A Magical Illusion on a Postage Stamp

U.S. Postal Service to Offer Special Souvenir Sheet

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Aug 01, 2018, 15:44 ET

LAS VEGAS, Aug. 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Postal Service will soon release a special souvenir sheet of stamps that call to mind a famous illusion.

The Art of Magic souvenir sheet will feature three identical stamps that show a white rabbit in a black hat. By rotating each stamp, you can see the rabbit "pop" out of the hat. The Postal Service used lenticular printing, a method that creates the illusion of movement and depth, to produce the stamp. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamp, and Jay Fletcher created the illustration and served as the typographer.

The Art of Magic souvenir sheet features a magical effect of a rabbit popping out of a top hat. This is the first time lenticular printing has been used on a U.S. postage stamp.

Another version of the stamp, without the magical effect, will also appear in a pane of 20 of The Art of Magic stamps that feature classic depictions of magic. This pane will include stamps that show a fortune teller using a crystal ball (prediction), a woman floating in air (levitation), an empty bird cage (vanishing) and a bird emerging from a flower (transformation).

The Art of Magic stamps on both the pane and the special souvenir sheet are Forever stamps. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price.

USPS will release the stamps Tuesday, Aug. 7.

The souvenir sheet will only be available for purchase online at usps.com, mail order through USA Philatelic, and by toll-free phone order at 1-800-STAMP-24.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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