When contracting to participate at a stamp show with associated table fees and travel expenses, a dealer rightfully has an expectation that the event will be promoted and marketed in such a manner so as to maximize attendance.

Everything about a set of four airmail semipostal stamps issued by Latvia in 1933 is notable. They were a new type of back-of-the-book stamp that still is seldom seen — one that combined the still new (in 1933) rage for aviation with charitable intentions to create the category known as airmail semipostal stamps.

Postage stamps, or lack thereof, might have affected the outcome of the UK general election in May, according to The Telegraph.

Paintings by Charles Sheeler, an American artist in the precisionist style, have been featured twice on United States stamps, in 1998 and in 2013.

Every once in a while it is fun to buy a big stamp mixture or even an entire collection. And, having done so, you may find that the most fun is in finding mysterious stamps you may have never seen before, and then spending time with a catalog to unravel the mysteries.

Five recent stamps from Slovenia not only picture birds, they also spell out the word “Posta” when placed horizontally in order of denomination. Posta Slovenije (Slovenia’s post office) issued these self-adhesive definitive (regular-issue) stamps May 29.

What started as a push by the Minnesota Twins organization now has the attention and backing of Minnesota's U.S. Senators and Representatives

Canada Post has proposed an increase in postage rates to take effect Jan. 11, 2016. The plan calls for the price of mailing a domestic letter to go up to 90¢, from the current rate of 85¢.

The American Philatelic Society’s web site, stamps.org, has been updated significantly since my last column about the site in the Jan. 2, 2012, issue of Linn’s.

United States postage due stamps are not valid for postage, but shown nearby are two attempts to use them as such. Both were unsuccessful. The two covers bear postage due stamps from both ends of the face-value scale: ½¢ and $1.

One of the more popular topics that people collect is cats. One of the reasons I have been a bit delayed in my postings is our cat, Tabitha, needed some medical attention. She and her adopted brother, Conrad, have been inseparable since the day we brought them home together. Tabitha, at this moment, is sitting on my shoulder overlooking my work so I felt compelled to write about some cat new issues.

A 32¢ stamp in the American Music series honors lyricist Dorothy Fields, who was born in Allenhurst, N.J., and found fame and success both in Hollywood and on Broadway.

Swiss Post announced July 7 that it is testing the use of drones as a mail-delivery option this month.

A new United States nondenominated (49¢) forever stamp honoring the U.S. Coast Guard comes as the agency celebrates 100 years of service under that name. The stamp will be issued Aug. 4 with a 10 a.m. ceremony at the Douglas A. Munro Headquarters Building, 2703 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE, Washington, D.C.

The most recent presidential memorial stamp was issued Aug. 31, 2007, for Gerald R. Ford Jr., who was born July 14, 1913, in Omaha, Neb. Ford also lived longer than any other president in U.S. history.

It’s fitting that a stamp is hurtling toward the farthest reaches of our solar system. As Linn’s associate editor Mike Baadke reported last week, a United States 1991 29¢ Space Exploration booklet stamp depicting Pluto is aboard the NASA New Horizons probe.

Canada Post announced in a July 9 release that it plans to raise the rate of stamps bought in booklets, coils or panes next year.

A new government report is likely to fuel concerns that mail deliveries are suffering because the United States Postal Service continues to struggle with what its regulator has termed “the new normal.”

Less than a week after Canada Post ordered the recall and destruction of booklets and souvenir sheets with $1.20 stamps depicting inaccurate images of the Hoodoo rock formations, they became hot properties on the Internet auction website eBay.

The 41¢ Chewbacca and Han Solo stamp from the 2007 Star Wars set of 15. The role of Han Solo was played by one of the world's most famous actors, Harrison Ford.