[press release]
WHAT’S IN YOUR ATTIC?
ANNUAL STAMP ROADSHOW
SUNDAY APRIL 12 NOON – 3:00
Do you have old stamp albums or boxes of stamps just collecting dust in your closet or attic? Have you inherited some stamp albums or envelopes from a relative and wonder if they have any value? Do you think that perhaps those stamps you purchased as a child are now worth a fortune?
The Museum is holding its annual Stamp Roadshow on Sunday April 12 from noon to 3:00. The day is similar to TV’s “Antiques Roadshow.”
For only $35, stamp experts will review stamp collections and provide information about how you might be able to potentially sell the collection, give advice about how to add to the collection to continue with the hobby as well as recommend how to properly store the stamps.
Evaluations will be done on a first-come, first-served basis and will last up to thirty minutes. The Museum will also accept donations of collections which can then qualify as a charitable tax deduction.
Those who are not able to attend or have large collections and need more time with the Museum’s curator are urged to call the Museum at 781-768-8367 to schedule an individual appointment for another date. The fee is the same.
Admission to the entire Museum that day is free. There will also be activities for the children including stamp hunts and stamp designing. All children will receive a free packet of stamps and a booklet about stamp collecting. Current exhibits include: Presidents on Stamps, Celebrating Women’s History Month, America in Space on Stamps, U.S. Love stamps, Comic Books and Stamps, Rural Free Delivery History and antique children’s postal games and stamp cases.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS (upcoming events):
THURSDAY – April 23 – Noon to 4:00
CELEBRATE EARTH DAY
Bring your used objects to be recycled
by decorating with postage stamps.
SATURDAY – April 25 – 1:00 – 4:30
Boy Scout Merit Badge program
To register email to scouts.
SUNDAY – April 26 1:00 – 2:30
Comic book and old toys and games
evaluations by an expert. Bring as much as you want.
(Free with Museum admission)
REGULAR MUSEUM HOURS: Thursdays to Sundays, Noon to 5:00. The Museum will be closed on Easter.
Programs for schools, scouts, senior groups, homeschoolers and other organizations can be scheduled for any day of the week and also in the evenings. Powerpoint presentations can also be presented offsite such as at public libraries and senior centers.
The Museum’s Activity Room is also available for rental for meetings and other functions.
ATTENTION TEACHERS: With the school year going to almost to the end of June, the Museum offers a great educational program as a way for elementary students to end their year with a fun and educational experience. Programs using US and world stamps cover such subjects as geography, presidents, biographies and general stamp collecting and can be brought to the classroom for a reasonable fee. Field trips to the Museum are also available. For more info email schoolprograms.
APRIL IS NATIONAL CARD AND LETTER WRITING MONTH
Are you old enough to remember the Perry Como TV show and his song “Letters, We Get Letters, We Get Stacks and Stacks of Letters”? Well, April is the time to send stacks of letters to friends.
The Postal Service has declared April as National Card and Letter Writing Month. Their announcement stated:
“The writing, sending and receiving of letters, post cards and greeting cards is a tradition that has preserved our nation’s history and changed lives. Unlike other forms of communications, card and letter writing is timeless, personal and immediately tangible.
The Museum will provide free postage for all your personal letters and cards this month. Just bring them during regular hours and the Museum will use colorful vintage commemoratives as postage to mail them to your friends. Or you can stop by your local post office and get the new “From Me to You” Forever stamps which were issued on April 1.
ANNUAL POSTAL SYMPOSIUM THIS MONTH
Copies of the collection of papers from the first symposium are available from the Museum.
The Museum will host an all-day postal history symposium co-sponsored by the United States Stamp Society, with support from the American Philatelic Society, on Thursday, April 30 starting at 9:00 am. This year’s theme is “The Challenging 20th Century: Men, Machines and Modernization.” The all day program is one day before the opening of the WSP Philatelic Show in nearby Boxboro.
The symposium presenters include Rodney Juell, “The Men Who Made the Stamps of the 1920s,” Edward Grabowski, “Philately and International Mail Order Fraud,” George S. Norton, “Technology in the Envelope: Use of Microfilm and Voice Recordings in the Mail during World War II” and Roger S. Brody, “The Bureau Leaves the Field.” Admission to the symposium is free but the Museum asks that attendees register at registration. For questions contact symposium.
