Scott Catalogue Numbers:
5137 (47¢) Jack-o’-lantern with four teeth booklet stamp
5138 (47¢) Jack-o’-lantern with five teeth booklet stamp
5139 (47¢) Jack-o’-lantern with three teeth booklet stamp
5140 (47¢) Jack-o’-lantern with nine teeth booklet stamp
a. Block of 4, #5137-5140
b. Convertible booklet pane of 20, 5 each #5137-5140

Updated September 30th: Photos from the first day ceremony are here.

Updated September 28th: There is a defect in the new stamps. The USPS issued the following statement:

Banknote Corporation of America (BCA) has been a stamp supplier to the U.S. Postal Service since 1995. BCA employs advanced manufacturing methodology utilizing inline inspection systems in conjunction with a skilled workforce to deliver billions of stamps annually to the Postal Service.

In August 2016, BCA produced 50 million stamps of the Jack-o’-lanterns double sided books.

A manufacturing defect in the die cuts was recently discovered after initial distribution of these stamps. BCA was contacted, and Sandra Lane, BCA’s vice president prepared the following statement, “Stamps with out of register die cuts have been identified as being shipped to the USPS. Out of register die cut is part of the normal process variation and requires segregation. Unfortunately, not all the material was segregated correctly. We estimate approximately 5% of the 50 million Jack-o’-lantern stamps delivered to the USPS may be affected by the out of register die cut.

Everything we do at Banknote Corporation of America is focused on making products with the highest standards. We apologize for this oversight in our quality control process. We remain committed to provide the highest level of quality and service and look forward to our continued partnership for product innovation.”

First Day of Issuance for these stamps is scheduled on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. The Postal Service acknowledges this occurrence, ample supply has been distributed nationwide and will meet customer needs — no special orders will be taken. The Postal Service will continue with our original plan to distribute and sell these stamps. These stamps are valid for paying postage on letters and packages. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Updated September 17th: Here is the DCP for this issue: It measures 3.0” x 1.5”. The B&W postmark for this issue is the standard 4-bar First Day of Issue postmark.

Updated September 1st, from the USPS:
On September 29, 2016, in Anoka, MN, the U.S. Postal Service will issue the Jack-O’-Lanterns stamps (Forever® priced at 47 cents), in four designs, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) booklet of 20 stamps (Item 681400).

The stamps will go on sale nationwide September 29, 2016.

In the spirit of Halloween, the U.S. Postal Service issues these delightfully eerie stamps featuring photographs of four different jack-o’-lanterns. These creatively carved pumpkins have been symbols of Halloween in the United States since the late 19th century, not long after celebrations of the holiday began here. These stamps are the first Halloween-themed stamps to be issued by the U.S. Postal Service. The jack-o’-lanterns were carved by Paul Montanari and photographed by Sally Andersen-Bruce. The stamps were designed by art director Derry Noyes.

Stamp Fulfillment Services will make an automatic push distribution to Post Offices™ of a quantity to cover approximately 30 days of sales.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, at The Postal Store® website at http:⁄⁄www.usps.com⁄shop, or by calling 800-782-6724. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

Jack-O’-Lanterns Stamps
Stamp Fulfillment Services
Cancellation Services
8300 NE Underground Drive, Pillar 210
Kansas City, MO 64144-9998

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service™ will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by November 29, 2016.

There are six philatelic products for this stamp issue:

• 681406, Press Sheet with Die-cut, $56.40.
• 681410*, Digital Color Postmark Keepsake (Set of 4), $15.95.
• 681416*, First-Day Cover (Set of 4), $3.64.
• 681421*, Digital Color Postmark (Set of 4), $6.48.
• 681424*, Framed Art, $29.95.
• 681430*, Ceremony Program (Random single), $6.95.

Technical Specifications:

Issue: Jack-O‘-Lanterns Stamps
Item Number: 681400
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail, Forever
Format: Double-Sided Booklet of 20 (4 designs)
Series: N⁄A
Issue Date & City: September 29, 2016, Anoka, MN 55303
Art Director: Derry Noyes, Washington, DC
Designer: Derry Noyes, Washington, DC
Photographer: Sally Andersen-Bruce, New Milford, CT
Modeler: Sandra Lane⁄Michelle Finn
Manufacturing Process: Offset, Microprint
Printer: Banknote Corporation of America
Printed at: Browns Summit, NC
Press Type: Alprinta 74
Stamps per Booklet: 20
Print Quantity: 50,000,000 stamps
Paper Type: Phosphor Tagged Paper, Block
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Processed at: Banknote Corporation of America, Browns Summit, NC
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.73 x 0.84 in.⁄18.54 x 21.34 mm
Stamp Size (w x h): 0.87 x 0.98 in.⁄22.10 x 24.89 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 5.52 x 1.96 in.⁄140.21 x 49.78 mm
Press Sheet Size (w x h): 11.04 x 5.88 in.⁄280.42 x 149.35 mm
Colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, PMS Cool Gray 8
Plate Size: 960 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “B” followed by five (5) single digits
Marginal Markings: • Plate numbers in peel strip area • © 2015 • USPS in peel strip area

Updated March 24th, from the USPS: These will now be issued as booklets of 20.

