The American Stamp: Postal Iconography, Democratic Citizenship, and Consumerism in the United States PDF
Preview The American Stamp: Postal Iconography, Democratic Citizenship, and Consumerism in the United States
THE AMERICAN STAMP T H E A M E R I C A N STA M P Postal Iconography, Democratic Citizenship, and Consumerism in the United States LAURA GOLDBLATT AND RICHARD HANDLER Columbia University Press New York Columbia University Press Publishers Since 1893 New York Chichester, West Sussex cup . columbia . edu Copyright © 2023 Columbia University Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Goldblatt, Laura, author. | Handler, Richard, 1950– author. Title: The American stamp : postal iconography, democratic citizenship, and consumerism in the United States / Laura Goldblatt and Richard Handler. Description: New York : Columbia University Press, [2022] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2022015218 (print) | LCCN 2022015219 (ebook) | ISBN 9780231208246 (hardback) | ISBN 9780231208253 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9780231557337 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Postage stamps— United States. | Commemorative postage stamps— United States. | National characteristics, American. Classification: LCC HE6185.U6 G65 2022 (print) | LCC HE6185.U6 (ebook) | DDC 769.56973— dc23/eng/20220411 LC record available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2022015218 LC ebook record available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2022015219 Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-f ree paper. Printed in the United States of America Cover design: Julia Kushnirsky The whole social world seems populated with forces that in reality exist only in our minds. We know what the flag is for a soldier, but in itself it is only a bit of cloth. Human blood is only an organic fluid, yet even today we cannot see it flow without experiencing an acute emotion that its physiochemical properties cannot explain. . . . A cancelled postage stamp may be worth a fortune, but obviously that value is in no way entailed by its natural properties. . . . Collective representations often impute to the things to which they refer properties that do not exist in them in any form or to any degree whatsoever. — ÉMILE DURKHEIM, THE ELEMENTARY FORMS OF THE RELIGIOUS LIFE He was waiting for something, a sound like nothing else on earth. It came in a moment. It was the sound of something being pushed into the front door mail slot. — RAYMOND CHANDLER, FAREWELL, MY LOVELY FOR OUR CHILDREN: MOLLY, LOUIE, JACK, AND ISAAC • CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 PART I. MAILING, COLLECTING, CATALOGUING 1 THE POSTAL INFRASTRUCTURE OF DEMOCRATIC CITIZENSHIP 23 2 CREATING POST-P OSTAL VALUE: STAMP COLLECTING 41 3 U.S. STAMPS: CATALOGUING POLITIES AND FRAMING NATIONAL CULTURE 66
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