Postage Stamps

Current Postage Stamp Is A Great Buy

These days, virtually nothing is inexpensive. Candy bars, soda, they are all over a dollar. Movies, just the ticket is upwards of ten bucks. You want popcorn and drinks with that, you practically need to take out a loan! Right now, to send a regular first class envelope in the United States is forty-one cents, and for a post card it is twenty-six cents. A lot of people consider it quite reasonable, others think it is a bargain, and still others are convinced it is a complete outrage.

Yet, when you think about it and compare prices, current postage rates really aren't that bad. About three centuries ago, it cost just over a shilling to send a letter from London to Edinburgh. Sounds pretty cheap, eh? Not when you take into account that your average worker made less than that every day. More than a day's wages to send a letter!

Today, shelling out forty-one cents does not sound that bad. And, there are so many choices when it comes to what kind of stamp you want to put on your mail. A visit to your local post office, or to the United States Postal Service website, will yield a veritable cornucopia of stamps.

Want something artsy? They've got the Wedding Hearts stamp. Do you like scenic locations? There are the Okefenokee Swamp and Hagatna Bay. Are you a fan of classic literature? You can buy a stamp featuring Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Then, of course, there are numerous simple designs: teapots, furniture etc. and the good, old standby: Lady Liberty.

And, in our modern, high-tech world, you are no longer limited by the USPS's idea of what should appear on a stamp. There are a number of websites (zazzle.com and yourstamps.com, to name two) that allow you to upload your own pictures and create stamps, all of which are perfectly valid and will be acceptable by the U.S. Mail. While the Postal Service has strict rules about who can appear on a stamp (e.g. no living person can), this does not apply to "homemade" postage. So, if you have a special event: a wedding, a recent baby born, a birthday, or an anniversary etc. you can print your own stamps to commemorate it.

In addition, you can now answer that age old question: what kind of present can you get for that certain someone who does not need anything? How many times do you have to hear a dear, aunt or uncle say: "Oh, you can get me anything, dear one, I'll love."? Right. And just how many bottles of aftershave can an uncle put up with? A perfect alternative? Create personal postage stamps. These days, they offer a way of giving a good friend or relative a gift unlike anything they have ever gotten before.