You might need the luck of a three-leaf clover to find St. Patrick's Day postcards.  Similar to Halloween postcards, these are a rare find for collectors.  Well-known for their St. Patrick's Day postcards, Ellen Clapsaddle and Frances Brundage creations are captivating and unique, to say the least.  These early 1900 pieces of art primarily featured children, as seen here.  The image of the vintage stamp of St. Patrick is also pictured here.  St. Patrick's death on March 17, 461 celebrates the extraordinary life of this once nonbeliever.  Though there are many legends about St. Patrick, the most notable is his accomplishment of banishing the snakes from Ireland.  The image shown on the stamp represents him doing just that by standing on the snakes.  Another legend of St. Patrick is that he used the shamrock, the symbol of St. Patrick's Day, to teach the holy trinity, The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as one.  The three-leaf clover grows all over Ireland.  Maybe embark upon a new tradition for St. Patrick's Day this year and take a trip to your local used bookstore and shuffle through the old postcard boxes to see if you can find one of these treasures...find your pot of gold without the help of a leprechaun!

Dust off those pens and stationary you have been stockpiling for years.  The USPS reports that the volume of First-Class mail will decrease dramatically by 37% over the next 10 years.  Why have we lost the art of manually writing something intimate or even just plain fun to somebody?  The art of writing a letter, decorating the envelope, or enclosing fun goodies is not something that can be replicated online.  Sure, there are icons, digital images, and various fonts and colors but the real sentiments do not come through the same.  Remember the exciting feeling of getting your handwriting analyzed?  There is so much unsaid by someone's handwriting.  Letters don't have to be long either!  You can simply put a smile on someone's face with a silly postcard!  Think about how surprised you would be to find something other than another advertisement or bill in your mailbox when it wasn't a holiday?  How about using seasonal stamps, such as the Gulf Coast Lighthouses, or a combination of additional postage stamps, for the Spring to refresh your outlook on communicating with your friends and family?  So bring in the Spring like a lamb with the soft, friendly tone of your handwritten word or welcome it like a lion and surprise everyone with how much you love stamps and send a "Happy Spring" note to everybody on your list...except by snail mail!

Collecting stamps and postcards from Great Britain is an example of a traditional pastime that is enjoyed by numerous people all over the world. It also happens to be a hobby that can be comparatively inexpensive. Stamps and postcards from Great Britain can range in price from low end to high end, but collectors of these things do not have to spend a lot of cash in order to build a nice collection.

Hobby shops and specialty vendors of collectibles such as stamps and postcards sell packs of postcards and stamps in various sizes and shapes, including those from the United Kingdom. While a collector might initially choose to collect only stamps from Great Britain, he or she might eventually decide to collect other stamps or postcards as well.

No matter what one decides to collect in the long run, building your own, personal collection of stamps and postcards from places such as Great Britain is great fun. Naturally, when it comes to collecting stamps and postcards from Great Britain or anywhere else, your nearby post office can provide you with some helpful information. They can assist you with sources for stamps and related accessories and supplies for your collection.

Naturally, another good source for stamps and postcards from Great Britain is the Internet. You can easily locate and purchase stamps, postcards, albums, and other related items there as well. The worldwide web is also a very good place to reach and communicate with other collectors of stamps and postcards from Great Britain. Truth to tell, no matter what your area of interest, you can always find help and volumes of information online.

There are numerous things to put on stamps. If you collect stamps or postcards you may find some with children on them. Is that your favorite themed category or is it flags, flowers, presidents, birds, or holiday ones? Children on stamps or postcards can attract a wide range of people. They can also be a challenge to find. Stamps/postcards are used by all ages.

You may link your interest to designing a stamp/postcard or coloring a stamp/postcard of your choice. There are also games you can make up by collecting different stamps/postcards for all over the world. Or maybe you can collect them by categories or special colors used. You may have even purchased an album with already special categories in them. It does have to be difficult. Just be creative and use your imagination.

Stamp/Postcard collecting can be a very interesting hobby enjoyed by all ages. Stamp/postcard can be collected for lots of different reasons. They can be arranged in an album or displayed on a bulletin board. Try not to get any duplicates! Maybe stamp/postcard collecting is something you've never thought of before today. Does it seem like something you'd be interested in? Do you like a good challenge?

Did you know you can even turn photos of your own children into real postage stamps? Or take that photo and design a postcard from it to send all your family and friends. Have you ever received something like that before?

Why would there be Antarctica stamps if there was no post office? One day, while Admiral Richard E. Byrd was planning his second expedition to Antarctica, he and President Franklin Roosevelt were discussing the expedition. President Roosevelt, an avid stamp collector, suggested that it would be nice to set up a post office and issue stamps that could be mailed as first day covers from Antarctica. Therefore, the post office went with Admiral Byrd when the expedition left Norfolk, Virginia for the Little America base camp in Antarctica.

President Roosevelt suggested the design for the first 3-cent Byrd Antarctic Expedition II Commemorative stamp, issued October 9, 1933. It was a vertical navy blue and white stamp with a large globe showing several of Byrd's flights. To offset the cost, a 50 cent surcharge was added to the price of the stamp. After all, it would make the trip twice. A 3 Cent Byrd Antarctic Expedition II Souvenir sheet of six stamps was offered this week on eBay.

Much of the mail went with the expedition in October, 1933. Another barge went by regular steamer to New Zealand where it caught up with the Byrd expedition.

Leroy Clark, a member of the expedition, was in charge of operations but it was more than he could handle. He asked the Post Office Department for help. Charles F. Anderson, a postal specialist in canceling first-day covers, was sent to help. He left the States with another 40,000 letters, canceling machines, and other supplies. Anderson canceled the covers that had arrived a year earlier and those he had brought. He and the mail returned with the expedition. An estimated 240,000 letters had been postmarked at the Little America Post Office, which was officially discontinued on May 31, 1935.