Thursday, November 29, 2007
Special stamps for holiday cards and letters
It’s that time of year again, when our mailboxes start to fill up with “real” mail—cards and letters bearing holiday greetings. Often the envelopes are festive, and usually they’re made even more so by the images carried on the postage stamps.
Stevan Dohanos, one of the twelve original artists who founded Famous Artists School, was for many years a member of the US Postal Service Stamp Advisory Committee. In that capacity, he advised the Postal Service on stamp design, and actually designed more than 40 stamps. The Postal Service has a Hall of Stamps dedicated to Dohanos, and many of his designs can be found in the collections at the National Postal Museum.
Dohanos was very proud of his involvement with stamp design. “Stamps tell a story of America’s achievement on every level. It is a great challenge to any artist to fill this small space with a big idea,” he said.
One of Dohanos’ favorites among his many stamp designs was this block depicting four antique Christmas toys, issued in 1970 for six cents…a far cry from today’s cost of mailing a holiday card!
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