Suzi's Baby Photo Postage Stamp

Suzi's Baby Photo Postage Stamp

Photo postage stamps are not a new idea; they were first introduced by Stamps.com back in 2004! At that time they sparked a lot of controversy due to security concerns. In fact, the USPS suspended the use of the stamps for a short time. During the Anthrax scare, a stamp with a skull and cross bones plus the word Anthrax caused a sorting office to shut down for several hours. With all the legitimate uses for the stamps, there was also a concern that people would try to get away with counterfeit postage stamps! Eventually these issues were overcome and now millions of photo postage stamps are sold. Read on to discover how..

What is a Photo Postage Stamp?

Photo postage stamps allow people to put a photo of almost anything they can imagine on their stamp. The exceptions are you cannot use obscene or disturbing images on the stamps. Of course the theme of our blog is baby and kid photos. So, I find photo stamps to be the perfect vehicle for personalizing such events as:

  • Birth Announcement
  • Kiddie Birthday Invites
  • Thank You Cards
  • Baptism Celebrations
  • Baby Shower Invites
  • Save the Date Notes

Screening Photo Stamps for Offensive Images

The idea that you can put any image you want on a stamp just excites the imagination; however some rogue misfits just take things too far. During the height of the controversy, The Smoking Gun put the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski on the stamps as a prank to embarass Stamps.com. Some others have purchased photo postage stamps with controversial figures like Slobodan Milosevic and Linda Tripp on them to name a few. This led to new rules that permit custom stamp vendors to only produce photo stamps that have proper screening processes in place.

The companies that supply the postage stamps are personally responsible for screening and the USPS is no longer involved in the actual review process. The vendors themselves reject the images that break the strict rules as dictated by the USPS. Also special unique identifying information is encoded in the stamps barcode, consequently any company that fails to screen images per the rules could lose the rights to print postage.

Anne Geddes Award Winning Baby Photography Featured on Photo Postage Stamps

If you are not so much interested in personalizing your stamps, there are also stamps that feature award-winning photography collections. Take for example, Anne Geddes who is one of the world’s most respected photographers. She has a website that showcases her photography and she is really a brand (ala Martha Stewart) on all types of products from puzzles to bedlinens. Not surprisingly, she now even has some of her best baby photography featured on U.S. postage at Anne Geddes and offered thru Stamps.com. Displayed here are flower images from four unique PhotoStamps sheet designs. You can mail them, collect them, or give them as a gift!

Cheesecake

Cheesecake

Waterlily

Waterlily

Sophie

Sophie

Peony

Peony


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