How much is the Hope Diamond worth? Ask Smithsonian.

Our inquisitive readers are rising to the challenge we gave them last month. The questions are pouring in and we’re ready for more. Do you have any questions for our curators? Submit your questions here.

How much is the Hope Diamond worth? — Marjorie Mathews, Silver Spring, Maryland

That’s the most popular question we get, but we don’t really satisfy people by giving them a number. There are a number of answers, but the best one is that we honestly don’t know. It’s a little bit like Liz Taylor’s jewels being sold in December—all kinds of people guessed at what they would sell for, but everybody I know was way off. Only when those pieces were opened up to bidding at a public auction could you find out what their values were. When they were sold, then at least for that day and that night you could say, well, they were worth that much. The Hope Diamond is kind of the same way, but more so. There’s simply nothing else like it. So how do you put a value on the history, on the fact it’s been here on display for over 50 years and a few hundred million people have seen it, and on that fact it’s a rare blue diamond on top of everything else? You don’t. – Jeffrey E. Post, mineralogist, National Museum of Natural History

What’s the worst impact of ocean acidification so far?- Nancy Schaefer, Virginia Beach, Virginia

The impacts of ocean acidification are really just starting to be felt, but two big reports that came out in 2011 show that it could have very serious effects on coral reefs. These studies did not measure the warming effect of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but rather its effect of making the ocean more acidic when it dissolves in the ocean. Places where large amounts of carbon dioxide seep into the water from the sea floor provide a natural experiment and show us how ocean waters might look, say, 50 or 100 years from now. Both studies showed branching, lacy, delicate coral forms are likely to disappear, and with them that kind of three-dimensional complexity so many species depend on. Also, other species that build a stony skeleton or shell, such as oysters or mussels, are likely to be affected. This happens because acidification makes carbonate ions, which these species need for their skeletons, less abundant.

Nancy Knowlton, marine biologist
National Museum of Natural History

Art and artifacts from ancient South Pacific and Pacific Northwest tribes have similarities in form and function. Is it possible that early Hawaiians caught part of the Kuroshio Current of the North Pacific Gyre to end up along the northwest coast of America from northern California to Alaska? — April Croan, Maple Valley, Washington

Those similarities have given rise to various theories, including trans-Pacific navigation, independent drifts of floating artifacts, inadvertent crossings by ships that have lost their rudders or rigging, or whales harpooned in one area that died or were captured in a distant place. Some connections are well-known, like feather garment fragments found in an archaeological site in Southeast Alaska that appear to have been brought there by whaling ships that had stopped in the Hawaiian Islands, a regular route for 19th-century whalers. Before the period of European contact, the greatest similarities are with the southwest Pacific, not Hawaii. The Kushiro current would have facilitated Asian coastal contacts with northwestern North America, but would not have helped Hawaiians. The problem of identification is one of context, form and dating. Most of the reported similarities are either out of their original context (which can’t be reconstructed), or their form is not specific enough to relate to another area’s style, or the date of creation cannot be established. To date there is no acceptable proof for South Pacific-Northwest Coast historical connections that predates the European whaling era, except for links that follow the coastal region of the North Pacific into Alaska.

William Fitzhugh, archeologist
Natural History Museum

Giants and patriots come in all forms, as seen in "Giant Demon Attacks a Ship," an Indian watercolor ca. 1775. Photo courtesy of the Freer and Sackler Galleries

Take a look at our photo gallery of giants and patriots in the Smithsonian Institution.

In honor of Super Bowl Sunday, we’ve come up with our own contest of “giants” and “patriots.” A disclaimer, though: it has nothing to do with football. We’ve combed through archives and collections across the Smithsonian Institution to come up with a unique set of patriots and giants for you to check out to get ready for the game.

If you’re a Giants fan, we’ve got everything from giant pandas to giant sequoias to “Elaganeek: the Eskimo Giant.” “Giant’s Thumb,” a 1926 woodcut by Howard Cook in the American Art Museum, depicts one of the artist’s favorite natural spots in New Mexico, his adopted home.

For New England fans, though, the Smithsonian is filled with patriots both real and invented. Uncle Sam, of course, is the country’s iconic patriot, but real-life figures like George Washington and Samuel Adams were the original embodiments of patriotism during the birth of the country. The concept of patriotism is so powerful that the U.S. military has named missiles after it.

“Giant Demon Attacks a Ship,” an Indian watercolor painted by a Jain artist sometime around 1775, is the one piece that Giants fans might interpret as a good omen for the game. In the painting, a large blue demon seems poised to destroy a British ship, filled with sailors dressed not so differently from the Patriots original mascot, Pat Patriot. Watch on Sunday to see how the real life matchups turns out.

Now that you’ve probably burned through the lists of historians, innovators, and food-writers to follow this year, we’re bringing it back home to the Smithsonian. As always, the Mall is cooking up some fascinating, crazy, and sometimes grotesque stuff for 2012. Bookmark these people and projects to keep up with this year:

Nicholas Pyenson: Pyenson studies and curates fossils of marine mammals. Get a feel for what is going on inside his lab and follow his team into the field—fresh from an expedition in Chile—at his blog, Pyenson Lab.

Postal Museum: Time for a pop quiz: A “hamper dumper” is:

a) machine in postal processing

b) bin of misprint stamps

c) failed mail vehicle

d) philatelic tool.

If you know the answer, you should be following the Postal Museum (@postalmuseum) for their daily #PostalQuiz and other philatelic factoids.

Biodiversity Heritage Library: As part of the Biodiversity Heritage Library consortium, the Smithsonian Libraries collects and digitizes biodiversity research for open online access—essentially, a bio-wiki. Check out @biodivlibrary for the species of the day: plants that eat worms, albino penguins and other bizarre creatures you never knew existed.

Archives of American Art Pinterest: The American Art Pinterest lets you browse the archives and “pin” the images you like to your virtual board. Mix and match from collections like “facial hair of note” and “ain’t no party like an artist’s party.”

