WWF: Protecting the World's Wildlife for 45 Years

For the past 45 years, the World Wildlife Fund has been at the forefront of a worldwide effort to to save endangered species and their habitats. In honor of those efforts, St. Thomas has issued this colorful 9-stamp sheetlet commemorating co-founder Peter Scott and some of his friends. (Click the post title to order.) A noted British ornithologist, conservationist and painter, Sir Peter Scott (1909-1989) was the only child of Antarctic explorer Robert Scott. (Click the link for his Wikipedia biography.)

Particularly known for his study of wildfowl and wetlands, Scott is also remembered for giving the scientific name Nessiteras rhombopteryx to the Loch Ness Monster, allowing it to be registered as an endangered species. Based on a blurred underwater photograph of Nessie showing a supposed fin, the Greek-based name means the wonder of Ness with the diamond shaped fin. However, it's also an anagram of monster hoax by Sir Peter S!

As an extension of his conservation efforts, Scott co-founded the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on September 11, 1961 in Morges, Switzerland and designed its panda logo. "We shan't save all we should like to, but we shall save a great deal more than if we had never tried," he said at the time.

Today, WWF safeguards hundreds of species around the world. Using a science-based approach, it's efforts include conservation, research, restoration, education and advocacy. Through more than 1,200 field projects a year, WWF is "dedicated to stopping the degradation of the planet's natural environment and building a future in which humans live in harmony with nature," according to Wikipedia. For more information, visit WWF's website.

For trivia buffs: In 2000 WWF sued the World Wrestling Federation over the use of its acronym. When the suit was finally settled in 2002, the wrestling organization quietly changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Visit our website to keep abreast of the latest issues and other special offers. Visit County Stamp Center for all your philatelic needs.

Ghosts and Goblins and Witches! Oh, My!

Ghosts will rattle their chains. Witches will ride across the moon. And the dead will rise from their graves. Better watch out and make sure you're well-stocked with treats. It's Halloween and the little ghosts and goblins, pirates and fairy princesses are set to make their rounds, pillow cases in hand, little voices crying, "Trick or Treat!"

Traditionally celebrated on October 31, Halloween originated with the Celts in Ireland, Britain and France as a Pagan harvest festival, according to Wikipedia. Various versions of these traditions were brought to North America in the 19th century, primarily by Irish immigrants. The name Halloween is a truncation of All-hallow-even, meaning the evening before All Hallows' Day. In 835, Pope Gregory III tried to give the Northern European Pagan festival a Christian interpretation by moving the Christian feast of All Saints Day to November 1. While early Christians embraced the new feast date, they did not give up their Pagan celebration of the Day of the Dead.

Celebrated at the end of the harvest when the ground lay dead and fallow, the Irish believed that the dead revisited the mortal world on Halloween. Pumpkin faces were carved and bonfires were lit to ward off evil spirits. Irish children and adults honored the dead by dressing as ghosts and ghouls and going door to door to collect fruits, nuts and sweets for the harvest feast. Many of the darker associations of Halloween come from the occult which holds that at Halloween the spirit world can make contact with the physical world. It is a time when magic is most potent, giving rise to many of the superstitions associated with the holiday.

While there's plenty of history to explain many of today's Halloween traditions, where did the trick part of Halloween come from? In some parts of Ireland, Halloween is called Pooky Night, after the puca, a mischievous spirit. It's good to know that even the toilet paper-draped trees and soaped windows of Halloween are steeped in ancient tradition.

This Halloween treat yourself to a stamp or two from County Stamp Center. Click the post title to view and order from our collection of Halloween stamps, or visit our website to find stamps on every subject for every interest. Visit County Stamp Center for all your philatelic needs and Happy Halloween!

Still Looking for a Halloween Costume?

If you're still looking for a Halloween Costume, County Stamp Center is ready with some unique ideas. You'll be the talk of the party dressed in exotic ethnic garb. Imagine the entrance you'll make dressed in the richly colored robes of Tadzikistan (shown at right). Assume the mantle of royalty with a regal costume from the Ivory Coast. Or kick up your heels in peasant garb from Moldavia. Like exotic? Try the soaring headresses of native Kenya or the ornately decorated dance costumes and masks of Kampuchea. You'll find countless ideas on costume stamps offered at County Stamp Center.

