The United States issued its first postage stamps in 1847. Before that time, the rates, dates and origin of the letter were written by hand or sometimes in combination with a handstamp device. Since enactment of the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, postage rates have been set by the Postal Regulatory Commission.
The celebrity appeal is not hard to appreciate. Encompassing an area about the size of Rhode Island, Muskoka is clustered around three big lakes -- Muskoka, Joseph and Rosseau -- that are carved into the Canadian Shield and framed by a dense canopy of hemlocks, pines and maples.
Scenic San Juan Islands. More than 170 islands comprise the San Juan archipelago, which lies off mainland Washington at the juncture of the straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca, and is sheltered from the Pacific Ocean by the Olympic Peninsula and Vancouver Island. (There are reputedly an additional 300 rocky islands at low tide.)