Peeking at USA stamps for 2021 – UPDATED details

by catpaw | 28 Dec, 2020 | Stamps

USA stamps for 2021 will see some old friends return along with a couple of fun new issues. The ever-popular Black History Month, Love and Chinese New Year stamps will be back of course. I doubt a US postal offering would be complete without them. Although not shown in the USPS press release, there will also be Christmas and Diwali stamps available. The US Postal Service is also serving up a few new stamps in 2021 that piqued my interest. Among them are coffee and confusion.

Old favourites return

Jan 14 will see the return of the LOVE stamps. Hard to believe the first LOVE stamp was sold in 1973. Since then, it has gradually turned into a perennial stamp. Check out the USPS online store to pre-order them Love Stamp | USPS.com

Black Heritage Month will celebrate the late, very great playwright August Wilson.

Wilson, a master storyteller, honed his craft by walking the streets of his Hill District neighborhood as a young man, observing, and immersing himself in Black street life, listening to old-timers talk about their daily lives. It inspired what would become his plays’ vibrant characters and lyrical language. August Wilson Archive | University of Pittsburgh Library System

This 44th stamp in the series is already available for pre-ordering August Wilson Stamp | USPS.com It will be released Jan 28th, 2021. The first stamp featuring Black History Month was the 1978 Harriet Tubman stamp. If you would like to research more on African Americans on stamps, start with the USPS page African American Subjects on United States Postage Stamps – Who We Are – USPS

One of the USPS’ popular series has been the Lighthouses of America stamps.  The series began 30 years ago, April 26, 1990. This year the following lighthouses will be shown: Thomas Point Shoal, MD; Montauk Point, NY; Harbor of Refuge, DE; Navesink, NJ; and Erie Harbor Pierhead, PA. I imagine collectors should start looking for them in April.

The US Lighthouse Society has a delightful page on collecting lighthouse stamps. If you haven’t checked them out, here’s the link Collecting Lighthouse Stamps by Richard T. Richardson | US Lighthouse Society (uslhs.org) If you are interested in starting a lighthouse stamp specialty collection, this would be a good starting point.

The flower offerings, Garden Beauties, will include a pink dogwood; a rose-pink and white tulip; ornamental onion; a pink and white Asiatic lily; a magenta dahlia; a yellow and pink American lotus; a pink moth orchid; a pink and white sacred lotus; an orange and yellow tulip; and a yellow moth orchid.  (From the press release Hello, 2021 – U.S. Postal Service Announces Upcoming Stamps – Newsroom – About.usps.com).

Coffee and a secret

The USPS Espresso Drink stamps are, as expected, of interest to me. It’s not just the caffeine content that caught my eye, it’s the warm design that I appreciate. The stamps are a combo of rich colours and great typography. Four stamps will be sold – caffe latte, espresso, caffe mocha and cappuccino. Too bad they weren’t scratch and sniff. The stamps are nice little works of art so kudos to Greg Breeding who designed the stamps using the artwork of Terry Allen.

Mystery Message stamps are intriguing.  “The new Mystery Message stamp will put your sleuthing skills to the test. Featuring bright colors and interesting shapes, the stamp design is a visual riddle spelling out a message. Each colorful square contains a letter in an interesting pattern. The patterns, though seemingly random, were carefully placed so that when put all together, the message reads.” Ah yes, a dose of frustration offered up with the daily mail and morning espresso. What could go wrong?

