Bicentennial USPS An Image of America Classroom Slidefilm 3 Partial Sets

    There were originally 57 photos, I had to merge several into collages to get them all shown. As much as possible, they’re grouped together by box, and by items within each box. The image next-to-last are of the loose items described (far) below. :^)
    In particular, the ones showing the backs of the calendars are representative of the overall calendar conditions. There just wasn’t room for each and every shot, and the backs of the calendars all look pretty much the same.

This is a lot of 3 (incomplete) boxed sets of a United States Postal Service Bicentennial Issue classroom training kit.
     This lot is history squared. It’s nearly 50 years old (give it four more years or so…), so it’s pretty old already, plus it’s about our country’s 200th anniversary, marking the year the U.S. celebrated our Bicentennial. I wish I knew more about these, but haven’t been able to find anything more than what’s stated in the sets.

     None of the sets are complete. I can’t find anything similar anywhere online, and have no idea of it’s history, use, or value. There’s a ton of items all together.
     The best approach I can think of is to take photos of everything, and describe which pieces (and how many) come from which boxed set. This is an AS-IS listing.

     In the description below, I’m taking the boxes as is, the way they were when I opened them. The pieces may not all be in the correct boxes, and are there are definitely pieces missing. I can’t track what should have been where, and what’s not there. The only process that makes sense is to do a bullet list, and break some things out in numbered lists as needed.

Box 1
Rise of the Spirit of Independence
Almost An American
(Targeted at grades 4 - 6)

  • First… the box. The box is yellowed with age, but still in sturdy condition. Very nice-looking.

  • One Blue Plastic Film Canister, with a film strip inside. The film looks to be in good condition. Guessing it’s 35mm, if I find out differently will come back and modify this sentence.
    The story on the film is told one frame at a time. No motion, each slide holds steady until the audiotape says it’s part, then advances to the next image.

  • One Audiotape Cassette, in a plastic protector case. Side A is used with Automatic Filmstrip Projectors, Side B is for Manual Projectors. The tape is supposed to be played synchronously with the filmstrip. As far as I can see, the tape is in good shape. It’s wound well, no obvious warps or stretched spots. I don’t have a tape player to test it with, so have no idea if the audio is still any good.

  • Four 8 ½” x 11” identical pages of classroom material. Each has an article titled “Continental Congrefs” on one side, and Classroom Think and Do activities on the other side.

  • A “Teacher’s Guide for - ‘Almost An American’ - Rise of the Spirit of Independence – an Image of America slidefilm.” At the bottom it has “PED-12”, and “c1975 U.S. Postal Service All Rights Reserved.”
    There are 30 numbered pages. It looks very thorough, including an image-by-image guide to the filmstrip and audio.

  • 1 Duplicator Master – The Boston Tea Party U.S. 8c Stamp Bicentennial Era 8 ½” x 11”

  • 1 Duplicator Master – Carpenters’ Hall U.S. 10c Stamp Bicentennial Era 8 ½” x 11”

  • 1 Duplicator Master – Independence Hall U.S. 10c Stamp Bicentennial Era 8 ½” x 11”

  • 3 copies (I think back then they were “mimeographs?) of The Boston Tea Party master

  • 5 copies of Independence Hall master

  • 7 copies of Carpenters’ Hall master
    (All of these copies are faded in varying amounts due to age)


Box 2
Bicentennial Era
Rebellion Becomes Revolution
(Targeted at grades 4 - 6)

  • The box is yellowed with age, but still in sturdy condition. Very nice-looking.

  • One Black Plastic Film Canister, with a film strip inside. The film looks to be in good condition. Guessing it’s 35mm, if I find out differently will come back and modify this sentence.
    The story on the film is told one frame at a time. No motion, each slide holds steady until the audiotape says it’s part, then advances to the next image.

  • Record Album – In pretty good shape for an old record. It feels thicker than albums I remember, maybe even heavier. Might just be faulty memory, or maybe it was build sturdy with rowdy students in mind.
    Titled: Rebellion Becomes Revolution / An “Image of America” Story of The American Revolution
    It’s 33 1/3 RPM; Time 10:00; (SoN 133721); c1980 U.S. Postal Service
    Side A: For automatic filmstrip projectors. Side B: For manual projectors.

  • Teacher’s Guide for “Rebellion Becomes Revolution”
    an Image of America Slidefilm
    PED-13 c1977 U.S. Postal Service All Rights Reserved
    In very nice condition, maybe somewhat yellowed from age.
    There are 28 numbered pages. It looks very thorough, including an image-by-image guide to the filmstrip and audio.

An envelope titled “IMAGES OF AMERICA” that contains:

  • A simple map titled “Where Did It Happen?” Colonial North America In The 1770’s

  • A full-page line image of a stamp, titled “American Militia”, and marked US 10c

  • A full-page line image of a stamp, titled “Seamstress for Independence”, and marked USA 13c

  • A full-page line image of a stamp, titled “First Kentucky Settlement Fort Harrod 1774 – 1974”, and marked US 10c

  • 6 Educational stories about life in colonial America:

    1. Life On The Colonial Frontier

    2. Colonial Farmers

    3. The Search For Colonial Currency

    4. Travel In Colonial America

    5. Skilled Hands That Worked For Independence
      (Small bit of trivia – the first sentence on this sheet claims average
      pay per day at the time was 4 and a half cents per hour… and states
      that equals $4.50 for a 10-hour workday. They made an error in their math,
      that hourly rate would only be $0.45 cents per day.
      No idea if the per hour rate was wrong, or the full-day pay, but it’s very
      interesting, a bit funny, and kind of scary that the US Postal Service put
      out a classroom educational guide with such a glaring error!