Book Dragon: The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program’s Book Dragon is the pet project of former APA Media Arts Consultant Terry Hong, featuring reviews of “books for the multi-cultural reader.” Hong highlights literature for kids and adults alike that speaks to the Asian American experience. Follow her at @SIBookDragon.

Smithsonian Vids: For a moving view of the Institution, follow @SmithsonianVids. Meet a scientist studying frog-eating bats, or get a video tour of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings from Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart.

Smithsonian Marine Station: This Natural History Museum field station, located in Fort Pierce, Florida, tweets news updates and photos from the field (er, coral reef) @SmithsonianSMS. Plus, there’s #followfriday trivia every week.

Field Book Project: Also, from the Natural History Museum and the Smithsonian Institution Archives check out this blog, where researchers post updates on their initiative to compile an online database of field books and journals documenting biodiversity research. Besides progress updates, you’ll also find excerpts of century-old field notes from explorers, birdwatchers and scientists (including lots of fun, old-timey sketches) and learn a lot more than you ever thought there was to know about indices.

Encyclopedia of Life: Take your best shot and enter the picture in the Smithsonian’s Encyclopedia of Life Flickr photo contest. The bi-weekly contest could be (and has been) any theme from “backyard life” to “sexual dimorphism.” Even if you don’t enter, be sure to browse the entries for gems like this.

And of course, if you’re not following them already, the museums are always Tweeting up a storm. Here’s the checklist:

American Indian Museum: @SmithsonianNMAI

National Portrait Gallery: @npg

American Art Museum: @americanart

Anacostia Community Museum: @anacostiamuseum

American History Museum: @amhistorymuseum

Air and Space Museum: @airandspace

Museum of Natural History: @NMNH

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden: @hirshhorn

Freer and Sackler Galleries: @FreerSackler

Museum of African Art: @NMAfA

National Zoo: @NationalZoo

Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum: @cooperhewitt

Smithsonian: @Smithsonian

Come make your own stamp collection at a drop-in workshop at the Postal Museum. Photo courtesy of the museum

Friday, January 6 “This is Not a Film”

The Iranian Film Festival kicks off with “This is Not a Film,” a last-minute Cannes submission shot secretly on an iPhone and smuggled into France on a flash drive hidden in a cake. The film depicts the sequestered life of famed director Jafar Panahi (The Circle; Offside), whose 2010 arrest sparked an international outcry. Banned from traveling, giving interviews, or making films, Panahi is seen talking to his family and lawyer on the phone, discussing his plight with Mirtahmasb, and reflecting on the meaning of the art of filmmaking. (Dirs.: Mojtaba Mirtahmasb and Jafar Panahi, Iran, 2010, 75 min., Persian with English subtitles) Free. 7:00 p.m. Freer/Sackler Gallery.

Saturday, January 7 Stamps!

Jumpstart your own stamp collection in a hands-on workshop for all ages, then join curator Daniel Piazza on a tour of the philatelic rarities of “Collecting History: 125 Years of the National Philatelic Collection” before it closes on January 9. Highlights include rarities that once belonged to Egypt’s King Farouk and Japanese-American internment camp mail from World War II. Free. 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. Postal Museum, Museum Atrium.

Sunday, January 8 Masterworks of Three Centuries

Celebrate the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society’s 35th season with an eclectic Baroque concert, as Kenneth Slowik presents Bach’s compendious Goldberg Variations, BWV 988.  $22 member, $20 senior member, $28 general admission. Pre-concert talk at 6:30 p.m. Concert begins at 7:30 p.m. American History Museum, Hall of Musical Instruments.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

World War I soldiers writing letters home. Photo courtesy of the National Postal Museum

With the war in Iraq officially declared over yesterday, it seemed appropriate to head to the National Postal Museum to reflect upon the experiences of servicemen who are stationed abroad. “Mail Call: A History of America’s Military Mail,” an exhibition that opened last month, tells the stories of individual soldiers through their mail, and traces the history of mail delivery for the military from the Revolutionary War through today.

“Mail sustains the spirits, both on the home front and for the people who are on the front line,” says Lynn Heidelbaugh, curator at the museum. “We wanted to show visitors how it keeps up this connection, and keeps up this sense of community.”

The exhibition features a number of letters that serve as windows on the personal lives on soldiers stationed abroad. One was sent by John H. Zimmer, a serviceman stationed in France during World War I, to his younger sister Frances. “Just a few lines to let you know that I received your letter today and was very glad to hear from you,” he wrote. “I haven’t been getting many letters for several weeks until today when I received seven. But gee, I was awful glad to get them.”

The show also covers the evolution of the military mail system across the full sweep of its history, starting with the country’s founding. “Mail was really expensive during the Revolutionary War—most people were writing just for business purposes, because postage was too much to use otherwise,” says Heidelbaugh. Over time, as prices came down, mail became the sole source of communication between distant points. With the Spanish-American War and World War I—the first U.S. global wars—the challenges confronting the Postal Service grew dramatically.

A letter from Operation Desert Storm. Photo courtesy of the National Postal Museum.

Mail officials responded with a number of innovations, sending postal employees around the world to carry out the mission. During World War II, the Postal Service promoted the sending of “Victory Mail,” which were letters written on a standardized stationary and projected onto microfilm to save shipping weight. The reels of microfilm were sent to processing centers abroad, and letters were reproduced on quarter size pieces of paper to be delivered to recipients.

Audio reels were sometimes used during the Vietnam War for the same reason. ”We have one recording from a soldier stationed in Vietnam,” Heidelbaugh says. “He actually talks about what mail has meant to him, and his outlook in the future—everything you expect in a letter from wartime.”

When all of the varied locations where mail is delivered during times of war is considered, the strategic operation is mind-boggling. “The Postal Service tries to make sure that all services are available to everyone,” Heidelbaugh says, “whether they’re in a tent somewhere or in a submarine.” On display is an actual door from the post office that was aboard the U.S.S. Thomas S. Gates, a Navy cruiser, as well as a camouflaged, waterproof mail bag that was used for aerial mail drops to troops in the jungles of Vietnam.

