Tuesday, September 23, 2003
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
The nation's capital finally will catch up with the 50 states. More than a year after the U.S. Postal Service issued large-lettered retro greeting designs on 34-stamp stamps for each state, Washington, D.C., will have its own commemorative Tuesday
And it's being printed with a more refined look. Whereas the state stamps resembled common postal cards showing attractions of each locale, the 37-cent Washington commemorative is printed in an intricately rendered diamond format.
Its shape reflects the original 100-square-mile tract of land that was selected as the permanent site of the nation's seat of government. Each of the four quadrants of the stamp includes details of the city.
Specifics
The top quadrant features a layout of streets and parks from the 1791 plan of Washington by French-born engineer and architect Pierre C. L'Enfant. Though he was dismissed a year later, much of L'Enfant's plan was adopted including the wide avenues radiating from the White House and the U.S. Capitol.
The right quadrant depicts a rowhouse scene of the Shaw neighborhood, which was designated an historic district in 1985.
The bottom quadrant is filled with cherry blossoms. It was in 1912 that Japan presented the city with cherry trees as a symbol of international friendship. There are more than 3,700 cherry trees in the capital.
The left quadrant shows a panoramic view of the National Mall with the U.S. Capitol, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and the red towers of the Smithsonian Institution Building.
Diamond-shaped stamps have been issued previously by the Postal Service, dating from the mineral heritage block of four 10-cent commemoratives of 1974.
First-day requests should be sent to District of Columbia Stamp, Postmaster, Box 92282, Washington, D.C., 20090-2003.
Information on the stamp is available on www.usps.com.
XDominic Sama is stamps columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer.