The Postal Service dedicated its Year of the Ox stamp during a Feb. 2 virtual ceremony that showcased Chicago, home to one of the nation’s largest Lunar New Year celebrations.
Lunar New Year, an important holiday for many Asian communities, is celebrated by people around the world.
The lunar calendar operates on a 12-year cycle, with each year assigned a different zodiac animal. The Year of the Ox begins Feb. 12 and ends Jan. 31, 2022.
Judy Hsu, a news anchor for the ABC station in Chicago, spoke during the ceremony and discussed her memories of ringing in the Lunar Near Year in the Windy City.
“My family actually immigrated to Chicago when I was 11. We landed right in Chicago’s Chinatown and every year we looked forward to the big new year celebration,” Hsu said.
Other speakers during the stamp dedication ceremony included Luke Grossmann, the Postal Service’s finance and strategy senior vice president, and Patrick McShane, the Chicago Chinatown Chamber of Commerce’s president.
The event, which was streamed on the Postal Service’s Facebook and Twitter pages, also featured a traditional lion dance.
The image on the Year of the Ox stamp is a stylized mask of the animal’s face covered with symbols referencing Asian culture, including patterns created with the style of Asian textiles and a star that references the celestial themes of the Chinese zodiac.
The stamp, which is available at Post Offices and usps.com, is the second entry in a series of Lunar New Year stamps introduced in 2020. The first Lunar New Year stamp series began in 1992, while the second series kicked off in 2008.
Share your feedback at uspslink@usps.gov. Your comments could be included in the “Mailbag” column.
