COVER N. 729 - USA 

Postmark: Boston 2026 World Expo 250th Youth and Family Day - Station Boston MA 02205 30.05.2026

Posted on the 23rd May;  Received on the 11th June 2026

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Third cover I got from Ravi from the Boston World Expo features an amazing line up of  American lighthouses, on a prepaid envelope with an American Flag pre-printed stamp. Bohoma Sthuthi, Ravi.

Looking at Ravindra's cover it is easy to understand why Lighthouses is a popular theme amongst stamp collectors, Ravi being a dedicated one himself.

In fact,  these structures are not only quite frequently located at incredibly beautiful, and often protected sites but they also exhibit a baffling diversity in architectural terms, given that in their essence they are basically a tower with a lantern on top.

Add to this the  conspicuity of the high visibility paint scheme that is also a feature of many a lighthouse, the fact that they  are quite frequently centuries old, often with many a story to tell, plus the romantic aura they exhale (especially on stormy winter days) and there is no escaping their allure... 

Between 1990 and 2021 USPS issued a total of 7 issues based around the same concept: a 5 stamp se-tenant strip (self-adhesive, from 2003 on) dedicated to the lighthouses of a given region of the US (the first issue escaping this categorisation, for it includes lighthouses that cross the full span of the country, from Washington in the Pacific coast to New Jersey, on the Atlantic side).

For this cover, Ravi used precisely the original issue, that of 1990, comprising 5 x 25 cents stamps.

From left to right, the lighthouses depicted in the beautiful paintings are:

- Admiralty Head, Washington  

Now deactivated, this 9.1 m tall lighthouse, was built in 1903.

- Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

Built in 1870 and twice relocated (last time in 1999) Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, is 64 m in height.

- West Quody Head, Maine

Located at the easternmost point of the contiguous United States, this 15 m tall lighthouse was built in 1808.

- American Shoals, Florida

Located off shore of Key West, Florida, the 34 m high American Shoals lighthouse was constructed in 1880.

- Sandy Hook, New Jersey

The oldest operating lighthouse in the United States, the 31 m high Sandy Hook lighthouse was built in 1764.

COVER N. 729 - USA 

Postmark: Boston 2026 World Expo 250th anniversary of the US - Station Boston MA 02205 23.05.2026

Posted on the 23rd May;  Received on the 9th June 2026

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Second cover I got from Ravi from the Boston World Expo features some stamps of a very recent issue celebrating another of the most famous US icons: Route 66. Again, a large Bohoma sthuthi, Ravi.

2026 marks the centenary of this most famous of American routes, originally crossing about 2/3 of the country, linking Los Angeles, (later Santa Monica) California, on the West coast, to Chicago, Illinois, on the shores of lake Michigan.

Today, Route 66 is no longer. Parts of it have been altered, merged, replaced by new infrastructures, due to the exponential increase in traffic since the opening of the original road and, as a matter of fact, Route 66 was decommissioned in 1985. Still its importance as a vital artery for internal migration and especially the role it played in the years following the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl and the post-war boom of the 50s have granted it a place in American history, today crystallised in what is known as the Historic Route 66, which comprises about 85% of the initial road.

On the centenary of Route 66, USPS issued on 05MAY2026 a set comprising 8 self-adhesive USA Forever stamps illustrated with photographs of Motel, Cafe and Gas stations signs existing on Route 66, themselves pretty iconic images too.

Ravi used three of these stamps on this cover, postmarked from the postmarking station of the World Expo dedicated to the Day of the celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the United States. I wonder if he came across any of the Joads or maybe Billy or Captain America in their Harleys....

COVER N. 728 - USA 

Postmark: Boston 2026 World Expo Stamp Collectors Day - Station Boston MA 02205 25.05.2026

Posted on the 10th April;  Received on the 8th June 2026

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Turns out that the Boston Postcard was just an apetiser for the several fantastic covers that Ravi most kindly and generously sent me from the Boston 2026 World Expo. Bohoma Sthuthi, Ravi. Truly appreciated it.

