Born March 2: Dr. Seuss

On March 2, 2004, the United States Postal Service issued a 37¢ stamp honoring one of the country's most famous authors, Theodor Seuss Geisel — known to children of all ages as Dr. Seuss. The occasion was Geisel's 100th birthday: he was born March 2, 1904.

It was really the second stamp to honor the creator (and illustrator) of more than 40 popular children's books, including The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins (1938), Horton Hears a Who (1954), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1957), Green Eggs and Ham (1960), and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish (1960).

The first stamp, a 33¢ issue from the Celebrate the Century series, shows one of the most famous Seuss characters, the Cat in the Hat, from the 1957 book of the same name (Scott 3187h).

In 2006, a third Seuss stamp would be issued, showing the fox from the 1957 story Fox in Socks (Scott 3989). The 39¢ stamp was part of a set of eight featuring children's book animals.

The 2004 stamp picturing the author began with an Associated Press photograph from 1987, but stamp designer Carl Herrman added six Seuss characters from four books: the Cat in the Hat, the Grinch, the Glotz (from the 1979 story Oh Say Can You Say?), and three characters from the 1965 tale I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew — the Skritz, the young fellow, and the Skrink.

The pane of 20 self-adhesive stamps also features the five fish depicted on the cover of One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish in the pane margin.

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