Other items in the exhibition remind visitors of the grim truth of war. Many letters bring news of horrific tragedy. One is a Certified Mail stamp that was salvaged from the Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The date on the stamp is still December 6, 1941—the day before the infamous attacks on the base that claimed the lives of thousands.

The other is a letter addressed to a Union soldier’s wife at the height of the Civil War. “One of the pieces I find most touching—and sadly, the most typical kind of letter—is this condolence letter,” says Heidelbaugh. “It’s from a commanding officer, and he’s had to write to a widow, and confirm that her husband has died in a POW camp.”

Appropriately, the show concludes with a package sent from the recent conflict in Iraq. ”We chose this because it’s representative of contemporary mail,” says Heidelbaugh. The package was sent by Chief Warrant Officer Peter Paone to his son Tom, back in Pennsylvania, and carried souvenirs from his time abroad. “A lot of people ask, ‘with so many more options for communication now, what are people even sending mail for?’ But there’s no other way to send packages. We wanted to show people that mail is still vitally important.”

“Mail Call: A History of America’s Military Mail” is on display at the National Postal Museum

Enjoy an evening event at the groundbreaking exhibition "The Bright Beneath." Photo courtesy of the Natural History Museum.

Monday, November 28 Postal Museum Tours

Only have a limited time to see the sights at the Postal Museum and don’t know where to start? Take a docent-led tour of the museum’s collections to make sure you see a little of everything, and gain insight into the collection’s significance. DIY-ers can download this self-guide brochure. Tours are generally held at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. daily; call 202-633-5534 to confirm the day’s times. Free. National Postal Museum.

Tuesday, November 29 Viva Verdi

Come explore the remarkable life and career of Giuseppe Verdi, Italy’s great 19th-century opera composer. Coleen Fay, arts editor at WAMU, will lead a seminar that traces the evolution of Verdi’s works through multimedia recordings. Learn how Verdi overcame personal misfortune to compose some of opera’s most renowned masterpieces. This Residents Associates Program is $30 for members, $27 for senior members, and $40 for the general public. 6:45 to 9 p.m. Ripley Center.

Wednesday, November 30 Celebrating Roots, Creating Community

The Smithsonian Latino Center invites everyone to a bilingual night of music and spoken word performances. This program will feature local poets Quique Avilés, Naomi Ayala and Consuelo Hernández, as well as music by singer/songwriter Patricio Zamorano and his band. The event is part of the Latino D.C. History Project series, which documents the historical presence of Latino culture in the nation’s capital. Free. 6:30 p.m. American Indian Museum, Rasumson Theater.

Thursday, December 1 The Bright Beneath

Inspired by bioluminescent organisms from deep beneath the sea, installation artist Shih Chieh Huang has created an unearthly world of glowing creatures in the Natural History Museum. At this “Mingle at the Museum” event, enjoy a specialty cocktail and themed hors d’oeuvres as Huang and curator of fishes Lynne Parenti chat about the exhibition. Demonstrations of bioluminescent deep-sea creatures and real specimens will be on hand. This Residents Associates Program is $30 for members and $35 for the general public. 7:30 to 10 p.m. Natural History Museum, Sant Ocean Hall.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

Mr. Zip, as featured on a public advertisement. Photo courtesy Postal Museum

One of the most important breakthroughs in modern communication lies in an overlooked place. It’s printed onto envelopes, just below the address. Although we think nothing of the ZIP Code these days, when it was rolled out in the 1960s, it was a novel and challenging concept for many Americans. And so, to help sell the ZIP Code, the Post Office Department introduced a friendly new mascot for the public campaign: the grinning, lanky Mr. Zip.

The National Postal Museum has now launched a new site, created by museum curator Nancy Pope and intern Abby Curtin, that celebrates the history of the ZIP Code campaign and its speedy mascot.

That history begins, Pope says, in the early 1960s, when growing mail volume and suburbanization had strained the mail system. Postmaster General J. Edward Day and others were convinced of the need to automate the sorting process. “They wanted to move to a mechanized process,” Pope says. “The ZIP Code system was essential in getting the machines to work.”

The Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP) assigned a unique five-digit number to each post office in the country, and sorting machinery used the codes to directly route mail from one city to another. “Without the ZIP Code, mail has to be processed through a series of processing centers. So if you’re going from Boston to San Francisco, you have to go through the Boston center, the New York center, the St. Louis center, and the Omaha center, until you finally get to California,” explains Pope. “But with the right ZIP Code, it gets put straight into the mail that’s going to San Francisco.”

Despite the obvious benefits of the ZIP Code system, officials feared that its 1963 roll-out would meet resistance. “Americans in the late 50s and early 60s are having to memorize more numbers than they had before,” Pope says, noting the implementation of phone area codes and the growing importance of Social Security Numbers.

A Mr. Zip button, worn by postal workers as part of the ZIP Code campaign. Photo courtesy Postal Museum

To preempt this problem, the Post Office Department embarked on a public campaign to convince people to start using the ZIP Code, and likely named the system ‘ZIP’ to capitalize on its main selling point: speed. The campaign used radio, print and television advertisements to drive home this association, with crooked line frequently representing the old system and a straight arrow the new one.

With a dashing gait and a child’s smile, Mr. Zip’s presence in advertisements, post offices, and on mail trucks linked the idea of quickness to a cheerful, human face. “These homey touches were to help people look at the ZIP Code not as a threatening thing, but as a happy, speedy thing that’s going to make their lives easier,” Pope says.

Gradually the public caught on. “It took a little while—they didn’t hit a high percentage of people doing it for a couple of years—but they finally did get people convinced,” Pope says. By the late 1970s, the vast majority of mail users were comfortable using the numbers, and Mr. Zip was gradually phased out.

