Sunday, April 12, 2015

Envelope 145 - fire




I sent this one to Kathie, to thank her for the gnarled tree face she sent me.



Addressed and stamped in vertical format.





I selected the C. Alfred "Chief" Anderson stamp for today's Sunday Stamps theme, People at Work. Here's an enlarged version from USPS.com.



He might not be technically at work, but he is dressed for it. He is included in the series of Distinguished Americans. 

From USPSstamps.com:

'When Anderson secured his pilot’s license in 1932, he was the only African American in the country qualified to serve as a flight instructor or to fly commercially. He then began breaking flight records and inspiring other blacks to become pilots. During World War II, Anderson served as the chief flight instructor of a flying school at Tuskegee Institute. To the Tuskegee Airmen who learned their piloting skills from Anderson, he was affectionately known as “Chief.” During the war, the Tuskegee Airmen flew thousands of sorties in the European theater, destroyed more than a hundred German aircraft, and received scores of Distinguished Flying Crosses.'

An original painting was created for the artwork for the stamps. I like this stamp a lot - a ton of character when you look at Chief's face. He won't be able to cover a non-machinable or 2 oz letter much longer, as postage rates for additional ounces is increasing on April 26th at some point in the near future - the post office was going to increase prices April 26th, but have decided to delay it while they request changes to presorted rates as well. (And looks like he is sold out anyway, unless you want to buy collector's press sheets).

New rates (date of implementation to be determined)

Additional ounce/non-machinable letters - up 1c to 22c

2 oz letter - up 1c to 71c

3 oz letter - up 2c to 93c

3.5 oz letter - up 3c to $1.15

Postcards - up 1c to 35c

International postcard or 1 oz letter (up to 2 oz to Canada) - up 5c to $1.20

A 1 oz domestic letter remains 49c.

I like that 49c + 71c = $1.20

Hopefully by now the post office will be featuring new stamps for some/all of these rates, although there may be re-issues of old stamps with the new prices.


12 comments:

  1. So it's not just the UK that hikes its rates!
    There is character in this aviator's face.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, it is everywhere, however in the US the post office has to ask permission to raise rates, and is supposed to do so in line with inflation.

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  2. so, now your postcards will cost the same to send to us as we have to pay to send to you!
    'Chief' has a face full of character.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, sometime later this year we'll be paying the same.

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  3. I hadn't thought of aviators (nor of footballers!) as "people at work". I'm afraid rates are increasing everywhere. Certainly not in Morocco (there has been an increase, but not very big), but in Spain. Snail mail is becoming a kind of luxury...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just like I didn't think of the Building America set which has 12 different workers!

      Mail within the US is still very inexpensive compared to Europe, where a first class letter is 49c, and takes 2-3 days to be delivered on average. I think that's around 40p and about 0.55 euro.

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  4. I didn''t know anything about him until now. Thank you for sharing another piece of information.
    Postage Journal:Sunday Stamps #98

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This stamp is one that I didn't think looked that great when i first saw it online, then after seeing it a few times it grew on me, and they are great in person.

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  5. To me, $1.20 is quite inexpensive for a postcard, 82 pence. It's now £1.00 for a postcard to the USA. It's interesting how the rates vary around the world. What doesn't vary is the uproar every time they go up.

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    Replies
    1. This is true. The biggest outcry lately was over the 3c increase to 49c for domestic mail, but at least that is supposed to hold steady until at least 2016.

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  6. Its a great portrait for a stamp, I like how it fits and the striking eyes.
    As Sheila says it went up to a £1 for a postcards:-( here but they have slashed the weight bands to three for small letters which makes it better for envelope senders.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it does seem like a lot for a postcard, when you could write a letter *and* include the postcard for the same or close to the same price. And postcards seem to travel at the speed of extra slow, in my experience.

      Interestingly, the US still has a domestic postcard rate that is very cheap in my opinion - just 34c currently. What's that, around 20-22p or so? No wonder the post office isn't making money here, as there is no way you could break even sending that card to Hawaii from New york, for example.

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