Eye-Catching Architectural Treasures Add Charm to Mailing Letters

Shelburne, VT — On Friday, the U.S. Postal Service issued the 45-cent Weather Vanes First-Class Mail stamps in five designs available in pressure-sensitive adhesive coils of 3,000 and 10,000. The stamps are available at Post Offices nationwide, online at usps.com and by phone at 800-782-6724.

Each of the five designs features a photograph of eye-catching 19th century weather vanes made in the United States and are part of Shelburne Museum’s collection: a cow, an eagle, two roosters and a centaur. Sally Andersen-Bruce of New Milford, CT, photographed the weather vanes under the art direction of Derry Noyes of Washington, DC.“These stamps are truly beautiful reminders of an era gone by,” said U.S. Postal Service Senior Manager, Post Office Operations Shawn Patton, while dedicating the stamps at Shelburne Museum. “We hope Americans will buy and use the stamps when communicating with friends, family and other loved ones.”

Joining Patton in dedicating the stamps were Kory Rogers, Curator of Design Arts, stamp photographer Sally Andersen-Bruce and Deborah Blondin, Postmaster, Shelburne.

“We are delighted that weather vanes from Shelburne Museum’s folk art collection are being pressed into duty as images for postage stamps,” said Tom Denenberg, director of Shelburne Museum. “The five weather vane stamps certainly give more people the chance to appreciate the simple, yet functional, beauty of weather vanes.”

The Weather Vanes

•     The cow weather vane was made of hammered sheet iron circa 1870 and was later found in Hardwick, VT. Its manufacturer is unknown.

•     The eagle weather vane is made of sheet iron and dates from sometime in the 19th century. Its manufacturer is unknown.

•     The rooster with the thick, rounded tail was made between 1875 and 1900 by Rochester Iron Works in Rochester, NH. This painted, cast iron weather vane resembles several others from the late 19th century originally found in the Boston area and now in the collections of museums nationwide.

•     Made of copper, the centaur weather vane was found near New Haven, CT, during the 1940s. It was made during the 19th century by a firm in Waltham, MA, first known as A.L. Jewell and Co., then Cushing and White, then L.W. Cushing and Sons.

•     The rooster with the bush tail feathers is made of carved, painted wood and is believed to have been created circa 1890 by James Lombard (1865-1920), a farmer and woodcarver who lived in Bridgton, ME, and specialized in hens and roosters that are often identifiable by their intricately cut tail feathers.

Customers may view the Weather Vanes stamps as well as many of this year’s other stamps on Facebook at facebook.com/USPSStamps, through Twitter @USPSstamps or on the website Beyond the Perf at beyondtheperf.com/2012-preview. Beyond the Perf is the Postal Service’s online site for background on upcoming stamp subjects, first-day-of-issue events and other philatelic news.