6116 Sarah Orne Jewett
U703 Diagonal U.S. Flag envelope
U.S. Scott Catalog Update (October 2026)
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Amazon Has Non-USPS Contingency Plan
The e-commerce giant Amazon was so worried it wouldn’t reach a new contract with the U.S. Postal Service, reports Business Insider, that it drew up a plan for delivering without the USPS. Although it did reach a deal last April, Amazon has used that plan to expand its own delivery network. It now aims to be able to service nearly every addressable ZIP code — 99.9% of them — by itself and by a another delivery service by 2029.
U.S. Postmaster General Buffeted By Politics
U.S. Postmaster General David Steiner and others say he is not a political person, but he finds himself caught in the politics of voting by mail. The Associated Press article can be found here.
2027 U.S. Speculation
We won’t hear the basic list of 2027 U.S. issues for several weeks, but it’s always fun to guess and never to early to speculate. In 2027, thanks to a rule change, we don’t have to worry about whether three years has elapsed since a person died. On the other hand, with people stamps, intellectual property rights carry as much weight as merit, unfortunately.
These are my opinions. I have no information from USPS personnel about next year’s program except “I think you’re going to really like it.”
Sure things include:
- Lunar New Year (Year of the Goat or Ram
) - Love
- Priority Mail
- Priority Mail Express
- U.S. Flag
- Non-Religious Christmas
Educated Guesses and Good Bets
- First Lady Rosalynn Carter (born August 18, 1927, died 2023)
- Singer Tony Bennett (born August 3, 1926, died 2023)
- Baseball player Willie Mays (born May 8, 1931, died 2024)
(Stamps for these three people could not have been issued earlier, under previous rules. I think these stamps were in the works before the rule change. Why not Dolly Parton? Because there’s presently a disagreement between her nephew and her manager, raising a question about who controls her estate and rights.)
- 1777, June 14, the Stars and Stripes is adopted as the flag of the United States
Not as certain:
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- Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic
- Various American Revolutionary War battles
<lihttps://www.dragoncards.biz/>LaFayette arrives to help train American troops (June 13, 1777)
- Articles of Confederation signed (November 15, 1777)
- Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge (December 1777)
- US celebrates its first Thanksgiving, in honor of winning a battle (December 1777)
- Actor Sidney Poitier (born February 22, 1927)
- Singer Harry Belafonte (born March 1, 1927, died 2023)
- Civil rights activist Coretta Scott King (born April 27, 1927)
(I think one of these three will be the Black Heritage issue — or someone completely out of left field)
- Playwright Neil Simon (born July 4, 1927)
- Author Mary Higgins Clark (born December 24, 1927)
Why aren’t I more certain about Lindbergh’s flight? In later years, he had political views that many would now find unsavory, such as support for Nazi Germany. In today’s political climate, I’m not sure a stamp honoring Charles Lindbergh would fly. (sorry)
So those are some of my guesses. What are yours?
— Lloyd de Vries
Poll: Living People on U.S. Stamps?
How do you feel about the possibility?
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Living People Now Possible on U.S. Stamps
Living people may soon be honored on U.S. stamps. According to a report in Linn’s Stamp News (October 12, 2026), a longstanding provision in the criteria for U.S. stamps has been removed. It had previously stated that at least three years must elapse before a person could be commemorated.
The criteria can be found on the U.S. Postal Service site here.
“Under the current criteria, living individuals are not categorically excluded from consideration,” Lisa Bobb-Semple, Director of Stamps for the USPS, told Linn’s. She emphasized, however, that that change has not resulted in any living person being considered for a stamp. [Right: Bobb-Semple at Americover 2026, August 7, 2026]
The philatelic newspaper reports the change in criteria on the website appears to have occurred in August 2026, without an announcement. The waiting period had been reduced to three years in 2018; for many years, it had been ten years.
Strangely, the only people now who must be deceased to be considered for a stamp are U.S. presidents! Criterion #4 states “A memorial stamp will be issued honoring U.S. presidents only after they are deceased.” However, does that open the door for a non-memorial stamp for a president?
“Why should a stamp only tell us who we were in the past and not where we are today?” Postmaster General David Steiner [left] said in a speech at Boston 2026 World Expo on May 30, talking about his goal of reinvigorating stamps for a broader audience.
Bobb-Semple did not tell Linn’s that Steiner’s comments prompted the change, only that the stamp selection criteria are reviewed periodically “to ensure they remain relevant and reflective of the Postal Service’s desire to issue diverse and robust stamp programs that resonate with the public.”
