Operation Smile uses modified art on business reply envelope
It has been a bit since I posted about any business reply envelopes, but an example that showed up in the mail this week makes the grade for a quick mention.
This envelope enclosed in a mailing from Operation Smile bears three preprinted stamp-sized images of a kite, a giraffe, and Earth.
Operation Smile business reply envelope with kite, giraffe, and Earth designs
If you think these look familiar, you’re right: the same basic designs appeared on the BRE distributed in a December 2023 mailing from the same organization. In that case, however, the designs had colored borders and backgrounds, while on this new examples, the designs have white backgrounds and no borders at all.
Purgatory Post commemorates Dalai Lama, Apollo-Soyuz
New Hampshire-based Purgatory Post earlier this month issued three stamps commemorating two different subjects.
The first is a 6-sola stamp released July 5 to honor the 90th birthday of the current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. The Dalai Lama, the head of Tibetan Buddhism, has lived in exile in India since 1959.
Purgatory Post 6-sola Dalai Lama stamp
Later, on July 15, Purgatory Post issued a pair of 5-sola stamps commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. The stamps picture the astronauts and cosmonauts who took part.
Purgatory Post 5-sola Apollo-Soyuz stamps
The Americans and Soviets on July 15, 1975, each launched spacecraft into orbit. Two days later, on July 17, the Apollo and Soyuz space capsules docked with each other, and over the next 44 hours, astronauts Thomas Stafford, Vance Brand, and Deke Slayton and cosmonauts Alexei Leonov and Valery Kubasov took part in the first crewed international space mission.
There’s an old truism that things are not always what they seem to be. That statement applies just as much in stamp collecting as it does in life in general.
Take, for example, the newest addition to my 14¢ American Indian collection. This cover mailed from Charleston, West Virginia, in 1933 bears a parcel post postmark on its front, and my initial assumption when I saw it was that it was sent by parcel post or fourth-class mail.
14¢ American Indian collect-on-delivery cover mailed from Charleston, West Virginia
Upon closer inspection, however, I discovered that there’s no way this is an example of fourth-class mail. The collect-on-delivery fee applicable at the time this envelope was mailed was 12¢ for matter valued at no more than $5, and that leaves only 2¢ for postage. No parcel post rate was that low; even mailing a letter first-class cost 3¢ by the time this envelope was used.
I found the answer to this mystery in Henry Beecher’s and Anthony Wakrukiewicz’s seminal work U.S. Domestic Postal Rates, 1872–2011. In that volume, Wakrukiewicz illustrates two other covers that at first glance appear to be examples of fourth-class mail, but which actually had to have been sent third-class! That is the case with this cover, too.
A quick search turned up a couple of other interesting connections to this cover as well. You can read my full write-up for complete details.
Purgatory Post commemorates Bedell Bridge, Bunker Hill
June seems to have been a rather quiet month in the world of local posts, which is probably to be expected. Some folks travel during the summer, and with longer daylight hours, others simply spend more time outside than on stamps; however, one local post that has been active in terms of releasing new stamps over the past month is Purgatory Post.
On June 10, the New Hampshire-based local post issued a 26-sola stamp picturing the Bedell Covered Bridge, which spanned the Connecticut River between Haverhill, New Hampshire, and Newbury, Vermont. The bridge was built in 1866.
Purgatory Post 26-sola Bedell Bridge stamp
The Bedell Bridge was closed to traffic in 1958, but a committee later raised $250,000 to rebuild the bridge, which was rededicated in July 1979. Unfortunately, the structure was demolished by a windstorm later that year, and the bridge was never rebuilt.
On June 18, Purgatory Post issued a 10-sola stamp commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill. The vignette reproduces part of John Trumbull’s The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Purgatory Post 10-sola Battle of Bunker Hill stamp
British forces won the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775, but not until colonial forces had repelled them twice. It was only after the colonists exhausted their supply of ammunition that they retreated, leaving the hills around Boston under British control.
I’ve had a very busy week, and as a result, I’m a little tardy in writing about this…but as of Sunday of this week, the Summer 2025 Supplement (123 KB, 2 files, 9 pages) for The Philosateleian U.S. Stamp Album is available. This update includes spaces for all United States postage stamps (and Philosateleian Post’s newest local post stamp) issued from March through May of this year.
You can download and print the new pages at your convenience, and as always, thank you for your interest and your support.
