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Welcome to my newest series! Not new to me, just new to my WordPress friends. This series combines two of my lifelong interests, philately and history.

Scott #2384 - 1932 Packard

My interest in philately (collecting stamps) began as a Cub Scout in Brigham City, Utah. I was eight or nine, whatever the earliest age is to be a Cub Scout. Every time I joined a Cub Scout Den, though, the Den would promptly collapse and fold. It took six or seven times, but eventually I learned. Never completed Scouting. I did stay with philately, so I do thank the Scouts for that!

My interest in history also began at an early age. My high school senior English teacher, Mrs. Edith Head (but not that Edith Head!) nurtured it along while we were studying Gilgamesh, Shakespeare, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Wordsworth, e.e. cummings, etc.

Scott #3188h - Ford Mustang

Philately makes a great family event because it encompasses so many things of interest to so many people. You can collect all postage stamps of a country, or you can specialize, collecting just stamps that show animals, or birds, or dogs, or architecture, or music, or film and television, or people. You can even specialize to the extent that you collect just one person, say Benjamin Franklin. He’s on postage stamps of many countries throughout the world and was the first Postmaster General of the United States Post Office, established on July 26, 1775, by the Second Continental Congress. In other words, the United States Post Office is older than the United States itself!

Postage stamps of the world are catalogued and referenced using the Scott catalog, and I’ll include those catalog numbers with the stamps. That way, if you or someone in your family (like a young Cub Scout!) want to get a start in philately, all your Scout (boy or girl) needs to do is reference the Scott catalog number.

In my Halls of History series, we’ll look at the postage stamps of the United States and use them to study history in its many forms — its events, people, projects, buildings, creations, art, music, and more. I hope you enjoy it.

Coming up next, I’ll look at the first postage stamp of the United States, issued in 1847.

Gather round, enjoy yourself and philately, and perhaps learn something new. I do every day.

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