[press release]
Valentine’s Day Card Workshop @ NPM
Saturday & Sunday!
February 9 & 10, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Homemade love is in the air at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum’s annual Valentine’s Day Card Workshop! Perfect for visitors of all ages, this open-house event will be held from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. on both Saturday & Sunday, Feb. 9 & 10.
The museum provides a bountiful spread of patterned papers, rubber stamps and postage stamps for decoration, gems and other 3-D embellishments, special cut-out scissors, washi tape, stickers, markers of every color (with a surplus of red and pink!) and more! Following their own creative instincts, kids and adults can choose whichever supplies they would like to design one-of-a-kind Valentine greetings. In keeping with educating children about the Postal Service and how mail works, kids can mail their cards right from the museum — there’s a post office in the building! Visitors are also encouraged to explore the whole museum and everything else it has to offer!
The workshop takes place in the museum’s lower-level Atrium, which, for those new to the National Postal Museum, is full of various postal transports from over the years, including a real train car, semi-truck (yes, kids can climb in and pretend to drive!), a horse-drawn carriage and airplanes hanging from the ceiling. The layout of the card-making stations and supply tables fosters sharing, friendliness and a sense of community. And the museum’s pleasant staff and volunteers are always available to answer questions, provide examples of completed cards, or help in any other way!
In the modern era, a handmade card can be hard to come by! This event is the perfect environment in which kids can express their love for friends and family with a heartfelt note of affection and appreciation. They can also experience firsthand the satisfaction of crafting their very own unique creations from start to finish, and the pure joy of giving that creation to someone special. The National Postal Museum’s Valentine’s Day Card Workshop is free and requires no advance registration.
elected four people to its Board of Directors for three-year terms that began Jan. 1, 2019.
“The Postal Service honors the nation’s brave and loyal military working dogs with this new booklet of 20 stamps. Each block of four stamps features one stamp of each of the following breeds — German shepherd, Labrador retriever, Belgian Malinois and Dutch shepherd — that commonly serve in America’s armed forces. The background of each stamp features a detail of a white star. A star appears in the center of each block. The stylized digital illustrations are in red, white, blue and gold to represent the American flag and patriotism. The art was created by DKNG Studios. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamps.”
The Postal Service™ honors the nation’s brave and loyal military working dogs with this new booklet of 20 stamps. Each block of four stamps features one of each of the following breeds serving in America’s armed forces:
The Digital Color Postmark measures 2.57″x1.41″ 
The B&W pictorial postmark measures 2.93″x1.48″
“This issuance honors artist Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015). Kelly pioneered a distinctive style of abstraction based on real elements reduced to their essential forms. His artworks include paintings, sculpture and works on paper. The 20 stamps on the pane feature 10 pieces, each represented twice: Yellow White (1961), Colors for a Large Wall (1951), Blue Red Rocker (1963), Spectrum I (1953), South Ferry (1956), Blue Green (1962), Orange Red Relief (for Delphine Seyrig) (1990), Meschers (1951), Red Blue (1964) and Gaza (1956). A detail from Blue Yellow Red III (1971) appears in the selvage. Derry Noyes served as art director and designer for this issuance.”
What:
The B&W pictorial postmark measures 2.61″ x 0.88″ 
“This issuance honors extraordinary tennis champion 
What: 
The Digital Color Postmark measures 2.82″x1.49″ 
The B&W pictorial measures 2.98″x1.04″ 
The “special” postmark, for use by other post offices, measures 2.88″x0.88″
“The Postal Service issues Star Ribbon, a stamp designed to meet the needs of business mailers. The artwork features a digital illustration of a star made of red, white and blue ribbon. The white space in the middle of the ribbon creates a second smaller star. The tri-colored ribbon, folded into a patriotic symbol, is intended to evoke the connectedness of the American people. The stamp will be sold in coils of 10,000 and in panes of 20. Greg Breeding was the art director. Aaron Draplin designed the stamp and created the artwork.”
This pictorial postmark measures 2.66″ x 1.36″.
On March 22, 2019, in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, the U.S. Postal Service will issue the Star Ribbon stamp (Forever priced at the First-Class Mail rate) in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 120600), a PSA coil of 3,000 stamps (Item 759900), and a PSA coil of 10,000 stamps (Item 760500). The stamp will go on sale nationwide on March 22, 2019, and must not be sold or cancelled before the first-day-of-issue.
Three new stamps in a pane of 18 mark the 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad, a massive engineering feat that reduced travel time across the country from as many as six months to about one week and made the American West an integral part of the nation. Two different stamps feature the Jupiter and the No. 119 locomotives that powered the trains carrying the officers and guests of two train companies to the “Golden Spike Ceremony,” held when the two rail lines were joined at Promontory Summit in Utah. A third stamp portrays the famous golden spike that was a prominent part of the ceremony. Art director Greg Breeding designed the issuance. Michael J. Deas painted the Jupiter and No. 119 stamps. Kevin Cantrell illustrated the stamp depicting the ceremonial golden spike and did the border treatments and typography for all three stamps.
One major change is in “First-Class Package Service—Retail,” which the USPS calls “a lightweight expedited offering used primarily by businesses for fulfillment purposes.” It includes tracking, at about half the cost of Priority Mail. However, it is not easy to produce a table for this service, because the rate now 
TORONTO, Jan. 24, 2019 /CNW/ – Tomorrow, Canada Post will issue a stamp honouring Albert Jackson, thought to be the first Black letter carrier in Canada. Jackson earned his appointment to the civil service in 1882, but faced racism from his colleagues, media and members of the public as he pursued what ultimately turned out to be a successful 36-year career with the postal service.
Growing up in Toronto, Jackson was able to pursue his education and, as an adult, he competed for and won a position as a letter carrier in 1882. However, when he reported for work his co-workers refused to train him and he was assigned a lower job as hall porter. After political pressure, particularly from Toronto’s Black community, and intervention from Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, Jackson was soon out walking his delivery route in Harbord Village, where a laneway has since been named after him.