First one was this cover on a prepaid envelope with a printed USA Forever stamp:

 The "World Stamp Show", which took place in Boston, Massachusetts, from the 23 to the 30 May was one of the events integrated in the celebrations of the 250th Anniversary of the Independence of the United States of America.

Previously to the show, on 14 August, USPS issued a  couple of terrific in-taglio printed "Forever" stamps to promote this important philatelic event and also to celebrate the country's anniversary.

According to USPS, the stamps, which when closely analysed exhibit a very fine 3D appearance, were created as replica vintage engravings so as to celebrate the stamps issued in the 19th and the early years of the 20th century, and they are illustrated with images of  the Old North Church, which is oldest church building in existence in Boston, as it appeared during the American Revolution, and of a  “Midnight rider”  galloping with a lantern in one hand, so as to light his way.

These are both symbols of the American revolution for lanterns in the bell tower of the  Church, there placed momentaneously, at the request of Paul Revere, on the night of April 18, 1775, warned patriots of the movements of the British troops.

Paul Revere himself was one of  the "midnight riders" (and the most famous of them all), evoked in one of the stamps, these being patriots dispatched to warn fellow revolutionaries of the whereabouts of the British troops, prior to the first battles of the American revolution: Lexington and Concord, which took place on the 19th April.

The Postmark was applied at the Expo on the 25th May at the "Stamp collectors' day" postmarking station.

POSTCARD N.233 - USA

Postcard sent on the 25th May; received on the 5th June 2026

Postcard image:  Boston skyline from the sky...

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There are images I will keep forever in my cerebral photobook... 

Boston, Massachusetts... that's where they were going to.... whole families, by the end of the summer, after visiting relatives,  in their nicest clothes,  nervously waiting for the boarding call at the airport terminal, with the father always taking with him a couple of bottles bound together, artistically covered in some sort of intertwined plastic straw that would create  patterns on the cover (red and white, being the colours I vividly remember). Binoculars, we called them... inside the glass bottles the aguardente that their families had been producing for ages.... for a special occasion... a birthday, a christening, a marriage... a bit of liquid island to wear off the saudades (they say the word can't be translated, but it means a deep longing, missing something very much).

"Charlie, come here", said the mother to the  little kid running and jumping as kids do, between the rows of the seats of the airport terminal (in those days there was no specific boarding room, just a general pre-flight area, where passengers and general public could be together).

"Charlie, ... come here" said the mother, this time a bit louder and with more assertivness, but Charlie, did not seem to hear, or couldn't care less.

"Charlie, don't you hear me? Come here!", shouted mother... same result

"Eh Carlinhs, nan tás aouvi? vencá!" Charlie, as if hit by lightning, froze and immediately  calmed down and went to join mother at the end of the room...

Massachusetts ranks as the second most important Azorean emigration destination, after California, so flights to Boston were the best transportation option for those that would later regain their communities in Fall River or New Bedford.

Carlinhos should be 5 or 6 years younger than me... In his American home, I wonder if he still keeps  father's binoculars as a souvenir of days gone....

Ravi used a "Forever Global" self-adhesive stamp issued on 24Jan2025, illustrated with a 1794 Compass Rose that was drawn in 1794 by "...Lucia Wadsworth — the aunt of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow — in her school geography notebook...", according to Wikipedia.

Postmark from Boston, the Capital of the State of Massachussets.

Bohoma sthuthi, Ravi, for another great postcard and the opportunity to rememeber happy days....

POSTCARD N.232 - USA

Postcard sent on the 27th May; received on the 8th June 2026

Postcard image:  Gingerbread Cottages at Martha's Vineyard

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Ravi sent me one of his fantastic and much appreciated mail barrages from the United States.

I'll dedicate the next posts to the cards and covers that have been falling into my letterbox rather frequently these last few days.

Bohoma sthuthi, friend. You're spoiling me with all these great pieces of mail.

Martha's Vineyard is an island in the State of Massachusetts, off the coast of Cape Cod, famous as an exclusive holiday destination.

The island, which can only be reached by air or sea, is also famous for its Victorian Architecture , namely the famous gingerbread cottages dating from the 19th century such as those depicted in the postcard Ravi sent me.

