Rrr...
Thanks for posting this. I'd love to be able to pay it a visit.
Tim
Visited the National Postal History museum today. Wow! What an amazing experience. Seeing many, many treasure up close and personal was fantastic. Also visited the Holocaust museum; that was truly moving. I'm glad my children witnessed that. Swimming in the Rappahannock River tomorrow then head back to Jacksonville on Sunday.
I visited the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in midJuly. The whole museum was well worth the time. It is located just across the street from a metro stop so it was easy to get there and back to all the other places to visit in D.C.
I went with my husband and two daughters (all non-stamp-collectors). The girls were interested for about an hour and a half or so, but my husband would have stayed much longer. Our total visit was about 2 and a half hours. I could have spent much longer.
It is much bigger than I expected: three floors, several permanent looking exhibits (history of mail delivery, a railway exhibit complete with the stuffed Owney, interactive exhibits about zip codes, mail/package sorting, examples of different methods of printing, the National Stamp Collection - especially fascinating to my husband for some odd reason, a design-your-own-stamp table, and lots more). They also had a room devoted to rotating exhibits featuring a black history exhibit with civil war covers and documents (bills of sale for slaves with revenue stamps). Very well done and interesting.
The William Gross Gallery was pretty impressive - the rare stamps were well displayed behind glass with motion activated lights that came on when you walked up. The exhibit with the 1c British magenta had its own room with its very own security guard. He was a talkative guy who had some stories to tell about meeting the stamp's current owner. The stamp itself is very unimpressive. It was kind of hard to see between the glass panes even with the supplied magnifying glasses. I was told they will be replacing the current glass with better glass that will allow one to see the stamp better. Even so, it was still worth seeing.
The gift shop and post office are on the bottom floor, easily missed if not looking for them. The post office seemed to have a decent selection of recent issues and the woman behind the counter actually offered to help me if I needed anything. The gift shop was small and packed with stuff, not all related to stamps. I didn't buy anything at either place.
If you are in the area, definitely take the time to visit. It is a nice air-conditioned break and fun too. One piece of advice - do this before you are tired so you can really enjoy it. This was our first museum stop of the day. We went to Arlington National Cemetery first, then the Postal Museum, then The Air and Space Museum. By the time we were done in Air and Space, we were so tired we didn't want to see anything else. We did see the Pluto exploration exhibit but that is the only thing I really remember from Air and Space.
I agree with Sally. I visited the museum in April and it was simply amazing! I spent 4 hours there, then went a second day with my wife and daughter for another 2 hours. I was fortunate enough to be there when the volunteers were demonstrating the ink press which only happens twice a week, and they offer a nice memento. The presentation was interesting and had young children captivated. Activities for children, lots of postal history items, etc. offers something for everyone.
In case you have not seen it
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/arts/design/william-h-gross-stamp-gallery-at-national-postal-museum.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
"The William H. Gross Stamp Gallery, which opened on Sunday here at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, includes an $18 million array of display spaces, artifacts, trays and touch screens. Its 20,000 items have been culled from more than 6 million at the museum, one of the world’s great collections. And the gallery’s 12,000 square feet are devoted to a single object that seems on the brink of extinction: the postage stamp."
rrr...
http://postalmuseum.si.edu/StampGallery/
(Modified by Moderator on 2013-09-25 20:45:59)
re: The William H Gross Stamp Gallery at the Smithonian
Rrr...
Thanks for posting this. I'd love to be able to pay it a visit.
Tim
re: The William H Gross Stamp Gallery at the Smithonian
Visited the National Postal History museum today. Wow! What an amazing experience. Seeing many, many treasure up close and personal was fantastic. Also visited the Holocaust museum; that was truly moving. I'm glad my children witnessed that. Swimming in the Rappahannock River tomorrow then head back to Jacksonville on Sunday.
re: The William H Gross Stamp Gallery at the Smithonian
I visited the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in midJuly. The whole museum was well worth the time. It is located just across the street from a metro stop so it was easy to get there and back to all the other places to visit in D.C.
I went with my husband and two daughters (all non-stamp-collectors). The girls were interested for about an hour and a half or so, but my husband would have stayed much longer. Our total visit was about 2 and a half hours. I could have spent much longer.
It is much bigger than I expected: three floors, several permanent looking exhibits (history of mail delivery, a railway exhibit complete with the stuffed Owney, interactive exhibits about zip codes, mail/package sorting, examples of different methods of printing, the National Stamp Collection - especially fascinating to my husband for some odd reason, a design-your-own-stamp table, and lots more). They also had a room devoted to rotating exhibits featuring a black history exhibit with civil war covers and documents (bills of sale for slaves with revenue stamps). Very well done and interesting.
The William Gross Gallery was pretty impressive - the rare stamps were well displayed behind glass with motion activated lights that came on when you walked up. The exhibit with the 1c British magenta had its own room with its very own security guard. He was a talkative guy who had some stories to tell about meeting the stamp's current owner. The stamp itself is very unimpressive. It was kind of hard to see between the glass panes even with the supplied magnifying glasses. I was told they will be replacing the current glass with better glass that will allow one to see the stamp better. Even so, it was still worth seeing.
The gift shop and post office are on the bottom floor, easily missed if not looking for them. The post office seemed to have a decent selection of recent issues and the woman behind the counter actually offered to help me if I needed anything. The gift shop was small and packed with stuff, not all related to stamps. I didn't buy anything at either place.
If you are in the area, definitely take the time to visit. It is a nice air-conditioned break and fun too. One piece of advice - do this before you are tired so you can really enjoy it. This was our first museum stop of the day. We went to Arlington National Cemetery first, then the Postal Museum, then The Air and Space Museum. By the time we were done in Air and Space, we were so tired we didn't want to see anything else. We did see the Pluto exploration exhibit but that is the only thing I really remember from Air and Space.
re: The William H Gross Stamp Gallery at the Smithonian
I agree with Sally. I visited the museum in April and it was simply amazing! I spent 4 hours there, then went a second day with my wife and daughter for another 2 hours. I was fortunate enough to be there when the volunteers were demonstrating the ink press which only happens twice a week, and they offer a nice memento. The presentation was interesting and had young children captivated. Activities for children, lots of postal history items, etc. offers something for everyone.