Save Your Stamps!
Were you one of those kids who saved stamps? Did you carefully place them in a stamp book or just toss them in a shoebox for safekeeping? I did both. I had a large stamp book with pictures of various stamps printed on its pages, and I diligently looked high and low to find those exact stamps to add to my collection. I also had a shoebox where stamps were tossed if there were no spots for them in my stamp book.
If you have a shoe box filled with saved stamps and are wondering what to do with them, the Postal History Foundation (920 N. 1st Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719) is a 501(c)3 organization that relies on stamp donations and monetary gifts from the public to fund its educational activities. Their website, postalhistoryfoundation.org, provides complete information as to what new or used stamps are most useful and how to donate them.
Lisa Dembowski, Educational Director, stated that all types of stamps are needed. Commemorative stamps are the most popular. They also take foreign stamps and sell them in their store to fund the foundation.
Within walking distance of the University of Arizona, the official post office inside the foundation’s museum is used by college students and the public. If you are a stamp collector, this is the only Arizona post office that receives almost all new stamps issued. It is open weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., for you to purchase pages of newly-minted stamps.
Donated stamps are used to create educational lessons presented to students visiting the
foundation’s museum. Lessons are also mailed to parents and teachers who request them for use with their homeschoolers or classroom students.
One master copy of the worksheet and stamps for each child are provided with each lesson. Stamps depicting insects, flowers, birds, mammals, historic people, sports, and historic events are always useful for creating educational lessons. Lessons are available for kindergarten through high school, with third grade having the most lessons available (45).
An educational lesson for second graders is called “Butterfly Fun”. A worksheet teaches students about different butterflies, and colorful butterfly stamps are provided for each student.
The public can tour the museum and view the history of the postal service and the talented artists down through the decades who have created America’s postal stamps. The Foundation’s Slusser Library holds over 30,000 books providing information about stamps, stamp collecting, and other postage-related topics.
The Postal History Foundation offers speakers who present programs about the foundation for school and organizational meetings. This would make an interesting program or field trip for Tucson garden clubs.
Founded in 1960, the Foundation’s goal is to keep alive a love of stamp collecting and provide classroom lessons, stamps, field trips, and guest speakers to local schools, homeschoolers, scout troops, and other organizations.
For more information or to schedule a speaker for your club’s meeting, email Education Director, Lisa Dembowski, at education@phftucson.org (preferred communication method) or phone 520-623-6652 ext. 102. Classroom visits are free; field trips to the foundation are $2 per student (teachers and chaperones are free).
-By Karen Bowen. Karen is a member of the Yuma Orchid & African Violet Society and a master gardener.
