{"title":"Fruits Stamps","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"forever-stamps-2020-fruits-vegetables-fresh-produce-collection-first-class-postage","title":"Fruits \u0026 Vegetables 2020 Forever Stamps — Robert Papp Still Lifes, Booklet of 20","description":"\u003ch2\u003eIssue facts\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst Day of Issue: July 17, 2020\u003cbr\u003eFirst Day City: Charleston, West Virginia\u003cbr\u003ePrinted by: Banknote Corporation of America\u003cbr\u003ePrinting Method: Offset\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Double-sided booklets of 20\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eThe set\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTen designs, each a still life of a different fruit or vegetable by Robert Papp. This one shows green and purple figs. Charleston was chosen for the first-day postmark because of Capitol Market, the city's well-known year-round farmers' market and nonprofit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat counts as a fruit\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGrocery stores get this wrong constantly. Most people have absorbed that eggplants, tomatoes and squash are botanically fruits. Fewer know that bananas are berries, or that a fig is not really a fruit at all but an inverted cluster of flowers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eFigs in America\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey are a staple across the Mediterranean and the Middle East, where they originated, and comparatively unusual here. Nearly every fig grown in the United States comes from California, which supplies what the tree wants: full sun, warmth and soil that drains. Depending on variety the season runs May through November.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost people picture the dark purple-black Mission fig, but there are also Brown Turkey (light purple), Kadota (amber), Sierra (light green) and Tiger (striped green and yellow). Flavors range from rich and almost meaty to light and citrusy, closer to a raspberry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePliny the Elder rated them highly, claiming figs restore strength in the young, keep the old in better health, and leave them looking younger with fewer wrinkles. Modern nutrition is more measured; a ripe fresh fig still makes the case on its own.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Forever Stamp Center","offers":[{"title":"100 Stamps (5 Books)","offer_id":47100610805959,"sku":"ST20-A3-5","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"300 Stamps (15 Books)","offer_id":47100610838727,"sku":"ST20-A3-15","price":54.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"500 Stamps (25 Books)","offer_id":47100610871495,"sku":"ST20-A3-25","price":89.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1000 Stamps (50 Books)","offer_id":47100610904263,"sku":"ST20-A3-50","price":149.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"5000 Stamps (250 Books)","offer_id":47100610937031,"sku":"ST20-A3-250","price":699.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/6250\/4647\/files\/fruits-and-vegetables-2020-forever-stamps-main-scaled-1-1-800x600_1775b48d-5b56-4aec-b88e-eef195c3b635.jpg?v=1788604580"},{"product_id":"forever-stamps-2019-winter-berries-seasonal-holiday-collection-first-class-postage","title":"Winter Berries 2019 Forever Stamps — Four Species, Double-Sided Booklet of 20","description":"\u003ch2\u003eIssue facts\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIssue Date: September 17, 2019\u003cbr\u003eFirst Day City: Tulsa, OK\u003cbr\u003ePrinted by: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd.\u003cbr\u003ePrinting Method: Offset\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Double-sided booklet of 20\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eThe four species\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWinterberry, juniper, beautyberry and soapberry. The first three are important winter food for a long list of animals, including woodpeckers, quail, robins, waxwings and catbirds — birds that eat insects by preference and switch to fruit when the insects are gone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eBetter than a feeder\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAny color at all is welcome in a gray winter, and most of it arrives on the backs of the songbirds that stay through the season. Feeders are the usual way people help, but planting winter berries works better.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese are trees and shrubs that hold their fruit through the cold months — some keeping their leaves, others reduced to bare branches and fruit. Either way, the food stays available exactly when nothing else is.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003ePlanting them\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIdentify what is native to your region and plant that. Native species will not outcompete the plants already there, and they are adapted to your winters, which means they will still be producing fruit in a hard year. Whether the goal is feeding birds or simply putting color in the yard, they deliver on both.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Forever Stamp Center","offers":[{"title":"100 Stamps (5 Books)","offer_id":47100613525703,"sku":"ST19-A11-5","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"300 Stamps (15 Books)","offer_id":47100613558471,"sku":"ST19-A11-15","price":54.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"500 Stamps (25 Books)","offer_id":47100613591239,"sku":"ST19-A11-25","price":89.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1000 Stamps (50 Books)","offer_id":47100613624007,"sku":"ST19-A11-50","price":149.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"5000 Stamps (250 Books)","offer_id":47100613656775,"sku":"ST19-A11-250","price":699.