But the wide-eyed Mr. Zip lives on. He still appears on the Postal Service’s ZIP Code lookup Web page, and his story is detailed at the Postal Museum’s new site. Next month, the Museum is also debuting a new exhibition, “Systems at Work,” which explores the evolving technology behind the postal delivery process. Learn more about Mr. Zip and the ZIP Code starting December 14th at the National Postal Museum.

What if we could make masks to look like these models in the Natural History Museum's Hall of Human Origins? Artist: John Gurche. Photo by Chip Clark, NMNH.

In past years, our ATM team of bloggers has collectively pored over the Smithsonian’s collections to bring you museum-inspired costume ideas. Last year was a banner year for us, as we ginned up ideas for dressing as Carol Burnett in her curtain rod dress, from when she spoofed Gone With the Wind on her comedy show, and Abel the Monkey, who paved the way for human space flight. For a group costume, we went conceptual, suggesting you and six friends each wear a white t-shirt inscribed with one of the seven words in artist Lawrence Weiner’s “A RUBBER BALL THROWN ON THE SEA,” on display at the Hirshhorn.

This year, however, I decided to turn to the Institution’s resident experts—curators at the museums—for their insider’s insight. Here is what they suggest:

1. Man Ray’s Nut Girls

Melissa Ho, assistant curator at the Hirshhorn Museum, has had collage on the brain, as she has been busily working on an upcoming show of collage and assemblage works called “Over, Under, Next.” She suggests cobbling together a costume inspired by Man Ray’s 1941 photograph and mixed media collage, Nut Girls. In it, the American artist puts a walnut, in place of a head, on a cutout of one woman, and on another figure, the walnut covers the woman’s head and torso. “Carve a big walnut out of Styrofoam and slip on a romper,” says Ho.

Another idea for a costume party, she says, is to dress as Swiss sculptor Jean Tinguely’s The Sorceress (1961). “This is one of his motorized kinetic sculptures,” says Ho. “When turned on, it shakes and vibrates until its bits and pieces start to fall off—so perfect outfit for dancing!”

2. Dracula

According to Thomas Lera, the Winton M. Blout Chair in Research at the National Postal Museum, Dracula is the Halloween character that postal administrations around the world have depicted the most on stamps. In 1997, the U.S. Postal Service issued a “Classic Movie Monsters” stamp set, featuring five villains from Universal Studio films. Dracula was one. “As a special security feature, a process called ‘scrambled indicia’ was used, which overlaps symbols and images that are not seen by the naked eye when printed,” says Lera. “The Dracula stamp has three vampire bats in the blue background, which can only be seen by a precision optical device using elongated lenses called lenticules.” Lera suggests modeling a Dracula costume after this or the many other portrayals—a Canadian stamp honoring the 100th anniversary of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula in 1997, a Samoan stamp from 2000 featuring the Sesame Street’s Count von Count and a British stamp from 2008 with actor Christopher Lee as Dracula commemorating the 50th anniversary of Hammer Horror Films.

3. Dr. John Jeffries

Seeking input from Smithsonian curators certainly brought some little-known characters to light. When I asked Tom Crouch, senior curator of aeronautics at the National Air and Space Museum, who or what he might be inspired to dress up as for Halloween, he was quick to answer Dr. John Jeffries. Who, you might ask? Jeffries is not exactly a household name, but his story may be an interesting one to tell at a party. On January 7, 1785, Jeffries flew the English Channel in a balloon with Pierre Blanchard, making him the first American to make a free flight. “He wore a great costume, which included a leopard skin hat to keep his head warm, a cork jacket to keep him afloat in case of a channel landing and a Jerry Seinfeld style ‘puffy shirt,’ complete with frilled cuffs, so that, I suppose, he would look good in the post-flight interviews,” says Crouch. NASM has the large barometer and thermometer that Jeffries carried with him in its collection. As it would have it, some pieces of the outfit are at Harvard’s Houghton Library, where his papers are kept. “Fortunately, some years ago my friend and Smithsonian curator of costume, Claudia Kidwell, studied the Jeffries garments and prepared patterns for them, so sewing up my costume would not be all that difficult,” says Crouch. Over three decades, Crouch has researched the life of Jeffries. “I could step right into the good doctor’s shoes and answer any questions that might arise,” he says.

4. Empress Dowager Cixi

Although he does not think he would make a convincing Empress Dowager, David Hogge, head of the archives at the Freer and Sackler galleries, offers it up as a suggestion to others. Empress Cixi reigned as sovereign of China for 45 years in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Nineteen portraits of her are currently on display in the exhibition “Power | Play: China’s Empress Dowager,” which Hogge curated, at the Arther M. Sackler Gallery, if you are in need of some inspiration. Empress Cixi wore her fingernails about an inch long, and on her third and pinky fingers, notes Hogge, she wore elaborate jeweled, gold filigreed fingernail protectors. “Those seem to give people the creeps,” says Hogge.

5. An Early Human

Rick Potts, curator of anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History, is a self-described Halloween fanatic. “What could be better than to skulk around the neighborhood or delight party-goers on Halloween night by dressing up as a realistic early human?” he says. “I wish I could turn some of the amazing visages in our Hall of Human Origins into masks.”

6. Annie Oakley

In 2007, the National Portrait Gallery purchased a photograph at an auction of sharpshooter Annie Oakley taken in 1885. “She was a cowgirl, known as “little sure shot” for her extraordinary ability to hit a moving target, most famously a small coin, even on horseback, all while maintaining ‘lady-like’ composure and elegance,” says Anne Collins Goodyear, associate curator of prints and drawings at the museum. “Wonderful inspiration for the imagination!” In the photograph, Oakley holds a rifle and is wearing a hat, blouse and fringed skirt with embroidered flowers.

