♥ Love ♥ Love ♥ Love ♥
Sending a card to a loved one or friend is a special way to declare your affection, friendship, gratitude or devotion. There is renewed enthusiasm for handwritten notes that express exactly how you feel. Love stamps add the perfect finishing touch to cards and letters to show thoughtfulness and care have been included, inside and out.
In 1973, the U.S. Postal Service introduced a colorful stamp that, unwittingly, started a tradition that continues today. Robert Indiana’s Love sculpture was featured on the first stamp. Love stamps have been a popular choice for mailing cards and letters ever since. However, they didn’t become a series until nearly a decade later.
Nine years passed before a second Love stamp was made available. Nearly every year since then, the Postal Service has issued at least one new stamp design for those who wish to send some love to family and friends.
Companion stamps — with postage equal to second-ounce rates — are often designed to use when a little extra love added inside an envelope makes it heavier than a single ounce. They are perfect for wedding invitations and larger cards.
Two designs were introduced in 2008, one for Valentine’s Day and later a set of two stamps just in time for spring and summer weddings. The first Forever Love stamps were also the first booklet of 10 stamps in the series.
Love 2021 is the latest in the Love series. Playful, graphic lettering on these stamps add color and whimsy to your mailings. The stamp art features the word “love” and three large hearts in an unconventional palette of color duos, strikingly set against a dark blue background. The design also includes a smaller heart, a rectangle and a semicircle.
These stamps made their debut during a virtual event held together with the Loveland, CO, Chamber of Commerce. For 75 years, the city’s Chamber of Commerce has teamed up with the Postal Service for an internationally renowned Valentine Remailing Program.
Every year, more than 100,000 valentines, packaged inside larger envelopes, are sent to Loveland by individuals who want to have their cards mailed with a special cancellation postmark. Volunteers handstamp each envelope with a Valentine’s Day verse and send them on to the intended recipients. A contest is held for the new postmark designs and verses each year.