Each frame uses authentic US Postal stamps surrounded by a brief write-up and printed art, which embrace the subject or occupation.

Free Gift Included with All Orders! Click Here

Unique Framed Gifts uses real United States Postal Service stamps surrounded by printed words that embrace the subject and enhance the work while surrounded by a hunter green top mat and a hint of burgundy for the bottom mat. The mahogany colored polystyrene frame comes ready to hang for all to view in an office, den, school or nearly anywhere. A truly unique and perfect gift created for the person, company or organization passionate about the story they closely relate to, while appreciating quality work by dedicated American art framers. Each stamp is pulled by hand and mounted onto the print with a spray glue mount, since most stamps are canceled no two stamps are exactly the same and the product you receive may vary slightly from the product image.

A Glimpse Of The Past Through The Lewis & Clark Collection - It is commonly thought that the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 led President Jefferson to initiate the Lewis and Clark Expedition with the objective being to explore the new territory. In reality, the expedition was planned well before the Louisiana Purchase was ever thought of. The Frenchman, Andre Michaux, proposed an exploration up the Missouri River and across what were supposedly modest mountain ranges to the Pacific Ocean. A letter from Jefferson to Michaux in 1793 outlined a mission to "find the shortest and most convenient route of communication between the (then) United States and the Pacific Ocean." Although the Michaux expedition was shelved due to the French Revolution, the planning laid out a framework for the Lewis and Clark venture. Jefferson spelled out the goals in minute detail, and with great exactitude. "The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, and such principal stream of it, as, by it's course and communication with the waters of any other river may offer the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce." The trip was to include exhaustive observations of plants and animals, weather, terrain, Indian life and culture, tribal boundaries, agriculture, fishing, hunting, war, arts, morality, religion, etc. Great attention was to be made in drawing maps of the new territory. These were not only Jefferson's ideas, but many individuals who were asked for input. Meriwether Lewis, age 29, Jefferson's private secretary, was selected to lead the group, and William Clark, age 33, was asked to share the command jointly. The initial party of 43 departed May 14, 1804 from Camp River Dubois, near the junction of the Missouri and the Mississippi rivers. After wintering near Bismarck, ND, they proceeded west and glimpsed the Pacific Ocean Nov. 7, 1805. The return trip was completed Sept. 23, 1806. A narrative of the journals was published in 1814, but the complete Journals did not appear until 1904. May 21, 1804. The starting point, once everyone is together, is St. Charles, MO, as they embark up the Missouri River in two pirogues and a keelboat. June 28. Near what is now Kansas City, they catch sight of their first buffalo. August 20. Sgt. Charles Floyd dies of appendicitis, the only member of the expedition to die. September 25-30. They have a running confrontation with the Teton Sioux near present day Pierre, South Dakota. October 20. They sight their first grizzly. November 2 - the building of Fort Mandan commences in the land of Arikara, Hidatsa, and Mandan Indians. Wintering at the fort, they hire an interpreter, Charbonneau, whose wife, Sacagawea, joins the expedition along with her newborn son, and the group leaves April 7, 1805. A small part of the group returns to St. Charles with the keelboat taking back information, and plant and animal specimens. June 2. Finding the mouth of the Marias River, they must decide which is really the Missouri River, and finally turn south. June 13. They find the great falls the Mandan Indians told them about. The portage of all their boats and equipment around the (five) falls takes until July 14. July 25. Headwaters of the Missouri found. August 12. A scouting party reaches Lemhi Pass, and sees a bewildering range of high rugged mountains in their path to the west. August 17. They meet with the Shoshone Indians, Sacagawea's tribe, and negotiate for guides and horses to cross the mountain ranges to the west. Crossing the Bitterroot Range takes from September 11 to the 22nd, when the expedition reaches the Weippe Prairie. October 7. Having built canoes they continue the trip down the Clearwater River and then down the Snake River. October 16. The expedition arrives at the Columbia River. November 7. The group reaches the Columbia River estuary, the large bay just 20 miles from the Pacific Ocean. November 15, 1805. The Lewis and Clark Expedition successfully negotiates the trip from St. Charles, Missouri, to the mouth of the Columbia River on the Pacific Ocean. December 7. Building starts on Fort Clatsop, their winter quarters, on the south or Astoria, Oregon, side of the river. The return trip to Missouri begins March 23, 1806. Thomas Jefferson planned much of the expedition from his beloved home, Monticello, near Charlottesville, Virginia, with help from his lifelong friend Meriwether Lewis. At the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, all the states were east of the Mississippi. The 17 states were: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia. Sacagawea served the expedition well as an interpreter and guide along with her husband, Charbonneau. She was also from the Shoshone tribe, from whom horses and guides to cross the Bitterroot Mountains were eventually arranged.