Stamp Backstory

Despite the public's frequent contact with the Postal Service, the agency's operations remain a bit of a mystery for many people.

One surprising fact is that most subjects that appear on U.S. stamps are suggested by the public. Each year, the agency's Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee evaluates thousands of proposals, which must be submitted in writing at least three years before the proposed date of issue. The committee is charged with selecting subjects that are of broad national interest and that are both interesting and educational.

Twelve major criteria are currently used to screen proposals. For instance, a stamp must portray an American or American-related subject. It can't show a living person. And events of historical significance can only be commemorated on anniversaries in multiples of 50 years.

Once the Postal Service approves a given subject, art directors under contract to the agency suggest artists to execute the designs. "Stamp designing is an unusual art form requiring exacting skill in portraying a subject within very small dimensions," the agency notes. As such, it doesn't accept unsolicited artwork.

If the Postal Service wants to raise rates, it must win approval from the Postal Rate Commission, an independent regulatory agency. PRC holds a series of public hearings and after 10 months or so it issues its opinion about the rate increase to the Board of Governors of the Postal Service.

Incidentally, the Postal Service is a self-supporting agency that receives no tax dollars for operations. It uses revenues generated by the sale of postage and other products to pay expenses. Annual operating revenue is nearly $73 billion.

Several other intriguing facts can be found on the Postal Service's website. The agency, which is the second-largest employer in the U.S., handles 213 billion pieces of mail each year. Each letter carrier delivers an average of almost 2,900 pieces of mail per day to more than 500 addresses.

Among the Postal Service's 37,000 post offices, one in Leadville, Colo., is the highest in elevation and another in Wainwright, Alaska, is the coldest. The smallest post office, in Ochopee, Fla., was formerly an irrigation pipe shed, according to the agency. It measures mere 8 feet 4 inches???by???7 feet 3 inches.

The designation of "most extraordinary post office" goes to the facility in Supai, Ariz. "This office is equipped with walk-in refrigerators and freezers to accommodate the food that is delivered to the bottom of the Grand Canyon by mule train for the Havasupai Indians," notes the Postal Service.

Those conditions call to mind what many think of as the agency's motto: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

"These words, inscribed at the top of the James A. Farley building in New York City, are considered to be the motto of the Postal Service," the agency's website notes. "In fact, it isn't a motto at all. The phrase is the translation of an ancient Greek work of Herodotus describing the Persian system of mounted carriers, c. 500 B.C."