The USPS Goes Out Of May With Six Stamp Releases
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The USPS is busy with stamp six different stamp releases, to close out the month of May. Beginning with Tuesday May 25, 2006 and running through Tuesday May 30, 2006, collectors will find:
MAY 25th
The Amber Alert Stamp ceremony was held at Arlington City Hall. Amber Alert, a national alert system, got it’s start in North Texas almost 10 years ago. It is named for 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was abducted while riding her bike in east Arlington in 1996. The alert system has been effective in notifying the public of child abductions through the means of television, radio, highway signs, even e-mails and cellphone text messages.
MAY 26th
This is the same design we saw in the .37-cent version of the Purple Heart stamp. The oldest military decoration in the world, the Purple Heart is awarded to members of the Armed Forces who are wounded in conflict with an enemy, held by an enemy as a prisoner of war, and posthumously to the next of kin of members of the Armed Forces who were killed in conflict with an enemy or die of a wound received in conflict with an enemy. There are over 1,535,000 recipients of the Purple Heart Medal, approximately 550,000 of whom are still living. August 7, 1782 was the day the Purple Heart was established.
MAY 27th
Do you ever “wonder”? Well now you can, in a whole new way, with this set of 40 stamps from the USPS entitled “Wonders of America: Land of Superlatives”. If the whole idea of 40 stamps for 50 states isn’t mind-numbing enough, how about the word “superlatives”?
In the dictionary, I found “superlatives” to mean: 1) Of the highest order, quality, or degree; surpassing or superior to all others. 2) Excessive or exaggerated. 3) Of, relating to, or being the extreme degree of comparison of an adjective or adverb, as in best or brightest. It is funny that many stamp collectors have been describing this release under #2!
MAY 28th
The 400th Anniversary of Samuel De Champlain’s Survey stamps is a joint effort between the United States. and Canada, making it the second joint issue this year for the U.S.. Souvenir sheets and stamps will be available from both countries.
In all, Champlain made twelve voyages to what is now known as Canada. Besides founding Quebec and the first to name and map Lake Huron, he was able to trace the St. Lawrence River to its source. The later makes for an interesting combination with the St. Lawrence Seaway stamps.
MAY 29th
It is the Washington 2006 World Philatelic Exhibition and with it comes the Souvenir stamp sheet. This sheet contains reproductions of three historic United States postage stamps that were originally issued in 1923. You will see the $1 Lincoln Memorial, $2 U.S. Capitol, and the $5 Statue of Freedom.
Amongst the repeated designs that we have seen in 2006, it is interesting to note that these stamps were produced from the original 1923 dies created by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
MAY 30th
Also released in conjunction with the Washington 2006 World of Philatelic Exhibition are the Distinguished American Diplomats stamps. These stamps feature 6 prominent American diplomats, including: Hiram Bingham, Francis W. Willis, Charles Eustis Bohlen, Robert D. Murphy, Clifton R. Wharton, and Philip C. Habib.
