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Lets Celebrate Forever® Stamp – USPS – Issue day ceremony

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The U.S. Postal Service issued the Let’s Celebrate! Forever stamp, giving customers a way to add extra fun and happiness to celebratory greeting cards, invitations, and gift-bearing envelopes and packages. News of the stamp is being shared using the hashtag #CelebrationStamp.

“The bright and cheery stamp is filled with vibrant, exciting circles like a burst of confetti…The Let’s Celebrate! stamp will help send cheer and a dash of fun through the mail.”” said Janice Walker, VP Corporate Communications – U.S. Postal Service

Joining Walker to dedicate the stamp were Chris Lazaroff, executive committee board member, American First Day Cover Society; Elizabeth Hisey, Co-Founder, Women Exhibitors; and Tina M. Sweeney, manager, Post Office operations, Arizona/New Mexico District, U.S. Postal Service.

The first-day-of-issue event took place during the Aripex 2020 Stamp Show in Mesa, AZ. Let’s Celebrate! features an array of colorful circles in varying sizes arranged in a random pattern. The letters in the word “celebrate,” cast in a dark green hue, appear inside several brightly colored circles on a white background. Antonio Alcalá, a USPS art director, designed the stamp.

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Mailing Service Center Celebrates Small Business Saturday 11/26/16

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Small businesses create nearly seven out of every ten new private sector jobs and employ half the private sector work force. They represent 99.7% of all U.S. businesses with employees and have created 63% of the net new jobs over the last 20 years. ~ Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH) ~ Forbes

The Small Business Saturday Story

  • 2010 – Day One –  The first-ever Small Business Saturday took place on Nov 27.  It encouraged people across the country to support small, local businesses.
  • 2011 – The Day Became Official – The United States Senate unanimously passed a resolution of support for Small Business Saturday.
  • 2012 – EVERY STATE IN THE UNION – From Washington D.C., to Washington State, governors, mayors, and even President Obama championed Small Business Saturday.
  • 2013 – Neighborhoods Celebrated The Day – The day continued to grow, with more individuals and local organizations pledging to support the day as Neighborhood Champions.
  • 2014 – SMALL BUSINESSES OWNED THE DAY – American Express encouraged small business owners to take charge of the day, helping them promote their businesses with free personalized ads, which appeared millions of times across the web.
  • 2015 – ONE FOR THE BOOKS – Shoppers supported their neighborhood businesses like never before, continuing to embrace the day as a holiday shopping tradition.

 

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Mailing Service Center Celebrates Small Business Saturday 11/26/16

USPS on Ellen DeGeneris Show – 12 Days of Christmas

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The USPS played the role of sponsor on the Ellen DeGeneres Show this 2013 Christmas Season.  Famous for her “Beat the Clock” style of games played with guests and audience members, the USPS jumped right in with Ellen, playing a hilarious game they called… Rain, Sleet or Oh No!  See the audience member in the video below race against time to deliver a package through 5 major US cities…USPS style!

In the Oprah tradition, being an audience member on the Ellen Show can be highly rewarding…if not profitable.  While DeGeneres and her show sponsors give away lots of lavish prizes on almost every shown…just for being there…the 12 Days of Giveaways is a special annual tradition. And being in the audience on any of those 12 Days is a highly sought after spot.  On the first day alone, a bountiful lot of gifts worth $2400 was bestowed on audience members.

Starting off with small gifts with big price tags. With gift cards from Restaurant.com, PS Penny and a $300 gift card from Retail Me Not. The giving didn’t stop there as the audience each got on iPad 2 and a beats Dr Dre headphones, an iHome Ipad digital power set, and a slew of “red products” in honor of World Aids Day on Thursday.

Ellen’s 12 Days of Giveaways shows are some of the most popular episodes of the entire year. Watching to see what are the latest gifts and new gadgets, the show always gifts some great ideas on what could be given to friends and family for the holidays. Seeing people get stuffed with presents…over and over… as they all scream with joy and excitement…makes for a feel good event…just like Christmas morning.

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Muscle Car Stamps Celebrated by USPS [Video]

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Forever Stamps Series

Seven-time NASCAR National Champion Richard Petty helped the USPS to dedicate the latest in the America on the Move series: Muscle Cars Forever stamps

As the third issuance in the America on the Move stamp series,  the Muscle Cars stamps are being issued as Forever stamps in self-adhesive sheets of 20 (four of each design). Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price. (artwork created by Tom Fritz of Newbury P)

Two nostalgic groups have finally banded together: The U.S. Postal Service and muscle cars.

As NASCAR prepares to kick off another season down in Daytona, Fla., the post office used seven-time NASCAR champ Richard Petty to unveil the five muscle cars being honored. Small and big blocks were well represented in the collection of cars that includes the 1966 Pontiac GTO, 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS, 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, and 1970 Plymouth Hemi Cuda in the post office’s third series nod to the automotive industry.

