Forever 73¢ | Multiple Stamp Designs and Formats

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Issue Date: 4/5/2023

Each fall, millions of gardeners bury bulbs in the earth, eagerly anticipating the rewards that springtime will bring. Months later, thick green leaves poke through the soil, soon revealing their payload: tulip blossoms in spectacular variety from prim to ostentatious. These stamps from the U.S. Postal Service feature closeup views of 10 different tulips in a rainbow of colors.

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  • Each fall, millions of gardeners bury bulbs in the earth, eagerly anticipating the rewards that springtime will bring. Months later, thick green leaves poke through the soil, soon revealing their payload: tulip blossoms in spectacular variety from prim to ostentatious. These stamps from the U.S. Postal Service feature closeup views of 10 different tulips in a rainbow of colors.

    A member of the lily family (Lilliaceae), the tulip (genus Tulipa) originated as a wildflower in Central Asia. There, despite the dry, rocky environment, these tulip ancestors were able to survive because they could draw nourishment from the bulb. Over time, traders carried them west along the Silk Route to Persia, where cultivation of them is thought to have begun in the 10th century. By the 16th century, tulips were all the rage in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey). The name “tulip,” in fact, derives from a Turkish version of the Persian word for “turban,” an allusion to the flower’s shape.

    After diplomats in Constantinople shipped bulbs home to western Europe, the Dutch developed effective ways to cultivate and market the flower. The tulip trade remains an important part of their nation’s economy 400 years later.

    Dutch immigrants brought tulip bulbs to America, perhaps as early as the 1600s. The flower has become a dazzling part of the landscape here, and we now import more than one billion bulbs per year. Tulips can be grown in most of the country, outside of the Deep South, and gardeners can choose among almost endless varieties.

    Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamps with existing photographs by Denise Ippolito.

    Tulip Blossoms will be issued as Forever® stamps in booklets of 20, as well as coils of 3,000 and 10,000. These Forever stamps will always be equal to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.

    Made in the USA.

  • Issue:Tulip Blossoms Stamps
    Item Number:684200
    Denomination &First-Class Mail Forever
    Type of Issue:
    Format:Double-sided Booklet of 20 (10 designs)
    Series:N/A
    Issue Date & City:April 5, 2023, Woodburn, OR 97071
    Designer:Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA
    Art Director:Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA
    Existing Photos:Denise Ippolito
    Modeler:Sandra Lane / Michelle Finn
    Manufacturing Process:Offset
    Printer:Banknote Corporation of America
    Press Type:Alprinta 74
    Stamps per Booklet:20
    Print Quantity:500,000,000 stamps
    Paper Type:Phosphor Tagged Paper, Block
    Adhesive Type:Pressure-sensitive
    Colors:Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black
    Stamp Orientation:Vertical
    Image Area (w x h):0.77 x 1.05 in / 19.558 x 26.67 mm
    Stamp Size (w x h):0.91 x 1.19 in / 23.114 x 30.226 mm
    Booklet Size (w x h):5.743 x 2.375 in / 145.872 x 60.325 mm
    Plate Size:800 stamps per revolution
    Plate Numbers:“B followed by four (4) single digits
    Marginal Markings:Header: “Tulip Blossoms” Twenty First-Class Forever Stamps • ©2022 USPS in peel strip area • Barcode • USPS logo • Promotional text • Plate number in peel strip area

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