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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Community Relations 202-268-4924
www.usps.com
December 19, 2005
Stamp News Release Number 05-056
Please note: Issuance dates are tentative at this time and may change without notice.
U.S. Postal Service Unveils Definitive Stamps,
postal cards and other stamp products to be issued in 2006
WASHINGTON - Breathtaking panoramas from the nation's National Park system, computer generated aerodynamic studies of supersonic aircraft, American scientists who developed polio vaccines and the nation's first Postmaster General are just a sampling of subjects that will be appear as part of the U.S. Postal Service's 2006 definitive stamp program.
In announcing the program, David Failor, Executive Director of Stamp Services, also released images of other 2006 stamp and stationery items.
"Customers can share a glimpse of America's beautiful National Park system when corresponding internationally," said Failor, referring to photographs of the Great Smoky Mountain, Yosemite Valley and Bryce Canyon depicted on international rate stamps. "Other stamp products highlight American history, culture and agriculture."
Information on the issue dates will be provided at a later date.
2006 Definitive Stamps (Click stamp image to enlarge.) |
 Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina/Tennessee (75-cent international stamp card rate for countries other than Mexico and Canada)
This international 75-cent stamp in the Scenic American Landscapes series features a photograph of the Great Smoky Mountains at sunset, taken by David Muench of Santa Barbara, Calif. This view from Clingmans Dome includes portions of both North Carolina and Tennessee. Text on the stamp reads, "Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina/Tennessee."
Encompassing approximately 800 square miles of mountainous terrain in both North Carolina and Tennessee, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is renowned for the diversity of the plant and animal life found along some 800 miles of hiking trails. Also found in the park are structures that represent the Southern Appalachian mountain culture of the settlers who once lived in the area. Established by Congress in 1934 and dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940, the park receives some 10 million visitors annually. |
 Yosemite National Park, California (84-cent international letter rate)
This international rate stamp in the Scenic American Landscapes series features a photograph of the Gates of the Valley in Yosemite National Park, taken by Galen Rowell of Emeryville, Calif. Text on the stamp reads, "Yosemite National Park, California."
Established on October 1, 1890, the park consists of 747,956 acres in the Sierra Nevada. With the impressive Yosemite Valley as its centerpiece, the park includes a breathtaking range of geographical features, such as waterfalls, lakes, glaciers, expansive meadows, groves of giant sequoias and granite monoliths such as El Capitan and Half Dome.
Each year nearly four million people enjoy the spectacular sights of Yosemite. Approximately 800 miles of marked trails can be found in the park. Nearly 95 percent of Yosemite has been designated wilderness. |
 Bryce Canyon, Utah (63-cent letter rate for Mexico and Canada)
This stamp in the Scenic American Landscapes series features a photograph of Bryce Canyon's Bryce Amphitheater in southern Utah by Tom Till of Moab, Utah. Erosion shaped the landscape into countless whimsical spires known as hoodoos. Text on the stamp reads, "Bryce Canyon, Utah."
Bryce Canyon, as the primary attraction at the 35,835 acre National Park of the same name, is home to a colorful array of stunning geological formations. The park was recognized first as a national monument in 1923, then as Utah National Park in 1924 and named Bryce Canyon in 1928. |
 Pikes Peak (24-cent stamped postal card)
Available in late January, the card features a 1902 lithograph by Illinois artist Edgar Spier Cameron (1862-1944) depicting Capt. Zebulon Montgomery Pike and three members of his expedition standing on a mountaintop looking at the summit that would be named in his honor.
The U.S. Postal Service commemorates the 200th anniversary of Capt. Zebulon Montgomery Pike's sighting of the famous Rocky Mountain peak. Noted for its imposing appearance and for the majestic views provided from its 14,110-foot summit, Pikes Peak is a popular tourist destination near Colorado Springs, Colo. It was declared a national historic landmark in 1961.
In 1806, Pike (1779-1813), then a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, was commissioned to explore the watersheds of the Arkansas and Red Rivers, as well as the poorly defined southwestern border of the newly acquired Louisiana Territory. On July 15, he and his men left Fort Belle Fontaine — located on the Missouri River north of St. Louis — and moved westward. Not long afterward, Pike was promoted to the rank of captain.
