History Stamp

Aug 23, 2007 by Naomi.

Every once in a while an email comes across the cosmos to attract me in wondrous ways. This morning one such missile brought forth strange musings. How are historians going to ferret out the intrigues of politics and business without handwritten letters? Of course as many lies and misinformation can be handwritten as can be typed but when letter writing was the major method of communication there was checking and cross checking among many acquaintances.

This is notable in David McCullough’s JOHN ADAMS and Joseph Ellis’s AMERICAN SPHINX, of Thomas Jefferson and many legends of the Clark family. Books available in public libraries. Sometimes as a reader I had to choose which version I could believe when contradictions occurred in hand written letters from several sources.

But my point is that hand written letters are almost nonexistent these days. While that may leave a big gap for historians, I expect the variations in personal diaries and news reports will put the historic spin in hard bound publications sooner or later. And world events will verify or deny their significance.

From a different point of reference, one of my favorite hobbies suffers sorely. Stamp collecting. Personal letters use official stamps from the United States Post Office to pay for the privilege of being carried hither and yon. When folks tightened their belts years ago and stopped sending cards of holiday greetings, canceled stamps seemed to disappear. At least I find them more difficult to acquire. Whenever I travel, I send myself letters and cards with current stamps but that is only a drop in the bucket.

Canceled stamps are the most economical ones to collect. They also have the least monetary value in a collection. But they can be purchased hundreds to a bag for a few dollars. I have done so. I’m not investing for a windfall return. I just love collecting little things. My mother saved her three cent stamps in the 1940’s. Three cents was enough to tell Aunt Myrtle about new born nieces. Three cents was sufficient for personal news until some political entity decided it was about time we should pay the actual cost for the privilege.

We can only complain that the price of a stamp keeps rising, despite the claim that the liberty bell for forty one cents is the last increase. Businesses have been hit with ridiculous requirement of the thickness of the bill determining cost of mailing. Bulk mailers still send millions of pieces of junk to US mail boxes for as little as five cents. The weight is tough on mail carriers but does nothing to raise their salaries. We just have to complain loudly to the correct person. Head of the US postal department.

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