Chamblee54

There is a dandy feature at 99% Invisible now about US postal service stamps. Stamps are many things… collectables, miniature works of art, a cost of doing business. 99pi talks to some of the people who determine what image will be on your mail.
The USPS receives thousands of stamp suggestions every year. They must be submitted by US mail. (The USPS despises the expression snail mail.) There are lots of rules and guidelines, which should surprise no one. First you had to be dead twenty years, then ten years, then five years, before you could have your picture on a stamp. Soon, the USPS will announce the first living person to be honored with a stamp. It probably will not be Lady Gaga, even though the curator likes her music.
Collectors buy stamps, and then do not use the service of mail delivery. This makes collectible stamps a profit center.
One of the most popular stamps in recent years has been one for breast cancer research. It cost an extra eight cents, and has raised millions of dollars. It has avoided the lawyers of the Susan G. Komen foundation in two ways. The color pink is not used, and the stamp says “a cure” instead of “the cure”.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress