vintage stamps

I planned my wedding in precisely three months, so, while I spent hours and hours gathering inspiration from magazines and the Internet, there were certain things I now feel I sort of missed, whether because I had to go the easiest, fastest route or was completely unaware of at the time.  One example of the latter is a pretty small detail but I so wish that I thought of putting vintage stamps on our invitations. 

[Image via Pearls on a String]

Our paper products were one of my favorite aspects of the wedding (we got them at The Dandelion Patch) but our envelopes were pretty blah with a lone, measly stamp with the mildly cheesy USPS "wedding invitation and white rose" motif (no offense!) and my hand-scrawled cursive.  Now, photos of perfectly calligraphed, color-coordinated stamped wedding invitations are practically ubiquitous in photos of stylish weddings.  Over the past couple of years, we've received some beautiful invitations to weddings of family and friends and I've marveled over the pretty color combinations and themes of their postage assortments.

[Whooping Cranes, Scott #1098.  Image via US Mint Sheets]

[Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Scott #1448-1451.  Image via US Mint Sheets]

[Cassatt Art, Scott #1322.  Image via US Mint Sheets]

This article on Oh So Beautiful Paper lays it all out in terms of how to find interesting older postage, to include Etsy, eBay, and dealers.  Now I have a running tab of Scott numbers (how stamps are technically categorized).  While I'm no longer planning a wedding, there are so many out there that would make receiving a bridal/baby shower invitation, thank you note, or holiday card a little more charming. 

[American Ballet, Scott #3237.  Image via US Mint Sheets]

Perusing old stamps makes you realize that the USPS has covered rather, let's call it varied topics over the decades.  There's "Homemakers" (Scott #1253), "International Telecommunications Union" (Scott #1274), "Parent Teacher Association" (Scott #1463), "Rural Electrification" (Scott #2144), and more.  The USPS is nothing if not thorough, apparently.

[Love, Scott #2440.  Image via US Mint Sheets]

While many stamps are priced over face value, as is to be expected, they seem perfectly worth it to me for the utterly precious snail mail they make for nearly any occasion (like sending your loved one a card just to remind them of the historical presence of Martin Luther (Scott #2065)).