With the October 21 release of Holiday Evergreens, the Postal Service not only introduces its first holiday-themed Forever® stamps but also opens the door for potential growth of the program.
“Forever is a denomination — not a title,” explains Bill Gicker, creative director of Stamp Services. “We’re not talking about a specific stamp anymore. It really is a new rate designation.”
As its name implies, a Forever stamp is valid for forever, literally, despite any future First-Class rate increase. Since its issuance in April 2007, the Forever stamp has been deemed a “runaway success.” Liberty Bell — the only stamp to bear the denomination until now — accounts for approximately 85 percent of all First-Class postage sales.
“From the very beginning, we’ve had customers ask us to expand the Forever program to other formats and stamp series,” says Dave Failor, executive director of Stamp Services. “We’ve been cautious about how we move forward, because we were never sure about the financial impact on the Postal Service.”
“It’s like having an outstanding check and trying to balance your checkbook,” explains Joe Brockert, production manager of Stamp Services. “We don’t know at what rate the customer is ultimately going to use the stamp. They bought it currently at 44 cents, but will they use it at 44? Or 46? Or 47? That kind of accounting is what concerns people.”
Additionally, the Postal Service was concerned that the American public might hoard Forever stamps in the face of a rate increase. But research into buying habits over the past three years has alleviated such concerns. “They might buy three books instead of two, but they’re not going to buy a two-year supply,” Failor says.
Given such data and the denomination’s growing popularity, discussion has since turned to expanding the program. “Given the choice between First-Class rate commemorative stamps and the Forever stamp, we’ve found that the American public tends to go with the latter,” Failor explains. “Right now, the commemoratives are being overshadowed, so we think it would be a positive thing for commemorative stamps to convert to Forever and gain a much stronger shelf life.”
“The possibility is exciting because of the time and resources devoted to the commemorative program,” adds Terry McCaffrey, manager of Stamp Development. "When we develop commemorative stamps, we’re trying to tell a bigger story about a specific subject, as opposed to the generic flags, flowers, and animals seen in the mail-use program.”
Although the four Holiday Evergreens stamps are perfect for holiday correspondence, the denomination they carry will ensure that they are forever in season. But do they signal a whole new crop of exciting Forever stamps? We’ll just have to wait and see.
