L3524

Greetings from America

Mississippi

Cover Announcement 

It is with a feeling of personal excitement and eager anticipation that I announce my set of individually hand painted cachets for the beautiful new GREETINGS FROM AMERICA stamp issue. The varied images on each state stamp weave a visual panorama of our country that is just incredible.

Leaping salmon try to elude a majestic gizzly bear in Alaska, and dazzling Waikiki Beach curves toward Diamond Head in Hawaii. Cannons guard long-silent battlefields in Civil War Virginia, and Revolutionary War Pennsylvania. Lighthouses beam in Maine and North Carolina - complemented by a bull moose on the former and the Wright Brothers' plane on the latter. Wild horses gallop free in North Dakota, and thoroughbreds thunder down the track in the Kentucky Derby. Ancient Pueblo cliff dwellings and a Spanish mission stand in New Mexico, while a serene desert landscape provides a solitary vista in neighboring Arizona. Dairy cows graze on a lush Wisconsin farm, and beef cattle are herded by an Oklahoma cowboy. White-water rafters paddle by an old West Virginia mill, and a solitary kayaker tests his skill in the swift rivers of Idaho's Bitterroot Mountains. Beneath high canyon walls carved by nature, a Utah mountain lion stalks, and a South Dakota buffalo wanders below the Mount Rushmore images carved by man. Fishing poles extend from a Great Lakes fishing boat in Michigan, and large nets are towed by a Mississippi shrimp boat. Beach umbrellas line the white sands of South Carolina's Myrtle Beach as well as the Atlantic Coast of our first state - Delaware. Clear brook water cascades over small stones in the quiet Arkansas Ozarks, while a red covered bridge

spans a crystal blue stream in the heartland of Indiana. Large cities provide dynamic contributions to the American experience and are represented well on the stamps of Ohio and Illinois. Royal palm trees border a Gulf Coast beach in Florida, and on the same stamp, the space shuttle blasts off on yet another trip to the International Space Station.

At this point, let me take a break to reflect that the above paragraph provides an overview of half of the new stamps. As you can now tell, this new set really does offer  "Greetings from America" with so many aspects of our wonderful country beautifully presented. Let me stress that what I've described thus far (and will continue to do below) pertains to the stamps only. It's my intention to expand with bold and colorful cachets the rich characteristics and treasures that each individual state is known for. I will include famous Americans and famous places. Railroads and aircraft and spacecraft. Wild animals and wildflowers. Sports and military. Scenic vistas as well as the nooks and crannies of a diverse nation. Anything that is Americana has the potential to appear on these First Day Covers. But they definitely will not be routine renditions because it is my goal to make the Collins "Greetings from America" cachets the absolute best of any produced for this magnificent set. I am determined to do so.

The designs of the final 25 stamps are as varied and interesting as the first. A horse-drawn New Orleans carriage rolls through the Louisiana streets of a state known for rhythm and blues, and the guitar on the Tennessee stamp symbolizes a state known for country music and bluegrass. Elk graze in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming, and white-tail deer traverse the White Mountain snows of New Hampshire. Sailboaters skim the waters off Rhode Island, and wind surfers sail the Columbia River waters of Oregon. Western heritage is prominent as a rider braves a buckin' bronco in Montana, and a covered wagon in Nebraska reminds us of our courageous pioneer ancestors. Cypress trees grow in the Peach State of Georgia, and a harvester works in the Sunflower State of Kansas. A neon sign beckons tourists to the gaming tables of Nevada, and the boardwalk of Atlantic City is a buffer between the New Jersey beaches famous for Miss America and the casinos famous for the spinning wheels of onearmed bandits. Mighty guns bristle from the deck of the Battleship Alabama, and three wooden masts stand as a tribute to days gone by from the deck of a Connecticut whaler. Skiers fly down the slopes of Colorado and Vermont with snow-capped Rocky Mountain peaks rising on the former and a quiet autumn-draped village nestled on the latter. Curving high above Saint Louis, Missouri's Golden Gateway Arch marks the beginning of the West, and piercing the sky above Seattle is Washington's distinctive Space Needle. Chesapeake Bay waters conceal Maryland blue crabs beneath the surface, while a sleek sailing sloop glides above, contrasting with the small sailboat moored to a dock in a quiet and picturesque Massachusetts harbor. Ducks enjoy Iowa wetlands in front of a family farm, and a solitary loon enjoys a twilight swim on a Minnesota Lake in front of a large city. All of the above bid you Greetings from America.

Now it's my turn. The stamps as described above only provide the starting point. It will be an ongoirg

challenge to proceed from state to state to state and create a cachet for each and every one of them.