The Postal Service will mark its 250th anniversary this week with two stamp releases.
The first release, 250 Years of Delivering, is a meticulously illustrated pane of 20 interconnected stamps that offers a bird’s-eye view of a bustling town.
Each stamp is a frame of sequential art that tells the story of a mail carrier’s daily journey as she walks her route. Laid out in four rows of five stamps, the story progresses through the four seasons, from top-left to bottom-right.
Chris Ware created the stamp artwork and co-designed the pane with Antonio Alcalá, an art director for USPS.
The Postal Service is also releasing “Putting a Stamp on the American Experience,” a 32-page prestige booklet that takes an in-depth look at popular stamp subjects.
The booklet includes two self-adhesive sheets of a new Forever stamp that features a modern interpretation of a 5-cent stamp depicting Benjamin Franklin, originally released in 1847.
Ethel Kessler, an art director for USPS, designed the booklet and the stamp.
The Postal Service will release 250 Years of Delivering and “Putting a Stamp on the American Experience” on Wednesday, July 23. Both releases will be dedicated during a ceremony at USPS headquarters in Washington, DC.
The 250 Years of Delivering stamps will be available at Post Offices and usps.com, while “Putting a Stamp on the American Experience” is exclusively available through usps.com.
