Download this report as an MP3 sound file.

A Bridge Too Far

The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries. 

What pictures come to mind when you think of Minnesota? The Mississippi River? A bridge 
into Wisconsin?

Well, that's what will be on next year's Minnesota Statehood stamp, celebrating a hundred 
and fifty years. Islands in the Mississippi at sunset, and the bridge at Winona.

"We ARE the Land of 10,000 Lakes."
RUNS :02

And Minnesota stamp collector Todd Ronnei thinks the Postal Service could have done better.

"I think a lake would be a better representation of the state"
RUNS :03

Every state gets a stamp on the anniversaries of its statehood, but these are some of the 
most difficult for the Postal Service to design. Often, the governors and anniversary 
committees insist on input. Everyone has an opinion

Last year's OKLAHOMA statehood stamp also showed a winding river, so maybe it's a trend. 
And for years, Midwest statehood stamps all seemed to show farmhouses and fields. The 
Minnesota stamp fifty years ago showed pine trees surrounding a lake.

It IS a beautiful design. But does it make you think of Minnesota? Would a picture of a 
lake be enough? Ronnei suggests adding the state bird.

"You get a nice picture of a lake and put a loon on it, and maybe a guy out on a boat with 
a fishing line in the water, and I think any Minnesotan would look at that and say, 'Yep, 
that's my state.'"
RUNS :12

I'm Lloyd de Vries of The Virtual Stamp Club. For more about stamps and stamp collecting, 
visit virtual-stamp-club-dot-com

----------------------------------------------------------
Go to Previous Report
Go to Next Report 

Go to Report Index