Monday, May 4, 2026
USPS to celebrate Barbie
These new stamps will show the doll dressed for 10 careers
The Postal Service will release a set of stamps this summer to honor Barbie, the best-selling doll of all time.
The pane will feature Barbie dolls through the years dressed for 10 careers.
Mattel Inc. introduced Barbie in 1959 as “The Original Teenage Fashion Model.” The doll quickly became a cultural icon and symbol of limitless possibilities for generations of American children.
Over the past 67 years, Barbie has represented more than 250 careers, including surgeon, astronaut, paleontologist, soccer player, sign language teacher and music star.
Ethel Kessler, an art director for USPS, worked with Mattel on the design of the stamps and pane. The stamps are a third taller than the usual vertical commemorative stamp.
Kessler said the stamps use bright, energetic shades — predominately the famous “Barbie Pink” — to evoke a feeling of joy.
The commemorative Barbie Forever stamps will be released July 11 during the 2026 National Barbie Doll Collectors Convention in Austin, TX.
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It’s National Postal Forum week
The mailing and shipping industry’s annual conference is taking place in Phoenix
The National Postal Forum, the mailing and shipping industry’s largest annual conference, will be held from Sunday, May 3, through Wednesday, May 6, at the Phoenix Convention Center in Arizona.
The conference allows attendees to discover new tools, technologies and services to improve their mailing and shipping operations.
Other highlights will include a keynote address from Postmaster General David Steiner, more than 100 educational workshops, seven USPS leadership insight sessions and daily networking events.
The Postal Service also will release its Route 66 stamps during the forum on Tuesday, May 5.
The National Postal Forum’s website has more information.
Heroes
She helped her customer — then fed the cats
This rural carrier found a bleeding woman on the bathroom floor
Rural Carrier Deanna Owsley was delivering mail to a home in Clinton, MO, when she noticed that her customer didn’t answer the front door as she usually did.
The Postal Service employee contacted a neighbor who had a spare key.
They found the customer on the bathroom floor, bleeding. She had fallen while getting into the shower.
Owsley called 911, and paramedics airlifted the customer to the hospital because she had a brain hemorrhage.
The carrier went back to the customer’s home after work to feed her cats and unplug the coffee maker.
Employees featured in “Heroes” receive letters of commendation through the Postmaster General Heroes’ Program. The nomination form is available on Blue.
Week in Review
Here’s what Link covered April 26-May 2
A vow to buckle up and a postage due technician made news
Letter carriers around the country recently took a seat belt pledge, vowing to always buckle up when driving while on duty, as Link reported last week.
“Safety is not optional,” Elvin Mercado, chief retail and delivery officer, told employees.
The importance of always buckling up was reinforced by another Link story last week, about a rural carrier whose Jeep hit another vehicle in a head-on collision. The employee was not wearing a seat belt and suffered serious injuries.
Link shared news of the Postal Service running another 90-day Customer Experience Vision Activation pilot at 16 sorting and delivery centers; new USPS wrapping paper to match its new Happy Birthday stamps; an ethics reminder about when it’s acceptable to attend an event for free; and the reason May was chosen as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
“On the Job” highlighted the work of Adrian Sherrod, a postage due technician at the Memphis, TN, Processing and Delivery Center who handles Business Reply Mail for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, among her other duties. “I’ve been with the Postal Service for 28 years and have taken pride in each job I have performed, but this position is really fulfilling,” Sherrod said.
And “People” took a behind-the-scenes look at the photo shoot for the USPS Dog Bite Awareness campaign coming in June. This year, the spot stars James O’Malley, a carrier coordinator in Pennsylvania, and a black Labrador retriever named Olive, a therapy dog.
Finally, “Heroes” told the story of Deanna Owsley, a rural carrier in Clinton, MO, who noticed a customer didn’t answer her front door, as was her habit.
Owsley and a neighbor with a spare key entered the woman’s home and discovered her on the floor. The USPS employee called 911. Paramedics airlifted the woman — who had suffered a brain hemorrhage — to the hospital.
Owsley returned to the customer’s home to feed her cats.
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June deadline for contractor cybersecurity training is approaching
Postal Service contractors must complete a cybersecurity training course by Saturday, June 6.
The 2026 CyberSafe Fundamentals for Contractors course covers the skills, knowledge, best practices and policies contractors need to know to keep USPS electronic data secure.
Contractors who do not complete the training will have limited access to ACE systems, starting June 12, until the course is completed.
There is a one-time test-out option available. Those who score 100 percent on the test do not have to take the training.
In the days leading up to the deadline, Outlook calendar holds will be added to the calendars of contractors who have not finished the course.
The course is available through the USPS Learning Management System.
The CyberSafe at USPS Blue page has more information.
Contractors with questions can email the CyberSafe at USPS team.
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USPS to celebrate Barbie
These new stamps will show the doll dressed for 10 careers
-
It’s National Postal Forum week
The mailing and shipping industry’s annual conference is taking place in Phoenix
-
Heroes
She helped her customer — then fed the cats
This rural carrier found a bleeding woman on the bathroom floor
-
Week in Review
Here’s what Link covered April 26-May 2
A vow to buckle up and a postage due technician made news
-
Brief
June deadline for contractor cybersecurity training is approaching