Special Pictorial Postmark Celebrates Baseball Legend

News provided by

Jul 21, 2012, 10:00 ET

Bronx Post Office Offering Unique Stamp Cancellation Service

BRONX, N.Y., July 21, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Calling all DiMaggio fans, stamp enthusiasts and Bronx residents! Step up to the plate by obtaining a Special Pictorial Postmark created just for the Joe DiMaggio Forever stamps' first day of issue ceremony to be held today at the Bronx General Post Office, at 558 Grand Concourse. The hand-rendered postmark was created by Louis Pagán, an employee of the Postal Service, and celebrates the Joe DiMaggio stamp image.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120721/DC43940)

As a community service, the Postal Service offers specialized, pictorial postmarks to illustrate local events celebrated in communities throughout the nation. "As Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr proclaims July 21st to be 'Joe DiMaggio Day,' it provided us the perfect reason to offer this unique postmark to commemorate DiMaggio's legendary baseball career," said Howard Sample, Postmaster of the Bronx. "The fact that it was created by one of our employees makes the postmark even more extraordinary," he added.

Pagán, who works as a Retail Sales & Service Associate at Hellgate Station in Manhattan, hand drew the postmark as part of a postal employee contest. His winning design included some of the most iconic symbols of DiMaggio's legendary career: Yankee Stadium, Joe's uniform number, and Joltin' Joe himself stepping up to bat. The special commemorative postmark also shows the date of the Postal Service's first day of issue of its single sheet of DiMaggio stamps and Zip Code 10451, associated with the Bronx.

Fans attending the stamp ceremony which begins at 11 am at the Main Post Office, may obtain the postmark in person at the temporary Post Office station established for the event. There is no added charge for the special postmark but it must be applied to postage, Postmaster Sample explains "Fans will also be treated to an official First Day of Issue Stamp dedication ceremony with all the pomp and circumstance Bronx's own Yankee Clipper deserves."

Joe DiMaggio (1914-1999) was admired for his skill and grace as a fielder and base runner. Best known for his incredible 56-game hitting streak in 1941—the season of "the Streak." DiMaggio led the New York Yankees to 10 pennants and nine World Series titles.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark, Joe DiMaggio Bronx New York

Customers who cannot attend the event may still obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail up to 60 days after the event. They may purchase new stamps at a local Post Office, at The Postal Store website at usps.com/shop or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others) and place them in larger envelopes addressed to:

Joe DiMaggio Postmark
Postmaster
558 Grand Concourse
Bronx, NY 10199-9998

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes by mail. There is no charge for the postmark. All orders must be postmarked by September 19, 2012.

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

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation — 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office™ Boxes. The Postal Service™ receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com®, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world's mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, Oxford Strategic Consulting ranked the U.S. Postal Service number one in overall service performance of the posts in the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

Follow the Postal Service on www.twitter.com/USPS and at www.facebook.com/USPS

CONTACT: Darleen Reid, [email protected], +1-212-330-2929, or Connie Chirichello,
[email protected], +1-631-524-9735, usps.com/news

SOURCE U.S. Postal Service