# Harry Potter postage stamps in the U.S.! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 22, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-postage-stamps-in-the-u-s/674575 "2013-11-22T23:53:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-postage-stamps-in-the-u-s/674575/1 "2013-11-22T23:53:01Z")
They’re here! Why didn’t anyone tell me? [![](https://www.usps.com/stamp-collecting/assets/images/471104-01-main-900x695.jpg) ](https://www.usps.com/stamp-collecting/assets/images/471104-01-main-900x695.jpg) They’re beautiful! I’m so excited! ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-postage-stamps-in-the-u-s/674575/2 "2013-11-23T00:12:22Z")
Huh, weird. It’s not drawings of the characters, but the actors from the movies. This appears to be the first time a living person has ever been depicted on a U.S. stamp. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-postage-stamps-in-the-u-s/674575/3 "2013-11-23T00:20:16Z")
[Started in 2012.](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/us/postal-service-will-begin-honoring-living-people-on-stamps.html?_r=0) There have been other still living people on stamps but not as the focus. Example: the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima. At least one of the soldiers was still alive at the time the stamp was issued. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-postage-stamps-in-the-u-s/674575/4 "2013-11-23T01:57:55Z")
Given that in 2006 Congress [mandated that the USPS had to pre-fund 75 years of pensions in a 10 year period](http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/five-things/the-u-s-postal-service/11433/), they pretty much have to do anything they can to stay afloat. It’s either this or prostitution, and honestly - most of the USPS employees I’ve met, that’s not going to happen. So Harry Potter stamps it is! ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-postage-stamps-in-the-u-s/674575/5 "2013-11-23T03:46:41Z")
If you squint real hard, you can see the mark of the beast on some of them. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-postage-stamps-in-the-u-s/674575/6 "2013-11-25T22:34:22Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > [Started in 2012.](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/us/postal-service-will-begin-honoring-living-people-on-stamps.html?_r=0) > There have been other still living people on stamps but not as the focus. Example: the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima. At least one of the soldiers was still alive at the time the stamp was issued. The Iwo Jima soldiers wouldn’t have been recognizable from the stamp image, unless you already knew who they were. The stamps in that article are mockups, and as far as I can tell these Harry Potter ones are the first ones actually issued. We broke off from Great Britain, which put its kings and queens on their stamps, and 227 years later, who do we put on our stamps? A bunch of Brits! > [@gaffa](#): > > Given that in 2006 Congress [mandated that the USPS had to pre-fund 75 years of pensions in a 10 year period](http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/five-things/the-u-s-postal-service/11433/), they pretty much have to do anything they can to stay afloat. It’s either this or prostitution, and honestly - most of the USPS employees I’ve met, that’s not going to happen. So Harry Potter stamps it is! “The Post Office announced today that, in honor of the Bicentennial, it is going to issue a stamp commemorating prostitution in the United States. It’s a ten-cent stamp, but if you want to lick it, it’s a quarter.” – SNL Weekend Update (Chevy Chase?) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-postage-stamps-in-the-u-s/674575/7 "2013-11-25T23:11:53Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > If you squint real hard, you can see the mark of the beast on some of them. Don’t you mean the Dark Mark? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-postage-stamps-in-the-u-s/674575/8 "2013-11-26T02:05:50Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Huh, weird. It’s not drawings of the characters, but the actors from the movies. This appears to be the first time a living person has ever been depicted on a U.S. stamp. They’re characters in a book, not a depiction of the actors themselves. So I think it’s consistent with not having stamps of living people. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-postage-stamps-in-the-u-s/674575/9 "2013-11-26T02:49:29Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > They’re characters in a book, not a depiction of the actors themselves. So I think it’s consistent with not having stamps of living people. Right. The USPS did a set of Star Wars stamps a few years ago, with a number of the characters / actors depicted on them. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-postage-stamps-in-the-u-s/674575/10 "2013-11-26T20:54:31Z")
Yup, although Han Solo doesn’t look much like Harrison Ford: [http://media3.s-nbcnews.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070328/070328\_starwars\_vmed\_12p.grid-4x2.jpg](http://media3.s-nbcnews.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070328/070328_starwars_vmed_12p.grid-4x2.jpg) The rule had already been bent if not broken before, though: [http://www.frugal-cafe.com/public\_html/frugal-blog/frugal-cafe-blogzone/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/9-11-firefighters-flag-stamp-issued.jpg](http://www.frugal-cafe.com/public_html/frugal-blog/frugal-cafe-blogzone/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/9-11-firefighters-flag-stamp-issued.jpg) Much as I enjoy HP, I think issuing such stamps is a bad idea. The dead-for-ten-years rule (except for just-deceased Presidents) has kept a lot of transitory and faddish stuff off stamps, as well as people who might still do something terrible and then be an embarrassment to have immortalized on stamps. The USPS guidelines are also supposed to bar stamps that benefit a particular business, and the Pixar and _Star Wars_ stamps, for instance, clearly do that. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-postage-stamps-in-the-u-s/674575/11 "2013-11-26T20:57:55Z")
How many Knuts do they cost? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-postage-stamps-in-the-u-s/674575/12 "2013-11-26T23:05:09Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Yup, although Han Solo doesn’t look much like Harrison Ford: [http://media3.s-nbcnews.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070328/070328\_starwars\_vmed\_12p.grid-4x2.jpg](http://media3.s-nbcnews.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070328/070328_starwars_vmed_12p.grid-4x2.jpg) Yes, the key here was that these were illustrations, not stills from the assorted SW films. When the USPS had its Celebrate the Century series, every TV show or film with living actors (_All in the Family, Cosby Show, Jurassic Park, Titanic_) had that stamp filled with non-human visuals. > [@](#): > > The rule had already been bent if not broken before, though: [http://www.frugal-cafe.com/public\_html/frugal-blog/frugal-cafe-blogzone/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/9-11-firefighters-flag-stamp-issued.jpg](http://www.frugal-cafe.com/public_html/frugal-blog/frugal-cafe-blogzone/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/9-11-firefighters-flag-stamp-issued.jpg) But this was actually a very rare exception, and much was made of that fact at the time. > [@](#): > > Much as I enjoy HP, I think issuing such stamps is a bad idea. The dead-for-ten-years rule (except for just-deceased Presidents) has kept a lot of transitory and faddish stuff off stamps, as well as people who might still do something terrible and then be an embarrassment to have immortalized on stamps. The USPS guidelines are also supposed to bar stamps that benefit a particular business, and the Pixar and _Star Wars_ stamps, for instance, clearly do that. The dead-for-10 has been reduced to dead-for-5. (note the just released Ray Charles comes in under the 10 marker, and other recent ones have, too). And if you’re going to cite Pixar & Lucas, then by far the biggest beneficiary was Disney, which had 20 stamps over 5 consecutive years issued. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-postage-stamps-in-the-u-s/674575/13 "2013-11-27T01:54:41Z")
Well, I said “for instance,” and Pixar is a division of Disney anyway. Even when I enjoyed the film or character shown, I still don’t approve of having it appear on an official U.S. postage stamp. Now get the hell off my lawn, er, envelope!