Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Letters Are Highlight of Marilyn Monroe Collection

Auction catalog
On Dec. 5, Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills, Calif., will auction off a collection known as the "Lost Archives of Marilyn Monroe." It includes a variety of items, including photographs, clothing, documents and other personal items. What may be the highlight of the collection are love letters sent to the actress by two of her husbands, Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller.

Monroe died in 1962 and, according to an Associated Press article, willed the items to Lee Strasberg, her mentor and acting coach. He gave the collection to a friend he trusted would take proper care. The family of that friend is putting the items up for auction.

(Photo courtesy of the Julien's Auctions press release)
Julien's Auctions reports that the "letters from DiMaggio written to Monroe proclaiming his undying love after their separation and Miller’s brilliantly written love letters to Monroe during their courtship and marriage are so personal, so emotional and so captivating that one can’t help but think of how deeply Monroe was loved throughout her lifetime by these two men." In the letters, Miller expresses his love and encourages a despairing Monroe. A letter from  DiMaggio, written just after Monroe revealed in a press conference that the pair was getting a divorce, asks Monroe to come back to him.

Also present are handwritten letters Monroe never sent, including a response intended for Miller.

In the AP article, the auction house's owner estimates that the collection could bring as much as $1 million. For details about bidding, visit the website JuliensAuctions.com.



Tuesday, November 11, 2014

War Letters Update


Today is Veterans Day in the U.S., and in light of this holiday, the recent AARP Bulletin has a story about a veterans topic that has been covered on this blog several times: The War Letters project and book by Andrew Carroll. Read about how AARP Bulletin readers responded to a May 2014 story about the collection of war letters on the website: aarp.org/bulletin.

To read more about the project, check out some of the 365Letters posts from the past few years:

http://365lettersblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/war-letters.html

http://365lettersblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/war-letters-collection.html

http://365lettersblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/war-letters.html

Happy Veterans Day! Thank you to all who have served and who are serving our country.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Veterans Day Holiday


Just a reminder: The U.S. Postal Service will observe the Veterans Day holiday Tuesday, Nov. 11. Post offices will be closed, and there will be no mail delivery.

And, it'll happen again in a couple of weeks when the U.S. celebrates Thanksgiving Day on Nov. 27 and next month for Christmas, Dec. 25.

Last year, in honor of Veterans Day, the USPS issued the World War II Medal of Honor Forever stamps, and earlier this year, a stamp honoring the Korean War Medal of Honor recipients was released. You may read more about those stamps at the USPS website by clicking the links above.

Thank you to all of the veterans and service members who have served to protect our country.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Rudolph's almost here!


I have to admit...I love Christmas! And, Rudolph is one of my favorites, especially the TV special that premiered 50 years ago, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

So, you can imagine how excited I was to see this year's USPS stamps featuring scenes from the show. The four-stamp set features images of Rudolph, Santa, the Abominable Snow Monster, aka the Bumble, and Hermey, the elf who would rather be a dentist.

The Smithsonian's National Postal Museum will host a stamp dedication ceremony Thursday, Nov. 6. The event will be free and open to the public. What fun it will be for those who can attend!

If you can't make it to the ceremony, you can still order the stamps online or get them from your local post office. 


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