Canceled Stamps & Stamp Shows

A dear friend recently wrote me a letter, actually two letters.  In her second one, that arrived the same day as the first, there were two little scraps of paper that fell out.  They were canceled stamps.  She found them in a book she bought at a thrift store.  Ooooooh!  I quickly realized that they were 5 cent stamps.  It didn't appear that there were any others under the post mark.

I immediately picked up the phone to call my dad.  I wondered how long it might take him to research their history.  I had no idea how old they would be.

After a brief description to my dad, he did not miss a beat!  He said he even recalled the Shakespeare one specifically.  He pegged them as 1964 stamps and told me the history of stamp values.  He remembered letters being 3 cents for the longest time and then briefly 4 cents.  When they changed to 5 cents, stamps for first class letters stayed at that rate for awhile.  He thinks stamps were 5 cents when he married my mom.  He said the next time I was over at his house, we could look them up in his book.

After closer inspection of the stamps, I realized that 1964 was on both of them.  I still have a lot to learn about stamps.  That dad, he's so sharp!

------------

I have been thinking about a little family adventure to a stamp show.  I have gone with my dad.  He collects US and Isle of Man (or Mann) stamps.  It's always an adventure.  There are stamps and often postcards from all over the world.  You can just flip through books, browse through boxes, and ask an expert for help digging.

My favorite spot is where they have canceled stamps from around the globe.  You can get them for pennies and they can be a great way for a kid to fall in love with stamps.  I was inspired to draw and doodle based on some Japanese stamps for Letter Writing Day.  I think I may take the Little Miss next week.  My dad thinks we should get her to narrow her search based on a theme:  flowers, birds, dogs, etc.  I think I need to take her to first so she even knows what I am talking about...and have her focus once she finds a few she likes.  There is no major outlay of cash or need for grand storage if she finds a bunch she likes.  If not next week, then sometime soon.


------------

I always wonder...what was carried in the envelop of a canceled stamp? 



.