Living people have appeared on U.S. stamps in the past, but not directly. For example, some of the soldiers shown marching through the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on the Army stamp, based on a photograph taken Aug. 29, 1944, were undoubtedly still alive when the stamp (Scott 934) was issued on Sept. 28, 1945.
The 2013 U.S. Harry Potter stamps all featured the actors who played the roles in the movies, and all were still living when the stamps were issued. [Shown right, Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter] The 2021 Tap Dance [below] stamps featured recognizable living models (dancers).
At this time, no stamps or other issues have been announced for any living people.
Date, City Set for GASS 2026
Great American Stamp Show (GASS) 2028 will be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan, August 24-27, 2028.The show is co-hosted by the American Philatelic Society, the American Topical Association, and the American First Day Cover Society, with the United States Postal Service serving as the official sponsor.
GASS/Americover 2027 will be in Albuquerque, N.M., August 19-22, 2027.
Tatum, Lake Recognized by AFDCS
Michael Lake and James Tatum Jr. are the 2026 recipients of the American First Day Cover Society’s Glenn C. Michel Award for Service to the society.
Mike (on the right in the photo) is currently Chair of the Education Department of the AFDCS, recognized as an educational non-profit by the IRS. Among his accomplishments during his tenure are 
establishing the AFDCS YouTube Channel and coordinating the video presentations on it, and helping the AFDCS make available the Mellone cachet catalogues. In addition, he writes a regular column in First Days, the AFDCS journal, on ArtCraft cachets, a major influence on the FDC specialty. He is an elected member of the Board of Directors.
Jim (on the left) recently stepped down as Chair of the Honors & Awards Committee and for many years ensured that as many participants as possible at Americover, the annual convention and exhibition of the AFDCS, signed the envelopes which are placed in the AFDCS Archive. He also has served on the Board.
Most members do not know that as television-film editor Jim edited national television commercials and worked with Rankin/Bass Productions on animated movies such as “The Hobbit” and “The Last Unicorn” plus the “ThunderCats” and “SilversHawks” animated 
series. Mike was a college sports marketing and production executive at ESPN before opening a Signarama franchise, producing a different kind of communications media.
The American First Day Cover Society is a not-for-profit educational organization. In addition to publishing its journal First Days, the AFDCS also publishes handbooks and catalogues, and promotes the collecting of both modern and “classic” issues and cachets, as well as exhibiting FDCs. It offers awards for outstanding first day cover exhibits and an annual contest for cachetmakers, and is a co-host of the annual Great American Stamp Show.
For more information about the AFDCS, visit www.afdcs.org, e-mail afdcs@afdcs.org or write the AFDCS at Post Office Box 57, Somerset, WI 54025-0057.
Ripley Is New AFDCS Board Chair
[press release]
Steven M. Ripley of Florida has been elected chair of the Board of Directors of the American First Day Cover Society. He succeeds Cynthia Scott of Indiana, who held the 
position for a number of years. In an interesting development, she replaces Ripley as chair of the Honors and Awards Committee.
Ripley has held many roles in the society, but is best known as the innovative chair of its Americover show and convention. He received the AFDCS Distinguished Service Award, its highest honor, in 2005. In addition to being a Life Member of the AFDCS, he is also a life member of the American Philatelic Society, American Topical Association, and other philatelic organizations. His specialties include the Walt Disney issue of 1968.
Outside philately, he is a supervisor of transportation and parking for major events such as the Super Bowl, NASCAR auto races, the Kentucky Derby and concerts. He also provides management services for non-profit and start-up businesses.
The American First Day Cover Society is a not-for-profit educational organization. In addition to publishing its journal First Days, the AFDCS also publishes handbooks and catalogues, and promotes the collecting of both modern and “classic” issues and cachets, as well as exhibiting FDCs. It offers awards for outstanding first day cover exhibits and an annual contest for cachetmakers, and is a co-host of the annual Great American Stamp Show.
The Chair of the Board is elected by the members of the Board. Neither the chair nor other Directors are compensated in any way for serving on the board, although they may receive reimbursement for expenses not related to serving on the board or attending meetings.
For more information about the AFDCS, visit www.afdcs.org, e-mail afdcs@afdcs.org or write the AFDCS at Post Office Box 57, Somerset, WI 54025-0057.
Getting Ready for Coast Guard Academy FDCs
The main 5″x7″ design of the Dragon Cards™; is printed but not yet cut, but the label cachets for the postcard combos are printed and cut. Note that the cachet labels for the postcards are two different sizes and slightly different designs. Scott UX52 and other 1965 postal cards (as they were called then) were smaller than 1978 issues like UX52. The building is Anderson Hall on the academy campus.
