Chile was one of the last South American countries to be colonized. With little gold or silver to exploit or passive Indians to enslave, the southwest coast of South America was not as attractive to the Spanish invaders as was the rest of the new world. Colonization came later when copper was found, and when…
Philately has gone through three main phases as far as non-auction acquisition of stamps is concerned. Beginning about 1880, stamp shops began to crop up in major cities. By 1935, the height of philatelic retailing was reached with Manhattan alone having over a hundred retail stamp shops. Cities like Philadelphia boasted over twenty, and in larger cities…
Philately has done pretty well maintaining its appeal and relevance even as the technology of how mail has been carried changed significantly over the last 150 years. When stamps were first invented, all mail was carried by foot or by horse. This method of transportation was unchanged since the dawn of civilization (the domestication of…
The illustrations above are from a collection that came our way. The creator made his own stamps and his own countries. They are all hand drawn and so qualify for Essay status.
It seems likely that sometime in the next few years that the Federal government is going to step into the state sales tax morass and impose some kind of national sales tax on interstate sales. As it is now, the vast majority of philatelic items are sold sales tax free as they are purchased by…
Like Germany, Japan was devastated as a result of WWII. American bombing had destroyed industrial production, and the war had killed a high percentage of young adult males. Many homes were in ruins, and the electric and telecommunications grid was annihilated. Like Germans, the Japanese are an energetic and frugal people, and by the 1960s,…