Huzza! New Stamp Comes Sailing In

Today we are very excited to introduce a brand-new stamp commemorating the bicentennial of the War of 1812, the two-and-a-half-year conflict with Great Britain that many Americans viewed as the nation’s “Second War of Independence.”

The stamp features the oldest known painting of the USS Constitution, a frigate that some of you may know better as “Old Ironsides.” She earned the affectionate nickname after a victorious battle 300 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia. “Huzza!” cried one American sailor as he watched Constitution’s hull repel British shot. “Her sides are made of iron!”

Actually, Constitution‘s hull was made of dense white- and live-oak. The ship was one of six frigates designed by Philadelphia shipbuilder Joshua Humphreys in the 1790s. Their thick hulls were built to carry heavy armament and withstand cannon shot, and their sleek lines made them fast enough to outrun more powerful ships.

Digital Color Postmark Keepsake (click image to order)

The United States had declared war on Great Britain on June 18, 1812. Yet, at the time, the U.S. Navy consisted of fewer than 20 warships of substantial size and faced seemingly impossible odds against a Royal Navy fleet that ruled the world’s seas. The success in battle of USS Constitution and other frigates helped sustain American morale at a time when the U.S. Army’s land campaigns were proving disastrous.

The ship’s early victory took place 200 years ago tomorrow: August 19, 1812. The war, however, continued for another two years. In his war message to Congress, President James Madison had charged the British with violating the nation’s sovereignty by restricting American trade with Europe and by removing seamen from American merchant ships and impressing them into the Royal Navy.

Tensions along the Canadian border and America’s western frontier also fueled war sentiment. Frontier settlers, who themselves often encroached on Native American lands, alleged that the British incited Native Americans to conduct raids on their homes and supplied them with arms. Expansionist “War Hawks” in Congress were convinced of the need to seal off the British from Indians in the northwestern frontier by invading Canada, and perhaps even forcing the British out of Canada.

Although the young republic barely escaped defeat, disunion, and bankruptcy, it survived the conflict and in the crucible of war forged a national identity. USS Constitution became a symbol of the young nation’s independence and an inspiration to future generations.

Today Constitution, the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world, is docked at the historic Charlestown Navy Yard in Charlestown, Massachusetts, and is manned by a crew of active-duty U.S. Navy sailors. She was officially designated “America’s Ship of State” in 2009.

First Day of Issue Ceremony Program (click image to order)

The painting of Constitution that appears on the stamp was created by Michele Felice Cornè circa 1803 and is considered to be the most accurate contemporary depiction of the ship. The painting is owned by the U.S. Navy, and you can see it in person at the USS Constitution Museum, where it is currently on long-term loan.

The War of 1812: USS Constitution Forever® stamps are being issued in self-adhesive sheets of 20 stamps each. (Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.) They are available online and in Post Offices nationwide.

Edgar Rice Burroughs Stamp Swings Into Post Offices Today

“I have been writing for nineteen years and I have been successful probably because I have always realized that I knew nothing about writing, and have merely tried to tell an interesting story entertainingly.”

So wrote Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875–1950) in the June 1930 issue of Writer’s Digest. And entertain he did. By 1930, Burroughs had published more than 40 novels, 13 of them about his most iconic character—Tarzan. By the end of his life he had written more than 70 books, including historical fiction and several popular series of science fiction tales.

Today we issue a new Forever® stamp in honor of Burroughs, one of the most popular and prolific writers of the early 20th century. (Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.) The artwork for the stamp features Tarzan, his most iconic character, clinging to a vine, with a profile of Burroughs in the background. The depiction of Tarzan is an interpretation of the character by artist Sterling Hundley. To create the portrait of Burroughs, Hundley used a photograph taken by the author’s son, Hulbert Burroughs. The 1934 photograph shows Burroughs reading a hardcover copy of Tarzan and the Lion Man, which was published the same year.

The first Tarzan story, “Tarzan of the Apes,” was published in the October 1912 issue of All-Story magazine and issued as a book in 1914. “I do not say the story is true, for I did not witness the happenings which it portrays,” writes Burroughs in the first chapter, “but the fact that in the telling of it to you I have taken fictitious names for the principal characters quite sufficiently evidences the sincerity of my own belief that it may be true.”

And with that, America was hooked. Tarzan grew into a phenomenon that has transcended the printed word.

First Day Cover (click image to order)

In the years that followed, Burroughs’s Tarzan stories were published in magazines, syndicated in newspapers, and republished in more than 24 books. In 1918, the silent film Tarzan of the Apes became the first of more than 50 Tarzan movies. Tarzan was the subject of a comic strip beginning in 1929, radio series in the 1930s and the 1950s, and several television series in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

Burroughs also wrote prolifically beyond the Tarzan series. He published dozens of stories in pulp magazines such as Amazing Stories, Argosy All-Story, and Blue Book, resulting in eleven books about John Carter of Mars and six books in the Pellucidar series, which focused on a world at the center of the Earth—a world also visited by Tarzan in the 1930 book Tarzan at the Earth’s Core. He wrote novels about Apache warriors, samurai, prehistoric islands, and adventurers on the planet Venus, and, in an interesting departure, he also explored the modern world in The Girl From Hollywood, a 1922 novel about stardom, drug abuse, murder, and power.

