2008 USPS New Issues Calendar
On December 27 the USPS released the images of its 2008 commemorative program. Below are the images for these issues, described in approximate order of appearance.
Stay Current Wth the Latest USPS Changes for 2008!
...YEAR of the RAT/LUNAR NEW YEAR
On January 9 the Year of the Rat/Lunar New Year stamp was released. The Year of the Rat begins February 7, 2008, and ends Jan. 25, 2009. The rat is the first of 12 animals associated with the Chinese lunar calendar. This also begins a new cycle of USPS issues for the next 12 Lunar New Years.
View the MetroExpo DC Year of the Rat Collectible Cachet
View the MetroExpo DC Year of the Rat Collectible Cachet
...CHARLES W. CHESNUTT
On January 31, Charles W. Chesnutt will become the 31st Black Heritage series honoree. He was a pioneering writer recognized today as a major innovator and singular voice among turn-of-the-century literary realists who probed the color line in American life. Stamp artist Kazuhiko Sano painted Chesnutt’s portrait based on a 1908 photograph from the special collections of Fisk University’s Franklin Library.
...MARJORIE KINNAN RAWLINGS
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings: Best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Yearling and her memoir Cross Creek, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings will be commemorated on February 21 at the site of her Cross Creek, Fla., home. Rawlings is remembered for short stories, novels and non-fiction works about life in the Florida backwoods. Rawlings’ collections of southern recipes remain a popular addition to many kitchen libraries today. Michael Deas created a portrait of the novelist with a background depicting a fawn at a watering hole in Florida scrub country.
...AMERICAN SCIENTISTS
Four Scientists to be Honored on March 6:
• Theoretical physicist John Bardeen (1908-1991) co-invented the transistor, arguably the most important invention of the 20th century. Bardeen also collaborated on the first fundamental explanation of superconductivity at low temperatures, a theory that has had a profound impact on many fields of physics.
• Biochemist Gerty Cori (1896-1957), in collaboration with her husband Carl, made important discoveries that later became the basis for our knowledge of how cells use food and convert it into energy. Among her discoveries was a new derivative of glucose, a finding that elucidated the steps of carbohydrate metabolism. Their work also contributed to the understanding and treatment of diabetes and other metabolic diseases.
• Astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) played a pivotal role in deciphering the vast and complex nature of the universe. His meticulous studies of spiral nebulae proved the existence of galaxies other than our own Milky Way, paving the way for a revolutionary new understanding that the cosmos contains myriad separate galaxies, or “island universes.”
• Structural chemist Linus Pauling (1901-1994) determined the nature of the chemical bond linking atoms into molecules. He routinely crossed disciplinary boundaries throughout his career and made significant contributions in several diverse fields. His pioneering work on protein structure was critical in establishing the field of molecular biology and his studies of hemoglobin led to many findings, including the classification of sickle cell anemia as a molecular disease.
• Theoretical physicist John Bardeen (1908-1991) co-invented the transistor, arguably the most important invention of the 20th century. Bardeen also collaborated on the first fundamental explanation of superconductivity at low temperatures, a theory that has had a profound impact on many fields of physics.
• Biochemist Gerty Cori (1896-1957), in collaboration with her husband Carl, made important discoveries that later became the basis for our knowledge of how cells use food and convert it into energy. Among her discoveries was a new derivative of glucose, a finding that elucidated the steps of carbohydrate metabolism. Their work also contributed to the understanding and treatment of diabetes and other metabolic diseases.
• Astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) played a pivotal role in deciphering the vast and complex nature of the universe. His meticulous studies of spiral nebulae proved the existence of galaxies other than our own Milky Way, paving the way for a revolutionary new understanding that the cosmos contains myriad separate galaxies, or “island universes.”
• Structural chemist Linus Pauling (1901-1994) determined the nature of the chemical bond linking atoms into molecules. He routinely crossed disciplinary boundaries throughout his career and made significant contributions in several diverse fields. His pioneering work on protein structure was critical in establishing the field of molecular biology and his studies of hemoglobin led to many findings, including the classification of sickle cell anemia as a molecular disease.
...AMERICAN JOURNALISTS
Five journalists who risked their lives reporting some of the most important events of the 20th century will be honored in April. They are:
• Martha Gellhorn (1908-1998) covered the Spanish Civil War, World War II and the Vietnam War in a long career that broke new ground for women. With her constant focus on harm to civilians, her reporting was considered a morally courageous model.
• John Hersey (1914-1993) was a versatile writer whose most famous work, Hiroshima, describes what happened when the United States dropped the atomic bomb on that city. It has been acclaimed as the greatest work of journalism of the 20th century. Hersey’s work appeared in various publications, including Time, Life and The New Yorker.
• George Polk (1913-1948) was a talented young CBS radio correspondent who filed hard-hitting radio bulletins from Greece describing the strife that erupted there after World War II. He was working on reports of corruption involving U.S. aid when he disappeared. His body was found a week later.
• Ruben Salazar (1928-1970) was the first Mexican-American journalist to have a major voice in mainstream news media. He wrote in the Los Angeles Times and segments at KMEX-TV on the Chicano movement of the 1960s. While in Los Angeles covering a Vietnam War protest, Salazar was killed by a tear gas projectile.
Ruben Salazar, from the Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429), Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
• Eric Sevareid (1912-1992) was a writer for the New York Herald Tribune and later a broadcast journalist for CBS radio. He covered World War II, reporting on the approach of the Germans to Paris, the exodus from the city and on life in London during wartime. In 1943, while en route to China, Sevareid parachuted from a disabled plane and emerged from the jungle on foot some time later. In the 1960s and 1970s he appeared on the CBS Evening News.
• Martha Gellhorn (1908-1998) covered the Spanish Civil War, World War II and the Vietnam War in a long career that broke new ground for women. With her constant focus on harm to civilians, her reporting was considered a morally courageous model.
• John Hersey (1914-1993) was a versatile writer whose most famous work, Hiroshima, describes what happened when the United States dropped the atomic bomb on that city. It has been acclaimed as the greatest work of journalism of the 20th century. Hersey’s work appeared in various publications, including Time, Life and The New Yorker.
• George Polk (1913-1948) was a talented young CBS radio correspondent who filed hard-hitting radio bulletins from Greece describing the strife that erupted there after World War II. He was working on reports of corruption involving U.S. aid when he disappeared. His body was found a week later.
• Ruben Salazar (1928-1970) was the first Mexican-American journalist to have a major voice in mainstream news media. He wrote in the Los Angeles Times and segments at KMEX-TV on the Chicano movement of the 1960s. While in Los Angeles covering a Vietnam War protest, Salazar was killed by a tear gas projectile.
Ruben Salazar, from the Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429), Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
• Eric Sevareid (1912-1992) was a writer for the New York Herald Tribune and later a broadcast journalist for CBS radio. He covered World War II, reporting on the approach of the Germans to Paris, the exodus from the city and on life in London during wartime. In 1943, while en route to China, Sevareid parachuted from a disabled plane and emerged from the jungle on foot some time later. In the 1960s and 1970s he appeared on the CBS Evening News.
April 26, the 200th anniversary of the founding of Mount St. Mary’s University will be celebrated with a stamped postal card issued on the Emmitsburg, Md., campus. The stamp art features a watercolor painting of “the Terrace”—one of the central attractions on the university’s picturesque campus—created by award-winning architectural illustrator Frank Costantino.
... MOUNT ST. MARY'S UNIVERSITY STAMPED CARD
... FRANK SINATRA
Stamp artist Kazuhiko Sano chose to present this iconic figure in a portrait based on a publicity photograph for a stamp to be released on May 13. In a 50-year career Sinatra won several Grammys, received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1971, and was recognized at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983. He also was noted for his philanthropy. President Reagan awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985. He was a native of Hoboken, N.J., where the Post Office was renamed in his honor.
... WEDDING HEARTS
June will bring a reissue of the 2007 Wedding Hearts stamps, in two denominations to cover the one-ounce and two-ounce rates.
... MINNESOTA STATEHOOD
The 150th anniversary of Minnesota statehood will be commemorated in May on a stamp bearing a photograph by Richard Hamilton Smith. The view, above Winona, in southeast Minnesota, is the MN-43/WI-54 bridge spanning the main channel of the Mississippi River. The stamp will be dedicated in St. Paul.
... LOVE: ALL HEART
The 2008 Love design, to be issued in June, is titled All Heart. The stamp features an oversized heart being transported by its owner to convey that a heart filled with love could be a gift to one’s beloved, rather than the usual flowers or candy.
... FLAGS OF OUR NATION
As previously announced, in June 14, the first of this multiyear series of 60 stamps will be issued. The series highlights the Stars & Stripes, 50 state flags, five territorial flags, and the District of Columbia flag. Ten stamps will be issued in the spring–Stars & Stripes, plus Alabama through Delaware—and 10 more in September—District of Columbia through Kansas. The series continues in 2009 and 2010. The flag art was created by Tom Engeman. Each stamp design includes artwork that provides a snapshot view of the area represented by its flag. In most cases, an everyday scene or activity is shown.
... VINTAGE BLACK CINEMA
Vivid reminders of a bygone era will be celebrated July 16 through Vintage Black Cinema stamps based on five vintage movie posters. Whether spotlighting the talents of entertainment icons or documenting changing social attitudes and expectations, these posters are invaluable pieces of history. The stamp images depict movie posters for the 1921 silent film The Sport of the Gods; the first screen appearance of Duke Ellington in the 1929 film Black and Tan; Princess Tam-Tam, a French film issued in 1935 that was one of four movies to star Josephine Baker; 1929’s Hallelujah, one of the first major-studio films to feature an all-black cast; and the 1945 short Caldonia, which highlighted the talents of singer, saxophonist and “jump blues” bandleader Louis Jordan, and is often cited as a precursor to today’s music videos.
... THE ART OF DISNEY: IMAGINATION
These four stamps make up the, the fifth and final in the Art of Disney series, picture Mickey Mouse as Steamboat Willie; Princess Aurora and her helpers Flora, Fauna and Merryweather from Sleeping Beauty; Pongo and one of his pups from 101 Dalmatians; and Mowgli and Baloo from The Jungle Book.
This final installment in the Art of Disney series is due out this August.
This final installment in the Art of Disney series is due out this August.
... OLYMPIC GAMES
One stamp will be issued in July to coincide with the Summer Olympics being held from August 8–24 in Beijing, China. The stamp features a drawing by artist Katie Doka. It depicts a gymnast surrounded by ribbon-like design elements. In the upper right corner of the stamp, the denomination is surrounded by a graphic element that resembles the ink mark created by a Chinese “chop.” The Olympic rings appear in the lower left.
... TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME
... CHARLES & RAY EAMES
One of the most popular baseball songs of all time, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2008 on postage this August. The song was born on a New York City train in the summer of 1908, when passenger Jack Norworth—an actor, singer and songwriter who had never attended a major-league ball game—saw a sign about an upcoming game at the Polo Grounds. The stamp image is based on a circa-1880 “trade card” from the personal collection of art director Richard Sheaff. The original card shows a baseball scene and contains words promoting a product made by a Michigan company. The stamp art shows the same scene but replaces the product-related words with “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” the stamp denomination, notes from the music, and the words “United States of America.”
View the MetroExpo NY Yankee Stadium Collectible Cachet
View the MetroExpo NY Yankee Stadium Collectible Cachet
In recognition of their groundbreaking contributions to architecture, furniture design, manufacturing & photographic arts, designers Charles and Ray Eames will be honored June 17 with a pane of 16 stamps designed by Derry Noyes of Washington, DC. If you’ve ever sat in a stackable molded chair, you’ve experienced their creativity. Perhaps best known for their furniture, the Eameses were husband & wife as well as design partners. Their extraordinary body of creative work—which reflected the nation’s youthful & inventive outlook after WW II—also included architecture, films & exhibits. Without abandoning tradition, Charles and Ray Eames used new materials & technology to create high-quality products that addressed everyday problems and made modern design available to the American public.
