Sunday Stamps | V Is for Vote

Stamp (and first day postmark) issued in 2020 the U.S. Postal Service, which commemorates the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote.

And this is no the first time I have chosen this topic for Sunday Stamps.

When preparing this post, I received this postcard with a related stamp: on top, a stamp issued in 1970 for the 50th anniversary of the 19th Amendment:

The other stamp was issued in 1975, when the UN declared International Women's Day.

250th Anniversary of Jane Austen’s Birth

2025 marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth and I have been celebrating throughout the year. Apart from re-reading some Austen's books... getting and sending Austen-related mail, of course!

"Nobody minds having what is too good for them."
Mansfield Park

I guess I can add a Brönte-related postcard: the earliest know image of Haworth Parsonage.

All sent by Laura (the UK).

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Autumn Colours

This envelope made a long trip. It was sent by Phillip (the USA) on 2 December 2024. It arrived more than two months later, on 10 February 2025, well after the Autumn... and almost after the winter!

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
October theme: COLOURS OF AUTUMN

• Week 1 - Orange
• Week 2 - Yellow
• Week 3 - Red
• Week 4 - Brown
• Week 5 - Halloween or Black

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Dutch Interior

Dutch Interior (III), by Joan Miró

Postcard sent by Fabienne (France).

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
August theme: ILLUSTRATIONS

• Week 1 - Maps
• Week 2 - Art
• Week 3 - Animals
• Week 4 - Food (or Plants)

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

After 14 February

"Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love."

Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

Card sent by Laura (the UK).

Golden News

There is  nothing like a little golden card bringing good news...

A Very Small Letter

Do you think this is a regular letter? It is not! The real letter was inside... and a very small one!

Sent by Laura (the UK).

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Beauty, Gratitude, Faith, Hope & Love

Красота в глазах смотрящего

'Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder'

Gratitude is the memory of the heart
Jean Massieu

Sent by Daria (Russia), Laura (the UK) and Bryon (Canada).

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Thursday Postcard Hunt

January theme: WORDS

• Week 1 - City, country name
• Week 2 - Book covers, movie posters
• Week 3 - Graffiti, thought bubbles
• Week 4 - Inspirational thought, funny sayings

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Post from Noel

I'm very happy to have got these stamps from Bryon (Canada), with the bonus of the pictorial postmark from Noel (i.e., 'Christmas'). 

The illustrations designed by Jocelyne Saulnier of Joce Creative and illustrated by Tim Zeltner celebrate the splendour of Canadian winters. And they include a frosty lighthouse!

(Click here to see the illustrations bigger).

La Demoiselle

Un canal à Bruges
(D'après un tableau de Rod. Wytsman)

And this was not the only Frida I have received by mail recently. Fabienne (France) sent this special collage, full of little details. I do not know how to take the picture to show you how gorgeous this booklet it.

Que fait l'hirondelle
La demoiselle
Et le printemps.
Jules Mougin, Le facteur Poète

Cherish Beautiful Moments

 

Some days you really need a cup of tea... And it arrives by mail.

"Paper tea" sent by Laura (the UK) and Amita (India).

Another Postal Mystery

This letter was sent by Bryon to Canada on 7 March 2020, to be postmarked with the special postmark of the Apple Blossom Festival. But it only get the postmark on 26 October, and reached me on 3 December. I was puzzled when I read it whishing me a happy Spring!

Maybe the festival was delayed, maybe it fell between cabinets in a post office where a janitor eventually found it... Where it was between March and October will remain a postal mystery.

Blue Christmas

Sent by Bruno (PC) and Bryon (USA).

Reusing or Recycling?

Is framing the bag and
hanging it on the wall 
reusing or recycling?

And what about repurposing it for writing another small letter inside and send it across the ocean?

Sent by Bryon (the USA).

Small!

I conduct a sort of postal experiment: I sent to Bryon (the USA) a very small card Oz-themed. (Sorry, I did not take any picture of it!)

It arrived safe and sound, and the reply came as a similar card, slightly smaller than the postal regulations allow. It travelled 28 days before reaching my mailbox. 

It was delivered while it was really pouring outside, hence those strange marks and the illegible postmark. But it was perfectly readable inside, and the Judy Garland's stamps remained in good condition.

How They Dare...?!?

These two letters, sent a month apart, arrived together.

The big one bears a stamp belonging to the set The Legend of King Arthur, issued on 16 March 2021. But... how they dare to penstrike the Holy Grail?!?

Sir Galahad and the Holy Grail

More stamps from this beautiful set I have got:

Knights of the Round Table

Sir Lancelot defeats the dragon

Arthur battles Mordred

The death of King Arthur

Aerogram + Rupert

 I got this small letter from the UK:

The opening proved to be a bit tricky!

Who doesn't love those Rupert Bear stamps?

And I have got more of them!

Un cabinet de curiosités

Cabinets of curiosities were collections of notable objects. The term cabinet originally described a room rather than a piece of furniture. Modern terminology would categorise the objects included as belonging to natural history (sometimes faked), geology, ethnography, archaeology, religious or historical relics, works of art (including cabinet paintings), and antiquities. The classic cabinet of curiosities emerged in the 16th century, although more rudimentary collections had existed earlier.

Letters from Fabienne and Catehrine (France), John (the UK), Rebecca and Mim (the USA), Micu (Hungary) and Lena (the Netherlands).