7. Bob Dylan

Gail Davidson, head of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum’s department of drawings, prints and graphic design, considers Milton Glaser’s famous 1966 poster of singer Bob Dylan great costume fodder. Glaser, an artist and graphic designer, created the poster early in his career, to be included in the packaging of Dylan’s “Greatest Hits” LP. In terms of the poster’s composition, Glaser was influenced by a 1957 self-portrait by Marcel Duchamp. But, he gave it a psychedelic feel by adding bold colors to Dylan’s tousled hair. “I would dress up by dying my hair in wavelets of the different colors in the poster,” says Davidson.

8. A Zoo Animal…Take Your Pick

Cute baby animals born at the National Zoo are our bread and butter here at the ATM blog. But Craig Saffoe, the Zoo’s curator of Great Cats and Andean Bears, reminds us, “What’s cuter than an infant dressed as a full-maned lion?” Animals make fine costumes for adults too. Dressing as an endangered species gives one the opportunity to have an awesome costume and educate friends, notes Saffoe. There is also great potential for themed family costumes. “A mother and her infant could dress as a kangaroo and her joey, a banana and a monkey or a eucalyptus tree and a koala bear. A family could dress as a pride of lions, a gaggle of geese or a flock of flamingos. Whatever animal costume you choose, don’t forget you’ll need a zookeeper!” says the curator, whose son attended this year’s Boo at the Zoo event at the National Zoo in a zookeeper uniform.

Bentley poses for the camera, sporting medals like those Owney accumulated from different cities as he rode the rails in the 1880s and '90s. Photo courtesy of Judy Perry.

Owney, the National Postal Museum’s favorite dog, served as the unofficial mascot of the U.S. Railway Mail Service for nine years in the late 19th century. Loved by mail clerks, he was preserved by a taxidermist after he died in 1897. The Smithsonian Institution acquired his remains in 1912, and he became a permanent fixture and much-loved artifact at the National Postal Museum, when it opened in 1993.

This past year, Owney has gotten a lot of love. He underwent a conservation treatment by a taxidermist. He is the star of a new exhibition at the National Postal Museum, an augmented reality iPhone App and an upcoming children’s e-book. In July, the U.S. Postal Service released a postage stamp with his face on it. And, most recently, in partnership with the Washington Humane Society, the museum hosted an Owney look-alike contest.

The contest opened on July 27, the same day the stamp was released. Before the submission round ended in mid-September, 73 dogs were nominated. Over the voting period, from September 16 to October 17, a grand total of 8,284 votes were cast. And, today, the National Postal Museum announced the grand winner: Bentley, a four- or five-year-old terrier mix from Fremont, California.

Bentley will have his photo displayed at the museum for two weeks. His owner, Judy Perry, a legal secretary with the city attorney of San Francisco, will receive an iPad 2—and bragging rights. I spoke with Perry yesterday:

The National Postal Museum was looking for a dog that captured Owney’s spirit even more so than his looks. But Bentley actually does look like Owney. Are they similar breeds?

It’s hard to say. When I adopted Bentley from the shelter, he was listed as a border terrier mix. He is basically a terrier mutt, and I think Owney probably was too. I have seen the pictures of Owney and they look to be about the same size and same kind of coloring.

Bentley has actually played the role of Owney before. Can you explain?

Yes. Every year in early July there is a local dog show [the Niles Dog Show]. It is just a get together in the area and people bring their dogs, of all kinds. There are silly little contests like “Oldest Dog,” “Biggest Dog,” “Most Unusual Mix,” and so forth. This year, the Golden Gate Railroad Museum got involved, and they had a special category for an Owney look-alike, because they were planning a celebration here in Fremont. They had a railway postal car that they were in the process of restoring. They were going to have an event later in the month to display their car and celebrate the Owney stamp. Bentley won that contest, pretty much paws down. He was such a look-alike. So, when they had their event on July 30th, they had me bring Bentley there. Bentley was in the railway car as people came through. He was Owney for the day.

In what ways does Bentley have Owney’s spirit?

Bentley is a rescue, and a fearful dog in some ways. He is not really good with having strangers come right up to him and try to pet him. But he jumped into that railway car, and he became Owney. He was the perfect little Owney. He sat there, and people were coming up to him, petting him and taking pictures. Can you pose him this way? Can my daughter sit with him? He just sat there and was a perfect little dog. I thought he sort of got the Owney spirit a little bit that day.

How did you hear about the contest?

When he won this little local contest, that was the first time I had heard of Owney. I started researching Owney, his story and seeing everything I could find on them. I guess I must have stumbled across somewhere online some kind of an announcement that there was this National Postal Museum contest.

Did you campaign for votes?

Yes, I did. I sent out messages on Facebook and an email to all my friends, and asked them to ask their friends to vote. I made a little poster, which I posted in my office. I’ve got this whole display of Bentley and encouraged everyone there to vote. Last night, I was on the computer from the time I got home from work to the time the contest was over, just reaching out to everybody I knew online and asking them to vote and get other people to vote if they could too. We managed to pull it through.

What does it mean to you to have Bentley’s photo on display at the National Postal Museum in the coming weeks?

That was really the whole goal. When he won the first little contest here locally, and got a lot of attention, the way he took to it, I just thought he is the guy that should be the Owney representative. So, I am pretty excited about that. My daughter actually lives in Washington, D.C., and I was there in September visiting her. We did go to the Postal Museum, and we did see the Owney display. I even asked the docent there where he thought my dog’s picture would be, because I was pretty confident we were going to win.

How did you come to own Bentley?

I got him in 2008. I was at the Niles Dog Show that year. The local animal shelter has an adoption mobile, a big bus. It has windows with little displays for the dogs or cats to be in. Bentley was in one of those windows. I looked at him and just thought that’s the dog I want. I went down a few days later to the shelter. Fortunately, he was still there, and I adopted him.