USA stamps for 2021 – January

Love – part of a long running series	Love Continuing series that started in 1973 One stamp Stamp designer: Baily Sullivan Release Date: Jan. 14, 2021
Castillo de San Marcos	Castillo de San Marcos Oldest masonry fortification in USA Stamp designer: Greg Breeding | Artist: Dan Cosgrove Release date: Jan. 24, 2021
Little Brush Rabbit	Brush Rabbit One stamp with “Additional Ounce” Stamp designer: Ethel Kessler | Artist: Dugald Stermer (1936-2011) Release date: Jan. 24, 2021
USPS stamps for 2021 showcasing barns	Barn Post Card Stamps depicting 4 seasons Four stamps in series with “POSTCARD” printed on them Stamp designer: Ashley Walton | Artist: Kim Johnson Release date: Jan. 24, 2021
August Wilson	August Wilson (1945 – 2005) – Black Heritage Month Renowned playwright Stamp designer: Ethel Kessler | Artist: Tim O’Brien Release date: Jan. 28, 2021

USA stamps for 2021 – February

USPS 2021 stamps – Year of the Ox Souvenir sheet	Lunar New Year -Year of the Ox One stamp + full souvenir sheet Stamp designer:  Antonio Alcalá  Artist: Camille Chew Release date: Feb. 2, 2021
Chien-Shiung Wu (1912-1997) “one of the most influential nuclear physicists of the 20th century”	Chien-Shiung Wu (1912-1997) Nuclear physicist One stamp Stamp designer: Ethel Kessler | Original artist: Kam Mak Release date: February 11, 2021

USPS Stamps 2021 – Spring & Fall

Garden Beauty stamps for Spring 2021	Details TBA
Go for Broke: Japanese American Soldiers of WWII	Details TBA
So, what’s the message? We’ll have to wait.	Details TBA
Colorado Hairstreak	Details TBA
Day of the Dead	Details TBA
Now we’re talking – Espresso Drinks	Details TBA
Backyard games – badminton, bocce, cornhole, croquet, flying disc, horseshoes, tetherball and pick-up baseball	Details TBA
Garden Beauty stamps for Spring 2021	Details TBA
Happy Birthday	Details TBA
2021 stamps showing off heritage breeds	Details TBA
Message Monsters	Details TBA
The always popular lighthouse series adds 4 more stamps to the series	Details TBA
Missouri Statehood	Details TBA
Western Wear	Details TBA
Raven Story will honour a 2021 stamp	Details TBA

LATE ADDITIONS ANNOUNCED – Jan 15, 2021

USPS announced 5 late additions for the 2021 year.  The topics cover everything from science to sports and arts. It’s a bit irritating that no release dates are available yet. When they arrive, I’ll reorganise the page to reflect this.

Yogi Berra	Yogi Berra (1925-2015) Baseball all-star 1 stamp Artist: Charles Chaisson Lettering: Michael Doret Designer: Antonio Alcalá No release date
Ursula K. Le Guin	Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018) Sci-fi and fantasy novelistOne stampLiterary Arts series – stamp #33 The stamp features a portrait of Le Guin based on a 2006 photograph. The background shows a scene from her landmark 1969 novel “The Left Hand of Darkness,” in which an envoy from Earth named Genly Ai escapes from a prison camp across the wintry planet of Gethen with Estraven, a disgraced Gethenian politician. Designer: Antonio Alcalá based on artwork by Donato Giancola No release date
Emilio Sanchez	Emilio Sanchez (1921-1999) Four stamps Based on Sanchez lithographs & prints: “Los Toldos” (1973), “Ty’s Place” (1976), “En el Souk” (1972) Untitled (Ventanita entreabierta) (1981) Designer: Antonio Alcalá No release date
Sun Science	Sun Science Ten stamps in series The striking colors do not represent the actual colors of the sun as perceived by human eyesight. Instead, each image is colorized by NASA according to different wavelengths that reveal or highlight specific features of the sun’s activity. Designer: Antonio Alcalá No release date
Celebrating tap dancing	Tap Dance Four stamps in series Designer: Ethel Kessler designed the stamps | Photographs by Matthew Murphy No release date
Mallard on a pre-stamped card	Mallard One stamped card Designer: Ethel Kessler from artwork by Dugald Stermer (1936-2011) No release date

Check out the upcoming Canadian stamps for 2021

Awesome 2021 Canadian stamps announced