I'm already asleep, just looking at these stamps. Let me be the first to say that I love the overall design of this series of stamps from the USPS -- notice how the stamp sheet looks like a 45 record sleeve, complete with 45 record? But they picked the most boring, washed-out picture of Elvis they could possibly find, I think. It looks like his high-school yearbook picture or something.
The reverse of the stamp sheet is quite a bit better. Maybe this should have gone on the stamp instead?
This is actually the second commemorative stamp featuring Elvis. Here's the first:
That's a picture courtesy of Google -- I don't own this stamp. But it's a bright, lively stamp, and despite the slightly garish colors, it's a much more fitting tribute to its subject, I think.
Reckon the USPS got a little backlash over previous stamps in this series recently? Like Jimi? Or Janis?
I doubt it. I'm not sure the process works that way. But these stamps are ALIVE, they are miniature works of art that are perfectly fitting to their subjects, and I love them.
I'll use the Elvis stamps. Some of you may see him pop up in your mailbox in the not-too-distant future. But I warn you, he'll probably infect your mailbox with his Droopy Dog expression.
It makes you wonder where they get their ideas. I was never a huge Elvis fan anyway, and these stamps are not ones I will add to my collection. I think I still have a few Jimi Hendrix stamps left, and I am hoarding my Harry Potter stamps. I think they should have issued a commemorative St. Augustine 450th anniversary edition, but there's been no news of it, if they have. That's a much bigger deal than Elvis, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteIt seems the artist chose an image of Elvis that was taken before he lost all his innocence. To me he looks like a good boy who loved his mother and, red velvet cake and those banana sandwiches.
ReplyDeleteHis look was direct and unblemished. The colorful stamp is all about the glitz and fake glamour of stardom. He holds the mic the way a winner holds a trophy. I've always harbored a little sadness for Elvis that's tinged with a little disgust. He groomed a child whom he later married . . . Elvis had some issues.
Janis's stamp defines who she was. That Hendrix stamp still makes me shudder. I catch pieces of an upcoming documentary or or something about him, and it makes me wish I'd been old enough to see him in concert. The clip of him on a talk show where the host asks him about the electric church makes me excited. Hendrix and Joplin had no where else to go but down, seeing as how they'd reached an artistic apex that shot them beyond the stars. What could have come after that? :) I loved hearing how Janis believed she was Bessie Smith reincarnated. LOL!
This is a great post. I won't buy the Elvis stamp because I'm still not a fan. I bought Hendrix and Joplin for personal reasons, although I thoroughly disliked Jimi's image. I might have felt differently had I done acid before I saw it. :)