Read More – Motortrend


Recycling Program Expanded by USPS

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The U.S. Postal Service has expanded the availability of a 3,100 retail location recycling program…enabling customers to  trade in old electronic gadgets for cash, or simply recycle them more responsibly.  Working with MaxBack, an electronics recycling company that specializes in reducing landfill waste by either buying back or simply recycling unwanted electronics…the USPS is using it’s network infrastructure to make it easy for customers to go green.

Now, there’s no reason to throw away small obsolete electronic devices that further contaminate landfills.  You may even be able to get cash back for certain eligible items, like cell phones, iPods®, and tablets by visiting MaxBack at usps.com/ship/recycle-through-usps.htm and follow four easy steps .

Free recycling mail-back envelopes are available at participating USPS locations, making it easy for customers to ship unwanted small electronics, including cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players, digital cameras or used ink jet cartridges.

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Missile Mail?

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Attempting to capitalize on new technology that might further its efficiency objectives is not a new strategy for the USPS.  Missile Mail is one of those attempts that didn’t quite achieve state of the art status with helping to move mail faster, as did the railroads and airplanes.

In 1959, the Navy submarine USS Barbero fired a Regulus guided missile that carried 3,000 letters towards the naval auxiliary air station in Mayport, Florida. Postmaster General Arthur A. Summerfield proclaimed as “of historic significance to the peoples of the entire world,” the Navy submarine USS Barbero fired aguided missile carrying 3,000 letters towards the naval auxiliary air station in Mayport, Florida. Racing along at about 600 miles per hour, the guided missile traveled the more than 100 miles from the deck of the submarine off the coast of Florida to the air station in about 22 minutes. The letters, in special commemorative envelopes, were all from the Postmaster General to leading government officials and prominent citizens with a special interest in the Post Office Department.”Before man reaches the moon,” Summerfield was quoted as saying, “mail will be delivered within hours from New York to California, to England, to India or to Australia by guided missiles.” History proved differently, but this experiment with missile mail exemplifies the pioneering spirit of the Post Office Department when it came to developing faster, better ways of moving the mail.

The 1959 event was widely-publicized as the “first official missile mail” to distinguish it from earlier rocket flights. The earliest known unofficial transportation by rocket of U.S. Mail took place on February 23, 1936, when two rockets transported mail about 2,000 feet across a frozen lake towards the Hewitt, New Jersey, Post Office, from Greenwood Lake, New York.  The rockets crash-landed before reaching their destination and slid along the ice; the postmaster of Hewitt obliged by removing the two bags of mail and dragging them the rest of the way to the Post Office.  [Read More]

FedEx Profit Beats Forecast in Economic ‘Up Arrow’

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FedEx Corp. said its fiscal second- quarter profit exceeded its forecast as international and ground shipments rose, bolstering economists’ assessments that a global recovery is under way.

Earnings will be $1.10 a share for the period that ended in November, FedEx said late yesterday. The shares rose $2.36, or 2.7 percent, to $89.88 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the highest close since September 2008.

FedEx Corp. said its fiscal second- quarter profit exceeded its forecast as international and ground shipments rose, bolstering economists’ assessments that a global recovery is under way.

USPS Website Goes Green

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The U.S. Postal Service just released new version of its green oriented website, USPS.com/green.  Though not a new (original green site launched 2008) or a replacement for the main USPS.com site, the revamped green site is designed as an alternative appealing to those passionate about protecting our environment.

Free access to 100 percent recyclable Priority Mail and Express Mail packaging supplies… deliverable at zero cost to your doorstep is a popular feature.   In fact, the USPS is the only shipping and mailing entity in the US certified to be Cradle to Cradle™ green packaging for its impact to the environmental and human health standards.  In fact, they eliminated over 15,000 tons of carbon emissions last year. That’s equal to a year’s worth of driving for 2,747 average vehicles.

USPS.com - Green website

USPS Mail Trucks Going Green

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The old familiar neighborhood mail truck may be transforming soon. Smith Electric Vehicles will be joint venturing with AM General on the creation of a new USPS “Long Life” electric vehicle. AM General is building the chassis for the prototype and Smith is providing the electric powertrain.

The currently in use version of the LLV was developed by Grumman in the 1980s and utilized a GM 2.2-liter four cylinder engine. The new prototype however, is a battery powered.  [Read More]

Motto Misnomer

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The California rain storms today brings to mind a motto misnomer that most people are familiar with. But actually, the US Postal Service indeed does NOT have an official motto. It is however, often incorrectly quoted as…

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”

The small part that is true about the misquoted creed is that it’s merely a large inscription on the front of New York City’s James Farley Post Office as shown below. If you’d like a closer look so you can better read the inscription for yourself, here is the full blown photo …enjoy!

James Farley Post Office (Wikipedia 2009)

But this Postal Service fable has little known historic origins. The original passage comes from Herodotus ‘ Histories (Book 8, Ch. 98) and “describes the faithful service of the Persian system of mounted postal messengers under Xerxes I of Persia.” (Wikipedia)

It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed. (trans. A.D. Godley 1924)

For many who are more familiar with modern connotations of the word “postal”…it may be difficult for them to believe a romanticized notion such as a Postal Service creed anyway. But alas, we still have Cliff Claven.