The term Gingerbread refers to the elaborate wooden trim that decorates the façades roofs and porches.

Ravi used a "Forever Global" self-adhesive stamp issued on 24Jan2025, illustrated with a 1794 Compass Rose that was drawn in 1794 by "...Lucia Wadsworth — the aunt of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow — in her school geography notebook...", according to Wikipedia.

The stamp was originally cancelled with a large red manual postmark issued at Edgartown, Massachusetts, Martha's Vineyard administrative capital, on the 27th May. The next day, a mechanical cancellation was also applied, this time at Providence,the Capital of the neighbouring State of Rhode Island.

COVER N. 727 - USA 

Postmark: Figures of the American revolution First day of Issue Washington DC2066 10.04.2026 

Posted on the 10th April;  Received on the 8th June 2026

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Thanks A.W. for another excellent cover, and for the nice stamps inside, which I truly appreciated.

2026 marks the  250th anniversary of The United States of America as an independent country, a status emerging from what would go down in history books as "The American Revolution". 

A timeline for this period would put its beginning in 

1765, as this was the year when the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act which for the first time  imposed a direct tax on the 13 British Colonies in North America demanding that “many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper from London which included an embossed revenue stamp” (cf. Wikipedia) (what gave way to a slogan which to this day is every now and then echoed: "No taxation, without representation"),  

and its final in 

1789, the year when the Constitution of The United States became effective.

In between, many were the moments that would guarantee a specific entry in American history compendia, but none the more so than the 4th July 1776, the day the Second Continental Congress, in which the 13 colonies were represented adopted the declaration  of Independence that marked the definitive cutting of  ties with the United Kingdom.

It would be expected that such a round date as a quarter of millennium milestone would produce many celebratory mementos, and commemorative stamps, would, of course, be expected to be issued.

USPS has thus included several issues linked to the celebrations in its stamp issue programme, the first of which is the "Figures of the American Revolution"  issue, dated of  10APR2026, comprising 25 self-adhesive "USA Forever" stamps illustrated with portraits of famous "individuals whose actions were vital in achieving independence and establishing the principles that continue to guide the United States", as claimed in the release notes. Each of the stamps also feature a legend with a short explanatory text.

Three of these stamps, dedicated to

- John Dickinson  - "Penman of the Revolution" whose writings articulated America's revolutionary Ideals;

- Bernardo de Galvés - Governor of Spanish Louisiana who aided patriots drive the British from West Florida;

- Nathaniel Greene -  Quaker and skillful general whose tactics turned the tide of war by ending British occupation of the South

can be seen in this First Day cover, postmarked at Washington DC.

COVER N. 725 - USA 

Postmark: Manual - Carthage IN 45115 USPS Mechanical -  Indianapolis IN 22.05.2026

Posted on the  22nd May;  Received on the 2nd June 2026

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This cover is the logic sequence to the previous blog entry, since this was the cover that contained the APO cover which Alex had sent me and which had ended up in the United States.

So, a large Thank You, John, for  going through the trouble of  forwarding the cover back to me. Truly appreciated.

John used three of the 10 self-adhesive "USA Forever" stamps themed on fruits and vegetables issued on 17JUL2020.

Tiny as they are, these stamps do exhibit some pretty nice still life photos. I especially like the Plums...

"...

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold"

Postmark from Carthage, a town in the State of Indiana of roughly 1000 inhabitants.

POSTCARD N.230 -  USA

Postcard sent on the 19th May; received on the 26th May 2026

Postcard image:  Old Mission Santa Barbara, California

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Ravi sent me another card from his US journey. This time from Santa Barbara., in the State of California. Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravi!

From 1769 to 1821 what is now the State of California was colonised by the Kingdom of Spain, a situation that come to an end when Mexico became independent and took control over the territory which it would cede to the United States in 1848 by the end of the Mexican-American war.

Spain established in what was then known as Alta California, a total of 21 Missions through which the European coloniser sought to convert Natives to Catholicism and to exploit them as workforce for the upholding of the Spanish colonial economy.

