BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 5): National Stamp Salon

DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 5): National Stamp Salon:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. STAMPS_150419_007.JPG: 1861-1866 Civil War Era: Abraham Lincoln's election to the presidency in 1860 with exclusively northern and western support incited the Civil War. The Confederate States of America formed in February 1861, weeks before his inauguration. The split followed sectional feuds over states' rights and slavery. The bloodiest conflict ever fought on American soil erupted on April 12, 1861. On May 31, 1861, the Union suspended postal service to the Confederacy and soon issued new stamps, not valid in the Confederacy. The Confederacy responded with a stamp of its own, issued on October 17. Whether North or South, mail provided the lifeline between home and battlefront.
2. STAMPS_150419_011.JPG: Abraham Lincoln campaign cover, 1860
3. STAMPS_150419_012.JPG: 1861-1866 Civil War Era New Issues of the Union Fears that the Confederacy would sell US stamps for cash to purchase weapons induced the Union to demonetize its 1851 issue and print a new series. CSA Postmaster General John H. Reagan directed postmasters in seceded states to return their stores of stamps to the Union, which some did. The National Bank Note Company printed the Union's new issue.
4. STAMPS_150419_019.JPG: Stockton, CA to Canada via Chicago patriotic cover November 19, 1861
5. STAMPS_150419_020.JPG: 1861-1866 Civil War Era Stamps as Currency Distrusted paper currency, people hoarded coins for precious metals they contained. Some Northerners informally substituted stamps for coins, but stamps damaged easily. Encasing stamps provided short-term relief. The Postage Currency Act of 1862 formalized postage stamps as currency, leading to the issuance of low denomination postage currency.
6. STAMPS_150419_023.JPG: 1861-1866 Civil War Era The Confederate States of America Seven southern states established the Confederate States of America in February 1861. Four more states joins after the attack on Ft. Sumter on April 12-13. Mail flowed freely between North and South until May 31, 1861, when Union service ended. Confederate postal operations began on June 1. During its brief existence, the Confederacy issued thirteen stamps, all honoring southern heroes. Images of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, dominated the issues, but those of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson also appeared, tying southern presidents' legacy to the Confederate cause.
7. STAMPS_150419_027.JPG: First day postmark of the CSA Post Office Department on cover June 1, 1861
8. STAMPS_150419_035.JPG: 5c Jefferson Davis on cover January 28, 1862
9. STAMPS_150419_039.JPG: This is an impression from the remaining trial plate of Confederate stamps, engraved by Archer & Daly in Richmond, Virginia, in 1863 In 1932, August Dietz made prints from the only remaining Archer & Daly trial plate of the 1863 20c Washington stamps.
10. STAMPS_150419_046.JPG: Stamp Printers War, new battle lines, and procurement burdens forced the Confederate Post Office to change printers frequently. During its four-year existence, it contracted with five different printing firms, including one in London. The firms variously used lithography, typography, and engraving to produce the postage stamps.
11. STAMPS_150419_050.JPG: 5c Jefferson Davis vertical pair on Confederate semi-official cover January 10, 1863 Although many Northern government officials enjoyed free franking privileges, Confederate officials had to pay postage.
12. STAMPS_150419_055.JPG: 2c Andrew Jackson block of twelve on wrapper 1863
13. STAMPS_150419_059.JPG: 1861-1866 Civil War Era Mail through the Lines: During the war, Union and Confederate post offices did not exchange mail, and the Union Navy blockaded Southern ports. Private companies transferred mail across sectional lines at established exchange points. Confederate blockade runners carried mail among the Confederate port cities and Europe via Havana, Cuba, and Nassau in the Bahamas.
14. STAMPS_150419_063.JPG: Confederate through the lines cover June 29, 1861
15. STAMPS_150419_065.JPG: Confederate through the lines cover 1861
16. STAMPS_150419_069.JPG: Confederate flag of truce cover November 24, 1864
17. STAMPS_150419_072.JPG: Confederate through the lines cover 1861
18. STAMPS_150419_073.JPG: Union prisoner of war cover May 22, 1865 This prisoner of war mail was postmarked in Washington, DC on May 22, 1865, after Lee's surrender. Federal censors examined the contents on May 19, 1865.
19. STAMPS_150419_076.JPG: Confederate blockade-run cover c. 1861-1865
20. STAMPS_150419_079.JPG: Confederate through the lines cover June 21, 1861
21. STAMPS_150419_085.JPG: Southern Letter Unpaid handstamp on cover 1861
22. STAMPS_150419_089.JPG: Express from Richmond to Louisville posted to Boston cover August 17, 1861
23. STAMPS_150419_091.JPG: Union through the lines cover c. 1863
24. STAMPS_150419_095.JPG: 1861-1866 Civil War Era Life on the Home Front Written correspondence evokes the experiences of families on both sides of the conflict. The Sanitary Commission, a Union volunteer organization administered largely by women, monitored medical care in the camps and staged Sanitary Fairs to raise money. Southerners suffered from a shortage of paper and stamps. Any usable scrap became writing material, including spare rolls of wallpaper. Mourning covers chronicle sorrows known to all, regardless of allegiance.
25. STAMPS_150419_099.JPG: Philadelphia Great Central Fair cover May 30, 1864
26. STAMPS_150419_103.JPG: Georgia and Florida turned cover 1861, 1863 Used envelopes were carefully turned inside out and used again. This envelope, originally posted with a US stamp before the war, was folded during the war and remailed with a Confederate stamp.
27. STAMPS_150419_106.JPG: Union prisoner of war cover May 12, 1865
28. STAMPS_150419_110.JPG: New York Metropolitan Fair cover March 1864
29. STAMPS_150419_114.JPG: Tax Assessment Form turned cover c. 1862
30. STAMPS_150419_121.JPG: 10c Jefferson Davis Confederate wallpaper cover c. 1863
31. STAMPS_150419_126.JPG: Confederate official stationery cover 1861-1865
32. STAMPS_150419_129.JPG: 3c Washington on Confederate cover May 15, 1861
33. STAMPS_150419_131.JPG: Confederate mourning cover May 14, 1861
34. STAMPS_150419_135.JPG: 10c Jefferson Davis type I on Confederate mourning cover c. 1863
35. STAMPS_150419_139.JPG: 5c Jefferson Davis "London print" on advertising cover 1862
36. STAMPS_150419_143.JPG: 1861-1866 Civil War Era Patriotism through the Mail Strong emotions stimulated by the issues and current events of the Civil War found expression in the form of illustrated stationery. Both Union and Confederate supporters quickly adopted a variety of covers and letter sheets picturing flags, cannons, leaders, soldiers, and other wartime themes.
37. STAMPS_150419_145.JPG: 3c Washington Union patriotic cover May 18, 1861
38. STAMPS_150419_149.JPG: "Map of Washington" Union patriotic cover 1861
39. STAMPS_150419_151.JPG: 3c Washington Union patriotic cover c. 1863
40. STAMPS_150419_155.JPG: 3c Washington single on prisoner of war cover Oct. 26, 1864
41. STAMPS_150419_160.JPG: Confederate patriotic cover November 22, 1861
42. STAMPS_150419_161.JPG: Confederate patriotic Valentine cover February 14, 1863 Due to a scarcity of paper, few Southerners sent valentines during the Civil War, and most cards were handmade. This envelope, addressed by Confederate soldier Frank M. Pope to his sweetheart, Mary Bouknight, on February 14, 1863, bears a vertical pair of the 5c blue Jefferson Davis and a flag with eleven stars.
43. STAMPS_150419_166.JPG: Confederate patriotic Valentine cover reverse Pope, an enlistee in the 15th South Carolina Infantry Regiment, wrote is message in code. Mary Bouknight's markings on the cover's reverse reveal her successful attempt to decipher his message, which expresses his love for her.
44. STAMPS_150419_172.JPG: Confederate patriotic Valentine enclosure February 14, 1863 The valentine enclosure continues in code. A seven-star flag patriotic letterhead appears on the stationery.
45. STAMPS_150419_177.JPG: U.S. Revenues Documentary
46. STAMPS_150419_179.JPG: Defeating Tax Cheaters
47. STAMPS_150419_180.JPG: $200 Washington Persian Rug die proof 1871 Among collectors, this stamp is known as the Small Rug.
48. STAMPS_150419_186.JPG: $500 Washington Persian Rug die proof 1871
49. STAMPS_150419_191.JPG: $5,000 Washington Persian Rug proof 1872 Twenty-six trial color proofs of this never-issued denomination are known to exist. Each differs in color shades, combinations, size, and marginal inscription. Eleven are part of this museum's collection.
