National Postal Museum
Inaugural Balls on the Mall
If you're the socialite who will be hitting up the slew of black tie balls in DC, then you must have a bottomless wallet and a dance card that's loaded to the hilt. Even with tickets selling for a couple hundred bucks a pop on the low end, these events are already sold out. Take a look at all the p...
January 12, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Events Week of 1/5-1/11: Bette Davis and George W. Bush
Monday, January 5: Portrait of George W. BushAfter eight years in office, President Bush is now a museum piece. Come see the newest addition to the National Portrait Gallery's Hall of Presidents, which marks the first time the gallery has exhibited the official portrait of a sitting president. Free...
January 04, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Nutcrackers at National Postal Museum
Meet the real-life Herr Drosselmeyer. Glenn Crider of Mechanicsville, Virginia, like the famed godfather in The Nutcracker story, is a clockmaker turned toymaker, known especially for his custom-made nutcrackers (and, on special occasions, to rock festive suspenders from his lederhosen). Crider say...
December 24, 2008 |
By Megan Gambino
World's Fair Exhibit Championed Black Chicago
The 1933 Chicago World’s Fair touted itself as a celebration of a century of progress. And in part, this was true. Advances in science and technology were promising a brighter tomorrow to Depression-era America. But when it came to social change, the fair came up short.Exhibits at the fair were rif...
December 11, 2008 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Events Week of December 8-14
Monday, December 8 Tour Arts of JapanIf you only know Japanese art by way of manga, broaden your horizons by coming on out to the Freer Gallery for a guided tour of its extensive collection of screens, paintings, lacquerware, prints, ceramics and sculpture. Free. Meet at Info Desk. Freer Gallery of...
December 08, 2008 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Before Email, There Was V-mail
During World War II, microphotography was used to transmit letters between servicemen on the front lines and their loved ones back home. This not-so-instant-messaging system was known as Victory Mail (V-mail for short). Messages written on specially designated stationery were microfilmed and shippe...
December 06, 2008 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Events Week of 12/1-7
Monday, December 1 Resident Associate Program LectureFor some, the holidays can be disastrous. Not because the turkey came out overcooked or you couldn't find the one "gotta have it" toy for your kid—but because you live along a fault line or in the shadow of an active volcano. Come hear geologist ...
December 01, 2008 |
By Jesse Rhodes
What's Cooking: Turkeys at the Smithsonian
In honor of Thanksgiving, we pay tribute to that legendary American fowl: the turkey. Myth has it that the turkey was present at the first-ever Thanksgiving dinner between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans. When you visit the Smithsonian this weekend—and you should, because the museums are op...
November 26, 2008 |
By Anika Gupta
A Passion For Postcards
Back in the early 20th century, long before computers or telephones were standard, postcards were like e-mail. The letter carrier stopped by three or four times each day and postcards were cheap, costing a mere penny to mail. You could send a card in the morning to a friend across the city to set u...
April 08, 2008 |
By Kenneth R. Fletcher
John Lennon's First Album
A recently acquired stamp collection opens a new page on the teenage Beatle-to-be
September 2005 |
By Owen Edwards
Pushing the Envelope
At the National Postal Museum, envelopes are as critical a part of history as the letters inside
October 1997 |
By Michael Kernan
The Inverted Jenny
How an upside-down biplane on a 24-cent stamp, now on display at the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum, seemed to jinx early attempts at carrying the mail by air
July 1996 |
By Edwards Park
