Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Stick with Florida

Aside from the increased cost of mailing a letter, I was disappointed when the U.S. Postal Service raised the first class postage rate to 41 cents. I really liked using the 39-cent alligator and spoonbill stamps, and the others in the Southern Florida Wetland commemorative pane.

Those are certainly not the only "Florida" stamps the USPS has ever issued -- in fact, they just this summer started offering a 26-cent Florida panther stamp. Another Florida stamp was issued in June 2007, picuturing the Okefenokee Swamp, for the 69-cent International mail rate.

In 2004, the post office issued a stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, which featured a closeup of a pelican's head.

The 2003 Southeastern Lighthouse Stamp series included the Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse.

In 1995, the Florida Statehood stamp marked our 150th anniversary of being a state, with a stylized alligator rising from a swamp. Fifty years earlier, the Florida Centennial stamp was less colorful, a monochrome light red violet, and pictured the gates of St. Augustine, an old map, and the state capitol.

In 1989, the Key Marco Cat, a carved wooded figurine found at a southwest Florida archaeological site, was featured on a U.S. Airmail stamp.

On December 5, 1947, in a ceremony at the Florida City post office, the USPS issued a 3-cent stamp commemorating the country's newest national park, the Everglades. The green stamp with an outline map of the state and a white ibis was designed by Garnett Megee of Miami

There have been other Florida stamps, several as part of sets covering all 50 states -- state flags, state birds, etc. What are your favorites, and what "Florida" stamps would you like to see at the post office?

1 comment:

  1. Interesting post -- I expand on the subject slightly at my blog, South of the Suwannee.

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