A multi-part series called “The Americas” is now on TV. Tom Hanks narrates the spectacularly filmed expose´ of scenic areas in North and South America. The visuals are staggering with high-definition footage from under the ocean to soaring aerial vistas. The pictures are more vivid and compelling than most have ever seen, transporting the viewer to impossible destinations....
Something similar happened 90 years ago, albeit far more modestly. In past centuries you’d find people looking to the mail for exotic locales. For most, the prospect of actual travel to far-away places was slim. Too expensive. So, people only dreamt of what was out there. A letter from another state or across the oceans evoked fantasies of far-away lands.
The Post Office Department (now USPS) recognized this. To feed that desire, in 1934, they issued a set of 10 stamps focusing on 10 US National Parks. The single-color stamps featured parks extending from Maine (Acadia) to California (Yosemite) and eight others in between. The intent was to promote domestic tourism and highlight compelling destinations in the US. (It would be more than two decades before Alaska would become a state. Otherwise, a park there would surely have been included.) The 1930s engraved printing method offered relatively nice detail and an actual texture on the surface of each stamp.
The ten-cent stamp in that series – to collectors, the most coveted and valuable – featured a scene from the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. Then and now, the Smokies have boasted some of the most beautiful scenery in America. Films including Last Of The Mohicans and Forrest Gump were shot in parts of western North Carolina.
Many true fans of the outdoors know how spectacular the vistas are in that part of the country thanks to the famous Appalachian Trail running through it. The Appalachian Trail is unquestionably one of the most fabulous resources anywhere. It’s also the longest hiking-only foot trail in the world. While tens of thousands meander onto it annually, some 3,000 try to walk the full length. Of those, only about 500 are estimated to complete the entire journey.
The trail stretches from Mount Katahdin, Maine to Springer Mountain, Georgia. In its 2,194-mile path are over 50 communities, a few small towns and even the city of Roanoke, Virginia. Those aside, to call it a nature walk would be an outlandish understatement.
The concept was based on the notion that, “in the hectic and industrialized world, it is physically and spiritually restorative for an individual to ramble, one step at a time, through unspoiled nature.”
Also known as the AT, the trail was proposed in 1921 during the Great Depression. The first portion opened in 1928 and most all was completed by 1936. While considered a National Park, the trail was built by private citizens and is actually managed as a public and private partnership.
Last week, the USPS turned back a page to the destination dreams of the ‘30s by issuing a sheet of 15 stamps honoring the sweeping majesty of the full Appalachian Trail. The pane of “Forever” stamps features vividly colorful images spanning all 14 states that the trail passes through.
Unlike the unicolor stamps of the 1930s, the new issue utilizes spectacular photos of various parts of the trail in multicolor. While all of the stamps feature sweeping views of the natural surroundings, three include humans hiking or pausing to absorb vistas from atop precipices in New Hampshire and Virginia.
Water is clearly a key feature appearing on eight of the 15 stamps. The stamp for Massachusetts shows a small cabin beside a still lake while that for West Virginia includes a flowing river with a rural church steeple in the foreground. Remote waterfalls and streams grace others. Virginia and New Hampshire showcase individuals standing on scenic outcroppings high above endless mountainous landscapes.
For those with an eternal wanderlust (in reality or just in an armchair), the 15 new stamps offer a peek at one of our country’s most spectacular offerings along the US eastern seaboard.
The stamps are currently available at post offices nationwide. For collectors, special packets as well as information about First Day of Issue cancels on the stamps can be found online at www.StampsForever.com. Better still, take to the trail and send someone a letter bearing one of the stamps. It might just help others to dream of what’s out there.
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