#615 USA...Thanks Michael!

#604 USA...Thanks Sue!

#515 USA...Thanks Sue!

#502 USA...Thanks John!

The 41c stamp is from 2007 Pacific Lighthouse issue illustrating St. George Reef Light in Northern California.

The 44c stamp was issued to celebrate the adventure and spirit of scouting on July 27 at the Boy Scout’s Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, VA.To create this original design, illustrator Craig Frazier depicted the images of two different scouts in clothing and accessories that are often part of the outdoor scouting experience—hats, packs, boots, and binoculars. At first glance, one sees the large silhouette of a scout peering through binoculars. Within this figure is another scout perched atop a mountain taking in the vista.

#459 USA...Thanks Robbie!

#437 USA...Thanks Ira!

The 44c stamp on the right is the ninth issuance in the American Treasures series features Boys in a Pasture, an 1874 painting by Winslow Homer.

Winslow Homer (1836-1910) is considered one of the greatest American painters of the 19th century. According to the Museum of Fine Arts, the boys in this painting—companionable, idle, at peace—may be seen as emblems of America's nostalgia for a simpler, more innocent time as well as of its hope for the future. Their faces are averted, a device Homer often used to make his figures less individual and, therefore, more universal.

The painting is part of the Hayden Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

#422 USA...Thanks Ira!

The 44c stamp in the middle is from 2010 Sunday Funnies issue featuring Dennis the Menace.

Dennis the Menace follows the antics of Dennis Mitchell, a good-hearted but mischievous little boy who is perpetually “5-ana-half” years old. His curiosity tests the patience of his loving parents and neighbors, guaranteeing that their lives are anything but dull. The comic debuted in March 1951 as a single-panel gag.

The 44c stamp on the right was issued in June,2010 paying tribute to the all-black professional baseball leagues that operated from 1920 to about 1960.

In 1920, Andrew “Rube” Foster (1879–1930)—who began his baseball career as a pitcher—established the Negro National League, the first successful league of African-American teams. Nicknamed “Rube” after defeating major-league pitcher George Edward “Rube” Waddell in 1902, Foster is considered the “father” of Negro leagues baseball. He is featured on the stamp.

#419 USA...Thanks Jorge!

The two 44c stamps are from 2009 Nature of America:Kelp Forest issue.

A kelp forest is a remarkable undersea ecosystem dominated by very large marine algae more commonly known as seaweeds or kelp.

#398 USA...Thanks Javier!

The two 37c stamps are from 2003 Old Glory issue depicting Uncle Sam on Bicycle with Liberty Flag and 19th Cent. Carving of Woman with Flag and Sword.

#393 USA...Thanks Charlie!

This issuance in the Legends of Hollywood series honors Katharine Hepburn, one of America’s most fascinating and enduring film stars. This stamp was issued May 12,2010. Over the course of her career, Hepburn made more than 40 motion pictures, including the comedy classic Bringing up Baby (1938)—with Hepburn as a leopard-owning heiress and Cary Grant as a stuffy paleontologist—and The African Queen (1951), in which she played a prim missionary spinster to Humphrey Bogart’s scruffy riverboat captain. Hepburn’s long, illustrious career—and perhaps even more, her independent personality—inspired three generations of Americans. She was, in particular, a role model for women who chose to live life on their own terms. In the words of her niece Katharine Houghton, she “provided hope and inspiration and courage for a whole new generation of women.” The stamp portrait is a publicity still from the film Woman of the Year (MGM, 1942). The photographer was Clarence S. Bull. The selvage image shows Hepburn as she appeared in the play West Side Waltz.

The 17c stamp is from 1986-94 Great Americans series honoring Belva Ann Lockwood.

Belva Ann Lockwood (1830–1917) was an American attorney, politician, educator and author. She was active in working for women's rights, although the term feminist was not in use. The press of her day referred to her as a "suffragist," someone who believed in women's suffrage or voting rights. Lockwood overcame many social and personal obstacles related to gender restrictions. After college, she became a teacher and principal, working to equalize pay for women in education. She supported the movement for world peace, and was a proponent of temperance.