The tenth of these Missions was established on Santa Barbara's day, December the 4th, 1786, by a Franciscan priest, father Fermin Lasuén, occupying a rise overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ynez Mountains,

Santa Barbara Mission, which would become known as the Queen of Missions, due to its architectural beauty  featuring a classic Roman Temple facade, framed by twin bell towers, and the fact that it served as the headquarters for the Franciscan order in Alta California, is to this day run by Franciscan friars and functions as a parish church of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Ravi used a "Forever Global" self-adhesive stamp issued on 24Jan2025, illustrated with a 1794 Compass Rose that was drawn in 1794 by "...Lucia Wadsworth — the aunt of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow — in her school geography notebook...", according to Wikipedia.

POSTCARD N.228 - U.S.A.

Postcard sent on the 9th May; received on the 18th May 2026

Postcard image:  1928 Model T Touring  

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"Any colour as long as it is black...".The famous quote is attributed to Henry Ford who, for production standardisation and  rationalisation reasons elected a fast drying type of paint, that was only available in black, as a way to increase production of his high demand sales champion, the Model T.

This mono colour policy became effective in 1914, and so between 1908, the year when the first model T was produced and 1914, many a Ford T left the factory works in other colours.

This might be the case with the posh 1908 Model T Touring, featured on the postcard that Ravi sent me from The United States.  Bohomȧ  sthoothi, mate.

Out of curiosity I looked up the total production number for Model Ts in all its variants and Wikipedia states a whopping  15 007 003 units, assembled between 1908 and1927...

Ravi used a "Forever Global" self-adhesive stamp issued on 24Jan2025, illustrated with a 1794 Compass Rose that was drawn in 1794 by "...Lucia Wadsworth — the aunt of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow — in her school geography notebook...", according to Wikipedia.

The mechanical postmark was applied in the city of Sacramento, State of California.

COVER N. 717 - USA

Postmark: (Mechanical) Milwauke WI 530 05.05.2026

Posted on the 5th April ; received on the 12th May, 2026

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A nice cover with nice stamps, pity the mechanical cancel. Anyway, thanks a lot, Norbert, this goes great with the Ali cover you also sent me. 

I have to confess my ignorance regarding the personality that is honoured in this stamp of the Black Heritage series that USPS has been running since 1978. so, I had to look the name up on wikipedia to learn that Phillis Wheatley, (c. 1753 -1784) was the first published afro-american female poet.

Born in western Africa, probably in what is now Gambia or Senegal, and brought to America as a slave some years before the USA independence, 1761, to be more precise, Phillis life story is sadly one of going full circle. 

In fact, she would in time acquire a level of education uncomparable to that of other persons sharing the same origins, for her owners, John and Susanna Wheatley, and especially their daughter Mary and son Nathaniel, tutored her and later acknowledged her writing abilities to the point of seeking support for the publication of her first poetry book in London, something that would come to fruition in 1773, thanks to the interest of   Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, who subsidised the publication.

Phillis would be manumitted by the Wheatleys in 1873, and after their death she would marry a  free black grocer with whom she had three children, all of which sadly died still in their  infancy. 

John Peters, her husband, who  further to his job as grocer also worked  as shopkeeper, lawyer, and physician to provide for his family, was emprisoned for debt in 1784, what caused Phillis to start working as a scullery made at a boarding house to make ends meet, something she barely was able to do. It was during this time that she contracted Pneumonia, the cause of her death on December the 5th 1784.

Honouring her legacy as the first Afro-American published female writer, USPS issued the "Forever USA" stamp on the cover, on 29JAN2026.

Postage was completed with two 10 cent stamps of the “Flowers”! definitive issue dated of 18JUL2024. The flowers illustrating the stamp are Poppies and Cornflowers.

COVER N. 708 - USA

Postmark: Mechanical postmark Milwaukee, WI 530 date illegible

Posted on ?;  Received on the 29th April 2026

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A pretty battered envelope (could it be that the ghost of Joe Frazier  found the envelope while in transit?) with the bright shining portrait of Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) who is regarded as the greatest boxer of all times, "The Greatest"  in fact being his nickname.  Thanks a lot, Norbert.

