Vibrant Leaves stamps arrive March 14 at March Party show near Cleveland

By Charles Snee

On March 14 the United States Postal Service will issue five stamps featuring photographs of leaves set against a white background.

The new nondenominated (56¢) Vibrant Leaves forever postcard-rate stamps will be issued during a local first-day ceremony on the first day of the March 14-16 March Party stamp show in Strongsville, Ohio, near Cleveland.

The show, which is hosted annually by the Garfield-Perry Stamp Club, takes place at the Best Western Plus, 15471 Royalton Road, in Strongsville. More information about the show is available on the club’s website, www.garfieldperry.org/wp/march-party.

According to a Feb. 3 press release from the club, the first-day ceremony is scheduled for noon. The dedicating official will be Jacshica D. Laster, manager of customer service operations for the Postal Service’s Ohio 1 District in Cleveland.

Linn’s Stamp News is helping plan the event and will provide a ceremony program for attendees.

As shown on the Postal Service’s preliminary image pictured nearby, each stamp shows a single leaf from the following trees: aspen, sassafras, oak, maple and sweetgum. The leaves on the stamps are arranged in a left-to-right color gradation from yellow to dark red.

“USA/POSTCARD” is lettered across the top of each stamp to clearly indicate the intended use. The name of each tree, tucked into the bottom right corner of each stamp, approximately matches the color of the leaf.

USPS art director Antonio Alcala designed the Vibrant Leaves stamps using existing photos from Marie-France Belanger, Olga Mitryaeva, Vladimir Pomortsev, Adobe stock and Paulina Wessel.

Alcala received the assignment for the Vibrant Leaves stamps in late summer 2023. He shared with Linn’s Stamp News some insights about these striking stamps.

“I am enchanted by the colors one finds in leaves, especially during the autumn season,” Alcala said. “An extra-level of interest is the variety of shapes one can find among various tree leaves.”

In the case of these stamps, the focus was on native species.

“USPS wanted to make sure we showed trees from the United States,” Alcala said. “I wanted to present a gradation of colors but with a variety of leaf shapes and trees.”

In terms of the design, Alcala considers the white background an essential element.

“The white background allows the viewer to focus on the shape of the leaf as well as clearly see the color without other background distractions,” he told Linn’s. “The white background also lends a more contemporary appearance to the stamp.”

The Postal Service tapped Ashton Potter USA Ltd. of Williamsville, N.Y., to print 95 million Vibrant Leaves stamps in panes of 20 and 300 million coil stamps in rolls of 100. These quantities represent 4.75 million panes of 20 and 3 million coil rolls of 100 that will be distributed for sale at post offices and other outlets authorized by the USPS to sell stamps.

To read more about the new Vibrant Leaves stamps, subscribe to Linn’s Stamp News.

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