    6. Manufacturing In The Colonies

  • 5 copied pages of stamp line art. The copies are kind of dim, and the pages are yellowed. These are 1 single copy of each page:

    1. Independence Hall / U.S. 10c / Bicentennial Era

    2. Rise of the Spirit of Independence / U.S. 8c (scene of a drummer in foreground, multiple people in background.)

    3. Rise of the Spirit of Independence / U.S. 8c (scene of horseman riding through town blowing a horn)

    4. Carpenters’ Hall / U.S. 10c / Bicentennial Era

    5. Text on outside border of image: The Boston Tea Party / 8c U.S. Bicentennial Era

  • 1 Poster – 35.5” x 24”. Herkimer at Oriskany 1777 by Yohn

Folded clean and flat. Wearing thin on the creases, and especially on the corners. Completely worn through on the central fold.
Every corner has a pushpin hole, indicating it was probably displayed in a classroom.

Box 3
Rise of the Spirit of Independence
The Post Rider
(Targeted at grades 4 - 6)

  • The box is yellowed with age, but still in sturdy condition. Very nice-looking.

  • One Blue Plastic Film Canister, with a film strip inside. The film looks to be in good condition. Guessing it’s 35mm, if I find out differently will come back and modify this sentence.
    The story on the film is told one frame at a time. No motion, each slide holds steady until the audiotape says it’s part, then advances to the next image.

  • One Audiotape Cassette, in a plastic protector case. Side A is used with Automatic Filmstrip Projectors, Side B is for Manual Projectors. The tape is supposed to be played synchronously with the filmstrip. As far as I can see, the tape is in good shape. It’s wound well, no obvious warps or stretched spots. I don’t have a tape player to test it with, so have no idea if the audio is still any good.

  • Teacher’s Guide for “The Post Rider”
    an Image of America Slidefilm
    c1974 U.S. Postal Service All Rights Reserved
    In very nice condition, maybe somewhat yellowed from age.
    There are 25 numbered pages. It looks very thorough, including an image-by-image guide to the filmstrip and audio.

  • Three Plasticized Learning Activity Cards, with things to do on the opposite sides:

      1. Post Roads
        Think and Do: Make Your Own Milestone

      2. The Post Rider
        Think and Do: Making a Colonial Letter

      3. The Broadside – America’s First “News” paper
        Think and Do: Write Your Own Broadside

  • 1 Duplicator Master – Rise of the Spirit of Independence U.S. 8c Stamp Drummer Scene 8 ½” x 11”

  • 1 Duplicator Master – Rise of the Spirit of Independence U.S. 8c Stamp Post Rider Scene 8 ½” x 11”

  • 11 Copies of the Drummer Scene image (pretty faded, some more than others)

  • 10 Copies of the Post Rider scene (again, pretty faded, some more than others)

Items Laying Loose in the collection:

2 Postcards:

  • Benjamin Franklin Stamp Club

  • Both are Postmarked “Port Huron May 31 1978 USPO”

  • Both are signed by the Postmaster. The first initial looks like a capital J, but I can’t make out the rest.

  • I do believe they are actual signatures and not stamped. There are visible differences between each of the two.

  • Both cards are blank on the opposite side.

  • The cards are both in pretty good condition given their age. Mainly some yellowing, and some minor corner wear.

A segment from Scholastic Newstime, with “1776” at the top of the front page, in red white and blue. The 4-page folded document is mostly centered around the tv movie, “1776”.

Condition is decent. Some yellowing, some wear, some punctures and bent areas. Mostly flat, and very legible.

Bicentennial Hanging Wall Scroll - Patriotic artwork in full color on an 8" x 27.5" piece of fabric/cloth.


POSTERS:
Surrender at Saratoga
Size is around 35.5” x 24”

Condition is the same as all the other posters in this lot. Stored folded flat. Decent, very readable, but high wear on the folded edges, most especially on the corner folds. Some spots are worn completely through. There are pushpin punctures on the four outer corners, and some bent edges, also mostly on the corners.

Captain James Cook
Size is around 35.5” x 24”

Condition is pretty much the same as the one above. I did find a small scribble on the back, like someone had tried to get the ink flowing in their pen.


NOTES

The posters in this lot are all 35.5” x 24”
All of them are neatly folded and well-preserved, but they all have wear and damage.
There are several folded corners that have worn through, or so nearly worn through they may as well be.
On the outer four corners, they all have tiny pushpin holes where they were pinned to a wall.
Other minor miscellaneous wear or damage, some have folds on the outer corners, at least one has an ink (blue) scribble on the back.

See pics.

LASTLY:

This is an incredibly varied lot. The three main sets are unique, as far as finding anything about them, or locating any other sets for sale. I’ve resorted to listing every item as clearly and consistently as I can, and taking lots of pictures.

I’ve tried to be exceedingly thorough, but this was a pretty overwhelming listing. If you have any questions not answered by the descriptions or the photos, please ask. I can’t answer questions about their provenance or history, but will do my best to answer what I can.