Well boxing is not my kind of sport... I am too much of a physical coward for that (I guess I have a lot of trouble not only understanding a sport where the aim seems to be punching the opponent as hard as one can until he or she is down on the ground, unable to repay in kind, but also why would anyone want - and pay - to watch someone do it...)

So I would rather remember Ali not as the boxing Champion he was, having held the heavyweight boxing champion title for three times, but as an advocate for Peace and Justice, and an icon of the 60s-70s counterculture and social activism.

And I will also never forget the image of Muhammad Ali holding the Olympic flame, to light the torch in the Atlanta 1996 Games. Such greatness, in spite of his physical limitation....

10 years after his passing, USPS honoured Muhammad Ali with a two "Forever/USA" stamp set, issued on 15JAN2026.

The stamps feature a 1974 Associated Press Photograph  of Ali and, according to the release notes the up or down positioning of the ALI legend suggests the way he moved in the ring.

Somewhere in the release notes it is mentioned that Ali once said, “I should be a postage stamp, because that's the only way I'll ever get licked.” 

Well, I have to say, "No way, champ... not even this way. These days, the damn things are self-adhesive!"

POSTCARD N.215 - USA

Postcard sent on the 10th March; received on the19th March 2026

Postcard image: Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area - Calico Tanks

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Michal sent me a a beautiful postcard from the USA. Děkuji mnohokrát, Michal.

The planet was here before us and, hopefully, will be here after us. We're not owners; just users, fruitioners, but also guardians, keepers. This self-evident and yet strangely not so obvious truth is probably the most important thought that nature in all its grandiosity should impart on the visitor, the passer by, the local inhabitant.

"All things must pass," George Harrison aptly concluded in his most gracious and harmonious way, but some things last way longer than others and inanimate ones, like rocks and stones seem to have an innate ticket to eternity.

Images like the one of the card Michal sent me, always humble me. 

I know I will not be able in my limited life to actually enjoy the majority of the myriad of outstanding natural places that Earth has on offer, but, lucky as I am, compared to a lot of other humans, I have been to a few places which would look just as fine on a postcard.   

I have never been to the United States of America, though. Still, I have visited many of its natural wonders since my childhood days, in the always superior photos on the pages of the National Geographics that my father and later my own self subscribed to, long before the internet, e-mail, 

Or Trump, for that matter....

All things must pass...

Michal used a Forever stamp of the 2024 Flag issue which comprised 4 different designs. The set was issued on 14JUN2024.

Mechanical Postmark from Las Vegas, Nevada, this famous city being but a half an hour drive from the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, where the photo of the postcard was taken.

POSTCARD N.214 - USA

Postcrossing Postcard sent on ?; received on the 10th March 2026

Postcard image: Ryan NYP "Spirit Of Saint Louis"

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A postcard issued by The Smithsonian Institution with a photograph of one of the most illustrious aircraft in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum: the Ryan NYP (New York to Paris) "Spirit of Saint Louis", in which Charles Lindbergh completed, in 1927, the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight, Between Roosevelt field, Long island, New York,  and Le Bourget, Paris, France. 

The flight took 33 hours and the pilot had to struggle to stay awake during much of it for he had not slept the previous night, so much so that at some point he  barely escaped crashing into the sea due to having fallen momentarily asleep and losing control of the aircraft..

I can't imagine what it would be like to fly in a noisy rattling aircraft without any forward vision other than that provided by a periscope, over the sea, in a cockpit probably not that impervious to exhaust fumes for 33.5 hours, in such animic conditions, but the truth is that Charles Lindbergh did it and with his feat won a irrevocable place in the history of aviation.

Incidentally, the Billy Wilder “Spirit of Saint Louis” film, featuring James Stewart as Lindbergh, gives quite a detailed  account of the flight and the challenges it raised for the pilot. 

Thanks a lot Kira! Unfortunately  the card got a bit wet inside my letterbox, and my attempt at drying it off with a clothes iron only did worse....

