Heres one for you.

What do Henry Clay, Led Zepplin, Negro Leagues Baseball, and locomotives have in common?

If you havent got it yet, heres some supplemental information that should make everything perfectly clear. Those four do not comprise an all-inclusive list. Other entities with identical ties in the search for our desired answer include Gorky, Mackinac Bridge, Gene Autry, and Dennis the Menace.

Please dont think Im trying to trick you with an obscure, disassociated list of names because these, in total, are miniatures of something each of us sees, uses, and regularly touches on a daily basis.

Guess Ill have to provide more obvious clues. How about sage, Chinese New Year, Columbus Landing, and Oliver H. Perry?

Other than tossing in Mark Twain as a teaser and saying General W. Scott, Navajo Necklace, and Mother Teresa belong to the same list, I dont know how to make this riddle any simpler without springing forth and telling you outright what the deuce I am talking about.

Unless, of course, the Latin American Legend Selena opens your eyes.

What Im talking about, of course, is commemorative U.S. postage stamps.

Ben Franklin, who was too wise to become president, opened the parade in 1847 when a 1-cent stamp with his photo on it was released. It wasnt that same exact stamp, but a slightly flawed follow-up replica that now sells for nearly $20,000.

My interest in stamps, previously subpar at best, was piqued a few days back when I waltzed to the post office and smilingly walked away with a book of Jimi Hendrix stamps. These stamps will be cherished and only affixed to letters en route to persons with a true appreciation for fine art.

Whats extra cool about my new book of Hendrix stamps is their size. Noticeably larger than the norm, these books contain 16 stamps instead of the usual 20. The price is adjusted accordingly, meaning you get fewer and larger stamps for less price.

Sounds fair to me as long as I can woo my friends with letters posted by Jimi.

Follow the trend of successive U.S. commemorative stamps since 1847 and some telling changes become obvious.

At the outset of the national postage stamp saga, heroic American leaders like Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, and Lincoln solemnly donned posted letters. Yet, over time a gradual shading away from the more formal began to surface. I wonder how our founding fathers would react were they aware that subsequent commemorative stamps would feature the faces of Garfield, Gregory Peck, and Rothko?

Ive become a West Wing re-run junkie and went to school during a recently seen episode when Josh was given the assignment of choosing a non-objective short list from which to select a new commemorative stamp.

Josh, of course, thought his time was too valuable to waste on such an assignment, yet soon learned the political ramifications any modern-day selection might have. What if it was learned that a new commemorative stamp figurehead smoked pot behind stage at an earlier age with Mick Jagger?

Even with gross numbers of different commemorative U.S. stamps increasing exponentially, national leaders are up to the task. How could anyone object to stamps commemorating our memories of abstract expressionists named Gorky, de Kooning, and Rothko whom no one has ever heard of?

A long line of safe, Id think inoffensive stamps 50 to be exact came when the decision was made to print stamps for every state in the union.

It definitely will be thrilling to see what comes up next since the shield & eagle already is taken.

Jabberwock II columnist Rocky Wilson is a reporter for the Chieftain.