The Edgar Rice Burroughs stamp was issued today at a ceremony in (where else?) Tarzana, California. Those who missed the celebration can still pick up a ceremony program from the event.

Tarzan™ Owned by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. and Used by Permission.

Flags of Our Nation Series Waves Goodbye

The popular Flags of Our Nation stamp series comes to a close today with the issuance of the final set of stamps. Set 6 features the flag of the U.S. Virgin Islands and the state flags of Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The tenth flag, the Stars and Stripes, has appeared in every Flags of Our Nation stamp set since the series began in 2008.

Artist Tom Engeman created the highly detailed flag portraits, reproducing as accurately as possible—considering the stamp-size format—such complex elements as intricate state seals and coats of arms. Over the years, the artist’s colorful and imaginative designs have appeared on many USPS products, including the Baltimore Checkerspot stamp issued earlier this year.

Flags of Our Nation Set 6 Digital Color Postmarks (Set of 10)

In addition to the flag art, each stamp in the series includes a “snapshot view” of a state, a territory, the District of Columbia, or the nation as a whole. This artwork, also by Tom Engeman, usually shows an ordinary scene or activity, or a typical plant or animal, but occasionally it depicts something less commonplace. It is not restricted to official animals, flowers, and products; nor is it meant to showcase familiar buildings, landmarks, and monuments.

The stamps in Set 6 of the Flags of Our Nation series are being issued as Forever® stamps. (Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.) These “se-tenant” stamps (a philatelic term describing an attached pair, strip, or block of stamps that differ in design, color, or denomination) are arranged alphabetically in strips of ten stamps and sold in coils of fifty stamps (five strips of all ten designs in each coil).

Some of the Flags of Our Nation sets issued earlier are still available for purchase online. Set 3 includes the states of Kentucky through Missouri, while Set 4 includes the states of Montana through North Dakota. Set 5 features the flags of Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. If you want to add Sets 1 and 2 to your collection, you can order them by phone at 1-800-STAMP-24.

Although today marks the end of a stamp series, a new series will begin later this week! We’ll have more details on Saturday.

Play Ball! Major League Baseball All-Stars Contest Starts Today

Baseball fans and stamps enthusiasts! We are very excited to announce a Major League Baseball All-Stars stamp contest just for you. Beginning today, we invite you to tweet a photograph of one (or all!) of the Major League Baseball All-Stars stamps at a Major League ballpark (inside or outside).

Here are the rules: You must take the photo yourself, and you must include the name of the park in your tweet. To enter, simply tweet your photo to @USPSstamps and include the hashtag #stampsplayball.

Entries will be accepted until midnight EDT, Wednesday, October 3. On Thursday, October 4, the 10 most creatively composed images, as judged by the USPS Stamps team, will be posted  on the USPS Stamps Facebook page, where everyone will be able to vote for their favorites.

Voting will be open until midnight EDT, Tuesday, October 23. The winners will be announced on Wednesday, October 24—the day the World Series is scheduled to begin.

Play Ball! Great Moments in Major League Baseball History

The top vote-getter will receive a copy of Play Ball! Great Moments in Major League Baseball History. The second-place finisher will receive a Major League Baseball All-Stars First Day of Issue ceremony program, and third place will receive a Major League Baseball All-Star Digital Color Postmark.

Have fun! Good luck! And be creative!

Major League Baseball trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc.

Thrill of Perpetual Motion Captured in Bicycling Stamps

Ask any bicyclists—from city commuters to mountain bikers, and even unicyclists—and all agree that what motivates interest in their sport is the thrill of perpetual motion. Whether gliding on asphalt in the city or flying at break-neck speed down a mountain trail, bicycling is about a feeling of freedom, adventure, ease of travel, exercise and physical coordination, and an appreciation of the open air and nature.

John Mattos’ artwork for the 2012 Bicycling (Forever®) stamp issuance captures the spirit and varied experience of the sport. To create a tableau of four different modes of cycling, Mattos referred to photographs of a child riding with training wheels, a commuter, a road racer, and a BMX rider. In his illustrations, Mattos reduced the detail of the photographs to highlight the graphic elements of the bicycles. The figures moving effortlessly in a frieze-like format represent nobody in particular and therefore could be any one of us, different genders and ages, out for a ride on a pleasant afternoon.

The four se-tenant Forever® stamps are still available for purchase, along with plenty of Bicycling philatelic products. Have you bought yours yet?