ESPER at World Stamp Show
Boston 2026

 Boston 2026 International Stamp Expo was a great event. The Expo was in the Boston Convention Center May 23 -30, 2026. ESPER had Booth #9 in the Americas Pavilion and Charlene Blair had adjacent booth # 8 for her National Museum of African Americans on Stamps.  ESPER members manned both booths throughout the show event.

 

The show hours were 10:00 am to 6:00 pm each day except for the last day the hours were 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. The Opening Ceremony was held Saturday May 23rd at 9:00 am. The USPS issued the Treasures of the Revolutionary Era stamps during the opening ceremony. The Lt Governor of Massachusetts (MA) read a Proclamation from the Governor proclaiming May 23rd as “Stamp Day” in MA in honor of the Boston 2026 International Stamp Expo coming to Boston MA.

 

The United States Postal Service (USPS) issued stamps on 6 days of the Expo and had a Dedication Ceremony for the Figures of the American Revolution on Day 7. 

 

Day 1 - Saturday May 23: 250th Anniversary of the US Day - Treasures of the Revolutionary Era – A prestige booklet of 20 stamps (10 designs) depicting antiques from the colonial period with related details. The 32-page booklet highlights 10 historical objects and the everyday lives of people from the Revolutionary Era.

 

Day 2 - Sunday May 24: Favorite Stamp Day Stamp - Encore. In 2025 the USPS picked 25 stamps from the past three decades and asked people to vote for their favorite stamp. The result was kept secret until the show ceremony. The overwhelming favorite was the Mr. Rogers stamp. The stamp was reissued and a special sheet with 4 stamps was done for the Expo. Mr. Rogers Stamps were issued nationwide on June 1st.

 

Day 3 - Monday May 25: Stamp Collectors Day - American Bison – with a design to the 1923 30 cent definitive.  You may want to add a sheet of these stamps to your collection as the design is unique with a stamp on a stamp.

 

Day 4 - Tuesday May 26: Letter Writing Day - Postcrossing – block of four triangular international first-class stamps honoring the worldwide organization of postcard mailers. I meet and talked to several ladies at breakfast the morning of the stamp been issued about the hobby of Postcrossing. Since 2005, the Postcrossing website has inspired more than 800,000 persons in more than 200 countries and territories to send more than 85 million postcards to eager recipients around the world. The stamps are good for 1-ounce First-class International postage.

 

Day 5 - Wednesday May 27: International Peace Day - International Peace – a symbolic origami crane in fight. The special guest from the ceremony held an origami making class following the ceremony. Several ESPER members attended the class and made a crane.

 

Day 6 - Thursday May 28: Sports Day - North American Soccer – a soccer player silhouette honoring the summer’s FIFA World Cup matches taking place in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

 

Day 7 - Friday May 29: Honoring Heroes Day - Figures of the American Revolution – pane of 25 designs depicting American Independence personages. This stamp sheet was issued on April 10th in Washington, DC. The Dedication Ceremony featured the USPS Director having a round table discussion with 2 artists and the USPS Art Director. The audience asked questions prior to the ceremony closing.

 

Everyone attending each ceremony received a stamp program and a stamp pin. After the ceremony the program participants autographed the programs and other stamp items. The USPS had Ceremony Memento sets, Commemorative Panels, Souvenir Pages, Cancellation Pages, Portfolios, Field Notes, Framed Stamp Artwork, Stamp Postcards and stamp sheets from 2025 and 2026 for sale. They also had cancellation booths where you could cancel a few First Day Covers (FDCs) (10 or less) and another booth for larger number of cancellations for dealers and other FDC sellers. One of the most popular things to do at the show was to get a picture taken at the USPS Photo area. A photo could be created with the person in a colonial hat, both men and women or a bonnet for women.

 

Scott Linn’s Stamp News created an Official Passport for the Expo. All the Post Offices had a sheet where you could place a stamp and have the country cancel the stamp. Stamps for the passport ranges in price, $2.00, $5.00 or $10.00. Rhonda and I get the passports and were able to completed many of the country cancellations. A couple of countries unfortunately lost luggage in route to the show and therefore could not do the cancellation. The Post Offices also have more expenses stamp sheets and stamp folders that range in price from $25.00 to $50.00. The USPS had a sheet for each day of the show where you could place a stamp after it was issued and have it cancelled at the cancellation booth.

