Postal Service Continues Sneak Peek at 2012 Stamps

Tarzan Author Immortalized on Forever Stamp

WASHINGTON, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Postal Service continues its sneak peek at some of its 2012 stamps by previewing the Edgar Rice Burroughs Forever stamp today though social media outlets. Using social media to reach broader, more diverse audiences is an initiative that began yesterday with a preview of the Cherry Blossom Centennial Forever stamps. Select stamps from the 2012 commemorative program will be previewed one at a time throughout the summer.

Customers may preview the stamps on Facebook at facebook.com/USPSStamps, through Twitter @USPSstamps or on the website Beyond the Perf at www.beyondtheperf.com/2012-preview. Beyond the Perf is the Postal Service's online site for the back story on upcoming stamp subjects, first-day-of-issue events and other philatelic news.  

Edgar Rice Burroughs Forever stamp

"The Postal Service is proud to honor Edgar Rice Burroughs, one of the most popular and prolific authors of the early 20th century," said Stephen Kearney, executive director, Stamp Services. "Best known for inventing the iconic character Tarzan, he wrote more than 70 books, including historical fiction and several popular series of science fiction tales. Social media is a great way to preview our stamp program while also making it easy for people to share the news about stamps of interest with their friends."

Restless by nature, Burroughs (1875-1959) served with the U.S. Cavalry, dredged for gold, worked as a door-to-door salesman and a railroad policeman, and performed many other varied jobs until he published his first story, "Under the Moons of Mars," in 1912 — and found his destiny as a writer.

This Forever stamp shows Tarzan, Burroughs' most famous literary creation, clinging to a tree by a vine with his left hand and wielding a weapon in his right. Burroughs appears in profile in the background. Hulbert Burroughs, the author's son, took the 1934 photograph that served as the basis for the stamp portrait of Burroughs. The depiction of Tarzan is an interpretation of the character by artist Sterling Hundley of Chesterfield, VA, under the direction of art director Phil Jordan of Falls Church, VA.

This stamp issuance coincides with the 100th anniversary of the publication of "Under the Moons of Mars," and his first Tarzan story, "Tarzan of the Apes," in 1912.

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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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world's mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

SOURCE U.S. Postal Service