Lockwood graduated from law school in Washington, D.C. and became one of the first female lawyers in the United States. In 1879, she successfully petitioned Congress to be allowed to practice before the United States Supreme Court, becoming the first woman attorney given this privilege. Lockwood ran for president in 1884 and 1888 on the ticket of the National Equal Rights Party and was the first woman to appear on official ballots.

#340 USA...Thanks Jewel!

The two 44c stamps are from the 4th set of Flags of Our Nation featuring New York and North Carolina with a “snapshot view” of the state.

The 13c stamp is from 1976 Bicentennial Era issue also showing the flag of North Carolina.

#333 USA...Thanks Erik!

The 42c stamp on the right upper corner is from 2008 American Treasures series featuring Albert Bierstadt's 1864 painting "Valley of the Yosemite."

Albert Bierstadt (1830 – 1902) was a German-American painter best known for his lush, sweeping landscapes of the American West. In obtaining the subject matter for these works, Bierstadt joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion. Though not the first artist to record these sites, Bierstadt was the foremost painter of these scenes for the remainder of the 19th century.

Bierstadt was part of the Hudson River School, not an institution but rather an informal group of like-minded painters. The Hudson River School style involved carefully detailed paintings with romantic, almost glowing lighting, sometimes called luminism. An important interpreter of the western landscape, Bierstadt, along with Thomas Moran, is also grouped with the Rocky Mountain School.

#313 USA...Thanks Robbie!

Thanks Robbie for this fabulous cover with 17 stamps altogher!

The 4 stamps on the upper left are from huge Americana series issued in 1975-1981,which shows a collection of artifacts, related to the history, geography, folklore and cultural heritage of the United States.

The next 2 stamps are also from a huge Presidential series issued in 1938-1954 showing White House and Martha Washington who was the wife of George Washington.In 1902, Martha Washington became the first American woman to be honored on a U.S. postage stamp.

The 4 stamps below are from another huge Liberty series issued in 1954-1968 showing Palace of the Governors,Santa Fe;Mount Vernon;Bunker Hill Monument and the Hermitage.

The Palace of the Governors (1610) is an adobe structure within the Santa Fe Historic District in New Mexico and it served as the seat of government for the State of New Mexico for centuries. The Palace of the Governors is the oldest continuously occupied public building in the United States.

Mount Vernon, located near Alexandria, Virginia, was the plantation home of the first President of the United States, George Washington. The mansion is built of wood in neoclassical Georgian architectural style, and the estate is located on the banks of the Potomac River.

Mount Vernon was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is owned and maintained in trust by The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association and is open every day of the year, including holidays and Christmas.

The Bunker Hill Monument was built to commemorate the Battle of Bunker Hill.the first major conflict between British and Patriot forces in the Revolutionary War, fought there June 17, 1775.The 221 foot (67 m) granite obelisk was erected between 1827 and 1843 in Charlestown, Massachusetts.

The next stamp is from 1965-78 Prominent American series honoring Albert Gallatin,who was a Swiss-American ethnologist, linguist, politician, diplomat, Congressman, and the longest-serving United States Secretary of the Treasury. He was also a founder of New York University.

The 15c stamp was issued in 1980 honoring Dolley Madison,who was the spouse of the fourth President of the United States, James Madison.

The 3c stamp was issued in 1947 dedicated to Everglades National Park,which is a national park in Florida that protects the southern 25 percent of the original Everglades. It is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, and is visited on average by one million people each year.It is the third-largest national park in the lower 48 states after Death Valley and Yellowstone. It has been declared an International Biosphere Reserve, a World Heritage Site, and a Wetland of International Importance, only one of three locations in the world to appear on all three lists.

The 3c,5c and 32c stamps were issued to commemorate the settlement of Florida in 1565 and statehood in 1845.

