CARLISLE, PA — America’s love affair with fast and flashy automobiles takes center stage on U.S. postage stamps with today’s issuance of the America on the Move: 50s Fins and Chrome stamps.

The new 42-cent stamps are now on sale at the local Post Office, by telephone at 800-Stamp-24 or online at usps.com.

Featuring paintings by renowned automobile illustrator Art M. Fitzpatrick, the stamps showcase a 1957 Chrysler 300C, a 1957 Lincoln Premiere, a 1957 Pontiac Safari, a 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk and a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado. The stamps will be rolled out at the Fall Carlisle Collector Car Swap Meet & Corral during a first-day-of-issue ceremony in Carlisle, PA, at 12:30 p.m. ET.

“Automotive history is brilliantly illustrated on these awesome stamps,” said Patrick R. Donahoe, U.S. Postal Service deputy postmaster general and chief operating officer. “We are proud to feature these classic cars on stamps here at the mecca of car shows.”

Donahoe was joined by Carlisle Events co-founder Bill Miller Jr. to dedicate the stamps before a crowd of thousands of automotive enthusiasts.

The Postal Service inaugurated the America on the Move series in 2005 with the 50s Sporty Cars stamps that depicted a Nash Healey (1952), Chevrolet Corvette (1953), Studebaker Starliner (1953), Kaiser Darrin (1954) and a Ford Thunderbird (1955).

America on the Move: 50s Fins and Chrome Philatelic Fact Sheet

Philatelic Products

There are five philatelic products available for this stamp issue:

• 463663, First-Day Cover Set/5, $4.00
• 463666/893500/893501, Premium Stamped Cards Set/20, $13.95
• 463668, Digital Color Postmark Set/5, $7.50
• 463691, Ceremony Program, $6.95
• 463699, Digital Color Postmark Cancellation Keepsake, $15.90
  (Sheet of 20 stamps with set of 5 first-day-of-issue covers)

How to Order First-Day Covers

Stamp Fulfillment Services also offers first-day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first-day-of-issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly USA Philatelic catalog. Customers can request a free catalog by calling 800-STAMP-24 or writing to:

Information Fulfillment
Dept 6270
U.S. Postal Service
PO Box 219014
Kansas City, MO  64121-9014

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark

Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They can purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, by telephone at 800-STAMP-24, or at the Postal Store website at www.usps.com/shop. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes to themselves or others, and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

America on the Move: 50s Fins and Chrome Stamp
Postmaster
66 W Louther Street
Carlisle, PA  17013-9998

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark. All orders must be postmarked by Dec. 4, 2008.