If you’re willing to admit to being middle age, then you’ll recall all of the early television shows—from situation comedies to drama to children’s programs. The U.S. Postal Service is commemorating these early shows with 44-cent stamps featuring snapshots of 20 of these shows. The sheets of stamps ($8.80) will be available for purchase for a limited time only.
For more than half a century, Americans have turned to television for entertainment and information. To those watching in its early days, TV offered the additional excitement of the new. Whether laughing at the first situation comedies, tingling at crime dramas, or identifying with ordinary people who had their day in the spotlight on game shows, audiences were charmed by the novelty of the young medium. Today, memories are a pure pleasure—and many of these early programs are being seen as reruns.
The early TV memories commemorated in the 20-stamp set include: Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Dinah Shore Show, Dragnet, Ed Sullivan Show, George Burns & Gracie Allen Show, Hopalong Cassidy, The Honeymooners, Howdy Doody, I Love Lucy, Kukla, Fran and Ollie, Lassie, The Lone Ranger, Perry Mason, Phil Silvers Show, Red Skelton, Texaco Star Theater, Tonight Show, Twilight Zone, and You Bet Your Life.
Customers have a mail-in opportunity for first-day of sale postmark for the stamps. Mail your stamped stationery item (one stamp per envelope) by November 1, 2009, to Customer Relations, USPS, 79 Mid Cape Ter., Ste 8, Cape Coral, FL 33991. Specify the city (Fort Myers, Cape Coral, or Naples, Florida) you would like the postmark for and include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for the return of your collectible. To request the postmark on the specially designed Early TV Memories cachet envelope, include $1.00 with the stamp of your choice. The postage stamp will be affixed to the cachet envelope and postmarked with the appropriate city. These envelopes make a great gift for seniors, stamp collectors, and just about anyone!
The Early TV Memories postage stamps are available for purchase online from www.usps.com, by calling 1-800-STAMP-24, or visiting your local Post Office.
For more information about purchasing stamps, stamps by mail, postal regulations, a free subscription to USA Philatelic magazine, Post Office events, the location of the nearest postal store or contract unit, or for answers to your specific Postal Service questions, contact USPS at 1-800-275-8777, or visit www.usps.com.To schedule a presentation for our community, club or group on how the Postal Service brings the Post Office to your home or office computer, call 239-573-9638.
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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/welcome.htm.
An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 149 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes, six days a week. It has 34,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services, not tax dollars, to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.
