Wharton & Perkins

My two favorite stamps on this page are of Edith Wharton, although I don’t care for its dark background, and Frances Perkins. As a result, I’ve written about both of them.

Edith Wharton

Wharton was a writer from New York, although she was often in Europe, in France and mostly Italy. She lived during the later half of the Nineteenth Century and the early part of the Twentieth. She had many homes in the U.S. and in Europe. She often entertained famous people, writers in particular – such as Henry James, Sinclair Lewis, F. Scott Fitgerald, and Theodore Roosevelt. Her writings were greatly influenced by her experiences in high-society, and her travels.

Wharton is mostly known for her writings. She wrote fifteen novels, seven novellas, and eighty-five short stories. She also wrote literary criticisms, books on interior design, travel journals, and poetry. Of her novels, the most read are perhaps are The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence, which won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction – she was first woman to win. Her most popular novella would be Ethan Frome. All three of these have been made into movies – more than once each.

Besides writing and socializing, during her time she was known for extensive charitable work. During World War I, she went to France to help French women and children in need. She set up a house to feed them and to give them work to earn money. As the war progressed, she began to help Belgian refugees that came to France, providing food and shelter for about a thousand people.

Frances Perkins

Perkins was an advocate for workers in the early part of the Twentieth Century. She became most influential when she joined the administration of President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933 – she was the first woman in this role or any other cabinet position. She got the job during the Great Depression, with unemployment at twenty-five percent.

During her twelve years as Secretary, she helped pass legislation and lead programs that put Americans back to work. She also assisted in writing legislation for Social Security (i.e., the retirement fund) and unemployment insurance. And she formed the Immigration & Naturalization Service as means by which foreigners could become citizens and to fascilitate the building of the labor force. After being Secretary, President Truman appointed her to the Civil Service Commission where she made changes to stop discrimentation against female government works.

Note

Having been born and lived a major part of my life in Louisiana, I probably should write about Bernardo Galvez, one of the Governors of Louisiana for the short time it was a colony of Spain. Also, having written about two women on stamps here, I’m tempted to write also about the other three. But I can’t write about all of them. I’m struggling as it is to put the time in to write stories about at least one stamp per page. Maybe when I’ve finished writing something for each album page, I can go back and add more to some of the pages.

Contains 12 spots: own 12 – 12 unused, 0 used.
Page is finished.
Album or Web Page Last changed May 13, 2025

Stamp Details

The table below lists information about the stamps shown on this page of Lighthouse’s stamp album. For more details about a particular stamp, click on its description. That will take you to the related web page of Colnect.

spot

own

catalog

subject

description

comment

Famous Americans

1.1	✓	1803	W.C. Fields	15c (jan 1980) comm., multicolor
1.2	✓	1804	Benjamin Banneker	15c (feb 1980) comm., multicolor
1.3	✓	1826	Gen. Bernardo de Galvez	15c (jul 1980) comm., multicolor
2.1	✓	1821	Frances Perkins	15c (apr 1980) definitive, prussian blue
2.2	✓	1823	Emily Bissell	15c (may 1980) comm., red & black
2.3	✓	1824	Helen Keller & Anne Sullivan	15c (jun 1980) comm., multicolor
2.4	✓	1832	Edith Wharton	15c (sep 1980) comm., purple

Other

3.1	✓	1825	Veterans Administration	15c (jul 1980) comm., carmine & violet blue
3.2	✓	1831	Organized Labor	15c (sep 1980) comm., multicolor
3.3	✓	1833	Learning Glow by Josef Albers	15c (sep 1980) comm., multicolor

Christmas & Holidays

4.1	✓	1842	Madonna & Child Stained Glass	15c (oct 1980) comm., multicolor
4.2	✓	1843	Wreath & Toys	15c (oct 1980) comm., multicolor

Footnotes

Spot refers to the postion of the stamp on the album page (e.g., 3.2 indicates row 3, position 2).
Amt. is an abbreviation for the face amount of the stamp.
Own indicates the stamp status: ✓ for unused; ✗ for used or canceled; ⭑ signifies I ordered one; ; ✨ indicates it was bought recently; ✠ means an auction bid is pending; and ◎ is used, and it costs too much for unused.
To search by catalog number, go to the search box and enter it in the catalog number box. However, it’s a bit broken; I need to fix it.