US #5421
2019 Ghosts – Spooky Silhouettes
• The 3rd time Halloween was commemorated on US stamps (the first was the 1974 Legend of Sleepy Hollow stamp, the 2nd was the 2016 Jack-O’-Lanterns)
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Spooky Silhouettes
Value: 55¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue: October 11, 2019
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US #5421
2019 Ghosts – Spooky Silhouettes
• The 3rd time Halloween was commemorated on US stamps (the first was the 1974 Legend of Sleepy Hollow stamp, the 2nd was the 2016 Jack-O’-Lanterns)
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Spooky Silhouettes
Value: 55¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue: October 11, 2019
First Day City: Milford, New Hampshire
Quantity Issued: 40,000,000
Printed by: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method: Flexographic, Rainbow Foil
Format: Panes of 20
Tagging: Nonphosphored Type III, Block Tag
Why the stamp was issued: To celebrate the fun and spookiness of Halloween.
About the stamp design: Pictures a digital illustration of a traditional symbol of Halloween – ghosts – in a black silhouette with an orange backlit window.
Special design details: To add to the fun of the stamp design, shimmering rainbow foil was added to the printing process.
First Day City: The First Day of Issue Ceremony was held at the Milford Pumpkin Festival in Milford, New Hampshire.
About the Spooky Silhouettes set: Four stamp designs celebrating Halloween. Each image pictures a digital illustration of a traditional symbol of Halloween: black cat and raven, ghosts, spider, and bats. Each is represented in a black silhouette with a backlit window pane of a different color: yellow, orange, red, and purple, respectively. Each stamp also includes rainbow foil, making the designs even more fun.
History the stamp represents: If you ask people to make a list of all the things that frighten them, many will put ghosts at the very top. Countless places around the world are labeled as “haunted” after unexplainable things happen there. Many of those locations are right here in America…
While modern ghosts do show up in stories every now and then, the spookiest are those from colonial times. These ghosts appear in traditional 18th and 19th century attire and seem to delight in terrifying the living. One of the most famous tales of such a specter is from a town about 30 miles north of New York City…
Officially named North Tarrytown until 1996, the town of Sleepy Hollow, New York, is considered by many to be one of the most haunted places in the world. Everyone knows the story of the Headless Horseman who haunts the woods around Sleepy Hollow. Washington Irving’s fictional tale popularized the legend, but many consider the ghost to be very real.
It is said the Headless Horseman is the spirit of a soldier killed at the Battle of White Plains during the Revolutionary War. He was killed by a flying cannonball, and his head was never found. The soldier’s ghost now rides through Sleepy Hollow at night in an endless search for his missing head. He is most often seen at Halloween, about the time of his death, and the day ghostly activity is at its peak.
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