Postal Service joins Pasadena Playhouse April 11 to celebrate Philately — the collecting of postage stamps

PASADENA, CA — In conjunction with the Pasadena Playhouse’s production of Mauritius, a mystery whose plot centers on the emergence of an incredibly valuable stamp collection, the U.S. Postal Service will celebrate the hobby of Philately at a special “Stamp Collectors Day” hosted by the Playhouse on Saturday, April 11, 2009, at 12 noon. The Pasadena Playhouse is located at 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena.

The event is open to the public and guest speakers include Synthia Saint James, award-winning artist and the designer of the first USPS Kwanzaa holiday stamp; and Don Shilling, American Philatelic Society member.

The Pasadena Post Office will issue a special pictorial postmark to commemorate the event, and be on site to sell stamps and postmark envelopes, cards and other items. The collectible pictorial postmark will be applied free of charge to any item with First-Class postage affixed.

The event will include philatelic and postal memorabilia displays, stamp networking and trading, live music and refreshments.

Philately is the study and collecting of stamps, postmarks and related materials. Stamp collecting is one of the world’s most popular hobbies, with an estimated 20 million collectors in the United States alone. It is a fun and educational activity that is easy to start without a big investment. For more information about stamp collecting go to: usps.com/household/stampcollecting.

The Playhouse production of Broadway’s Mauritius, whichruns through April 26,is a tale of two half-sisters who vie for the rights to a recently inherited stamp collection. In real life, the tiny island nation of Mauritius, off the east coast of Africa, issued two kinds of stamps in 1847, which are among the most famous and valuable stamps in the world today. For more information visit: pasadenaplayhouse.org.

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An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 149 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes, six days a week. It has 34,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services, not tax dollars, to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.