Postal Service to issue 10 stamps celebrating Bugs Bunny’s 80th birthday

By Charles Snee

The United States Postal Service announced June 23 that it plans to issue 10 commemorative forever stamps in celebration of cartoon icon Bugs Bunny’s 80th birthday.

The 10 nondenominated (55¢) stamps are scheduled to be issued July 27, “the 80th anniversary of Bugs Bunny’s official screen debut,” according to the Postal Service.

“Bugs has always been known for his impeccable impersonations and his masterful masquerades, so the soon-to-be-revealed 10 designs on this pane of 20 stamps each showcase a costumed Bugs Bunny in some of his most memorable getups,” the Postal Service said.

Each of the 10 stamps is to feature artwork from Warner Bros. Entertainment that is based on the mischievous rabbit’s cartoon exploits. The reverse of the pane will picture sketches created by Warner Bros. animation artists.

Greg Breeding designed the 10 Bugs Bunny stamps, and William J. Gicker is credited as the art director.

Bugs Bunny made his first appearance on a U.S. stamp in 1997, when the USPS issued its 32¢ Bugs Bunny stamp in a pane of 10 (Scott 3137).

That pane has a block of nine stamps on the left side (Scott 3137b) and a single stamp on the right side (3137c). The die cutting of the 10 stamps on Scott 3137 does not extend through the backing paper.

A similar 32¢ Bugs Bunny pane of 10 (Scott 3138), but with die cutting that extends through the backing paper of the block of nine stamps (3138b), was issued at the same time. The single stamp at right (3138c) is imperforate.

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