Come to Family Day at the Postal Museum. Photo courtesy Museum

Friday, October 14 Sin Fronteras Café Reading and Open Mic

The Smithsonian Latino Center announces a virtual Second Life literary event. This reading features a group of notable Latino writers, including the award-winning Daniel Chacón, author of the short story collections Unending Rooms and Chicano Chicanery. An open mic will follow the reading, with poets and writers invited to share their own work. Free. 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. Hosted on Second Life, an avatar account is needed to participate.

Saturday, October 15 Owney the Dog Family Day

Come to Family Day for an Owney-themed festival of activities. Owney was a mutt who, in the 1880s, toured the country on mail trains and became the U.S. Postal Service’s unofficial mascot. He is now represented on a new postage stamp, the subject of a look-alike contest and featured in an exhibit in the museum. Stop by Family Day to make an Owney puppet, learn about other animals in the mail service and enjoy an Owney storytime. Free. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. National Postal Museum

Sunday, October 16 Henna Body Art

From ancient times, cultures from Africa, the Middle East, and India have used the henna plant (Lawsonia inermis) to dye skin and to create unique tattoos. Come learn about this fascinating history from henna artist Samirah Ali, who will explain the special properties of the plant. Afterward, design some henna tattoos for your hands and arms. Free. For ages 13 and up only. 2 to 4 p.m. Anacostia Community Museum

The Jesse Owens stamp, copyright USPS

Last week, Sports Illustrated writer Frank Deford called the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin “the most fascinating and historically influential Games.” Reflecting on the 75th anniversary of those summer games, he wrote, “It was novelty and glory and evil all in athletic conjunction as never before or since.”

Adolf Hitler went into the Olympics with the hopes of displaying the supremacy of the so-called Aryan race. “With that inherent thoroughness for which they have long been noted, the Germans plunged gayly into every event, some of which they scarcely understood a few years ago,” wrote John Drebinger in the New York Times in December 1936.

Ultimately, the Germans placed first overall in the medal count with 101 medals to the United States’ second-place earning 57. But, one sport, which the United States prevailed in, was in track and field—thanks, in great part, to a track star from Cleveland named Jesse Owens. The son of a sharecropper and grandson of slaves, Owens began racing at age 13. He became one of the top sprinters in the country while attending East Technical High School in Cleveland and went on to break world records in the broad jump (now called long jump), 220-yard dash and 220-yard low hurdles—and match one in the 100-yard dash—while just a sophomore at Ohio State University. A year later, in 1936, Owens traveled to Berlin, as one of 66 athletes, ten of whom were black, on the United States Olympic track team. “The Nazis derided the Americans for relying on what the Nazis called an inferior race, but of the 11 individual gold medals in track won by the American men, six were won by blacks,” reads Owens’s 1980 obituary in the New York Times.

Owens became an instant hero, taking home four gold medals—in the 100 meters, 200 meters, broad jump and 400-meter relay. ”Traveling with the speed of a Mercury incarnate, this most amazing athlete of all time confounded even Hitler, considered no mean achievement in itself,” wrote Drebinger. ”Most every time he stepped on the track he broke a record of some sort and in the end received a record-smashing ovation from a vast gallery that seemed fully cognizant of the fact it was acclaiming a most marvelous athlete.”

Hitler, however, refused to congratulate him with even a simple handshake.

It was a huge snub. Yet, years later, Owens would acknowledge that the response even from leadership in his own country fell short of what might be expected. President Franklin D. Roosevelt hadn’t congratulated him either. Owens never received a phone call from the president or an invitation to the White House. Finally, in 1976, the track star received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Gerald Ford.

Today marks the day, 75 years ago, when Owens earned the first of his four Olympic golds, by edging out his teammate Ralph Metcalfe in the 100-meter dash. Post-Olympics, Owens became a much-desired public speaker. In his speeches, he often described what it was like to line up on the track and represent his country in the Olympics. “It’s a nervous, a terrible feeling. You feel, as you stand there, as if your legs can’t carry the weight of your body. Your stomach isn’t there, and your mouth is dry, and your hands are wet with perspiration. And you begin to think in terms of all those years that you have worked. In my particular case, the 100 meters, as you look down the field 109 yards 2 feet away, and recognizing that after eight years of hard work that this is the point that I had reached and that all was going to be over in 10 seconds,” said Owens. “Those are great moments in the lives of individuals.”

The National Portrait Museum has in its collection (not on display, but in an online exhibition) a painting by the late Paul Calle depicting Jesse Owens leaping over a hurdle. Commissioned by the United States Postal Service, the painting served as the image on a stamp, also in the museum’s collection, issued in 1998.

Calle was highly regarded as a stamp designer. His best known stamp is one he made in 1969 to commemorate the moon landing. He was actually the only artist allowed to watch astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins prep for the July 16, 1969 launch of Apollo 11, and a series of his pen-and-ink sketches are on exhibition in “NASA Art: 50 Years of Exploration,” at the National Air and Space Museum through October 9.

When Calle passed away in December 2010, at age 82, his New York Times obituary resurrected a morsel he once shared about his process. “When you do a stamp,” he said, in an interview after the moon landing, “think big, but draw small.”

Owney the Dog, immortalized in a stamp. Photo courtesy of the National Postal Museum

It’s been more than 120 years since a little dog named Owney trotted into an Albany, New York post office and took up residence there, sleeping among the mail bags. For nine years, Owney, by then a beloved pet to the mail clerks, served as the unofficial mascot of the U.S. Railway Mail Service, riding the rails from state to state. After his death, his body was preserved and spent decades on display at the Smithsonian Institution. When Owney was transferred in 1993 to the Smithsonian’s new National Postal Museum, the scruffy Postal pub would became one of that museum’s most popular attractions. This summer, Owney is finally being honored with his own postage stamp, one with interactive features sure to endear him to new generations.

“It’s been in the works for a long, long, long time,” says Nancy Pope, historian and curator at the National Postal Museum, who recalls that there has been talk of an Owney stamp since the 1980s. “People would ask, ‘Shouldn’t there be a stamp with Owney on it,’ so it’s been one of those things that people bring up on a regular basis.”

