USA New Stamp Issues For 2010 (Tentative Schedule)


The tentative schedule for U.S. stamp subjects to be 

issued in 2010, announced August 6 at  the American 

Philatelic Society's Stampshow in Pittsburgh, includes 

entertainers Katharine Hepburn, Roy Rogers and Kate 

Smith, along with Garfield the cat and other comic strip 

characters.

Here's the tentative schedule, although it's subject to 

change.  Face values will of course depend on the 

applicable postage rates.

January:

• 44-cent Year of the Tiger commemorative and souvenir sheet
• 44-cent Olympic Winter Games commemorative
• Mackinac Bridge in Michigan Priority Mail stamp
• Bixby Creek Bridge in California Express Mail stamp
  
  
  

February:

• Four 44-cent Distinguished Sailors commemoratives (William S. Sims, Arleigh A. Burike, John McCloy and Doris Miller)

April:

• Poet Julia de Burgos commemorative (Literary Arts series)
• Four American Flag stamps showing the flag flying in four seasons
• 10 stamps (five cats and five dogs) titled Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet in booklet form
• 
  
  

  Love stamp (purple pansies in a basket)

  
  

May:

• Katharine Hepburn commemorative (Legends of Hollywood series

June:

• Kate Smith commemorative
• Oscar Micheaux commemorative (Black Heritage series)
• Fourth set of 10 Flags of Our Nations coils
• Two Negro League Baseball stamps

July:

• Five Sunday Funnies commemoratives ("Archie," "Beetle Bailey," "Dennis the Menace," "Garfield" and "Calvin and Hobbes")
• Four Cowboys of the Silver Screen commemoratives (William S. Hart, Tom Mix, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers)

August: 

• Winslow Homer commemorative (American Treasure series)
  
  

September:

• 10 commemorative stamps featuring abstract expressionists (Hans Hofmann's "The Golden Wall," Adolph Gottlieb's "Romanesque Facade," Mark Rothko's "Orange and Yellow," Arshile Gorky's "The Liver is the Cock's Comb," Clyfford Still's "1948-C," Willem de Kooning's "Asheville," Barnett Newman's "Achilles," Jackson Pollock's "Convergence," Robert Motherwell's "Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 34" and Joan Mitchell's "La Grande Vallee 0")

October:

• 10 Hawaiian rain forest commemoratives (Nature of America series)
• Four Holiday Evergreens (ponderosa pine, eastern red cedar, blue spruce and balsam fir) Christmas stamps
• Madonna and Child Christmas stamp (a detail of "Madonna of the Candelabra" by Raphael)

Possible Additional New Issues:

• 100th anniversary of Boy Scouts of America commemorative
• Definitive stamps featuring illustrations by Laura Stutzman
  
  
  

Simpsons Stamp to be Issued by the United States


I heard about the United States Postal Service's intention to issue a commemorative stamp for The Simpsons TV show over the weekend. I'm wondering what you all think about it.

The stamp will be the latest in a series of stamps that honor pop culture, including Comic Book Heroes and Star Wars.

Here are my thoughts: I know that The Simpsons have successfully invaded American culture, but I don't necessarily think that's a good thing, or that the show is a good influence. Although they can be funny at times (and just plain stupid at others), The Simpsons really boils down to the tales of a dysfunctional family. Honoring that just seems a bit crazy to me. I can't make the same accusation about stamps featuring Comic Book Heroes or Star Wars characters, but honoring them with stamps does strike me as a bit frivolous. It seems to me that there are enough genuine heroes out there that we don't need to honor fictional ones.

What do you think?