CHICAGO — The Chicago Post Office will ring in the Lunar New Year with a special dedication of the Year of the Monkey Forever stamp.

The ceremony will take place as part of the Chicago Chinatown Chamber of Commerce’s annual Lunar New Year dinner, on Wed., Feb 10 at MingHin Cuisine, 2168 S. Archer Ave. (2nd floor) at 6 p.m. Use the hashtag #LunarNewYear to share the news on social media.

Year of the Monkey is the ninth of 12 stamps in the Celebrating Lunar New Year stamp series. It is being issued as a souvenir sheet of 12 self-adhesive Forever stamps. As a Forever stamp, it will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce price.

“For millions of people, here and around the world, the Lunar New Year is one of the most popular and exciting holidays of the year,” said Chicago Post Office customer service operations manager David Clark. “For 123 years, our commemorative stamp program has celebrated the cultures of people from around the globe — that together reflect the rich and complex heritage of Chicago and all of America.”

The Postal Service will join community leaders and local dignitaries at the Lunar New Year dinner in welcoming the Year of the Monkey with the traditional Lion Dance and red envelope ceremony, entertainment and feasting on traditional Lunar New Year dishes. 2016 marks the 104th anniversary of Chicago's Chinatown.

The Postal Service introduced its Celebrating Lunar New Year stamp series in 2008. The series will continue through 2019 with stamps for the Year of the Rooster, Dog and Boar.

Art director Ethel Kessler worked on the series with illustrator Kam Mak, a Hong Kong-born artist who grew up in New York City’s Chinatown. The stamp artwork focuses on some common ways the Lunar New Year holiday is celebrated. The Year of the Monkey illustration — originally created using oil paints on panel — depicts two red-orange peonies against a purple background. Peonies symbolize wealth and honor in Chinese culture and often decorate the sides of traditional drums played during the holiday festivities.

“The peony painting was inspired by three Chinese peony trees I have in my own garden,” said Mak. “It is a popular flower that is rich in holiday symbolism. I hope the painting will evoke a sense of renewal and the coming of spring.”

The stamp design also incorporates two elements from the previous series of Lunar New Year stamps: Clarence Lee’s intricate cut-paper design of a monkey and the Chinese character for “monkey” drawn in grass-style calligraphy by Lau Bun.

Celebrating Lunar New Year
The Year of the Monkey begins Feb. 8 and ends Jan. 27, 2017. The monkey is one of the 12 zodiac animal signs associated with the Chinese lunar calendar. According to legend the animals raced across a river to determine their order in the cycle.

People born in the year of a particular animal sign are said to share characteristics with that animal. Individuals born during the Year of the Monkey are said to be clever, wise and honest.

The Lunar New Year is one of the most important holidays for many Asian communities around the world. Images associated with some of these widespread customs are depicted in the Celebrating Lunar New Year series.

The occasion is marked in various ways across cultures. Parades feature enormous and vibrantly painted papier-mâché dragons. Musicians play drums, often decorated with peonies like those depicted in the stamp art, to celebrate this time of renewed hope for the future, with drumsticks sometimes painted red for luck. Many families present red envelopes containing money to children and loved ones. People eat foods that bring good luck, such as kumquats and rice cakes, and hang festive lanterns as decoration.

Many of this year’s other stamps may be viewed on Facebook at facebook.com/USPSStamps or via Twitter @USPSstamps.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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