Winter Fun Stamps 2014

On October 23, 2014, in New York, NY, the U.S. Postal Service® issued the Winter Fun stamps (Forever® First-Class Mail® priced at 49-cents) in four designs, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) booklet of 20 stamps (Item 689800). With four playful designs, Winter Fun stamps celebrate some of the season’s most enjoyable activities: ice-skating, making snow angels, building snowmen, and bird-watching. The art for the ice skaters stamp was painted with acrylic on plywood with a dry brush technique to give the illustration a textured, folk-art feel. The art for the other three stamps was hand-sketched and then digitally manipulated. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamps using existing illustrations by Janet Atkinson (ice-skating), Jing Jing Tsong (building snowmen and making snow angels), and Christine Roy (bird-watching).

The U.S. Postal Service continues its tradition of celebrating the U.S. flag with this new stamp in booklets of 20, and coils of 100and 10,000. Reminiscent of the 50 flags encircling the Washington Monument, these three U.S. flags are shown as if on poles arranged in acircular formation. The flags, shown from a low-angle perspective, billowing in the wind, evoke a sense of reverence and honor.

For more than half a century, U.S. stamps have depicted the American flag in vivid red, white, and blue. Whether paired with famous landmarks, shown against inspiring vistas, placed in their historical context or used as a graphic element in a larger design, the flags on U.S. stamps connect us to our nation’s history and serve as icons of patriotism for generations to come. The pack includes a roll of 100 stamps or 100 stamps on sheets.

The Sharks Forever stamps featuring five species that inhabit American waters — the mako, thresher, great white, hammerhead and whale sharks. Please share the news on social media using the hashtag #SharksStamps.

Possibly no other creatures are as mythologized — or as misunderstood — as sharks. Blockbuster thrillers and sensationalized media have fueled the belief that sharks are monsters: unthinking, bloodthirsty, vengeful and primitive. While they are ancient creatures, having emerged long before the first dinosaurs, after 400 million years the 500 or so known shark species have adapted to their ecological role.