Chippendale Chair Stamp Newest Addition To American Design Series

The United States Postal Service will issue a new 4-cent definitive stamp as part of its American Design series at noon on March 5.

The stamp features a stylized treatment of a Chippendale chair made in Philadelphia between 1760 and 1765.

The Chippendale style of furniture was named for the English cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779), whose book "The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director" influenced furniture design on both sides of the Atlantic.

Made of mahogany, the Chippendale chair depicted on the stamp features artist Lou Nolan's stylized treatment of a Chippendale side chair, or chair without arms. The artist based his design on a chair that is part of the collection of decorative arts in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., while the colors Nolan used for the wood and seat cover give the stamp design a contemporary feel.

The American Design series began in May 2002 with the 5-cent American Toleware stamp, followed by American Clock (2003) and Tiffany Lamp (2003). Reflecting the rich diversity of American design, the series showcases objects from various areas, regions and ethnic cultures that combine utility with beauty and function with form. The American Design series replaces the 1981-1995 Transportation series. The stamps in the American Design series vary in denomination from one cent through ten cents.

USPS
February 26, 2004

New Postal Card to Celebrate Columbia University's 250th Anniversary

The U.S. Postal Service today announced that a new stamped postal card celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of Columbia University will be issued March 25 in New York City.

The Columbia University stamped card is the 56th in the long-running Historic Preservation series, which began in 1977 with the issuance of the 9-cent Federal Court House (Galveston, Texas) stamped card.

First established as King's College by King George II of England in 1754, Columbia University's name was changed to Columbia College after the Revolutionary War, and is officially known today as Columbia University in the City of New York.

Columbia University has a distinguished tradition of instruction and research, and its alumni and faculty have included scientific pioneers, Nobel laureates, political leaders and writers.

Currently, more than 20,000 students are enrolled at the university, where they are engaged in some of the nation's leading scientific and technological research."

USPS
February 17, 2004

Dr. Seuss to be Commemorated on Postage Stamp

On the 100th anniversary of his birth, the U.S. Postal Service will dedicate the Theodor Seuss Geisel commemorative postage stamp. The new stamp will travel around the world on letters, cards and packages, honoring the Pulitzer Prize-winning author better known as Dr. Seuss, who introduced countless children to the joys of reading.

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born on March 2, 1904, in Springfield, Mass. After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1925, he soon began a career as an artist and writer. He sold cartoons and humorous prose to Life, Liberty and Vanity Fair magazines, and made his first foray into book illustration in 1931, providing the artwork for two collections of children's sayings.

Geisel authored 44 books for children using rhyming text combined with illustrations, unusual in children's books when his first manuscript was presented to publishers in the 1930s. In fact, 27 publishers rejected his first book before Vanguard Press decided to print it in 1937. Reviewers recognized that Dr. Seuss had created a new kind of book that appealed to a child's imagination and sense of humor.

USPS
February 11, 2004

Rutgers puts stamp on Robeson honors

The recent release of a commemorative U.S. postage stamp gave Rutgers a chance to honor the late son of a former slave who became the university's first All-American athlete and its most towering alumnus.

Paul Robeson was celebrated in a ceremony that saluted his achievements as a human-rights activist, attorney, athlete, orator, performer on stage and screen and the valedictorian of Rutgers' Class of 1919.

Coming one month after the release of a 37-cent stamp bearing Robeson's portrait, the ceremony coincided with the unveiling of a limited-edition cachet featuring a special cancelation mark bearing the Rutgers logo.

The celebration featured musical interludes that filled Kirkpatrick Chapel with a piercing solo by singer-actress Melba Moore and a gospel hymn in Robeson's own unearthly, recorded baritone, to which students from New Brunswick's Paul Robeson Community Theme School for the Arts danced.

HOME NEWS TRIBUNE
February 07, 2004

John Wayne saddles up

The U.S. Postal Service has chosen Marion Michael Morrison, better-known to millions of adoring fans as John Wayne, to be honored in the Legends of Hollywood commemorative stamp series this year. The full pane of stamps will be unveiled at the Odyssey Ball, a private fundraising gala for the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, on April 3, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The official first day of issue ceremony will be held later in the year.

The John Wayne stamp joins others in the Legends of Hollywood series honoring Marilyn Monroe (1995), James Dean (1996), Humphrey Bogart (1997), Alfred Hitchcock (1998), James Cagney (1999), Edward G. Robinson (2000), Lucille Ball (2001), Cary Grant (2002) and Audrey Hepburn (2003).

USPS
February 02, 2004