From the Archive: A Slow News Week

—“Remember When Stamps Were Stamps and Not Old Masters?”
by Thomas E. Murphy, January 15, 1949

Since the beginning of 1948, the Post Office Department, at the behest of congressmen and others anxious to make political hay with pressure groups, has issued no fewer than 30 special stamps. Swedish Pioneers, the discovery of gold in California, the American hen, Volunteer Firemen, Wisconsin’s one-hundredth year of statehood — a few of them are justifiable at least on sentimental or patriotic grounds. But for the most part there is little rhyme or reason and even less art involved in the collection. You can be sure of one thing: The stamp will be ugly and big.

This article is featured in the January/February 2024 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.