Updated March 24th, from the USPS:

The Jack-O’-Lanterns Forever stamps will be issued at 11 a.m., Sept. 29 at the Anoka City Hall Plaza in Anoka, MN. [Anoka is about 20 miles north of Minneapolis. —VSC]

In the spirit of Halloween, the U.S. Postal Service issues these delightfully eerie stamps featuring photographs of four different jack-o’-lanterns.

This booklet of 20 stamps features four different photographs of jack-o’-lanterns. The jack-o’-lanterns were carved by Paul Montanari and photographed by Sally Andersen-Bruce of New Milford, CT.

Jack-o’-lanterns have been symbols of Halloween in the United States since the late 19th century, not long after celebrations of the holiday began here. Folklorists trace their name to a tale about a scoundrel named Jack who meets up with the Devil. Perhaps best known as an Irish legend, the story exists in myriad versions in Europe and North America: Jack tricks the Devil in unscrupulous ways that prevent him from going to Heaven but which also infuriate the Devil, who refuses to carry Jack’s soul to hell. With nowhere to go after he dies, Jack forever wanders the earth with a lantern made from a hollowed-out turnip lit by an ember from the fires of hell, a fate that earns him the name Jack of the Lantern.

In North America, native pumpkins proved to be an even more fitting medium for carving than turnips, and jack-o’-lanterns have become emblematic sights at autumn festivals and Halloween events.

Although Halloween itself is now largely a non-religious celebration, it grew out of All Hallows’ Eve, which is the night before All Saints’ Day, an early Christian observance still widely celebrated today. The Middle English word “halwe,” the source of our modern “hallow,” was a word meaning a saint or holy person, which is why this celebration was popularly known in England as All Hallows’ Day. Probably rooted in solemn observances mentioned in historical sources as early as the fourth century, All Saints’ Day was set as November 1 in Rome in the middle of the eighth century and was extended to the entire church in the middle of the ninth century. Later in the Middle Ages, it was followed on November 2 by All Souls’ Day, a time for the living to pray for the souls of the dead, especially those in purgatory. Many historians believe that All Saints’ Day was timed to coincide with Samhain (pronounced “sow-an”), the pre-Christian Celtic harvest celebration that marked the beginning of winter. By the 1500s, All Hallows’ Eve—a name eventually shortened to Halloween—was celebrated in the British Isles on October 31 amid bonfires, costumes, and revelry.

After the Middle Ages, Protestant reformers in England frowned on the Catholic celebration of All Saints’ Day, but Halloween never disappeared as a popular custom, and a dizzying array of related festivals and practices took hold throughout the British Isles. Halloween bonfires were common, but adults and children in Ireland also used the occasion to beg door-to-door for firewood or food, while young people in 18th-century Ireland and Scotland played fortune-telling games to reveal the names of their future spouses.

Brought to North America by immigrants from Ireland and Scotland, Halloween soon became a distinctively American celebration that transcended social boundaries and ethnic origin. In the early 20th century, the holiday was often a time for pranks and rowdiness, but communities and civic organizations worked to rein in those tendencies. After World War II, widespread enthusiasm for trick-or-treating gave the holiday a youthful emphasis, but since the 1970s adults have increasingly joined the festivities once again: a 2014 survey showed that nearly 67 percent of the American population celebrates Halloween in some way.

With customs and traditions that vary widely by community, Halloween now inspires parades and revelry, corn mazes and haunted houses, neighborhood and school parties, jack-o’-lantern and pumpkin festivals, and even pumpkin-catapulting. No matter how or where people observe this ever-changing holiday in the early 21st century, Halloween remains a much-anticipated celebration of the macabre in the face of approaching winter.

These stamps are the first Halloween-themed stamps to be issued by the U.S. Postal Service.

The Jack-O’-Lanterns stamps are being issued as Forever stamps. These Forever stamps will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce price.

From the USPS:

4 designs
FDOI: Information to come.
Format: Pane of 20

In the spirit of Halloween, the U.S. Postal Service® issues these delightfully eerie stamps featuring photographs of four different jack-o’-lanterns.

These creatively carved pumpkins have been symbols of Halloween in the United States since the late 19th century, not long after celebrations of the holiday began here.

Art Director: Derry Noyes
Jack-O’-Lantern design and carving: Paul Montanari
Photographer: Sally Andersen-Bruce

[Reporters were told by Stamp Services chief Mary-Anne Penner that these stamps are the first Halloween-themed stamps to be issued by the U.S. Postal Service. What about the Legend of Sleepy Hollow stamp, issues October 10, 1974? —LdeV]