... AMERICAN TREASURES: ALBERT BIERSTADT
Add the beauty of Yosemite to your mail with the eighth issuance in the American Treasures series August 14. Art director Derry Noyes of Washington, DC, chose Valley of the Yosemite” an 1864 oil-on-paperboard painting by Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902).
... LATIN JAZZ
The rich musical heritage of Latin jazz is celebrated on a stamp being released in September 10. It depicts a tropical evening scene with musicians playing bass, piano and conga drums.
... ALZHEIMER'S AWARENESS
Extra attention will be paid to the most common form of dementia among older people in September 19. The stamp also draws attention to the importance of caregivers for those who have Alzheimer’s disease.
....NATURE OF AMERICA: GREAT LAKES DUNES
Four eye-catching nutcracker designs that depict Santa, or “Father Christmas,” a king, a captain, and a drummer are due out on October 23-24. The nutcrackers were custom-made for the United States Postal Service.
... HOLIDAY NUTCRACKERS
The 10th Nature of America sheetlet illustrates the beauty and complexity of the Great Lakes dunes, with more than 27 different kinds of plants and animals, all of which could be encountered at or near Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan. You will be able to encounter them for yourself when they are issued in October.
This stamp uses a detail of a tempera and oil on wood painting— now in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art—titled Virgin and Child With the Young John the Baptist by the Italian master Sandro Botticelli. In addition to the Madonna and Child, the facial expression of John the Baptist is seen to the side in a prayerful gesture, also suggests a heightened awareness. Look for this stamp when it is issued on October 23-24.
... CHRISTMAS
Learn everything you need to know about First Day Covers and how to order them
by visiting our First Day Covers page including an updated First Day Cover
Ordering Calendar, complete with ordering addresses and deadlines.
Hallelujah art Copyright Al Hirschfield, licensed by the Margo Feiden Galleries Ltd., New York.
...TROPICAL FRUIT
April 25, Tropical Fruit. New 27¢ post card rate stamp. Burlingame, CA (At Westpex)
... "13 MILE WOODS" ERROL, NEW HAMPSHIRE
72¢ “13 Mile Woods, Errol, New Hampshire” Canada/Mexico international rate stamp to be issued May 16. Rochester, NY (at ROPEX)
... ST. JOHN, VIRGIN ISLANDS
St. John, Virgin Islands 94¢ international rate stamp also set to be issued on May 16. Rochester, NY (at ROPEX)
... FOREVER STAMP
May—(42¢) Forever stamp, 2008 version from one of three printers. McLean, VA (at NAPEX). See also Aug. 22.
... AMERICA on the MOVE: TAIL FINS & CHROME
July –America on the Move: Tail Fins and Chrome. Classic 1957 autos. Confirmed so far are the Studebaker Golden Hawk, the Lincoln Premiere, and the Chrysler 300C. Pane of 20. Site TBD.
... FOREVER STAMP
August 22—(42¢) Forever stamp, 2008 version from two of three printers. McLean, VA. See also June 6.
... BETTE DAVIS
Film diva Bette Davis becomes the 14th inductee into the Legends of Hollywood series, on the 100th anniversary of the year of her birth, this September. Davis (1908-1989) played a wide variety of powerful and complex roles during her six-decade career. Her riveting performances, acclaimed by critics and fans alike, resulted in 10 Academy Award nominations for best actress; she won twice for her starring roles in Dangerous (1935) and Jezebel (1938). Michael Deas based his painting for the stamp on a black & white still of Davis made during the filming of All About Eve (1950). The pictorial margin features a black & white still from Jezebel.
... JAMES A. MICHENER
May 12 - 59¢, 2 ounce rate, Pane of 20, Washington, DC 2006
Read more about this distinguished American.
Read more about this distinguished American.
... EDWARD TRUDEAU
May 12 - 76¢, 3 ounce rate, Pane of 20, Washington, DC 2006
Read more about this distinguished American.
Read more about this distinguished American.