As the expedition was crossing the plains in mid-November, Pike became intrigued by a mountain "which appeared like a small blue cloud" in the distance. Half an hour later, the Front Range of the Rockies "appeared in full view." On November 24, leaving the rest of the expedition at a base camp, Pike set out with three men to ascend the mountain that he called "Grand Peak."
Upon reaching the summit of a neighboring peak three days later, they discovered that "Grand Peak" still lay several miles away. Although Pike never actually climbed it — harsh weather conditions turned him back — the mountain that had captured his attention became commonly known as "Pikes Peak" and eventually was formally named in his honor. |
 X-Planes (2) ($4.05 Priority Mail and $14.40 Express Mail)
The new $4.05 Priority Mail and $14.40 Express Mail stamps commemorate X-Planes, a series of experimental vehicles involving the U.S. military, NASA and companies such as Bell Aircraft, Boeing, Northrop and Lockheed Martin. From the first X-Plane flight in 1946 to the present, a variety of vehicles — manned and unmanned aircraft, cruise missiles, gliders and spacecraft — has helped extend the nation's reach into space.
Art Director Phil Jordan of Falls Church, Va., selected two computer-generated images of the X-15 from NASA studies. The colors show various scales of pressures and temperatures — blue is the lowest and red is the highest. The Priority Mail stamp shows the X-15 rotated upward to reveal the most surface area. The Express Mail stamp shows the colors against a meshed grid to illustrate how air is forced around and behind the plane. The two designs have text under the image reading, "Computer-generated aerodynamic study of an X-Plane."
 Extraordinary technological advances following World War II prompted many different X-Plane concepts, including the X-1, a rocket-powered plane. On Oct. 14, 1947, with Air Force test pilot Chuck Yeager at the controls, it became the first plane to intentionally travel faster than Mach 1.0, the speed of sound. In 1956, the X-2 became the first plane to reach an altitude of more than 100,000 feet (nearly 19 miles) and set a new speed record of Mach 2.87.
One of the best known — and the fastest and highest-flying, winged vehicle — was the X-15. By the late 1960s, it had flown at speeds exceeding 4,500 miles per hour and reached an altitude of more than 60 miles. Eight X-15 pilots earned astronaut wings for achieving an altitude of 50 miles or more as a result of their flights in this plane. |
 Common Buckeye (First-Class 24-cent postcard stamp and First-Class second-ounce rate)
This definitive stamp depicts the Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia), an attractive butterfly named for the distinctive eyespots on its wings. The stamp's 24-cent denomination covers the rate for mailing First-Class postcards.
Stamp Artist Steve Buchanan began the project by borrowing a preserved specimen of the Common Buckeye from The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station and studying it under a microscope. Then using a digitizing tablet and stylus he "painted" a portrait of the butterfly on his computer, positioning it against a plain white background with a shadow to suggest depth. After consulting with an entomologist at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, Buchanan made some minor corrections and adjustments to the artwork. The final result is an exquisitely detailed and precise artistic rendering of this handsome butterfly. |
 Dr. Albert Sabin (87-cents) (First-Class three-ounce rate)
This issuance in the Distinguished Americans series honors virologist Albert Sabin (1906-1993), whose successful efforts to develop a polio vaccine made him one of the most esteemed scientists in the world. For his dedication to fighting polio and other infectious diseases, he received numerous awards, including the National Medal of Science (1970) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1986).
Artist Mark Summers created the portrait on the stamp referencing a photograph of Dr. Sabin taken in 1982 at the Medical University of South Carolina. The artist is well known for his scratchboard technique, a style distinguished by a dense network of horizontal lines etched with exquisite precision. |
 Dr. Jonas Salk (63-cents) (First-Class two-ounce rate)
This issuance in the Distinguished Americans series honors Dr. Jonas Salk (1914-1995), who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 for developing the first safe and effective vaccine against paralytic poliomyelitis. Periodic outbreaks of this worldwide viral disease — also called infantile paralysis or simply "polio" — paralyzed or killed thousands of people annually in the United States alone before the Salk vaccine became available in 1955.
