly stamp almanac/calendar is still available for anyone interested. It features stamps which celebrate specific events and people associated with each weekday of the month. To receive a monthly mailing, just email to calendar. The first US postage stamps (pictured here) were issued on July 1, 1847.
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SCOUT PROGRAMS TO BEGIN AGAIN
With the Museum's reopening, merit badge programs for Boy, Girl and Cub Scouts will be starting. If you are interested in having your scout participate, please email for more information to scouts.
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ZOOM PROGRAMS STILL AVAILABLE
Our one hour PowerPoint program entitled "Pushing the Envelope - A History of the US Post Office Through Stamps" is still available for presentation at libraries, senior centers, stamp clubs and other adult groups. Another Zoom program entitled "Medicine on Stamps" is also available for presentation.
For institutions that are starting to have live programs again, Education Director Henry Lukas can visit to present the program. For more details email to zoom.
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YOUTH CLUB MEMBERSHIP OPEN
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The Museum continues to offer a free, one year membership for children ages 6 to 16 in our Youth Club. Children receive a monthly packet of topical stamps, worksheets and philatelic information, a discount in the Museum store, a monthly stamp calendar plus free admission for themselves and the family. For more information email to Club.
Thanks go to Museum volunteers Jessica Leuscher and Erika Epstein for supervising this program
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CAN YOU GIVE US A HAND?
Although we have been closed, we have still continued sharing our educational programs electronically and creating exhibits to be shared with all of our enthusiasts, young and old. We thank all those who have already recently supported us.
We ask others of you if you can also please support our efforts by going to the bottom on our webpage (click webpage) and clicking on the donate button. A $50 contribution will give you a one year individual membership.
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