Product Review

The Postal Service issued the 34-cent Greetings from America stamps in a self-adhesive pane of fifty individual designs on April 4, 2002. The Postal Service held an official ceremony on April 4, 2002, in all fifty states and at the Mega Stamp Show in New York, New York. The stamps, designed by Richard Sheaff, of Scottsdale, Arizona, and illustrated by Lonnie Busch, of Franklin, North Carolina, represent each of the fifty states. The Greetings from America stamps were the first pane of fifty individually designed stamps issued in ten years. The artist was inspired by "large letter" postcards used to advertise cities, states, or tourist attractions. The postcards depicted local scenes inside big letters that spelled out the name of the place or attractions during the 1930s and 1940s. The bright colors and creative designs of these stamps hint at the romance of travel and discovery, conveying nostalgia for all aspects of popular American culture. Text on the back of each stamp lists the state's bird, flower, tree, and capital, as well as the date the state entered the Union.