Tennessee Williams created some of the best known plays of the 20th century, including A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

It is fascinating for most people to learn how nations evolve, and even more so for stamp collectors, who can document a nation’s changes through its postal issues. New Guinea is a good example.

The creator and star of the The Larry Sanders Show and It's Garry Shandling’s Show took an interest in stamp collecting when he was young, according to the Arizona Daily Sun, which reposted a blog post about Shandling and his stamp collecting originally published in 2008.

Also this week, the U.S. 1936 Great Seal airmail special delivery stamp was the focus of our Tip of the Week, a contributor put two stamp-perforation-measuring computer programs to the test, and the APS announced its considering changes to its World Series of Philately exhibiting.

From her family farm in Georgia, author Flannery O'Connor produced two novels and more than 30 short stories before she died at age 39.

The 20th stamp in the Legends of Hollywood commemorative series from the United States Postal Service will honor Shirley Temple, who starred in hugely popular films as a child actress in the 1930s and 1940s, and who grew up to become Shirley Temple Black, a respected diplomat and distinguished representative of the U.S. government. The Shirley Temple forever stamp will be issued April 18 with a 1:30 p.m. first-day ceremony in Los Angeles, Calif., at the Geffen Playhouse at 10886 Le Conte Ave. The ceremony is open to the public.

A set of five Bulgaria stamps with the printed dates of 1915-1916 was not issued until 1921. One might call them error stamps, although they reflected errors of politics rather than printing. Exhausted by defeat in the Second Balkan War in 1913, Bulgaria’s czar, Ferdinand I, at first avoided involvement in World War I. But in 1915, Ferdinand decided to join the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey). His reward was to be the land of Macedonia, which was then divided between two Allied countries: Greece and Serbia.

An unused example of one of America’s most highly prized stamp errors, the 1869 30¢ bicolor Shield, Eagle, and Flags stamp with the flags inverted (Scott 121b), will be offered at auction April 7 by Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries. The stamp is included in the sale of the Hanover collection of superb quality U.S. stamps, part one, the first of two consecutive auctions taking place at the New York City Siegel gallery. On April 8, the firm will offer the Rollin C. Huggins Jr. collection of U.S. Officials.

Collectors of Canada’s popular Small Queens issue of 1870-97 have a long-awaited treat in store for them as the April 16 presentation from Brigham Auctions will offer the Small Queens material from Ron Brigham’s extensive award-winning collection of Canada. Close to 800 lots of essays and proofs, stamp singles and multiples, postal history, production varieties and more will be offered in the auction.

Explorer John Wesley Powell lost his right arm during the Battle of Shiloh in the Civil War. He continued serving the Union Army, and was later the first European American to explore the Grand Canyon.

Two stamps featuring sailing vessels were voted as Aland’s most beautiful stamp issue of 2015. These stamps were issued Feb. 2, 2015, the first set in a planned six-year Sailing Ships of Aland series.

A vintage Jenny biplane nearly identical to that shown on the 1918 United States 24¢ Jenny airmail stamp (Scott C3) and its world-famous variety, the Inverted Jenny (C3a), will be on display at World Stamp Show-NY 2016. WSS-NY 2016 will take place May 28-June 4 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center located on 11th Avenue between 34th and 40th streets in Manhattan.

An announcement on the Colorano website states that the first-day cover producer was sold to Mystic Stamp Co. effective Feb. 14.

St Patrick’s Day proved to be the perfect occasion for members of The Royal Philatelic Society London to enjoy four fine displays on the theme of Ireland.

Labels used in identifying the first item in a sorted package or bundle for the presorting of the various classes of United States domestic mail were described in my March column in Linn’s, which introduced the pressure-sensitive package labels (PSPL). A series of pressure-sensitive labels have been used to indicate that the package identified with the PSPL received a certain type of presorting that expedited its delivery.

Squared circle postmarks originated in Great Britain in 1879 as an improvement upon duplex handstamps. In a duplex device, one part canceled the stamp, while the other recorded the date and post office. Unfortunately, duplex cancels could be awkward to ink, to apply, and to maintain.

The new nondenominated coil stamp for use by nonprofit organizations will feature a design highlighting the letters "USA" and including a red star.

One of the most popular illustrators of the early 20th century, German-born J.C. Leyendecker moved to Chicago at age eight and became a regular cover artist for the Saturday Evening Post.

Spring is here, and with it baseball season. Tickets for professional games cost a whole lot more than they did when I was growing up. Add a trip or two to the concession stand and a night at the ballpark for a small family can easily cost a small bundle. But baseball is so much more than the professional leagues.

Convenience counts, and if you worked in a multi-story office building with a mail chute, you could save considerable time and aggravation by posting mail via a short walk to the elevator. That’s where the mail chute was usually located. Buildings I worked in starting in the 1960s had them, but as time passed, most of these chutes were closed with a sign saying “no longer in operation.”