The "two ounce USA" stamp illustrated with  several flowers was issued on 22MAR2024 as part of a two stamp set ( the companion stamp is a "Forever USA ") themed on "Floral Greetings"

The blue Forever stamp is part of the two stamp set issued on 114AUG2025 in celebration of the Boston 2026 World Philatelic Exhibition. I wrote about these stamps a propos cover #646.

The card circulated without having been postmarked, so I have no clue as to its place of origin.

COVER N.655 / POSTCARD N.198 - U.S.A.

Postcrossing Postcard sent on the 1st November; received in November 2025.

Postcard image: Grand Teton National Park

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A touch of colour lands on mailbox from  the United States of America. Thanks a lot Brianna, I loved the postcard and the stamps.

Brianna used almost the full 2024 self-adhesive floral definitive issue, dated of 18JUL2024 on this cover. The only stamp left out was the 10 c stamp which featured poppies and coneflowers. From left to right we have: 1 cent - Fringed Tulip: 2 cents - Daffodils; 3 cents - Peonies and 5 cents - Red tulips.

The two remaining stamps are part of the very interesting 20 Forever USA stamp pane issued on 23JUL2025 honouring the 250th anniversary of the United States Postal Service. as luck had it, the two stamps on the cover were part of the some row I had already in my collection thanks to A.W., who sent me a very nice FDC for this set in Cover #635.

Inside the envelope was this beautifully illustrated postcard of Grand Teton National Park, in Wyoming, with a herd of bisons quietly grazing under the watch of the Grand Teton itself.

I would love to visit this and other American parks someday, but for now it is out of question. I can understand that the effects of over tourism in protected areas can really be dramatic, but I can't help but feel that imposing a 100 Dollar surtax on top of the entry fee for a foreigner has nothing to do with protecting the area, and a lot to do with the type of isolationism that I still remember being fostered by the wretched dictators and their entourage which ruled my country 50 + years ago...."Proudly Alone", was their motto.... sad bunch they were....

The mechanical postmark hails from Orlando, Florida, and although is quite smeared, it is possible to again identify the special  sprayed add-on celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States Postal Service., featuring the legend 1775-2025, below a stylised eagle in flight.

COVER N.653 / POSTCARD N.195 - U.S.A.

Postcrossing Postcard sent on the 29th October; received in November 2025.

Postcard image: Waterfowl and wildlife conservation stamps

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What a cute little envelope I got with a very nice small postcard inside illustrated with images of stamps of the wildlife conservation series that the US Postal Service issued between 1956 and 1978, totalling 16 stamps and also of a waterfowl conservation stamp issued in 1968. All of them are absolutely beautiful.

Thanks a lot, Breanna!

Stamps on the cover:

- "Yellow School Bus" additional ounce self-adhesive stamp, issued by USPS on 05JAN2023.

- Self-adhesive "Love skywriting" Forever USA  stamp, issued on 07JAN2017

- "Fun", part of a 10 x Forever USA self-adhesive stamp set dedicated to pinback buttons, issued on 15AUG2024

The barely readable mechanical postmark issued in Portland, Oregon,  contains a special sprayed add-on,  celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States Postal Service. Iit features the legend 1775-2025, below a stilised eagle in flight on the left of the legend.

POSTCARD N.194 - U.S.A.

Postcrossing Postcard sent on the 27th October; received in November 2025.

Postcard image: Dodger Stadium

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Baseball... Not a familiar noun around here, so the more interesting the image on the card becomes. Thanks a bunch Stephanie.

Stephanie explained in the card that the Los Angeles Dodgers were playing the world series against the Toronto Blue Jays, so I went and checked and the Dodgers won 4-3 in the seven game series, thus becoming the World Series Champion for 2025.

Three of the games took place in the Dodger Stadium.

Stephanie sent me the postcard inside a cellophane bag, to protect it, with the stamps (and postmark) applied on the bag itself, what caused the postmark to smudge quite a bit, making it impossible to read its origin.

The "Expresso" forever USA stamp is part of the 4 self-adhesive stamp set issued on " 09APR2021, themed on Coffee Beverages. 