The state of Florida is located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. Over the century after discovery, both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida with St. Augustine,the oldest city in the United States, established in 1565 by Spain."Florida",a Spanish term for the "Flowery Easter" season, and for the land's appearance as a "flowered land" is also the oldest surviving European place-name in the United States.

#288 USA...Thanks Candy!

The left 44c stamp was issued in 2009 honoring the 32nd Inductee into Black Heritage Series: Anna Julia Cooper,who is an educator, scholar, feminist and activist Anna Julia Cooper (c.1858-1964), who gave voice to the African-American community during the 19th and 20th centuries — from the end of slavery to the beginning of the Civil Rights movement.

Cooper — who once described her vocation as “the education of neglected people” — viewed learning as a means of true liberation.

Anna Julia Haywood was born into slavery around 1858 in Raleigh, NC. As a child, she developed a love of learning and wanted to become a teacher. In 1868, she received a scholarship to enter the inaugural class at St. Augustine’s Normal School and Collegiate Institute (now St. Augustine’s College), a local school for African Americans created by the Episcopal Church and the Freedmen’s Bureau, where she earned part of her tuition by tutoring fellow students. She continued to teach at St. Augustine’s after completing her studies in 1877. That year she married George A.C. Cooper, who was studying for the ministry at St. Augustine’s.

Two years after her husband’s unexpected death in 1879, Cooper enrolled at Oberlin College in Ohio. In 1884 she graduated with a degree in mathematics, becoming one of the first African American women to graduate from the school. Cooper returned to Raleigh and taught math, Greek and Latin at St. Augustine’s until 1887, when she was invited to teach math and science at the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth (later known as M Street and today as Dunbar High School) in Washington, DC, the largest and most prestigious public high school for African Americans in the nation.

In 1892, Cooper published A Voice from the South by a Black Woman of the South, the first book-length volume of black feminist analysis in the United States. Cooper explored a variety of topics including race relations, poverty, and gender inequality. Across the contexts of religion, education, and literature, she examined the place of African Americans, especially women, in American society. “The time is ripe for action,” she wrote, urging all readers to assume an active role in liberating themselves and others from both racism and sexism in order to realize their fullest potential. She encouraged the African American community to take advantage of education and to develop and promote its own folklore, literature, and artistic culture. Well received by black and white critics alike, the collection was regarded as “one of the most readable books on the race question of the South” by the Kingsley Times of Iowa.

Because white women routinely excluded them from the growing feminist movement, Cooper and other black women across the nation began to create clubs and associations in the late 19th century that were dedicated to the interests and well-being of the African American community. In Washington, DC, Cooper helped establish local organizations for women, young people, and the poor that addressed a range of issues including education, housing, and unemployment. Cooper also used public speaking as a platform for change. In 1893, she spoke about the needs of African American women at the Chicago World’s Fair, and she was one of only two African American women to address the first Pan-African Conference in London in 1900.

In 1902, Cooper became principal of the M Street High School and immediately worked to strengthen the curriculum, which stressed both liberal arts and vocational training. “We are not just educating heads and hands,” she stated, “we are educating the men and women of a race.” Refusing to use inferior textbooks, Cooper sought to better prepare students for admission to some of the nation’s top colleges and universities, including the Ivy League. Four years later, she was removed from her position under allegations of incompetence and misconduct, but more likely because of her steadfast resistance to the racist notion of African Americans’ intellectual inferiority. Cooper then taught languages at Lincoln University in Missouri until 1910, when she was invited to return to the M Street High School to teach Latin.

Noted for the breadth of her education, Cooper studied French literature and history for several years before enrolling as a doctoral student at Columbia University in 1914 while also remaining a full-time teacher. As part of her graduate work, she translated Le Pèlerinage de Charlemagne (The Pilgrimage of Charlemagne), a medieval epic poem, from Old French into modern French. However, because of her race, the translation — which was published in Paris in 1925 — was never published in the U.S. despite the professional recognition it garnered. In 1924, Cooper transferred to the University of Paris, Sorbonne, in France and, in 1925, successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, which explored the attitudes of the French toward slavery during the late-18th-century revolutions in France and Haiti. She was only the fourth African American woman in the U.S. to earn a Ph.D. and the first black woman from any country to do so at the Sorbonne.