Witches, ghosts and vampires will always haunt Halloween. But it doesn't take much to cut two holes in a sheet or swing a black cape over your shoulders. This year celebrate in style. Drape yourself in luxurious foreign robes and cloak yourself in an aura of exotic mystery this Halloween. County Stamp Center can help you find the perfect costume. We offer stamps depicting the traditional ethnic costumes of many cultures and foreign countries. Click the post title for a more detailed view of the stamp featured and many other costume stamps. Visit our website to order these beautiful costume stamps, and come to County Stamp Center for all your philatelic needs.

Celebrate World Series with Baseball Stamps

The snow's starting to fly which means baseball season is regrettably coming to a close. Just a few more games to play in the World Series while Cardinals and Tigers fans bask in the glow of the nation's spotlight.

For the rest of us, we've packed our dreams away for yet another spring and another chance at the playoffs. There's a long, cold winter ahead of us before we'll hear the crack of the bat again and feel that lump in our throat as the ball soars -- will he catch it? will he miss? will he make it home? Ah, the rollercoaster ride that is American baseball. Where else can you experience such agony and ecstasy all in the same afternoon? Toss in a dog and suds, maybe a little sunburn with the peanuts, a chorus or two of "Take me out to the ballgame" -- yep, a summer afternoon doesn't get much better than that!

At County Stamp Center we feel your pain. Baseball season doesn't have to end with the World Series. Stamps can help you count down the days to the start of spring season. Remember some of baseball's mightiest players with the U.S. Baseball Sluggers sheetlet pictured. The set features detailed portraits of great batters in action. For more information and to order, click the post title.

County Stamp Center offers a wealth of stamps commemorating the sport of baseball and its legendary players. Visit our website and enter baseball or your favorite player's name in our unique search feature. At County Stamp Center you can search for stamps by category, key word or Scott catalog number. We make it easy for you to find just the stamp you're looking for. Visit County Stamp Center for all your philatelic needs. And baseball fans, there's always next season.

Hurry! There's Still Time to Save on Collecting Supplies

There's still time to stock up before our October sale ends! This month, County Stamp Center is offering a special 20% discount on all stamp collecting supplies. We offer stamp collecting binders, first day cover albums, stamp stock books, Lindner mint sheet files, and a selection of glassine envelopes in a variety of sizes. Now's the time to stock up on the supplies you'll use all year long! And don't forget the stamp collectors on your Christmas list. To receive your 20%discount on any stamp collecting supply purchase, just enter coupon code OCT2006 when you checkout.

This is also a great opportunity to assemble a beginners kit and introduce your child or grandchild to the wonderful hobby of stamp collecting. You'll find stamps that appeal to all ages, and all interests at County Stamp Center. Visit our website to check out this month's new issues, our many special offers, and featured stamps. It's easy to find what you're looking for at County Stamp Center. Our unique search feature allows you to search for stamps by category, key word, or Scott catalog number.

• Have a special request? Just let our buyer know and we'll find it for you.
• Want to be the first to know about new issues, specials, and sales? Sign up for County Stamp Center's monthly newsletter. It's easy. Just enter your name and e-mail address under Our Newsletter on the right side of our home page.
• Don't want to miss that special new issue? Sign up for our personal subscription service. We'll automatically reserve stamps featuring your topics and/or countries as they're issued. It's a reliable and efficient way to build your collection and keep it up to date.

While you're at our website, don't forget to enter our monthly contest. This month's prize is a Lindner First Day Cover Album, a $19.95 value. The contest ends at midnight Eastern Time on October 31, 2006, so don't delay. Visit County Stamp Center for great deals on all your philatelic needs.

WILD FOOD! New Zealand's Festival Goes Beyond Road Kill

Europa stamps for 2005 featured world-wide cuisine, award winnning dishes renown throughout the European community. While some of the dishes seemed exotic and unusual, none of them compared to the delacacies featured on New Zealand's Hokitika Wildfoods Festival special stamp booklet.