 The 100th Anniversary of  the Wright Brothers' First Flight was celebrated by USPS with the self-adhesive stamp on the cover illustrated with the "Flyer" flying above up the dunes at Kitty Hawk.

Stephanie also used a "Usa/Postcard" stamp of the "Vibrant leaves" issue of 14MAR2025. Further to the Sweetgum leaf , the issue includes stamp with nice autumn coloured leaves of Aspen, Sassafras, Oak and Mapple.

COVER N. 646 - USA

Postmark: 2026 Boston World Stamp Show First day of Issue,  August 14, 2025 Shaumburg IL 60194  

Posted on the 20th September;  Received on the 14th October 2025

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What a nice cover! Not only the stamps are truly beautiful but also the cancellation is remarkably uncommon. Thank you so much Geoffrey. Truly appreciated!

I think the first book I read by James Michener was "Centennial", published in 1974, as the United States of America was just two years away from celebrating the 200th anniversary of its independence from the English crown.

I must have read it in 1977-78, or so. If you asked me now, of course, I do not recollect the details, but I vividly remember the fact that the story spans millennia, from the formation of landmasses to what was then present day USA.

I liked the book so much that I went on to read a few more of Michener's hefty books like Hawaii or Chesapeake, all following the same  pattern of  setting the main plot against a hugely long time frame, thus enabling the reader to get him/herself immersed into a vast backdrop of historical and even scientific information that was one of the things that I found quite enthusing about his novels. 

50 years have passed since then. Half a century. I am quite older, haven’t touched a Michener book in decades, and the USA is about to celebrate 250 years of independence, on the 4th of July, next year. 

Ironically, as I type, the TV is full of images of the millions who took yesterday to the streets to reaffirm the principles laid down in the Declaration of Independence, this time around not to a foreign king, but to an internal wannabe one..."the enemy within"?

I digress....

One of the events that will be directly linked to the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the American Independence will be the "World Stamp Show", which will take place in Boston, Massachusetts, between 23 and 30 May.

USPS made excellent use of the occasion to issue a couple of terrific in-taglio printed "Forever" stamps than began to circulate on the 14th August, drawing on the attention of philatelists and public at large to the forthcoming philatelic show.

According to USPS, the stamps, which when closely analysed exhibit a very fine 3D appearance, were created as replica vintage engravings so as to celebrate the stamps issued in the 19th and the early years of the 20th century, and they are illustrated with images of  the Old North Church, which is oldest church building in existence in Boston, as it appeared during the American Revolution, and of a  “Midnight rider”  galloping with a lantern in one hand, so as to light his way.

These are both symbols of the American revolution for lanterns in the bell tower of the  Church, there placed momentaneously, at the request of Paul Revere, on the night of April 18, 1775, warned patriots of the movements of the British troops.

Paul Revere himself was one of  the "midnight riders" (and the most famous of them all), evoked in one of the stamps, these being patriots dispatched to warn fellow revolutionaries of the whereabouts of the British troops, prior to the first battles of the American revolution: Lexington and Concord, which took place on the 19th April.

The postmark is decidedly unusual in that it is digitally printed over the stamps in two colours, blue and gold, with the 2026 Boston World Stamp Show legend superimposed over the same midnight rider image that is present on the stamp. All in all quite neat!

Postage was completed with a couple of definitive stamps from a series themed on fruits, started in 2016.

The 5 Cent grapes stamp was issued on 24FEB2017, while the 10 Cent pear stamp is a 2017 reprint of the  original, issued on 17JAN2016.

COVER N. 635 - U.S.A.

Postmark: First day of Issue 250 Years of Delivering Washington  DC 20066 23.07.2025 

Posted on the 23rd July; Received on the 10th September 2025

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A.W. agains sends me the perfect philatelic cover. Thank you so much for another beautiful FDC, A. W.!

Even before its independency, the United States of America, already had its own Postal Services, which were established in the  Second Continental Congress which took place in Philadelphia on July 26, 1775,    its first postmaster being none other than the prolific Benjamin Franklin.

250 years after, the United States Postal Services still fulfil its universal service obligations, having processed and delivered in 2024  approximately 112.5 billion postal pieces and 7.3 billion packages.

