It was a little more than a year ago that the Traveler looked into the postage-stamp history of the national parks. Now the National Park Service and U.S. Postal Service are making it easier for you to collect some of that history.
The Grandest Things: Our National Parks in Words, Images, and Stamps made its debut when Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Postmaster General John E. Potter, and National Park Service Deputy Director Dan Wenk unveiled it during National Parks Week at the Smithsonian’s Postal Museum.
The 116-page hardcover book, produced by the U.S. Postal Service and the National Park Service, is unique in its inclusion of both famous parks and smaller gems – plus, it includes nine mint stamps—including the 1972 Old Faithful, Yellowstone. And, naturally, there's a special collecting section complete with stamp placeholders and background information.
And, if all this isn’t enough, the Postal Service revealed Scenic American Landscapes premium-stamped postcards in a first-day-of-issue-ceremony. The set of 20 stamped cards showcases 10 spectacular national park photographs originally featured on Scenic American Landscapes stamps issued over the past decade.
You can order The Grandest Things and the Scenic American Landscapes postcards at http://www.stampproducts.com/parksbook/ and soon at select national park bookstores.