US Postal Service Stamps

This episode reveals the surprisingly complex bureaucratic and artistic process behind US postal stamp creation. Only five art directors at the USPS are responsible for designing every stamp issued annually, working with retired stamp development manager Terry McCaffrey and current art director Ethel Kessler. The process begins with 50,000 public suggestions submitted by mail to the Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC), which filters proposals through about a dozen rules: stamps must primarily feature Americans, commemorate births/anniversaries/contributions, avoid disasters and controversial religion, and reflect themes of widespread appeal.

The most successful stamp discussed was the 1998 breast cancer awareness stamp, which cleverly depicted the goddess Diana reaching for an arrow in a design that subtly resembled medical self-examination diagrams. This stamp pioneered fundraising stamps by charging an extra 8 cents, raising $73 million for research over decades. Conversely, an alcoholism awareness stamp failed spectacularly because recipients interpreted it as the sender calling them alcoholic. The art directors emphasize that stamp design requires a completely different skillset than traditional art - the mantra is 'keep it simple and look at it at stamp size' since the canvas is only 1x1.5 inches.

A major policy shift occurred in 2011 when the USPS eliminated the requirement that stamp subjects be deceased, moving from 10 years dead to 5 years to allowing living people. When they crowdsourced nominations for the first living person stamp online, Lady Gaga topped the list alongside Bob Dylan and Steve Jobs, though McCaffrey cryptically notes the actual choice won't be Gaga. The episode frames stamps as miniature works of art that 'tell the story of America in pictures' for just 45 cents.