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/6250\/4647\/files\/751B2EB3-635D-576E-6683-70BE190D4923-1-1-800x800_5631be2a-af79-4b95-9a04-851fd08dfa77.jpg?v=1788604325"},{"product_id":"forever-stamps-2018-frozen-treats-summer-fun-first-class-postage","title":"Frozen Treats 2018 Forever Stamps — First U.S. Scratch-and-Sniff Stamps, Booklet of 20","description":"\u003ch2\u003eIssue facts\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIssue Date: June 20, 2018\u003cbr\u003eFirst Day City: Austin, Texas\u003cbr\u003ePrinted by: Ashton Potter\u003cbr\u003ePrinting Method: Offset, Flexographic\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Double-sided booklet of 20\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eA first for the Postal Service\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese were the first scratch-and-sniff stamps ever issued in the United States, coated to release what the Postal Service described as a sweet summer scent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eHow the popsicle was invented\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy an eleven-year-old, by accident, in 1905 near San Francisco. Frank Epperson mixed soda powder and water with a wooden stirring stick and left the cup outside overnight. It was unusually cold, and in the morning the drink had frozen solid around the stick. Rather than throw it out, he ate it off the stick.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe called it an Epsicle ice pop and started making them to sell around the neighborhood. By 1923 he was selling them at a local amusement park, and he received a patent in 1924. His own children took to calling them \"Popsicles,\" and the brand name stuck.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat became of it\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFinancial trouble through the 1920s forced Epperson to sell the rights to his invention and his company. Ownership has changed hands repeatedly since, and the product has not: Popsicle remains a household name selling billions of frozen treats a year.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Forever Stamp Center","offers":[{"title":"100 Stamps (5 Books)","offer_id":47100615590087,"sku":"ST18-A3-5","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"300 Stamps (15 Books)","offer_id":47100615622855,"sku":"ST18-A3-15","price":54.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"500 Stamps (25 Books)","offer_id":47100615655623,"sku":"ST18-A3-25","price":89.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1000 Stamps (50 Books)","offer_id":47100615688391,"sku":"ST18-A3-50","price":149.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"5000 Stamps (250 Books)","offer_id":47100615721159,"sku":"ST18-A3-250","price":699.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/6250\/4647\/files\/9a61b9_a2b8d22ea52946ed92601ebd530604e9_mv2__98510_6ddedff2-337a-40e9-9319-e83915c838da.jpg?v=1788604392"},{"product_id":"forever-stamps-2015-summer-harvest-seasonal-celebration-first-class-postage","title":"Summer Harvest 2015 Forever Stamps — Vintage Crate Label Art, Booklet of 20","description":"\u003ch2\u003eIssue facts\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIssued: July 11, 2015 at the California State Fair, Cal Expo\u003cbr\u003eFirst Day City: Sacramento, CA\u003cbr\u003ePrinted by: Ashton Potter\u003cbr\u003eMethod: Offset printing in booklets of 20\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eWhere the artwork comes from\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMichael Doret designed and drew every stamp in the set, taking his cues from vintage shipping crate labels, seed packets and catalogs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy those labels existed\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs the produce trade became a serious interstate business in the 19th century, growers had to find ways to stand out. The answer was the crate label: skilled lithographers were hired to produce them, and bright yellow lemons and hard red tomatoes did the selling from the side of a wooden box.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eHow they were printed\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStone lithography was standard before the turn of the century — designs etched by hand into limestone, inked, and pressed onto heavy paper. Steel and photo-offset lithography made the work faster and cheaper in the next century, and by the late 1940s the practice peaked, with a single lithography firm sometimes employing a hundred artists to keep pace.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt ended quickly. Within a decade, preprinted cardboard boxes replaced wooden crates and the labels became unnecessary.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlenty survive in collections and antique shops. Taken together they form a record of American agricultural advertising across three-quarters of a century — now studied under the name agro-lithography.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Forever Stamp Center","offers":[{"title":"100 Stamps (5 Books)","offer_id":47100623257799,"sku":"ST15-A2-5","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"300 Stamps (15 Books)","offer_id":47100623290567,"sku":"ST15-A2-15","price":54.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"500 Stamps (25 Books)","offer_id":47100623323335,"sku":"ST15-A2-25","price":89.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1000 Stamps (50 Books)","offer_id":47100623356103,"sku":"ST15-A2-50","price":149.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"5000 Stamps (250 Books)","offer_id":47100623388871,"sku":"ST15-A2-250","price":699.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/6250\/4647\/files\/b-30-1-1_eff5ba57-fadc-4395-b632-66c0717822e3.jpg?v=1788604473"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.foreverstampcenter.com\/collections\/fruits-stamps.oembed","provider":"center","version":"1.0","type":"link"}