Artist Mark Summers created the portrait on the stamp. As reference, he used a photograph (courtesy of the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) of Dr. Salk taken in the Virus Research Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh in October 1954. At the time of the photograph, Dr. Salk was checking the results of a polio test funded by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis through its March of Dimes campaign. In 1979, the "March of Dimes" also became the official name of the foundation. |
 Benjamin Franklin stamped envelope (39-cents)
The U.S. Postal Service recognizes the 300th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) with this stamped envelope featuring a photograph of a famous bust of one of the nation's Founding Fathers by French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828). The stamped envelope will be available in mid-January.
Franklin was part of the Second Continental Congress and served on many committees, including one to establish an independent postal system. On July 26, 1775, the Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin the first Postmaster General of the organization now known as the United States Postal Service.
Houdon is considered by many to have been the foremost portrait sculptor of the 18th century. Born in Versailles, France, he studied and worked as a sculptor in Rome before returning to Paris, where he earned commissions from European royalty and major figures of the French Enlightenment. Houdon also sculpted several heroes of the American Revolution, including the Marquis de Lafayette, John Paul Jones, and Thomas Jefferson. In 1785 he traveled to America to sculpt the marble statue of George Washington that now stands in the state Capitol building in Richmond, Va.
The marble bust on this stamped envelope is part of the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which acquired it in 1996. Dated to 1779, it was created while Franklin was serving as minister to France.
Other versions of this bust exist in plaster and terra-cotta, and a similar marble bust of Franklin by Houdon, dated 1778, is part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. |
 Crops of the Americas (5) (39-cents)
The crops depicted in this stamp booklet — corn, chili peppers, beans, squashes and sunflowers — had been cultivated in the Americas for centuries when Europeans first arrived in the New World.
Artist Steve Buchanan created each of the five stamp designs. As reference, he used slide photographs made by his wife Rita, a consultant for the stamp project. The slides document Rita Buchanan's research in the late 1970s on indigenous agricultural methods in the southwestern United States.
The stamp art includes ears of corn (Zea mays); red and green chilies (Capsicum annuum); lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus), scarlet runner beans (P. coccineus), and pintos and other common beans (P. vulgaris); various squashes (Cucurbita spp.); and a sunflower and seeds (Helianthus annuus). |
 Lunar New Year (12) (39-cents)
A reprint of the Lunar New Year stamp images issued in 2005, this 2006 issue is a 12 stamp single-sided sheet of 39-cent First-Class stamps that was created by stamp designer Clarence Lee, of Honolulu, Hawaii. Lee created intricate paper-cut designs for all of the twelve animals associated with the Chinese lunar calendar. The calligraphic characters used for this souvenir sheet were drawn by Lau Bun, also of Honolulu. The characters in the individual stamps identify the Year of the Dog, Rat, Tiger, and so on. The characters on the selvage to the left of the souvenir sheet may be translated as "Happy New Year!" The same greeting appears in English at the top of the sheet.
The Lunar New Year is celebrated by people of Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tibetan and Mongolian heritage. In observance of this holiday, the U.S. Postal Service issued the first of 12 stamps in its award-winning Lunar New Year series in 1992. In succeeding years, additional stamps were issued until all twelve animals associated with the Chinese lunar calendar were represented.
In chronological order, the stamps in the series marked the Year of the Rooster, Dog, Boar, Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram and Monkey. People born in the year of a particular animal are said to share the characteristics of that animal.
Also called the Spring Festival, the traditional Chinese New Year is a time of renewed hope for a prosperous future. The twelve colorful stamps in this series are gathered together for one stunning souvenir sheet. |
Since 1775, the Postal Service has connected friends, families, neighbors and businesses by mail. It is an independent federal agency that visits 142 million homes and businesses every day and is the only service provider delivering to every address in the nation. The Postal Service receives no taxpayer dollars for routine operations, but derives its operating revenues solely from the sale of postage, products and services. With annual revenues of more than $69 billion, it is the world's leading provider of mailing and delivery services, offering some of the most affordable postage rates in the world. The Postal Service delivers more than 46 percent of the world's mail volume-some 206 billion letters, advertisements, periodicals and packages a year-and serves seven million customers each day at its 37,000 retail locations nationwide.
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