Cooper retired from teaching at Dunbar High School in 1930 but continued to give lectures, publish essays, and be active in community affairs. During this time, she also served as president of Frelinghuysen University, which offered affordable liberal arts and professional courses for working African Americans in Washington, DC. She retired from her role as president in 1940 but continued to serve Frelinghuysen, which was partly located in Cooper’s own home for several years. She privately published her memoir, The Third Step, around 1945.

Cooper died in her home at 201 T Street in Washington, DC, on Feb. 27, 1964. She is buried next to her husband in Raleigh, NC.

The 41c stamp in the middle was issued in 2008 honoring Charles W.Chestnut who is considered the first African- American writer to receive major acclaim. He made an important breakthrough when his short story, “The Goophered Grapevine,” appeared in the August 1887 issue of Atlantic Monthly.

Chesnutt (1858-1932) was of mixed racial descent, and provided insight into various perspectives along America’s color line. With light skin and blue eyes, Chesnutt could have disregarded his black roots, but he detested such actions. He believed that people of color who tried to “pass” or represent themselves as white would never achieve political or social equality. His first novel, The House Behind the Cedars, explored this theme.

Chesnutt’s writings include novels, books, essays, poems, a biography of Frederick Douglass and several unpublished works. His work in political and civic affairs and his stance against racial discrimination earned him in 1928 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Spingarn Medal, which recognizes distinguished merit and achievement among African Americans.

The last 41c stamp was issued in 2007 honoring President Gerald Ford.

Gerald Rudolph Ford (1913–2006) was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974. As the first person appointed to the vice-presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment, when he became President upon Richard Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974, he also became the only President of the United States who was elected neither President nor Vice-President.

Before ascending to the vice-presidency, Ford served nearly 25 years as Representative from Michigan's 5th congressional district, eight of them as the Republican Minority Leader.

As President, Ford signed the Helsinki Accords, marking a move toward détente in the Cold War. With the conquest of South Vietnam by North Vietnam nine months into his presidency, US involvement in Vietnam essentially ended. Domestically, Ford presided over what was then the worst economy since the Great Depression, with growing inflation and a recession during his tenure.One of his more controversial acts was to grant a presidential pardon to President Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal. During Ford’s incumbency, foreign policy was characterized in procedural terms by the increased role Congress began to play, and by the corresponding curb on the powers of the President.In 1976, Ford narrowly defeated Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination, but ultimately lost the presidential election to Democrat Jimmy Carter.

Following his years as president, Ford remained active in the Republican Party. After experiencing health problems and being admitted to the hospital four times in 2006, Ford died in his home on December 26, 2006. He lived longer than any other U.S. president, dying at the age of 93 years and 165 days.

#287 USA...Thanks Candy!

The 44c stamp in the middle is from 2009 Early TV Memories issue showing Burns and Allen ,who is an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen, worked together as a comedy team in vaudeville, films, radio and television and achieved substantial success over three decades from 1920s-1950s.

#250 USA...Thanks Alp!

With this stamp, the U.S. Postal Service honors Bill Mauldin, one of America’s favorite cartoonists. During World War II, military readers got a knowing laugh from Mauldin’s characters Willie and Joe, who gave their civilian audience an idea of what life was like for soldiers. After the war, Mauldin became a popular and influential editorial cartoonist.

In 1945, he won a Pulitzer Prize “for distinguished service as a cartoonist” and the Allied high command awarded him its Legion of Merit. His illustrated memoir, Up Front, was a bestseller. That same year, his “dogface” Willie appeared on the cover of Time.