 

The United Nations (UN) issued a special 250th US Anniversary Personal Sheet and Mini Stamp Sheet for the Expo. The mini sheet sold out the first day of the show and the UN office in New York had to rush more of them to the show. Several other Postal Servies (Greenland, Faroe Island, Guernsey Post, United Nations and Ukraine Post) issued Special Stamp Sheets for the expo making it truly an awesome event for stamp collectors.

 

On Saturday May 23rd we held our ESPER meeting. Our special guest was Lisa Bobb-Semple USPS Director, Stamp Services. She did a great presentation on the Black Heritage (BH) series. She said there will be a 50th stamp in the series but did not give any more information or say who it might be. She answered questions on the BH series and questions about the Stamp Advisory Committee and their process of selecting stamps. The Postmaster General selects the stamps for the year from a listing that the Committee provides. If a stamp makes the listing but is not selected for issue it may not be on the list again for five or more years. The process of selecting a stamp having it approved, to getting it issued usually takes about three years from start to issuing the stamp and having it available at post offices nationwide. USPS also includes input from the family  during the process.

 

On Tuesday May 26th the American Philatelic Society (APS) held its Annual Meeting at 9:00 am. Rosina Major received the APS Nicholas G. Carter Volunteer Local Level Award and Melanie Rogers received the APS Nicholas G. Carter Volunteer National Level Award.  Jean Lewis received the USSS / Barbara Mueller Award for Calvin Mitchell and Baasil Wilder authors for “A Study in Race, Racism and Presidential Politics” published in March 2025. They were not able to attend the Expo.

On Tuesday night we had the ESPER Fellowship at the Smokehouse BBQ; ten people attended the fellowship. The cost of the hotels, food at the show and restaurants in Boston was very high compared to what we normally experience at the Great American Stamp Show (GASS). You had to have reservations at many of the restaurants for evening dinning. 

 

On Thursday May 28th African American Stamp Artist Alex Bostic was at the show. We first saw him at the stamp issue ceremony and Walter and I got a picture with him and later he and his daughter stopped by the ESPER booth. I got some Edmonia Lewis FDCs from Foster Miller at the American First Day Cover Society booth and Alex Bostic autographed them and other stamp items while he was at our booth. Later he returned to the PUSPS area and he and Eltel Kessler autographed additional stamp items for people.

Also, on Thursday many ESPER members attended a presentation by the Smithsonian National Postal Museum on Exploring the Black Heritage Stamp Series: Origins and Legacies by Daniel Piazza.  It was a great presentation.

 

On Friday May 29th during the Stamp Issue Ceremony Lisa Bobb-Semple, USPS Director, Sales Services, held a round table discussion with stamp artists Alex Bostic, Tim O’Brien and USPS Art Director Ethel Kessler during the dedication ceremony of the Figures of the American Revolution stamps. The special sheet of 25 stamps was issued in Washington DC on April 10th.  Alex Bostic was the artist for two of the stamps and Tim O’Brien was the artist for six of the stamps.  The audience was permitted to ask questions of the panel prior to the close of the ceremony. 

 

Attendance was very good at the show over the 3-day holiday weekend. We did have new members to join for the year and a half with the special discount rate we used for the Expo.  I think all and all we did good. ESPER membership attendance was very good at the show with 24 members maybe more attending throughout the Expo. 

 

One of the most unusual displays at the show was the Queen Elizabeth II display which included a car and various items of memorabilia. A popular display was the Logo Display. Both Boston 2026 World Stamps were recreated with Legos during the show, Individuals could add Legos to the display to help create the stamps.  The Light House stamp was done first and then the Paul Revere stamp was done later. The show requested people to provide stamps for give away at the show. Millions of stamps were sent into the show. An area was setup where Adult and Youth collectors could get an envelope and fill it with stamps for 25 cents.  

 

Boston 2026 is offering Show Souvenirs for sale following the event.  Items can be ordered on Line on the Boston 2026 World Expo website at Boston2026.org.

 

Howard