You might recall these lovely weathervane stamps that were released earlier this year. At the time of issue, they were only available as coils of 3,000 and 10,000 stamps. That's $1,350.00 or $4,500.00 if you're counting. I was resigned to admire them from afar. Even at the rate I write letters, 3,000 stamps at a go is a bit much for me.
Enter my superb and astouding pen pal Katherine. Katherine is one of those pen pals who always writes a satisfying letter and who often sends little surprises on a postal whim. Her joy truly lies in sending rather than receiving and I'm more than happy to be on the receiving end, although I do try to keep up. She sent me a package of beans from her garden once. Simple and meaningful and beautifully packaged things end up at my mail slot via Katherine's hand.
It turns out that Katherine lives near the Shelburne Museum that displays these weathervanes. Her post office was granted a special privilege to break open two of the coils to sell to local residents. Unfortunately, Katherine was on vacation during the release and by the time she got there, the office was all sold out. They only had one coil left and they were not allowed to break any more than two. She had no choice. She bought the coil. Katherine is my hero.
She told me that she was concerned at what her husband might say when she told him how much money she'd just spent on stamps, but there was no need. She says he was just happy that they made her happy and that he knew she'd use them. Then, she sent some to me along with her sweet story. I asked her if I could share it and she agreed so now we all know how cool Katherine is and how mad she is for stamps.
Do you have an awesome pen pal? Show them you think they're swell by nominating them for our Perfect Pen Pal award! Log in to the Members Only site and go to the "downloads" section for the nomination form.
P.S. Katherine's story takes place prior to the U.S.P.S. realizing that these stamps were too great not to sell in smaller lots. You can now get a strip of 25 from the U.S.P.S. website.
Wow! That IS an awesome pen pal. :) And a lover of letters and stamps. :) Thanks for the tip about them being available in smaller quantities now--I love those!
Posted by: amber | March 23, 2012 at 10:56 AM
I never thought I would do this, but since getting back to letter writing I now buy stamps online just because they're pretty and I know that not only will I use them but they'll be appreciated by the person on the receiving end of the card or letter! :) Katherine sounds very cool indeed!
Posted by: Danielle | March 23, 2012 at 11:19 AM
What a great story! Yeah for wonderful pen pals!
Posted by: ana | April 05, 2012 at 09:14 AM