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.
In the northeast it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the Hudson Strait, and in the north, it connects with the Arctic Ocean through the Foxe Basin. There are scattered islands in Hudson Bay, mostly in the southeast, and also in James Bay, a smaller part of the larger bay. The islands within James Bay, as well as the Belcher Islands in Hudson Bay, are all considered a part of Canada's Nunavut Territory.