The Government's Souvenir Stamp Scheme
Seattle postmasters are stuck with leftover World's Fair stamps, as collectors drive a global market for unused postage.
Now that the World's Fair is over, the demand for postage stamps of the Columbian series is falling off. Postmaster Dames has been advised by the department that people must take the Columbian series whether they like them or not until they are all used up. The issue of the Columbian series has been a profitable speculation for the government, owing to the craze for stamp collecting. In Seattle about seventeen full sets have been sold, about twelve of which were to be sent abroad. It is estimated that fully $150,000 of unused stamps have been bought and sent abroad in addition to as much more placed in domestic collections. The Seattle post office has remaining only eighteen full sets of the Columbian series.
“Postmaster Dames has been advised by the department that people must take the Columbian series whether they like them or not.”
The 'craze' for Columbian Exposition memorabilia was an early example of institutionalized collectibility. This shows how federal agencies manipulated public demand long before the modern era of limited-edition retail hype.
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