Arthur: Thank you, Blanche. I can’t believe how nice you’re being to me even though I’m suing your friend.
“How Do You Solve A Problem Like Sophia,” season 6, episode 8
Blanche: Well, I’ve always been attracted to ever-so-slightly younger men. Besides, just look at you. Ooh! Must be so frustratin’ for an athlete like you. Did you ever play any college ball?
Arthur: No. As a boy, I got as far as the Pee-Wee leagues, but then I discovered stamps. Wow.
Blanche: You know, when I first saw you, I said to myself, “Philatelist.”
In November of 2024 the United States Postal Service (USPS) dropped a sneak peak of the postage stamps it would be releasing in 2025. There were several fun designs like the always popular Love stamp featuring the art of Keith Haring and a cute series of baby wild animals, but it was the Betty White stamp that obviously created the most buzz. As fast as you can yell, “Hey, Ingrid!!,” news outlets around the world quickly picked up on the announcement:
The USPS will honor Betty White with her own stamp in 2025 (NPR)
Betty White To Be Honored With New U.S. Postal Stamp That Captures Her Fun Essence (HuffPost)
Betty White to Smile on New Stamp (Palm Springs Tribune)
Betty White to be honoured with ‘new stamp bearing her likeness’, USPS says (Hindustan Times)
Those are just a few of the stories that have appeared so far, with new ones continuing to pop up. It’s rare that a postage stamp creates this much interest in popular culture. Of course, as a Golden Girls fan who also happens to be a philatelist (that’s a person who collects and studies stamps) this stamp is especially exciting! The stamp’s release date is also notable for happening during the show’s 40th anniversary year and Women’s History Month. Artist and Suffolk University lecturer, Dale Stephanos, created the vibrant digital illustration of Betty based on a photograph taken in 2010 by Kwaku Alston. The overall design of the stamp was created by Greg Breeding, an art director for the USPS. Stephanos’ wife, Maria, is a well-known news anchor and reporter in the New England area, and the clip below features her sharing a fun anecdote about a detail of the stamp’s design.
Betty’s stamp will be available to purchase at a post office near you on March 27th, or you can pre-order them now on the USPS website! It comes in a sheet of 20 Forever stamps, which will always be priced at whatever the current First-Class Mail rate is. The USPS will also hold a first-day-of-issue ceremony for the stamp at The Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens in the Allen Ludden Plaza. Of course, this is the perfect location as Betty was a longtime supporter and trustee of the L.A. Zoo. If you happen to be in L.A. on that day you can even attend. Don’t feel too left out if you’re not in the area, though, because the USPS offers a pictorial postmark that you can send away for to get a commemorative First Day Cover with the stamp!
What is a First Day Cover and a pictorial postmark?
I’m so glad you asked! A First Day Cover is an envelope or card with a stamp (or stamps) that were cancelled on the first day that it was issued, like this:
One of the great literary figures of our time…
The postal service added the “First Day of Issue” slogan to machine cancellations beginning in 1937 along with the pictorial element in 1958 for the issue of the 3-cent Gardening and Hotriculture stamp. First Day of Issue pictorial postmarks in both black-and-white and digital color continue to be created for almost every new stamp released today. Updates about these special postmarks are made in the biweekly Postal Bulletin. So while everyone else has been preoccupied with the stamp’s release date, I’ve been eagerly checking the Bulletin for the coordinating pictorial postmark. And here it is!
Image credit USPS Postal Bulletin
A Sunshine Cadet never tells a lie, and I didn’t even know pictorial postmarks existed until I started collecting stamps more seriously a few years ago. In fact, I think it’s pretty special that the USPS continues to offer them in a world that’s increasingly dominated by AI art and other slop. In the 21st century being able to send away for something in the mail like this is almost quaint, but that’s exactly what I love about it. I also hope that Betty’s stamp and this blog post will help to increase awareness of this fun service and support for the USPS. After all, there aren’t too many things that you can buy for $1.46 these days! (Hint: that’s the current price of two First-Class Forever stamps.)
Ok, so how do I get one?
Now, I want you to promise me you won’t fret none because I’m going to explain the whole process to you step-by-step! Here’s what you’ll need:
- One 4×6 envelope
- One 5×7 envelope
- An index card or a sheet of paper
- One Betty White postage stamp
- One other Forever postage stamp
First thing’s first: you’ll address the 4×6 envelope to yourself and stick the Betty White stamp on the upper right corner. You can also decorate your envelope if you’d like! Use a colorful pen to write your name or add stickers. Be a real Jasper DeKimmel, and get creative! Just make sure to leave some blank space around the stamp so that the postmark can be applied. Put the index card (or a folded sheet of paper) inside the envelope to give it a bit of structure. You do not need to close the envelope. Stamp Fulfillment Services will apply the pictorial postmark to this envelope and send it back to you in a plastic wrapped piece of cardboard. Yes, you read that right. Aren’t you having fun already, you budding philatelist, you?
