September 6, 2002 There's No Business Like Show Business Cheek to Cheek, White Christmas, God Bless America . . . What do they all have in common? Israel Beilin, who was born in 1888 in Russia and moved to America shortly after. Like so many immigrants, his name was Americanized, and we know this incredible songwriter as Irving Berlin. In the 101 years of his life, Berlin had a string of over 1,000 hit songs. Irving Berlin will soon be honored on a stamp. First-day ceremonies . . . Broadway, of course! September 15.

Page 1 of 2      Next       [ Home ] September 6, 2002 Love me tender: Elvis still the king . . . of rock'n'roll and stamps WASHINGTON — Elvis Presley is not only the king of rock'n'roll, but he's also the champion of commemoratives . . . the poobah of postage . . . the sovereign of stamps . . . Well, you get the picture.  Elvis holds the record — hands down — for the biggest-selling U.S. commemorative stamp of all time. The second-place winner can't even come close to stepping on the blue suede shoes of the king.  Presley, honored with a 1993 commemorative, sold 124 million stamps that were never used as postage – called "retention" in USPS jargon. That's no surprise, considering the millions of stamp collectors — and Elvis fans — out there.  Rounding out the top five are the 1992 Wildflowers (76.2 million retention quantity), 1993 Rock and Roll (75.8 million), 1999 Insects and Spiders (60.9 million) and 2000 Legends of Baseball (53.9).  The remaining top 20, in descending order, are: 2001 Baseball's Legendary Playing Fields, 1994 Moon Landing, 1995 Civil War,1994 Legends of the West, 1995 Marilyn Monroe and 1997 Bugs Bunny.  They are followed by 1995 Classic Comic Strips, 2000 Stars and Stripes, 1996 Summer Olympics, 1999 Holiday Deer,1996 Centennial Olympics, 2001 Lucille Ball, 1998 Sylvester & Tweety,1997 World of Dinosaurs, and1989 Prehistoric Animals.