Celebrating 15 Years at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum

Since opening in July 1993, the Smithsonian National Postal Museum has attracted more than 7 million visitors and reaches millions more across the United States through its traveling exhibition program and online exhibits. To celebrate its 15th anniversary, the museum is hosting “Alphabetilately,” a vibrant alphabetical exhibition about collecting, stamps and the sending of mail. “Alphabetilately” opens Friday, Sept. 26.

From advertising covers to Zeppelin post, all 26 topics are clearly defined and richly illustrated with intriguing examples, including rarely displayed pieces from the museum’s permanent collection. The stamps, envelopes and objects on view span three centuries, and the stories they tell will delight visitors of all ages and of all degrees of philatelic sophistication. This exhibit offers an innovative way of looking at the hobby of stamp collecting. It also demonstrates the length – sometimes creative, sometimes heroic – that people have gone to stay connected via mail. The accompanying text blends postal history, philatelic detail and design perspective.

The designs for the “non-postage stamps” that introduce each case were created by designers at 26 different studios in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The National Postal Museum is devoted to presenting the colorful and engaging history of the nation’s mail service and showcasing the largest and most comprehensive collection of stamps and philatelic material in the world. It is located at 2 Massachusetts Ave. N.E., in the Old City Post Office Building across from Union Station. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. For more information visit the museum’s Web site at postalmuseum.si.edu.

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