A HISTORY OF AMERICA IN THIRTY-SIX POSTAGE STAMPS

The author of A History of Britain in Thirty-Six Postage Stamps (2013) returns with a similar volume for the United States.

Surprise: One of the stamps is not the 1918 “Inverted Jenny” (the upside-down airplane)—and there are a few other surprises, as well. West begins with the Stamp Act of 1765 and marches steadily forward, offering a swift history of the United States with key events illustrated by (or occasioned by) a postage stamp from the era. We learn about the gradual improvements brought about by developments in printing, the preponderance of white men pictured (George Washington has appeared on more than 130), the stamps produced by the Confederacy during the Civil War, the arrival of parcel post, the emergence of air mail (Charles Lindbergh was a postal pilot until immortality beckoned), the story of Georg Olden (the first African-American to design a postage stamp) and all sorts of other philatelic goodies. Unsurprisingly, much of the focus—early in the history—is on military events and the doings of U.S. presidents. Gradually, however, West broadens his scope, just as the Postal Service did in its commemoratives. Readers will be able to detect his determination to appear disinterested in American politics, evident in his praise and criticism of lightning-rod figures like Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. The author has a soft spot for Andrew Carnegie, calling him “a man of principle,” a characterization that will set spinning in their graves a legion of his competitors. West does not say a lot about the literary figures on stamps—though he does mention The Grapes of Wrath, Sidney Lanier and a few others. He seems (correctly?) to suspect that readers would rather hear about Davy Crockett, Billy the Kid, Louis Armstrong, the Enola Gay and the evolution of the computer.

Lightweight but informative, like a classy commemorative.