Sheep's testicles, worms, and possum are but a few of the prime ingredients featured in these culinary masterpieces. Not only do the stamps feature dishes of curried worm burger patties, and West Coast Possum Pate, the back of the booklet has the actual recipes, so you can replicate these dishes at home!

With fun pictures of festival participants, recipes, animal stickers, and 6 stamps picturing these delectable culinary masterpieces, you'll certainly want to add this to your "wild" stamp collection.

Spectacular 17-Sheet Set Captures Memorable Moments of 2006 Commonwealth Games

The most memorable moments of the 2006 Commonwealth Games are commemorated in a spectacular 17-sheet set now available at County Stamp Center (click the post title to view additional sheets and to order). The collection consists of 17 mint sheets with 5 to 10 stamps per sheet, attractively displayed with written highlights about the champions, sports and history of the Games. Sports featured include men and women's basketball, cycling, swimming, hockey, gymnastics and weightlifting, among others. Pictures from the opening and closing ceremonies and memorable moments during the Games are featured on 3 special sheets.

Held in Melbourne, Australia in March 2006, the 18th Commonwealth Games brought together 5,000 elite athletes from the 53 member countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. Begun as the British Empire Games in 1930, the Games have been held every 4 years since, being interrupted only by World War II. The Games feature many Olympic sports as well as sports popular in primarily Commonwealth countries such as lawn bowls, rugby sevens and netball. Only 6 teams have attended every Commonwealth Games since its inception: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales, according to an article on Wikipedia.

County Stamp Center is pleased to offer this comprehensive 17-sheet souvenir set of the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Visit our website to view this impressive collection and many other stamps commemorating sports and world sporting events. Come to County Stamp Center for all your philatelic needs.

Girl Scouts Celebrate Founder's Birthday

Girl Scouts of the USA celebrates the birth of its founder Juliette Gordon Low this month on October 31. Since its beginning in 1912, Girl Scouts has impacted the lives of 50 million American women and is part of the international community of Girl Guides serving over 10 million girls and adults in 144 countries.

Juliette Low long dreamed of creating "an organization that would bring girls out of their cloistered home environments to serve in their communities and experience the open air," according to Wikipedia. While living in the United Kingdom, she met Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts. With the assistance of his sister Agnes Baden-Powell, Sir Baden-Powell had founded a female counterpart to the Boy Scouts in 1910. While initially called Girl Scouts (the name retained in America), the name of the group was changed to Girl Guides early on. Named after the famous Kyber Guides of India, Sir Baden-Powell thought that calling the girls "scouts" might alienate the boys, as well as the girls' parents.

Juliette Low determined to bring the scouting program to American girls. In 1912, Daisy, as she is affectionately known by Scouts, held the first Girl Scout troop meeting with 18 girls in Savannah, Georgia. Early Girl Scouts went hiking, played basketball (on discretely curtained courts!), learned first aid, performed community service, and went on camping trips, not typical activities for girls in the early 1900s. The Girl Scout program remains true to Juliette Low's goals of helping girls build character, leadership, self-esteem, social conscience and love of the outdoors. Today Girl Scouts participate in myriad community service projects, learn new skills, and, of course, go camping. From making potato stamps to launching model rockets, from collecting rocks to participating in a dinosaur dig, from tying knots to crewing tall ships, from singing at local senior centers to visiting their counterparts in foreign countries, American Girl Scouts are exploring their world in ways never dreamed of by their founder. (To find out more about Girl Scouts, click the link.)

County Stamp Center offers numerous stamps celebrating Girl Scouts and the Girl Guide movement. Click the post title to order a colorful 4-stamp set from Romania depicting scouting activities. Visit our website to find more stamps celebrating Girl Scouts. Just enter Girl Scouts or Girl Guides in the Stamp Search feature on our website. And remember to visit County Stamp Center for all your philatelic needs.

