The Postal Service announced the Mister Rogers stamp from 2018 as the winner of last summer’s Stamp Encore contest.
The Postal Service created a list of 25 stamp panes released since 1997 for the contest.
Customers and USPS employees voted for their favorite from the choices by either visiting the USPS Stamps Forever website or by printing a paper ballot and mailing it in.
The announcement of the winning stamp was timed to coincide with the Boston 2026 World Expo stamp show, which began May 23.
The Mister Rogers stamp was dedicated on March 23, 2018. It honors the host and creative force behind the “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” children’s TV show, which aired nationally from 1968 to 2001.
The series addressed the experiences of growing up — dealing with topics such as sharing and friendship — and featured a blend of music, puppets and visits to places like farms, factories and museums.
“Mister Rogers and his ‘Neighborhood of Make-Believe’ made the ups and downs of life easier to understand for the youngest members of our society,” said then-Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan, who led the ceremony which took place at the studio where the show was made in Pittsburgh.
The Mister Rogers stamp features Rogers wearing a red cardigan and standing with King Friday XIII, a character from the show’s fictional puppet kingdom
Derry Noyes, an art director for USPS, designed the stamp using a photograph by Walt Seng.
“When we issued the Mister Rogers stamp in 2018, we ordered a print run of some 15 million. That may sound like a lot, but Mister Rogers really took us by surprise,” said Isaac Cronkhite, the Postal Service’s chief processing and distribution officer, who spoke at the announcement in Boston.
“Within just a few weeks, the stamps honoring this humble, softspoken man had sold out completely,” he said.
The Forever stamp, issued in panes of 20, and a new four-stamp Mister Rogers souvenir sheet, will be available at Post Offices and usps.com starting June 1.
Email us your feedback. Your comments could be included in our “Mail” column.
