Saving the USPS and My Late Grandfather’s Stamp Collection

My dada (grandfather) was an avid stamp collector and a strong supporter of the United States Postal Service.

He collected stamps from all over the world shortly after immigrating from India to Tanzania, Africa, in the early 1950s. Collecting stamps as a teen and young adult became more than just a hobby. It became a vital part of his life and a way to preserve and document history.

When my dada immigrated from Africa to London in the 1970s, he took ownership of a candy shop, J.S. Timms. After a few years of declining business sales, he decided to close up shop and look for another job. He worked at a local postal office in London, working the counter and helping sort through mail and provide customer service to patrons. (This is something I recently learned. I had no idea my dada worked at a postal office. This explains why he had always been passionate about the USPS).

When he moved to the U.S. in the 1980s, my dada always made it a point to schedule in a trip to the local USPS office in between his couponing grocery spree at Albertson’s.

Had my dada been alive today, he would have done everything in his power to continue supporting the USPS and postal service workers who work tirelessly to make sure our mail gets delivered on time.

We’re living during a time when the USPS must be safeguarded. Many Americans continue to rely on essential packages and the ability to mail in their election ballots during the pandemic.

We’re also living at a time when the president of the United States of America is trying to sabotage the election by using political scare tactics to block essential funding for the USPS and discredit mail-in voting. Trump has spewed non-factual statements that claim “mail-in voting will lead to voter fraud” among other ridiculous statements to deter people from voting in the middle of a pandemic.

In the last few weeks, hundreds of mail sorting machines were removed and Trump made the decision to block critical funding for the USPS — sparking concern about possible voter suppression as well as slowdowns and delays to receiving timely mail and packages. (The USPS later mentioned that removing the mail sorting machines was just part of a routine process).

Today, the USPS is symbolic of democracy and represents our freedoms. It’s a shame it’s being threatened during the pandemic and ahead of the election. Along with all of this, the delivery delays and politics on this issue has led to people not receiving critical life-saving medicine on time.

My grandfather would have been enraged by all of this and he certainly would have been happy to cast his vote for Biden even though I imagine his first pick would have been either Senators Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren.

He would have been ecstatic knowing that Kamala Harris, the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, was nominated as vice president of the United States of America.

There were so many major milestones that happened after my dada’s passing in 2007. I wish he were here to have witnessed the first African American president being sworn in as president of the United States of America.

Or, when the USPS issued their first-ever Diwali Forever stamp in 2016, commemorating the Hindu festival of lights.

He would have purchased dozens of Diwali stamps to support the USPS. My grandfather’s hobby wasn’t only collecting stamps; it also consisted of building and nurturing friendly relationships and conversations with postal service workers. He respected and appreciated their efforts to deliver his letters and packages on time.

My dada meticulously documented and carefully kept a record of both the domestic and international stamps he had been collecting for decades. As a kid, I’d remember he’d use a ruler to outline the margins and handwrite the details of every postage stamp, the cost, the year, and the name of the collection. Today, we still have dozens of his USPS and international postage collections organized by binder in the family attic.

I recently went through my dada’s postage collection and was happy to discover his collection of dozens of international and US-based postage stamps. The collection included everything from the 25th Anniversary of the First Moon Landing to “Classic Movie Monsters” and colorful stamps from Ethiopia, Tanzania, India, Australia, and New Zealand.

I noticed that some of his older stamps were marked with official black ink, perhaps signaling the fact that he had collected or received stamps from pen pals from across the globe. Perhaps some of the stamps were even passed down to him, so he made every effort to preserve them and keep them in pristine condition.

It makes me happy to see that dozens of people have rallied around to support the USPS simply by purchasing stamps, signing petitions, and making a plan ahead of the election to make sure their ballot is counted.

According to the APWU, The Postal Service could run out of money by the end of the summer and continues to be threatened by the Trump administration’s persistence on blocking additional funding.

“It is vital that we put maximum pressure on our Congress members — the people WE elect — to #SaveThePostOffice,” writes the APWU.

I will continue to preserve my dada’s legacy by purchasing stamps and supporting the USPS. It may be time for me to start a new stamp collection binder to keep the Luhar stamp legacy alive.

Here are some ways to help the USPS, as compiled by Mashable.

-Monica Luhar

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