I Miss Real Stamps

I spend about 15 hours a week doing all the design and publications for my church here in Orange County. I love being able to use my ability to design to help my church, it is a sorely needed service amongst most non-profit organizations and churches. One of my duties as the church’s designer is the monthly newsletter that I design and help fold and mail at the end of each month. Part of the newsletter process is postage. We recently changed over to mailing our newsletters First Class, and that means we get to put real stamps on our newsletters.

The stamp we currently are using is a giant, red, Hershey Kisses branded one. It’s pleasant enough to look at, it’s printed rather nicely (like most modern stamps are), and it does fit with the current month and all of it’s chocolate and greeting card trappings. I will admit that it is appropriate for any love letters that may be mailed during the month of February.

But I miss real stamps. Stamp stamps. Stamps that look like they were made by a government agency. Stamps with ornate, over-the-top borders that look as if they were printed on a letterpress. Stamps that look like money. When did stamps become corporately available? I personally blame Elvis and all of his rabid fans. Without that horrendous stamp of him crooning into an old unidirectional microphone, we may have stayed from stamps of holiday snowflakes, Happy Birthday messages in neon pink and green, Winter Olympics skiers, holiday cookies, and Disney characters.

If I see one more stamp of an American Kestrel I think I am going to throw up in my mailman’s shoulder bag.