Postal Service Announces New Stamps

Monday, November 13th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) â€” Civil rights leader Roy Wilkins and physicist Enrico Fermi, Thanksgiving and the Islamic holiday Eid, legendary ballparks and Amish quilts will be commemorated on U.S. postage stamps next year.

The Postal Service proclaimed ``A New Century of Stamps'' on Monday, announcing its plans for commemorative stamps for the year 2001.

``U.S. postage stamps are a reflection of the American experience,'' said Postmaster General William Henderson, and ``inspiring subjects and designs continue to bring history to life.''

In addition to the commemoratives â€” stamps with a limited sale marking special people and events â€” the Postal Service is likely to release new ``definitive'' stamps, its standard issues for common rates.

That's because a boost in stamp prices is expected in January, probably increasing the first-class rate from 33 cents to 34 cents and changing other prices, calling for the new standard stamps.

The first new commemorative scheduled is a Love stamp and Lovebirds stamped envelope, in January.

The Lunar New Year comes next, marking the Year of the Snake in the 12-year Oriental series.

Also in January, the post office will mark the centennial year of the birth of Wilkins, releasing the 24th stamp in the Black Heritage series. Past stamps in the series have included Patricia Roberts Harris, Malcolm X, Bessie Coleman and Martin Luther King Jr.

A sheet of 20 stamps will salute famed American illustrators. Included will be works by James Montgomery Flagg, Maxfield Parrish, Rose O'Neill, Edwin Austin Abbey, Frederic Remington, Rockwell Kent, N.C. Wyeth and Norman Rockwell.

Also in the art world, the beloved ``Peanuts'' comic strip will be featured on a stamp next year.

Another set will recognize some of Baseball's legendary playing fields, including Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, N.Y., Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Yankee Stadium in New York, Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Fenway Park in Boston and Comiskey Park in Chicago.

From the world of comedy and music, stamps will feature TV legend Lucille Ball, conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein and Looney Tunes, the classic Warner Bros. animated cartoons.

There will be a joint stamp issue with Sweden Post saluting the centennial of the Nobel Prize, the annual award for outstanding achievement in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, economic sciences and peace.

In addition, Fermi, one of the pre-eminent physicists of the atomic age and winner of the Nobel Prize for physics in 1938, will be honored on a stamp on the centenary of his birth.

There will be a stamp calling attention to diabetes. Unlike the current breast cancer stamp, this does not carry a premium price for fund raising.

Three holidays will be marked with stamps in 2001: Thanksgiving, the Islamic holidays Eid and Christmas.

Eid al Fitr marks the end of the fast for Ramadan, while Eid al Adha is called the Holiday of the Hajj, the time when Muslims visit Mecca.

Other stamps planned in 2001 include an issue honoring veterans; reproducing three bicolored stamps issued to commemorate the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y., of which a limited number were accidentally printed with inverted center images; Great Plains Prairie; Frida Kahlo, an influential Mexican artist; carnivorous plants and Amish quilts.

There will also be four stamped postal cards honoring Northwestern University, the University of Portland, the University of South Carolina and Yale University.

Tentative Release Dates for Stamps

WASHINGTON (AP) â€” The tentative list of release dates and sites of first-day ceremonies for the stamps planned for 2001 by the U.S. Postal Service.

Love and Lovebirds stamped envelope, January, date not set, Lovejoy, Ga.

Lunar New Year, Jan. 20, Oakland, Calif.

Roy Wilkins (Black Heritage), Jan. 24, Minneapolis, Minn.

American Illustrators set, Feb. 1, New York.

Community Colleges stamped envelope, Feb. 20, Joliet, Ill.

Nobel Prize, March 22, Washington.

Diabetes Awareness, March 27, site to be determined.

Pan-American inverts, March 29, New York.

Yale University card, March 30, New Haven, Conn.

Great Plains Prairie, April 19, Lincoln, Neb.

University of South Carolina card, April 26, Columbia, S.C.

Baseball's Legendary Playing Fields, April, date not set, site not set.

Northwestern University card, April-May, date not set, Evanston, Ill.

Frida Kahlo, May, date and site not set.

Honoring Veterans, May, date not set, Washington.

Peanuts, mid-May, Santa Rosa, Calif.

University of Portland card, May, date not set, Portland, Ore.

Lucille Ball, Aug. 6, Hollywood, Calif.

Amish quilts, Aug. 9, Napanee, Ind.

Carnivorous plants, Aug. 23, Chicago.

Leonard Bernstein, late September, New York.

Enrico Fermi, late September, Chicago.

Porky Pig, Oct. 1, Burbank, Calif.

Santas (holiday contemporary), Oct. 10, Santa Claus, Ind.

Christmas traditional, Oct. 10, Philadelphia.

Thanksgiving, Oct. 11 or 12, Dallas.

Eid, October, date and place to be determined.

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On the Net:

U.S. Postal Service: http://www.usps.com