When it went to war with Israel in 1967, the Egyptian Government blockaded the Suez Canal. A number of ships, with their crews, were stranded in the Great Bitter Lake for the eight years it was closed. Here are their stamps.
posted by Fiasco da Gama on Jan 13, 2009 - 18 comments

"When one writes to a stranger and requests a reply, it is considered polite to enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope. This works well when both persons live in the same country; however, if they are from different countries, the enclosed postage stamp will not be valid." The solution, introduced in 1906, was the international reply coupon. Like nearly everything else stamps-related, they are collectible. Brought to you by the Universal Postal Union. [more inside]
posted by Deathalicious on Oct 23, 2008 - 17 comments

Pork flavored stamp. In celebration of the Year of the Pig, China is releasing a stamp that smells (when scratched) and tastes (when licked) of sweet-and-sour pork. I thought this was a pretty innovative idea for a stamp. But it's not new. A few more examples (scroll down to "scratch-and-sniff").
posted by ObscureReferenceMan on Jan 11, 2007 - 25 comments

When you really, really want your email to arrive at its destination: now you gotta pay postage. Another brilliant, forward-looking idea for monetizing-the-Internet^TM from the wizards at AOL and Yahoo.
posted by digaman on Feb 4, 2006 - 46 comments

Dear MEFI, I just love Alphabetilately, and I think you will too! Yours sincerely, taz.
posted by taz on Sep 17, 2004 - 19 comments

Man short on funds, mails himself home. Judge not amused, fines him $1,500. More background info here. Robbed of the Darwin Award.
posted by Civil_Disobedient on Feb 5, 2004 - 28 comments

Theme Birds on Stamps listed by country, and more.
posted by hama7 on May 20, 2003 - 7 comments

The Postage Stamps of Donald Evans (scroll down a paragraph or two) A rich and complex internal world expressed through postage stamp art.
'When Donald Evans (born Morristown, New Jersey USA in 1945) was a boy, he drifted from his hobby of collecting postage stamps to creating his own postage stamps of countries he made up in his imagination ... He left behind an astonishing planet seen through its nations' postage stamps, thousands of them, all drawn to postage-stamp size, with all the familiar periphery of postage stamps hand-done ... '
posted by plep on Oct 28, 2002 - 18 comments

Given up on the TiVo wallpaper design contest? Submit a design to the Japanese Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, and Telecommunications' Postage Stamp Design Contest. This year's theme is "Peace". Eight winning designs from anywhere in the world will be chosen, and the grand prizes of up to 200,000 Yen (~$1700 USD) awarded to their creators. Check out some of the previous years' winners for inspiration.
posted by Danelope on Jul 16, 2002 - 3 comments

With the FBI advising how to handle suspicious mail [pdf], the fine people who send you junk snail mail are changing their methods. The Canadian and American Direct Marketing Associations are recommending that their members ''consider notifying consumers by phone or e-mail that a direct-mail piece is on its way so they are not alarmed when it arrives." One cancelled campaign involved mailing marbles to some prospective clients.
posted by tranquileye on Oct 24, 2001 - 2 comments

Public Service Announcement: starting Sunday, first-class postage goes up a penny. So if you've got a pile of 33-cent stamps leftover from holiday card season, either use 'em up now, or stock up on 1-cent stamps.
posted by sandor on Jan 5, 2001 - 15 comments