Stamps & Post Offices

back home the Post Office in Anadarko Oklahoma has murals painted by members of the Kiowa 5, an influential group of Kiowa artists who developed the flat painting style which was influenced by old ledger art. Many of the US Post Offices were painted during the 1930s under a government program designed to employ artists during the great economic depression. My Indiana post office also has a mural which I always enjoy seeing...it depicts the pioneer times of NW Indiana of the 1830s or so.

Interestingly the Smithsonian Postal Museum is studying how Native people have been presented in all these old murals and paintings and discussed on their webpage:
http://postalmuseum.si.edu/indiansatthepostoffice/index.html


Another exhibit examined how Native Americans have been presented on postage stamps...whenever I mail a Native themed postcard I use these old stamps which I obtain from a dealer in California and save just for the right cards.
http://arago.si.edu/flash/?eid=385|s1%3D6|


Thanks to the staff at Smithsonian for recording and analyzing this type of public information!!