Going Postal

When I was a kid, it seemed like stamp collecting was all the rage - at least with older adults of the day. Sure, I did have a stamp album that was about three inches thick with many blank pages and even more blank spaces to put the prized stamps as I acquired them. Well, as you can imagine, I was more interested in outdoorsy things, especially since we lived in a warm tropical climate. About 99% of the blank spaces stayed blank and then the album vanished from my radar.

I certainly don't claim to be a stamp historian; but thanks to the Internet, my stamp interest quotient has picked up lately, so I gathered some interesting dates and milestones about postage stamps! Here's why: nearly every country in the world that issues postage stamps, has a wildflower series, or multiple issues featuring flora and fauna over many years! Now that's something to write home about!

Colorful U.K. Wildflower Issue

So briefly, here's how they came to be:

As you may have guessed, some of the earliest still life paintings feature plants and wildflowers. The simple ones go back to 70 AD, and from there improved over the decades until hitting their stride in the 1300's. From there, artwork depicting flowers took on a life of its own. Lowly artists created magnificent designs for their rich clients or for royalty.

It was not until the mid 1400's that technology of the day enabled printing books on paper. This became a game-changer for the botanical art world. Many of the first printed and bound books featured plants and flowers for botanists, doctors, religious leaders, and students.

Even before the printed book, humans had been sending letters to each other for personal, business, and political reasons. Just read a Shakespeare play! Typically these letters were delivered by private carriers, directly from the sender or agent to the receiver. So much of this was going on, that by the mid 1500's some countries recognized a need for a central postal service. In the U.K., the first King's Postmaster was appointed in 1517. Even in the "colonies" here, we had a rudimentary postal service in 1691.

So now we fast forward to 1800's in the United Kingdom. People had been using postal services with ink stamps, purchased as you go, so to speak. The breakthrough came in May of 1840 when the first "adhesive" stamp was issued in the U.K. It cost a penny and showed Queen Victoria (of course!). It was lovingly called "Penny Black" because of its single black color.

Then in 1847, the U.S. issued its first two stamps, a 5 cent one with Franklin and a 10 cent one with Washington. Fast forward again to 1962, and we have the first U.S. issued stamp that features a real wildflower. At least as far as I can tell with my limited philatelic knowledge.

Since then, several other U.S. issues have followed, with the "mother of all wildflowers" issue coming in 1992. This one features a mint, unused sheet of 50 stamps depicting wildflowers from each state and comes with a nice companion coffee table book that adds photos and information about the flowers.

     

     

As printing technology improved and postal services became more artistic and broadened their subject matter, wildflowers became icons of national pride for each country.

So, in a post filled with fast forwards, we come to 2015. What better way to express my love of wildflowers and nature than by making my own stamp!? You have probably seen home-made stamps on greeting cards or perhaps have your own. Mine features the Western Bistort, one of my favorite native plants here in the west. In summer, the stark white blossoms can cover entire hillsides at higher elevations. It also reminds me of many of my most enjoyable hikes with family and friends.

     

Now all I need to do is use these stamps before the rates go up again!