Scented Stamps Titillate the Senses

Perfume scented stamps allow you to enjoy your collection with two senses, sight and smell! Many stamps are now offered with an olfactory component to titillate the senses. A big step up from the scratch and sniff books of your youth, scented stamps waft pleasant perfumes your way that add another dimension to collecting. Transport yourself into a field of meadow flowers with a fragrant floral offering from Greece or breathe in the heady incense of sandalwood emanating from a beautiful sheetlet from New Caledonia.

I'm afraid we can't provide an exploratory whiff over the internet, but you can view scented stamps at County Stamp Center's website. County Stamp Center offers a variety of scented stamps for your collecting pleasure. To view these unique stamps, enter perfume or scent into the search feature on our website, or click the post title to view a few of our favorites. Click on the detailed description to discover the scent emitted. At County Stamp Center you can search for stamps by category, subject, key word or Scott Catalog number. Visit County Stamp Center for all your philatelic needs.

Detailed Illustrations Featured on Bird Stamp Set

The fall migration season is beginning and the flocks are on the move. Across the country dedicated birders are taking to the fields and marshes hoping for a glimpse of birds that only drop by twice a year during their migrations from summer to winter feeding grounds. Even the casual backyard enthusiast has a good chance of attracting an unusual specimen or two to his feeder during migration season.

On each of the 36 stamps of this definitive 1981 set from Aitutaki a different bird is beautifully drawn and colored. Reminiscent of the detailed pictures drawn by the revered naturalist James Audubon in the early 1800s, these beautiful stamps will delight any collector with their lifelike portrayals. County Stamp Center is pleased to offer this beautifully detailed bird set for only $49, a fraction of the Scott Catalogue value of $90. Click the post title for a better view of this wonderful bird set and to order.

Visit the County Stamp Center website to view new acquisitions and our other specials. Use our unique search feature to find stamps by Scott number, category or key word. County Stamp Center has stamps for both the beginner and experienced collector. Sign up for early notification of new issues in your collecting specialty. Or alert our buyer to your specific needs for hard to find items. Come to County Stamp Center for all your philatelic needs.

Celebrate Columbus Day with Stamps Commemorating His Famous Voyages

Columbus Day is next Monday, October 9, and the retail ads have already started. Why not commemorate the day with a truly meaningful purchase? County Stamp Center offers the U.S. Voyages of Columbus, a special 1992 issue of 6 souvenir sheets commemorating Christopher Columbus' voyages to America. This issue features the 1893 Columbian stamp designs, slightly modified, and is printed from plates made from the original dies.

Sold in the original envelope, all sheets are in mint condition, never hinged. Scott catalogue value is $29.35, but you can purchase it from County Stamp Center for only $23.00, and shipping is free on this item. (Click the post title to order.) An excellent investment, the U.S. souvenir sheets and all special showcased joint issues of these sheets from Portugal, Spain and Italy are currently selling at or above catalogue. County Stamp Center is also offering the Spain joint issue at a special price.

Columbus first sailed to the Americas in 1492, landing in the Caribbean. It was not until his third voyage in 1498 that he actually reached the American mainland. While other European explorers reached America first, Columbus is credited with opening the Americas to European exploration and colonization, according to an article posted on Wikipedia. Ironically, Columbus died believing his journeys had been along the east coast of Asia and never realized he had traveled to a new continent.

In the United States, Christopher Columbus was revered for his heroism, bravery and faith and became a legendary symbol of American ingenuity and can-do attitude. Hero worship reached its zenith around 1892, the 400th anniversary of his first arrival in the Americas. Monuments were erected including the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and cities, towns and streets were named for him. His accomplishments were honored and feted in the United States, Latin America, Spain and Italy. It was not until more recently, particularly with the rediscovery in 2005 of documents in the Spanish archives, that his cruelty during his governorship in the Americas was brought to light, tainting his image. For most Americans, Christopher Columbus remains an iconic symbol of America's beginnings.

Visit the County Stamp Center website for more details on the historic Voyages of Columbus stamp issue and view numerous other stamps commemorating Christopher Columbus. Come to County Stamp Center for all your philatelic needs.