O’ BEAUTIFUL

Sunrise Near Orinda, CA 

Cover Announcement 

Each and every iconic cachet subject in this set is presented within a frame that has intricate elements taken from the

cherished lines of America the Beautiful. The "fruited plains" are represented by the two sides of the frame which feature hand painted fruits and vegetables from our bountiful harvests. Across the top of the frame are snow-capped "purple mountain majesties" and a bald eagle clutching a stars and stripes shield in its talons. And, spanning the bottom of the frame are waves to the right representing the Atlantic Ocean and waves to the left representing the - Pacific. In between the "sea to shining sea" is a bundle of wheet representing the "amber waves of grain." All tweaty of the cachets that follow will have this amazing hand painted America the Beautiful theme framing them. Awesome!

A Journey Through Our History

The State House bell, now known as the Liberty Bell, rang in the tower of the Pennsylvania State House. Today, we call that building Independence Hall. Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly Isaac Norris first ordered a bell for the bell tower in 1751 from the Whitechapel Foundry in London. That bell cracked on the first test ring. Local metalworkers John Pass and John Stow melted down that bell and cast a new one right here in Philadelphia. It's this bell that would ring to call lawmakers to their meetings and the townspeople together to hear the reading of the news. Benjamin Franklin wrote to Catherine Ray in 1755, "Adieu, the Bell rings, and I must go among the Grave ones and talk Politicks." It's not until the 1830s that the old State House bell would begin to take on significance as a symbol of liberty.

The Liberty Bell, silenced now in its place of honor in Philadelphia but from which the peals of freedom will forever be heard.