Next, grab the 5×7 envelope and address it as below:
Put your other Forever stamp in the upper right corner of this envelope. Yes, you can also use the Betty White stamp here, but you’re not going to get this envelope back so I prefer not to waste a fun stamp on this one. Also, the reason I like to use these two specific sized envelopes is that it only costs one stamp to mail the 5×7 envelope. If you use a longer envelope for your postmark then you’ll also need a larger catalog sized envelop to send it in, which costs more. Call this my Miles Webber cheapskate moment, but it makes sense. You could also use a 3×6 envelope for your postmark and a 4×9 envelope to mail it in if that’s what you have around the house. There’s also a digital color postmark available, but those cost 50-cents per postmark so I never send away for those. Again, call me Miles.
Last but not least, put the 4×6 envelope that you addressed to yourself into the 5×7 envelope, seal it, and send it on its way! Fun fact: the Stamp Fulfillment Services office is located in a limestone cave 150 feet underground and is part of a facility known as SubTropolis! You might also like to know that the postmarks here are carefully applied by hand by a small staff of very skilled postal workers. So if you have an extra moment to write a little thank you note on your 5×7 envelope it will certainly be appreciated! You’ll receive your pictorial postmark back in the mail in a few weeks, and it will look similar to this:
Image credit usps.com
One last very important detail: first-day-of-issue postmarks are only available for 120 days by mail after a stamp’s release date. So this means that for the Betty White stamp you have until July 27th to send away for the postmark. You’ll still be able to find them after that date, though, on the Collectors Items page of the USPS website. That one won’t be personalized, though. There are some other super neat philaletic items featuring the stamp like the portfolio below and a commemorative panel. There’s even a pin!
Image credit usps.com
Rose: I just got a special delivery letter from St. Olaf! Uh-oh, it’s from the Department of Water and Coffee.
“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” season 6, episode 10
Dorothy: Coffee?
Rose: No thanks, it makes me jumpy.
Dorothy: Rose, what does the letter say?
Rose: You read it, Dorothy. I need both hands to cover my ears in case it’s bad news.
Dorothy: “Dear St. Olafian, I am afraid there’s bad news.”
Rose: [fingers in her ears] What??
Dorothy: “There’s a drought in St. Olaf which threatens the crops.”
Rose: Oh, no! I’d better send water.
Dorothy: “Please do not send water. We have found that envelopes leak. Until the rains come, we ask that all citizens be celibate, except for Ulf the Umbrella King; he has suffered enough.”
This process is just one way to send away for the pictorial postmarks offered by the USPS. Some philatelists also create what are called cachets which include a design, often hand drawn or painted, on the left side of an envelope. Maxicards are another popular way to collect pictorial postmarks. These are postcards that “feature an image (a monument, animal, event, etc.) along with a stamp of a very similar or related image on the picture side of the card.” I collect these as well and, yes, of course I created some designs for the Betty White stamp. It’s just too special an occasion to pass up!
Pictorial postmarks make great gifts, and now is the perfect time to get a head start on Christmas presents for any other Golden Girls fans in your life. The postcard above is available in my Forever Golden shop on Redbubble! There’s a Rose Nylund floral corsage design that will work, too. Once the postmark is applied it’ll look stunning in a picture frame, and your friends will be thrilled with such a unique gift, not to mention thankful that it isn’t a maple syrup spigot. I’d also like to point out that Stamp Fulfillment Services will do up to 50 postmarks for free! So if you want to give the first day covers as gifts you can apply the stamp and leave the cards or envelopes blank, and just be sure that you include a large enough envelope with the correct postage for their return. In that case, I recommend stopping in to your local post office to have them weigh everything and print postage labels. Finally, I know this process can be super confusing if you’ve never done it befoe, so please don’t hesitate to reach out on social media or the Contact form if you have any questions!
A stack of Betty’s fan mail from her Instagram @bettymwhite
It really is so special that the USPS is honoring Betty with her very own stamp this year. A post on Betty’s Instagram a month after her death in January 2022 noted that “during the pandemic, Betty received more fan mail than ever. . . . She did her best to sign and respond to as many as she could and always felt badly that we never managed to get through them all.” I think Betty would be just tickled to know that she’s now on a stamp that will be shared around the world, making everyone’s day just a little brighter.
The Golden Girls Fashion Corner 