"D'oh!" From USPS

One would think that a family who has been a part of Americana for, well, almost forever, would have more drawing power. At least, that's what the U.S.Postal Service thought last year when it issued a Simpsons' commemorative stamp. I know I bought a number of them, but the rest of America didn't seem to share the sentiment. 

Fewer than one-third of the one billion stamps honoring TVs famous family were sold; all tolled, in 2009 and 2010 318 million stamps went out the door, leaving almost 700 million languishing like last year's Toy Story action figures.  Our nearby post office didn't have any when I asked for them the other day though the clerk felt obliged to tell me that those that had not already been sold were-gasp-destroyed! All in all, more than 2.1 billion special issue and commemorative stamps ( not counting any of the new "forever" stamps) have suffered a similar fate over the last couple of years after being returned by the approximately 35,000 retail outlets in this country.

According to Tiffany Hsu of the Los Angeles Times, the USPS ordered twice as many Simpsons stamps as it did for its most popular stamp ever...the one commemorating the King's birthday back in 1993. Of course, the internet was somewhat fledgling back in 1993, and certainly online bill paying was only an idea in someone's head, but still...

I think I, too, bought and used some of those Elvis stamps, but, as I recall, I had to lick them.

And if the Simpsons' fiasco wasn't enough, all those commemorative posters the USPS published of Lance Armstrong are no longer worth collectors' prices.

I have one of those on my office wall. He's smiling in the picture. Maybe not so much now.