Daily printout: June 11

The Postal Service dedicated its American Icons stamps in New York City on June 9.

The images on the 13 commemorative stamps were chosen by fashion designer Ralph Lauren, the first time the Postal Service has invited an individual to curate a complete stamp issuance.

“The United States Postal Service has a long and proud tradition of chronicling our nation’s history, and we are deeply honored to dedicate these stamps as a tribute to America’s 250th anniversary,” said Elvin Mercado, USPS chief retail and delivery officer. “This collection captures the enduring values and visual touchstones that define the American experience.”

Joining Mercado for the ceremony were master of ceremonies Elliot Gruber, director of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum; Katie Couric, journalist and co-founder of Katie Couric Media; and Frank Bennack Jr., executive vice chairman and former CEO of the Hearst Corp.

The stamp artwork includes an American flag, a baseball glove used by Jackie Robinson, a pickup truck, a dog, the Empire State Building, a barn, a Diné (Navajo) blanket, a teddy bear, a lighthouse, a hamburger, a sailboat, horses and a knitted flag design created by Lauren. The images were selected from his personal archives and other visuals that have inspired his work.

The collection was designed by Greg Breeding, an art director for USPS.

The 2026 U.S. Flag mail-use stamp, which features Lauren’s knitted flag design, was also released.

The Forever stamps are available at usps.com and Post Offices nationwide.

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The latest episode of “Mailin’ It!,” the USPS podcast, explores how the organization is diverting materials from landfills, increasing package recyclability and helping customers shrink their own carbon footprints.

The guest is Jennifer Beiro-Réveillé, the Postal Service’s chief sustainability officer.

The 22-minute episode was released June 9 and is available on Link and other postal websites, as well as most podcast platforms.

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The USPS Stamps Forever website devoted the final installment of its Stamp Encore series to the winner of the first-of-its-kind contest: the 2018 Mister Rogers stamp.

Last summer, as part of the organization’s 250th anniversary celebration, USPS invited customers and employees to vote on a favorite from among 25 releases issued between 1997 and 2022.

The contest was called Stamp Encore because the winning stamp would be reissued.

Voting was open July 23-Sept. 30, and nearly 600,000 ballots were cast. The top vote-getter was kept under wraps until the big reveal at the Boston 2026 World Expo last month.

“The Stamp Encore project really caused us to do things differently than we’ve done — I would say ever,” Lisa Bobb-Semple, USPS director of stamp services, said in the article on the Stamps Forever website. “Everybody brainstormed and figured out what we could do differently.”

One of those differences was a bit of traveling theater.

“To build anticipation for the Stamp Encore unveiling, we took the package containing the winning stamp to earlier first-day-of-issue ceremonies to continue that drumbeat” of anticipation, she said.

In addition to being an engaging way to celebrate the organization’s 250th anniversary, Bobb-Semple said she saw Stamp Encore as a means of giving USPS insight into what customers want to see reflected on their postage.

“I think a lot of times people are selecting stamps because of what message that stamp sends — what you’re trying to communicate and what it means,” she said.

She said she was not surprised by the contest’s outcome because the Mister Rogers stamp “was extremely, wildly popular when it first came out.”

For Derry Noyes, an art director for USPS and the creator of the 2018 stamp’s design, the message of Mister Rogers is timeless.

“Fred Rogers is the embodiment of a good person and saw good qualities in everyone,” Noyes said in the article. “We are in need of such human beings in this world. I believe that is why this stamp won the competition.”

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