For the first century of the printing of stamps they were pretty plain and predictable. But over time the USPS got very creative with the design of stamps.

There are many stamps now that are very creative and different.

I have selected a few of these fun stamps for you to see and appreciate.

The Alfred Hitchcock stamp (Scott catalog #3226 - issued in 1998)

This stamp was issued in 1998 and it is a tribute to him. But it is a bit different and unique in that during the 1960's Hitchcock had a TV show and a part of that show was the iconic profile drawing of him. You can see that profile drawing right here. It's a caricature.

The USPS issued the stamp with a photo of Hitchcock. But it also has a drawing of this profile - and the profile is not a drawing. It is a cut out right through the stamp.

Here are two pictures showing the stamp. The first picture shows the stamp and the second picture shows me holding it up in front of my monitor so you can see the light shining through the cut profile of Hitchcock. Kind of a cool and unusual variation from the typical stamp.

The Thermochromic Total Eclipse stamp - (Scott #5211 Forever stamp - issued in 2017)

Do you remember the mood ring? It was all the rage in the 90's. And it used thermochromic paper (ink). It would change color with changes in temperature. And in 2017 the USPS released a stamp that used thermochromic paper. It's quite a unique stamp.

I will explain a little bit more. But here is a picture of the stamp in two states. On the left it is in total eclipse. And on the right, after you warm it up with your finger the moon is exposed. Kind of cool!

A total eclipse of the sun happened right across the USA on August 21, 2017. This stamp, which commemorates that event, was released about a month prior to the event.

I bought a sheet of them. Here are some pictures for you.

You press your finger on the stamp for a minute and the heat from your finger causes the thermochromic paper to go clear.

And then you can see the moon.

The Legends of the West - (Issued in 1994 -Scott#2869)

This is a series of ten stamps that pays tribute to legendary people of the west. And the interesting thing about this series of stamps is that it was also printed on the back of each stamp.

Grilled Stamps -

In the early years of stamp production and circulation the government had a problem with people removing stamps from envelopes and re-using them.

As a way to deter this fraud the USPS came up with the idea of grilling stamps. This meant that a series of almost perforations were stamped into the back of the stamp. This caused the stamp to be less durable and when people tried to remove the stamps from an envelope they would fall apart and be of no use.

It wasn't a good solution and it only lasted for five years between 1867 and 1871.

Fifty two different stamps were grilled and they were withinn the Scott number of 79 and 144.

A good example of these grilled stamps is Scott #114 - Also referred to as the 3 cent locomotive stamp. It was issued in 1869.. The next two pictures are of that stamp. The first picture is the front and the second picture shows the grill on the back of the stamp. It is a uniform dimpled pattern. It isn't on the whole back of the stamp. It is just a square area in the center of the stamp.

If you want to learn more about grilled stamps I have more about them, and how to identify them, here : Finding the grill on a stamp