Philatelic Products

There is one philatelic product available for the Love - Candy Hearts, the Cancellation Keepsake. This philatelic product *(Item 672893) is priced at $8.15 and will be available while supplies last at Postal Stores, by telephone at 800-STAMP-24, and at the Postal Store Web site at www.usps.com/shop.

Distribution: Item 672800, $7.40 Love - Candy Hearts PSA Convertible Booklet of 20

Stamp distribution offices (SDOs) will receive approximately one-half the standard automatic distribution quantity for a PSA booklet. Distributions are rounded up to the nearest master carton size (4,000 booklets).

Initial Supply to Post Offices

SDOs will make a subsequent automatic distribution to Post Offices for one-half of their standard automatic booklet distribution quantity using PS Form 17, Stamp Requisition/Stamp Return. SDOs must not distribute these booklets to Post Offices before January 7, 2004.

Philatelic Requirement

SDOs will not receive a separate quantity of this special booklet for their authorized philatelic centers. Philatelic centers must be supplied their quantities from the initial automatic distribution made to SDOs.

Additional Supply

Post Offices requiring additional stamps must requisition them from their designated SDO using PS Form 17. SDOs requiring additional booklets must order them from the appropriate accountable paper depository (APD) using PS Form 17. For fulfilling supplemental orders from SDOs, the Chicago, Memphis, and New York APDs will each receive 600,000 additional booklets; the San Francisco APD will receive 500,000 additional booklets; and the Denver APD will receive 256,000 additional booklets.

Sales Policy

All Post Offices must acquire and maintain a supply of each new special issue as long as customer demand exists, until inventory is depleted, or until the issue is officially withdrawn from sale. If supplies run low, Post Offices must reorder additional quantities using their normal ordering procedures.

Press Release

Just in time for Valentine’s Day

CANDY HEARTS STAMP TO DEBUT IN JANUARY

Washington -- Candy hearts – a Valentine’s tradition for more than a century – adorn the latest stamp in the U.S. Postal Service Love series bearing the sweet message I LOVE YOU. The Love: Candy Hearts stamp will be made available for the first time on Jan. 14 at a ceremony at the New England Confectionery Company (NECCO), 135 American Legion Highway, Revere, Mass. The stamp will be available nationwide the following day.

“Since 1973, the Love stamp has been a popular addition to cards and letters mailed to friends and loved ones all year long and particularly to celebrate Valentine’s Day,” said David Failor, executive director of Stamp Services for the Postal Service. “In 2004, the candy hearts — those little tokens of affection — will help spread good cheer on millions of letters mailed in virtually every town across America.”

To help celebrate the issuance of the 2004 Love stamp, NECCO, makers of Sweethearts® Conversation Hearts, will manufacture a special run of candy hearts with the I LOVE YOU message included in boxes with perennial favorites such as “Be Mine,” “Marry Me” and “Cutie Pie.”

“People have been using Sweethearts to express their affection since the 1800s. We’re very honored the Postal Service is using these candy images on their new Love postage stamp to help people further communicate their sentiments,” said NECCO President Domenic M. Antonellis. “Our hearts have been passed down from generation to generation and the new stamp is a testament to our candy’s place in U.S. history.”

To meet demand for its Sweethearts, NECCO produces approximately 8 billion hearts per year at three manufacturing facilities in the United States. The entire production — roughly 100,000 pounds a day — sells out in just six weeks. For the 2004 Love stamp design, artist Michael Osborne of San Francisco, Calif., illustrated two hearts — one yellow, in the foreground, and one pink, slightly behind it — and added in red the letter “I” and a heart symbol on the yellow candy and the word “YOU” on the pink candy to spell out “I love you.” Osborne also illustrated the two colorful 2002 Love stamps, whose designs featured stylized block letters and a heart-design “V” spelling the word “LOVE.”

The first Love stamp was issued by the Postal Service in 1973 with a denomination of 8 cents and an iconic design by pop artist Robert Indiana. Since that time, Love stamps have featured a wide range of subjects, including flowers, animals, cherubs and love letters as well as abstract designs.

This page was last updated on 07/02/13

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