Antebellum gowns and Confederate uniforms were back in vogue in Atlanta and environs at a ten-day celebration marking the 50th anniversary of Margaret Mitchell's novel about the Old South, Gone With the Wind. The U.S. Postal Service last week even issued a definitive memorial 1 cents U.S. postage stamp with Mitchell's likeness. As if to confirm the cult status of the Pulitzer- prize-winning novel (25 million copies sold in 27 languages) and the 1939 movie, serious philatelists and GWTW aficionados alike stormed a postal booth and bought 50,000 of the new stamps.
Local officials were notably absent from the stampissuing ceremony,...