According to Pope, new postage stamps are chosen each year by a group called the Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC). Made up mostly of of average American citizens, CSAC looks through tens of thousands of petitions and decides which new stamps will be issued. “I think Owney just got in CSAC’s mind and they finally decided it’s time [they] do something for this dog,” says Pope.

A dog who was, by all accounts, extremely popular around the world. While researching Owney’s adventures, Pope, along with museum intern Rachel Barclay, discovered frequent mentions of Owney and his travels in various newspapers of the era.

“[Owney] has traveled the length of every railroad in the United States and has seen the inside and enjoyed the hospitality of more post offices than the oldest inspector of the service,” reported a January 4, 1895 article in the Hopkinsville Kentuckian.

And now, Owney’s story is being re-told for a new generation. Next month the museum will be launching an Owney augmented reality experience on its website and via a free iPhone app that will be triggered by the Owney stamp image. “When you hold that image up to your iPhone or the camera on your computer, Owney will just kind of pop up off the stamp,” Pope says. “He’ll start trotting and there will be music. You will hear his tags jingle and then he’ll sit down and bark.”

The three-dimensional Owney stamp is only part of the re-telling of his story. There will also be a new exhibit and an e-book, which will teach children geography using Owney’s rail travels as their guide.

“We really wanted to reinterpret how we talk about the Railway Mail Service connecting the nation, using Owney as the tool,” Pope says. “[We want ] to really engage families and teachers into teaching how important the Railway Mail Service was through the eyes of a dog that people can really relate to.”

The Owney Forever stamp will be released on July 27 and celebrated with a First Day of Issue Ceremony taking place at the Postal Museum, after which curators will debut the new Owney exhibit and the “Art of the Stamp: Owney the Postal Dog” exhibit, featuring original stamp art painted by artist Bill Bond. This ceremony, starting at 11 AM, will kick off the four-day Owney Family Fest. To learn more about Owney’s amazing journey, check out the article on the storied pup in the magazine’s upcoming September issue.

Update: This post clarifies information on the Owney the Dog iPhone app.

Owney on a mail bag, courtesy of the National Postal Museum

Monday July 25 Harry Potter Time

Make this Monday magical by coming to the Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center‘s Airbus IMAX Theater for a trip into the wizarding world. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II has come to the Airbus Theater, presenting the Chosen One in all his wonder on a sky-high IMAX screen with six-channel digital surround sound. Join other Muggles as you watch Part 2 of the epic battle between the good and evil forces in the wizarding world. Will Harry defeat Lord Voldemort? Will the wizarding world be safe again? The stakes have never been higher as the Harry Potter saga comes to its close. This film plays daily at 4:30, 7:15 and 10. Tickets can be purchased at the box office prior to the show or online.

Tuesday July 26 Portraits Alive!

Try something new this Tuesday at National Portrait Gallery, head out for Portraits Alive. Meet in the F Street lobby at 2:15 to begin this new twist on portrait viewing. Watch as local teenagers lead a theatrical tour that brings the Portrait Gallery’s collections to life through an original, student-written play. Made possible by DC’s 2011 Summer Youth Employment Program, the teen guides take visitors on a memorable journey incorporating a variety of portraits throughout the gallery and perform biographical portrayals of the subjects represented in the photographs, paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints of the museum. This event is free and fun for the whole family so don’t miss this opportunity to learn about the subjects in the Portrait Gallery.

Wednesday July 27 Celebrate Owney the Postal Dog

At the Postal Museum this Wednesday, there is cause for celebration. Beginning at 11, check out the First Day of Issue Ceremony for Owney the Postal Dog. Owney became the unofficial mascot of the Railway Mail Service in the 19th-century when the scruffy pooch climbed aboard a rail train and traveled the nation for nine years, garnering fame and glory.  Now the U.S. Postal Service and Postal Museum are celebrating the issuance of a Forever Stamp in honor of Owney. Join museum staff and supporters at 11 for the First Day Issue Ceremony and remarks. Then at noon have some fun with the Owney Festival. Enjoy hands-on activities including making an Owney tag, sorting mail in the Rail Way Post Office, creating a stamp collection and more. At 2 join Dirk Wales, author of A Lucky Dog: Owney, U.S. Rail Mail Mascot, for a book talk. Afterwards be one of the first museum visitors to see Art of the Stamp: Owney the Postal Dog, featuring the original stamp art and Owney himself, newly conserved and ready for the spotlight. This is a free event that the whole family can enjoy. 

Thursday July 28 Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Get out of the heat this Thursday and come to the Anacostia Community Museum for Part 1 of “Stories from the Negro Leagues.” Come to the museum’s Program Room at 10:30 for a presentation by David Haberstich, curator of photography in the American History Museum’s Archives Center, and Dwayne Sims the founder and CEO of the Negro Leagues Hall of Fame. The first Negro League was formed in February of 1920 in Kansas City, Missouri. The appeal of the Negro League soon spread throughout the country as leagues were created in the Midwest and the South. Listen as Haberstich and Sims lead a discussion about Addison Scurlock‘s images of Negro Leagues figures and Howard University sports. After, explore the related exhibit Separate and Unequaled: Black Baseball in the District of Columbia. This event is free and family-friendly.

Friday July 29 Meet an Astronaut

Come out to the Air and Space Museum this Friday for a chance to meet Al Worden, one of the astronauts of Apollo 15. Visit  the Moving Beyond the Earth Gallery, gallery 113 on the first floor of the east wing, at 11. Listen as Worden discusses and signs copies of his book Falling to Earth: An Apollo 15 Astronaut’s Journey to the Moon to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 15 space flight. Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the American Apollo space program and the fourth mission to land successfully on the moon. It is considered by NASA as the most successful manned flight ever achieved. Join Worden at 11 for a book talk moderated by space history curator Allan Needell. A question-and-answer session will take place following the discussion as well as a live webcast. Beginning at 12:30 Worden will host a three hour book signing and festivities will end at 5. This is a free event and copies of Worden’s book are available for purchase in the museum store.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian Institution events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide.

