Philosateleian Post’s 2023 year in review sees new records set
Philosateleian Post in 2023 set new records for the amount of mail carried in a calendar year and on a single day.
The private local post based in Floresville, Texas, carried 525 pieces of outbound mail and processed nearly 25 additional items misdelivered by the United States Postal Service or sent to unknown addressees for an overall total of 547 pieces of mail. That represented a nearly 10% increase in outbound mail volume over the previous year and broke Philosateleian Post’s single-year records of 524 pieces of outbound mail and 535 total pieces of mail set in 2021.
In addition, Philosateleian Post set a new single-day record by carrying 53 pieces of outbound mail on January 30, 2023. That was World Local Post Day and the first day of issue for Philosateleian Post’s Western Cattle Not in Storm stamp.
Finally, the 64 postcards carried by Philosateleian Post in 2023 represented an increase of more than 50% over the previous record of 42 set in 2022.
USPS announces Ansel Adams landscape stamps for 2024
I’ve been rather slow mentioning these, but on the last day of 2023, here you go: a block of 16 stamps featuring images captured by the renowned landscape photographer Ansel Adams (1902–1984). The United States Postal Service announced November 30 its intentions to issue this set sometime in 2024.
United States Forever Ansel Adams stamps (image courtesy USPS)
Yosemite, Monument Valley, the Golden Gate, etc. Wow! I’m a sucker for a nice natural landscape on a stamp, and over a dozen in one go? I can see myself buying a few sheets of these for sure. Maybe more than a few sheets since most of the stamp artwork unveiled for next year hasn’t really grabbed my attention. These will look good on my outgoing mail.
There’s no word on an official release date for this set just yet, but I’ll keep you posted once I learn more.
Okay, we’re rapidly closing in on the end of 2023, and I’m trying to finish up a couple more blog posts before we head into the new calendar year. The subject of today’s entry is a business reply envelope distributed in mailings from the nonprofit Operation Smile this month.
Operation Smile business reply envelope with kite, giraffe, and Earth designs
The stamp-sized designs printed on the envelope depict a kite, a giraffe, and an anthropomorphized Earth holding a red heart. All three designs appear to be based on crayon artwork.
We received a pair of these in the mail: one in a mailing addressed to my wife, and one in a mailing addressed to me.
I rather prefer the appearance of the BRE distributed by Operation Smile in a fall mailing, which featured three different designs with simulated die cut perforations. They looked more like real stamps!
The United States of America’s 250th birthday is just over two years away, and the United States Postal Service has already announced a 2024 stamp commemorating the semiquincentennial of the First Continental Congress. New Hampshire-based Purgatory Post is also getting in on the action with a stamp commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.
Purgatory Post Boston Tea Party stamp
The 1-sola stamp was issued December 16, exactly 250 years to the day after dozens of members of the Sons of Liberty boarded three ships and tossed their cargo of tea into the harbor.
The stamp’s frame is based on the design used for the 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposition stamp, but where that stamp was printed in a single color—carmine—Purgatory Post’s new issue features a multicolored vignette.
In September 2022, I wrote about a pair of Como Park Post 7¢ local delivery stamps I’d received from the Saint Paul, Minnesota, local post’s operator, Tom B. Tom recently sent an additional strip of three such stamps that appear to come from the same recut die as those I originally reported.
Como Park Post 7¢ local delivery stamps
A major difference between these stamps and the originals is that the originals were printed on blue paper, while the ones I received recently are printed on yellow paper.
I have no information regarding an official date of issue or printing quantities for the new stamps, but if I receive any, I’ll certainly try to remember to pass it along.
