Frozen Treats 2018 Forever Stamps — First U.S. Scratch-and-Sniff Stamps, Booklet of 20

Issue facts

Issue Date: June 20, 2018
First Day City: Austin, Texas
Printed by: Ashton Potter
Printing Method: Offset, Flexographic
Format: Double-sided booklet of 20

A first for the Postal Service

These 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.

How the popsicle was invented

By 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.

He 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.

What became of it

Financial 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.

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