Tickle Me Henry

There's something to look for in the new Henry Mancini stamp. The design shows the film composer conducting; in the lower left corner is the Pink Panther, whose theme Mancini wrote.

In the original design, the Panther's finger was so close to Mancini, it appeared to some he was tickling the composer. The Postal Service thought that took away from the seriousness of the tribute to Mancini, so by the time the stamps were actually printed and then released April 13th, the cartoon had been moved back a little from the composer.

However, all the publicity pictures of the stamp design, including the one used on this site - even the giant blow-up of the stamp used at the first day ceremony - showed the earlier design. And at the ceremony, postal clerks were selling two versions of the stamp: Touching and not touching. VSC members are calling them "tickle" and "spark gap," respectively. (photo right - Tickle top and Spark Gap bottom)

The Postal Service tells The Virtual Stamp Club no stamps were printed before the design was changed. Is it a printing shift? Another sort of mistake?

Keep up on the latest in The VSC's continuing discussion, which begins at Message 44 of the Henry Mancini stamp thread.

Photos from the Henry Mancini First Day Ceremony

Ginny Mancini tells The VSC how it feels
to have a stamp issued for her husband

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