Description: This is the latest post in our "Hot Topix" series. In each quarterly edition we show you what the reference team has been up to, and bring you some of the more notable inuqires we have received.Vicarious research is one of the great joys of the reference desk at the Smithsonian Institution Archives. From our front-row (well, only-row) seat outside the reading room, we catch
Description: The National Postal Museum was established by an agreement between the Smithsonian and the United States Postal Service in 1990. However, its extensive collections of stamps and other philatelic materials date back to 1886. The Postal Museum is housed in the lower level of the former Washington City Post Office Building, which was built in 1914. The postcards in this gallery