Call me old-fashioned or even a Grumpy Old Man, but I really object to thinly-veiled commercials in recent U.S. stamps: Issues that celebrate a product or company, without actually admitting it.
Granted, the latest U.S. Postal Service selection criteria, which you can see here, do not rule out commercial commemorations. It just seems wrong and demeaning to stamp 
issuance.
The latest is Espresso Drinks. It is being issued within a month of the 50th anniversary of Starbucks, in the city (Seattle) where it is founded and still has its headquarters. Also coming up this year: Star Wars Droids. It’s not until the seventh paragraph (of 10) in the announcement that the alleged justification is mentioned: “Lucasfilm, the studio that created the Star Wars franchise, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2021.”
Last year, it was Bugs Bunny, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the cartoon character’s introduction. Even if I were to concede that the Wascally Wabbit is one of the 
“extraordinary and enduring contributions to American society, history, culture or environment,” the USPS criteria also states “Events of historical significance shall be considered for commemoration on anniversaries in multiples of 50 years.” That was the reason given why the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II was not honored.
Before that, it was Scooby-Doo (another cartoon character, 49 years old at the time), Sparkling Holidays (using easily recognizable Coca-Cola advertising images), Hot Wheels and all sorts of Disney issues, including 2017’s Disney Villains. “Negative occurrences and disasters will not be commemorated,” but bad guys are all right, huh?
In 2013, the U.S. issued 20 Harry Potter stamps, but none for the 150th anniversary of one of the greatest speeches in American history, the Gettysburg Address. (To add insult to injury, the Potter stamps were issued on the Gettysburg Address anniversary date.) Don’t get me wrong: I love the Harry Potter stories, I read all the books when they first were published, saw all the movies, and I marvel at how it got schoolchildren to read books. But no Gettysburg Address stamp?
It’s not just the U.S., either. Royal Mail in Britain must have staffers 
working full-time on reasons to issue new Harry Potter, Star Wars or Star Trek stamps. Part of the justification for honoring the latter last year was especially laughable: Some of the actors who starred or were featured in Trek were British!
Yes, postal agencies make money on pop culture stamps: It costs a fraction of the face value to print them, not much more to market and sell them. The postal people can also 
make money from related products, like coffee mugs, sweatshirts and framed prints.
However, I think these stunt stamps are more of a cry for attention: “Hey, look at us! Look at us! Stamps are still relevant! This postal agency is still relevant! Pay attention to us!” People and the press will pay more attention to pop culture subjects than an award-winning playwright (August Wilson, U.S., 2021), a country’s strengths and accomplishments (Britain, 2021), or its medical discoveries (Insulin, Canada, 2021). Getting such attention may be necessary for continued funding or even continued existence. But so is denoting important facets of a country’s heritage.
Of course, I am free not to buy Hot Wheels or Scooby-Doo, and I didn’t. I am free to obtain postmarks commemorating historical events that USPS Stamp Services didn’t. And, now that I am officially an Old Man (retired, collecting pensions) and was always Grumpy, I am free to be a Grumpy Old Man.
Canadians stay in touch now, when it matters so much, Canada Post will deliver approximately 13.5 million postcards, one to every residential address in the country.
Mr. David McLaughlin, chair of CAPEX 22 stated “We are pleased that R. Maresch & Son will be continuing their 71-year support of CAPEX international exhibitions in Canada. Three generations of the Maresch family have helped Canadian and international collectors build their collections for almost a century now since Dr. Richard A R Maresch became a stamp dealer in Vienna in 1924.”
The pretty bright-pink flower of Malus ‘Rosseau’ was introduced in 1928 by the Central Experimental Farm’s pioneering ornamental plant breeder, Isabella Preston. The delicate white bloom of Malus ‘Maybride’ is a dwarf cultivar bred by Preston’s successors, Daniel Foster Cameron and Dexter Reid Sampson.
fruit. Serious foodies also note that crabapple wood is excellent for smoking meats and cheeses.
because their otherwise dark coats turn white in winter.
snowshoe hare and northern collared lemming (dietary staples of many carnivores) and Peary caribou try to blend into the background to escape detection.
Mathilde Poirier the northern collared lemming; and Paul Loewen the Peary caribou.
Les timbres consacrés aux mammifères des neiges mettent en vedette cinq animaux du Canada qui ont la capacité unique de s’adapter à nos hivers en changeant la couleur de leur pelage au gré des saisons.
Ces 5 animaux sont au nombre des 19 espèces de mammifères dans le monde, dont 12 au Canada, qui changent de couleur grâce à un processus physiologique complexe influencé par une sensibilité à la durée du jour. Leur pelage commence graduellement à blanchir après la première neige. Ce processus s’inverse au printemps.
Dans le coin inférieur gauche de chaque vignette se cachent les traces laissées par l’animal dans la nouvelle neige, visibles seulement sous une lumière ultraviolette (lumière noire).