U.S. Postal Service art director Terry McCaffrey chose to honor Mauldin through a combination of photography and an example of Mauldin’s art. The photo of Bill Mauldin is by John Phillips, a photographer for Life magazine; it was taken in Italy on December 31, 1943. Mauldin’s cartoon, showing his characters Willie and Joe, is used courtesy of the 45th Infantry Division Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

#241 USA...Thanks Robbie!

Thanks Robbie for my fifth Abstract Expressionists cover. The previous ones are here,here,here and here.

The new 44c stamp at left features Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 34 (1953-1954) by Robert Motherwell.

Robert Motherwell (1915-1991) viewed literature and philosophy as integral components of his art. He is best known for the “Elegy to the Spanish Republic” series, an ambitious group of somber abstract paintings. Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 34 (1953-1954) features black bars and ovals and vertical white stripes that partly obscure colors that refer to the flag of the Spanish Republic.

#232 USA...Thanks Candy!

This set of Cowboys of the Silver Screen stamps,issued in April,2010,honors four extraordinary performers who helped make the American Western a popular form of entertainment. Film stars from the silent era through the singing era are featured on the stamps: William S. Hart, Tom Mix, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers.

William S. Hart (1864-1946) brought a powerful presence and serious approach to early Westerns. Tall and trim, with acting skills honed by years of experience on the New York stage and in productions across the country, Hart became one of the most popular leading men of the silent film era. In his movies, the actor insisted on authentic depictions of the Old West and its people, from their clothes to their lifestyles and complex personalities. He frequently played the stalwart, tough-as-nails cowboy, and his favorite horse was a brown and white pinto named Fritz.

Roy Rogers (1911-1998) was a silver screen cowboy who sang his way to stardom. He always played the Western hero, with a warm smile, good character, and strong values. Although he found great success in show business—beginning with his first starring role, in a 1938 film—his modest roots kept him a down-to-earth country boy that Americans couldn’t help but admire. For decades, children across the country aspired to be like him and tried to live by the Roy Rogers code of conduct, which stated that boys and girls should “be neat and clean” and “always obey their parents.”

Tom Mix (1880-1940) was one of the most celebrated Western film stars of the 1920s. He wowed movie crowds and live audiences alike with his daredevil riding, expert rope handling, unerring marksmanship, and rugged good looks. He also served as a role model for a generation of schoolchildren, maintaining a wholesome screen persona that involved “no cussin’ and no drinkin’” by his characters. A legend in his own time, Mix wore oversize Stetsons, fancy suits, and handmade Texas boots with engraved silver spurs. He rode “Tony, the wonder horse,” who also became an audience favorite.

For more than two decades, Gene Autry (1907-1998) entertained movie audiences and won the hearts of millions of fans with his distinctive singing style and easygoing personality. His sorrel-colored horse, Champion, often played a major role in his films, as did frequent sidekicks Smiley Burnette and Pat Buttram. Aside from being one of the most admired cowboys to ever appear on the silver screen, Autry left behind a legacy that includes many hit records, a long-running radio show, and a successful television series.

#214 USA...Thanks Helen!

A really fantastic hand-made cover!

#210 USA...Thanks Welch!

This FDC of Abstract Expressionists feature works by Hans Hoffmann,Arshile Gorky and Jackson Pollock.

One of the most influential art teachers of the 20th century, Hans Hofmann (1880-1966) pioneered a method of improvisational painting that helped shape the development of abstract art after World War II. The Golden Wall (1961) features his trademark “push and pull” technique: geometric shapes that animate the canvas by seeming to shift and overlap.

Influencing much of the American abstract art that followed, Arshile Gorky (1904-1948) developed an original style that combined cubism and surrealism with his own disguised imagery. The Liver Is the Cock’s Comb (1944) — one of his largest and greatest pictures — uses abstract forms to camouflage a deeply personal portrait of his family at home.

Best known for his poured paintings, Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) created spontaneously painted works that marked a break with artistic tradition. For Convergence (1952), he laid blue and white clouds and loops of red and yellow atop a black-and-white base. The expressive color and drawing are so fresh that the paint still looks wet.