Honouring this rich history of public service, USPS issued on 23JUL2025 a great pane of 20 "Forever USA" interconnected stamps, which combined show an illustration of mail being delivered in a town throughout the four different seasons of the year.

Appropriately, since Autumn begins today, the 22nd September, the five stamps in the row of the pane that A.W. picked up to grace the envelope he so kindly  sent me, represent the season of the warm leaf colours and, of course, you can find my friend Mr/Ms. Postman/Postlady in each of the individual stamps.

The Postmark hails from Washington D.C.

POSTCARD N.184 - U.S.A.

Postcrossing Postcard sent on the 5th June; received on the 23rd June 2025.

Postcard image: Sunrise from Bluewell, West Virginia

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Sunrise and sunset, the quintessential time of the day for the quintessential postcard... every day that passes they are different and sometimes the guy behind the light console is really a master.... seems they have some great light effects experts in Bluewell, West Virginia, too...

Thanks a lot, Laura!

One can never get tired of watching a great sunset or sunrise, no matter what. Those days when all the sky goes red and orange and purple and yellow and all the shades in between of an outstanding palette of warm and cool colours are days to remember, especially if you have a camera with you.... I know it, I've shot many a sunset and a sunrise, and I never get tired of it!

No matter how many times we've seen it , this is an image that will enrapture, inspire awe, exhilarate and motivate many other positive sensations that will make you feel somehow connected to the ground below your feet and the sky up there on the horizon... cheesy as it might sound...

Piñatas originated in Iberia, although I can't remember ever being present at a party where someone would break the festively wrapped container with a bat so as to liberate the sweets inside (although I do have a recollection of seeing it on TV somewhere in Portugal, during some local festivities, where it is (was?) customary to break a clay jar with something inside...)

Following the Portuguese and Spanish colonisation, Piñatas were  imported into South America from where they made their way into the USA.

I don't know if Piñatas are traditional in the upper  States, but I think that at least in those States that share a border with Mexico, they made their way into the local usage.

On 08SEP2023 USPS issued a four stamp set (Forever USA) dedicated to this tradition. Two of the stamps can be seen on the postcards. 

The third stamp, also a "Forever USA" issue, began to circulate on 26APR2025 as part of a 10 stamp set dedicated to Dahlias, that beautiful garden flower  native from Mexico and which has become very popular amongst garden lovers as illustrated by this quote form Wikipedia: "There are now more than 57,000 registered cultivars".

The mechanical obliteration was applied at Charleston, the capital of the State of West Virginia.

POSTCARD N.183 - U.S.A.

Postcrossing Postcard sent on the 5th June; received on the 17th June 2025.

Postcard image: A T6 Texan (?) flies through Blimp Hangar B at what is now  the Blimp Hangar Museum in Tillamook, Oregon

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A very interesting and unusual postcrossing postcard from the United States of America with a classic BW photograph of a stunt which we are not likely to see being carried out in present days. Thank you so much, Liz. Truly appreciated it.

The two Blimp Hangars at Naval Air Station Tilamook  - Hangars A and B - were built and commissioned in 1942.

These would shelter the eight  K-Class airships of Squadron ZP-33, tasked with anti submarine patrols, therein based.

After the Second World War, in 1948, NAS Tilamook was decommissioned but the 192 feet tall (58,5 m),  296 feet (90 m) wide and 1,072 feet (326,7 m)  long with their beautiful wooden trellised construction hangars luckily escaped demolition.

Sadly, Hangar A was destroyed by a fire in 1992, but hangar B today houses the Tilamook Air Museum, or the Blimp Hangar Museum, as it is identified on the back of the postcard.

The photograph that illustrates the postcard was for certain taken after the hangars had been decommissioned, probably in the 1950s. The aircraft flying through the hangar seems to be a North American T-6 Texan, but I might be wrong since the photo is not very clear.

Liz used a round Self-adhesive "Forever Global" stamp illustrated with a beautiful  compass rose, issued on 24JAN2025

The machine applied cancellation hails from Boise, the Capital o the State of Idaho.