Halloween and U.S. philately

U.S. Stamp Notes by John M. Hotchner

The United States Postal Service recognized Halloween by inference with the 10¢ Legend of Sleepy Hollow stamp (Scott 1548) issued Oct. 10, 1974, and shown here in Figure 1. But more recently, the Postal Service seems to have acquired a new interest in this old celebration.

The trend started in 2016 with the Jack-O’-Lanterns se-tenant (side-by-side) block of four (Scott 5137-5140), and it continued in 2019 with Spooky Silhouettes (5420-5423), and in 2021 with the Day of the Dead (5640-5643). Figure 2 shows one stamp from each of these sets of four.

As practiced in the United States, Halloween is a celebration unlike any other — not patriotic, minimally religious and with little historical significance. It’s just fun, with trick-or-treat (heavy on the treats), carved pumpkins, make-believe costumes, and even an opportunity for stamp collectors to try to interest young people in stamp collecting.

How? By adding packets of stamps to the treats given to the children that come to the door. And it isn’t too early to start saving the more interesting stamps from your mail to put in your packets.

I like to add related philatelic items to my album pages, and I have found three for the Halloween stamps. The first is …

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