Monday June 27 – Questions Answered

People are all different. But have you ever wondered why? Today, scientific understanding of human variation is challenging “racial” differences, even questioning the very concept of race. A new exhibit, “Race: Are We So Different?”, recently opened at the Natural History Museum. Find it on the northeast side of the 2nd floor of the museum. Today, volunteers will be in the exhibit engaging visitors, answering questions and encouraging thoughtful conversation about the science, history and culture behind the question of why people are different, as well as helping visitors explore the exhibit. Volunteers will be available throughout the day until closing, so feel free to swing by anytime.

Tuesday June 28 Trivia Hollywood Style

Get your game face on and make your Tuesday night memorable with a trip to the Kogod Courtyard located in the building that houses both the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum at 8th and F Streets. Starting at 6:30, play the Portrait Gallery’s trivia game, with questions drawn from the Gallery’s new multi-media collection and focusing on the history of Hollywood. The event is free, but the questions are hard, so kids might not enjoy it. Snacks and beverages are available for purchase from the Courtyard Cafe.

Wednesday June 29 Book Signing and Author Discussion

Take a trip beyond the Mall this Wednesday with a visit to the Anacostia Community Museum, located at 1901 Fort Place, SE.  Meet in the Program Room at 10:30 to hear from Dianne Dale, author of The Village That Shaped Us, as she tells the story of Washington, D.C.’s historic black community, Hillsdale, which was settled in 1867 by the Freedmen’s Bureau. Located within sight of the U.S. Capitol, the small neighborhood became a cornerstone of the city. Through illustrations, pictures and letters, Dale presents the story of this remarkable community. Join the author afterwards for a book signing. The event is free.

Thursday June 30 Delve Into Nature

Enjoy the outdoors this Thursday by visiting the Natural History Museum’s Butterfly Habitat Garden. Meet at the garden entrance on the east side of the museum on Madison Drive and 9th Street at 2, for a free tour. Look for the garden’s lead horticulturalist, usually dressed in green, to discuss some of the plants that attract, feed and nurture butterflies. Afterwards, see how many different butterflies you can find as you do some exploration on your own. Here’s a helpful hint: butterflies are most attracted to pink, purple and lavender, so wear one of these colors if you really want to attract the beautiful insects. This event is held every Thursday, weather permitting.

The 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival begins today! Check back with Around the Mall for daily events listings and interviews with festival presenters.

Friday July 1 Break Out of Your Routine

Escape the heat this Friday with a trip to the American Indian Museum. Go the Lelawi Theater on the 4th level of the museum to view the free film. Who Are We? is a unique 13-minute experience that transports viewers to the Arctic, the Northwest Coast and the plateaus of Bolivia. Watch as the film reveals the diversity of modern Native life. The orientation film is shown daily between 10:15 and 4:45.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibits go to the GoSmithsonian Visitors Guide.

Wyeth Company of St. Joseph, Missouri, manufactured this replica of the mochila used over saddles by Pony Express riders between April 3, 1860, and October 24, 1861. National Postal Museum

Friday, June 10 Faster Than a Speeding Comet

Beat the scorching D.C. heat this Friday by dipping into the National Air and Space Museum for a trip to the ever cool Albert Einstein Planetarium to see Cosmic Collisions. Delivered in a way that only the award-winning actor and the film’s narrator Robert Redford can, Collisions tells the story of a speeding comet that sets its impact sight for Earth’s atmosphere. The experience sends the senses sailing. The film takes visitors on a journey through time and space, past, present and future, showing how our solar system was created through colossal impacts and exciting explosions. Scientific visualizations, and ground breaking simulation and imaging technology pair with NASA photographs and illustrations for an out of this world experience. “Unique observations from space provide a revolutionary view of a dynamic cosmos,” said Richard Fisher, director of NASA’s Heliophysics Division. “From sun to Earth and moon and to the stars and galaxies beyond, the accurate visualizations in ‘Cosmic Collisions’ show these spectacles unfold in a concrete way that viewers have never before experienced.” Did you blink and miss even a second of the show? Never fear, there are seven shows daily, beginning at 11:00 AM. Tickets are $6.50 members, $9.00 adult (13-and up), $8.00 senior, and $7.50 youth (2-12 years old). Purchase tickets by phone (toll-free) 866-868-7774, at the box office and up to two weeks in advance online.

Saturday, June 11 Pony Express Family Day

Have you ever looked at a mail truck and wondered, how was mail delivered before Ford built the Model T? Well here’s an answer for you, on ponies! This Saturday come to the Postal Museum to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Pony Express in style. This original mail service carried messages by horseback riders in races to stations across the mountains, plains, and deserts of the western United States. Traveling at the rate of 250 miles a day the 80 riders and over 400 horses crisscrossed the U.S. in a race against time. So jump on their trail with tall tales, puppet shows, activities and more. This free family friendly celebration gets to a running start at 11:00 AM and hits the hay at 3:00 PM. Rustle up the kids and get on down to the Postal Museum Atrium.

Sunday, June 12 Hold On to Your Raft

Spice up your Sunday with a trip to the Johnson IMAX Theater in the Natural History Museum to see Grand Canyon Adventure 3D: River at Risk, but be prepared to take the ride of your life before entering your seat. On this virtual white water raft ride through the Grand Canyon, you will follow Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and anthropologist Wade Davis in an exhilarating new 3D IMAX adventure. Hold on to your seats as you experience the majesty, beauty and fragility of the Canyon.  Let the inspiration speak to you while you learn about the future of the Colorado River and how you can help save our planet’s supply of clean water. To learn more about the flick, read Jess Righthand’s ATM post. Tickets are $6.50 for members, $9 adults, $8 seniors and $7.50 children ages 2 to 12. Tickets can also be purchased online or toll-free 866-868-7774.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions, visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide