Hatch Print Helps Develop Stamp for U.S. Postal Service

Nashville’s Hatch Show Print, one of the oldest working letter print shops in America, was recently tapped to assist in designing and producing the U.S. Postal Service’s 2013 Emancipation Proclamation (Forever ®) stamp, which commemorates the 150th anniversary of the proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863.

The stamp is one of three Civil War-era commemorative stamps to be released, though Hatch Show Print was not involved in the design process for the other two stamps. Stamp designer Gail Anderson and Antonio Alcala, an art director who works closely with the U.S. Postal Service to find talented designers, spent two days at Hatch Show Print last spring, working alongside Hatch Show Print manager Jim Sherraden in the final design of the stamp.

“It is just great that in the 21st century, we are able to draw on a process such as letterpress printing, to add texture and authenticity to a project such as this,” Celene Aubry, project manager for this project at Hatch Show Print, tells MusicRow. This is the first stamp issue where Hatch Show Print has had a hand in the process.

Hatch Show Print’s archive of wood types and ornaments that match the era of the Emancipation Proclamation made it a natural fit for the project’s design and production needs. Hatch Show Print opened in 1879, 16 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

The stamp was originally printed poster-size. “When the [stamp] committee saw the posters and heard about Gail and Antonio’s experience at Hatch, they decided they wanted a run of posters to sell alongside the stamps,” says Celene. 5,000 posters were printed. “Once the final design was so enthusiastically accepted by the stamp committee and they decided to have Hatch print the additional posters, we spent about a week and a half here at the shop printing, trimming, numbering and packing up the 5,000 posters,” says Celene.

The stamp was issued on Jan. 1, 2013. To purchase the 2013 Emancipation Proclamation (Forever ®) stamp, visit usps.com.