USPS
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
Going Postal
If I can't be on a stamp, can I at least put in my 37 cents' worth?
February 2003 |
By Mary Roach
No Return Address
To the "detectives" who solve the mysteries of errant mail, every letter is a human tale
July 2000 |
By Sue Allison
Stamps What an Idea!
New commemoratives look like our first stamps, which were slow to catch on in 1847
January 1998 |
By John Ross