50. STAMPS_150419_198.JPG: Defeating Tax Cheaters: To prevent counterfeiting and reuse of revenue stamps, security printers used fugitive black ink and papers that changed color when washed, added linen threads to papers, and engraved intricate designs.
51. STAMPS_150419_202.JPG: 50c Washington Documentary invert strip of five 1871 Inverted vignettes of Washington have been recorded on ten of the twenty-nine denominations of this issue.
52. STAMPS_150419_207.JPG: Canal Zone's Thatcher Ferry Bridge Issue: On October 12, 1962, the Thatcher Ferry Bridge opened across the Panama Canal, and the Canal Zone Postal Service issued a commemorative postage stamp in celebration. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing used the Giori press for two passes, the second superimposing a silver bridge over the Western Hemisphere. In a printing error, one sheet lacked the silver bridge. One pane from this "missing bridge" sheet escaped detection and was sold. The Panama Canal Treaty was signed in 1977. Six years later, the Canal Zone collection of over 100,000 philatelic items and postal archives was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution, enabling the Thatcher Ferry Bridge issue to be studied from design through production.
53. STAMPS_150419_219.JPG: Thatcher Ferry Bridge aerial pair of photographs 1962 Photographs and artwork for the proposed Thatcher Ferry Bridge stamp record various views of the bridge. Located at Balboa, it replaced a ferry and linked the Pan American Highway.
54. STAMPS_150419_236.JPG: 4c Thatcher Ferry Bridge first day cover 1962
55. STAMPS_150419_239.JPG: Missing Bridge Error: Shortly after the Canal Zone philatelic agency realized that some stamps had no silver bridge, Boston stamp dealer H.E. Harris inquired about a pane he had bought. H.E. Harris filed a preliminary injunction to prevent the announced deliberate reprinting of the missing bridge stamps, similar to the reprinting of the Dag Hammarskjold inverted color error ordered by the U.S. Post Office Department earlier that year. Following lengthy litigation, the agreement not to reproduce intentionally the error forever changed the landscape of philately and ensured that the upper right sheet retained value as a great philatelic rarity.
56. STAMPS_150419_244.JPG: 4c Thatcher Ferry Bridge experimental encased single 1962 This single stamp was a chemical experiment by postal and Smithsonian Institution officials to remove the bridge and test lamination for two unsold panes.
57. STAMPS_150419_260.JPG: 4c Thatcher Ferry Bridge (bridge omitted) pane of fifty 1962 The lower right pane was placed in the Canal Zone Museum. In 1983, the Canal Zone pane transferred to the Smithsonian with the Canal Zone postal collection and archives.
58. STAMPS_150419_267.JPG: With bridge
59. STAMPS_150419_271.JPG: Without bridge
60. STAMPS_150419_285.JPG: Bought from a man who obtained it for 4c at Branford, Conn PO.
61. STAMPS_150419_318.JPG: Part of the only sheet found imperforated vertically. It was discovered in the Newark, New Jersey Post Office.
62. STAMPS_150419_323.JPG: First printing Second printing with "TOP" added in red to prevent recurrence of error
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Description of Subject Matter: National Stamp Salon
September 22, 2013 – Permanent
Pullout frames display tens of thousands of stamps and pieces of mail from the National Philatelic Collection, along with the Postmaster General’s Collection and the Benjamin K. Miller Collection. A large case displays medals, including the Medal of Honor awarded to stamp collector First Sgt. David McNerney in 1968; handstamps; dies; and other historic artifacts. A touchscreen interactive links to the museum’s online research database, Arago, which provides information about the stamps and mail.
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Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 5): National Stamp Salon) directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos on one page]:
- 2014_DC_SIPM_Stamp_Salon: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 5): National Stamp Salon (1 photo from 2014)
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Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [(Smithsonian) Postal Museum] [Display ALL (Smithsonian) Postal Museum photos] [Museums (History)] [Museums (Other)]
2015 photos: I retired from the US Census Bureau in god-forsaken Suitland, Maryland on my 58th birthday in May. Yee ha! Trips this year: a quick trip to Florida. two Civil War Trust conferences (Raleigh, NC and Richmond, VA), and my 10th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including Los Angeles). Ego Strokes: Carolyn Cerbin used a Kevin Costner photo in her USA Today article. Miss DC pictures were used a few times in the Washington Post. Equipment this year: I mostly used my Fuji XS-1 camera but, depending on the event, I also used a Nikon D7000. Number of photos taken this year: just over 550,000.
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Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].