Stamp Announcement 11-21: Oveta Culp Hobby (3rd Ounce)

© 2010 USPS

On April 15, 2011, in Houston, Texas, the Postal Ser­vice™ will issue an 84-cent Oveta Culp Hobby (3rd ounce) definitive stamp, in one design in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 104700). This stamp in the Distinguished Americans series honors Oveta Culp Hobby (1905–1995), journalist, business leader, and public servant. During World War II, she answered the call to public service by forming and leading the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). In 1953, she became the first secretary of the Deparment of Health, Education, and Welfare — the second woman to hold a cabinet post.

The stamp art, by illustrator and painter Sterling Hund­ley, Richmond, Virginia, is based on an undated black-and-white photograph of Hobby in her WAC uniform, with its legendary service cap, the “Hobby hat.” The stamp, designed by Phil Jordan, Falls Church, Virginia, will go on sale nationwide April 15, 2011.

How to Order the First Day of Issue Postmark

Customers have 60 days to obtain the first day of issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office™ facility, at The Postal Store^® website at www.usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

Oveta Culp Hobby Stamp
401 Franklin St.
Houston, TX 77201-9998

After applying the first day of issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark. All orders must be postmarked by June 15, 2011.

How to Order First Day Covers

Stamp Fulfillment Services also offers first day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items post­marked with the official first day of issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly USA Philatelic Catalog. Customers may request a free catalog by calling 800-STAMP-24 or writing to:

Information Fulfillment
Dept. 6270
U.S. Postal Service
PO Box 219014
Kansas City, MO 64121-9014

Philatelic Products

There is one philatelic product available for this stamp issue:

n 104761*, First Day Cover, $1.28.

Items with an asterisk (*) will use the 128 barcode from Stamp Fulfillment Services. All other philatelic products will continue to use barcode series A, with the exception of the Yearbook and the Guide Book.

Distribution: Item 104700, 84-cent Oveta Culp Hobby (3rd ounce), PSA Pane of 20 Stamps

Stamp distribution offices (SDOs) and stamp distribu­tion centers (SDCs) will receive an automatic distribution quantity of Item 104700. Distributions are rounded up to the nearest master carton size of 40,000 stamps.

Initial Supply to Post Offices

SDOs/SDCs will not make a subsequent automatic dis­tribution to Post Offices for this item. Post Offices requiring quantities of Item 104700 must requisition them from their designated SDO/SDC using PS Form 17, Stamp Requisi­tion/Stamp Return. SDOs/SDCs must not distribute this stamp to Post Offices before April 1, 2011.

— Stamp Services,
Government Relations and Public Policy, 3-24-11