New Issue: American Icons (USA)

Here is a new issue that isn't quite so new - these stamps showing "American Icons" was issued two months ago. I have heard today that this was quite a controversial issue so I decided to take a look for myself and make my own mind up. Why controversial? Well, some people thought that these stamps are a terrible example of "corporate commercialism" while others have asked whether it was a good idea to let a fashion icon (Ralph Lauren) "brand a milestone national celebration (the nation's 250th birthday), effectively blurring the line between public postal art and corporate marketing". Someone else wrote that the stamps were "commercializing a civic institution through a concurrent fashion capsule collection". I understand what they mean. It's fair to say they're very different to the traditional cultural representations on US stamps.

Others were more concerned about the subject matter and particularly "trivialised iconography". One person complained that "we usually focus strictly on revolutionary heroes, foundational documents, or solemn national architecture... this collection mixes traditional symbols with lifestyle motifs from Lauren's personal aesthetic—including a vintage pickup truck, a hamburger with a toothpick flag, a teddy bear in a flag sweater, and high-resolution photos of Lauren's own commercial knitwear designs." Others suggested that the stamps were the product of a "highly commercialized fantasy" or "Superficial Americana". Again, I see what they mean - to me as a British person these seem quite amusing but they lack the kind of historical depth you'd expect on stamps celebrating 250 years as a nation. So let's take a look at the stamps. They show: American flag in a rural setting Baseball glove worn by Jackie Robinson Teddy bear Pickup truck Faithful dog Empire State Building Rustic barn Racing sailboat Diné (Navajo) blanket (woven by Naiomi Glasses) Lighthouse Classic hamburger Wild horses Knitted U.S. flag (a special design by Ralph Lauren)

So what do I think? Design Quality — Not great, to be honest. For a set of stamps celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States, I was expecting something that would actually make the occasion feel exciting and important. Instead, the designs just seem dull.

There is nothing particularly wrong with the individual photographs, but that is also part of the problem. Most of them simply look like ordinary pictures that have been put into a stamp-shaped frame. There doesn't seem to be much thought about how the stamps work together as a set, and even the miniature sheet, which could have been the centrepiece of the whole issue, is surprisingly boring.

This feels like such a wasted opportunity. With 250 years of history to work with, USPS could have created something colourful, dramatic and memorable. 2/10

Theme/Subject Choice — Creating a special stamp issue for America's 250th anniversary was obviously a good idea, and American Icons sounds like it could have been a brilliant theme. The problem is the choice of "icons".

A hamburger? A teddy bear? A cowboy hat? A pickup truck? These things might be associated with America, but are they really the best way to represent 250 years of the United States? And are they really icons?

There is nothing necessarily wrong with celebrating everyday American culture. In a different stamp issue, this could even have been quite fun. But for the country's 250th anniversary, it seems strangely trivial. There are so many people, places, achievements, inventions, movements and moments from American history that could have been represented.

Instead, the set relies on stereotypes of America. It feels like America as imagined by someone designing souvenirs for tourists, rather than America looking seriously at its own national identity.

Is this genuinely the best representation they could come up with for 250 years of the USA? I really hope not. 1/10

Historical and Cultural Relevance — This is probably the strongest category, although that isn't saying very much.

Obviously, the stamps have historical relevance simply because they commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence. Some of the subjects also have genuine cultural significance. The American flag, the Empire State Building, the cowboy and the lighthouse, for example, all connect with important parts of American history and culture.

The problem is that the set presents American culture in such a clichéd, sentimental and twee way. There is very little sense of how complicated, diverse and extraordinary the country's 250-year history actually is.

One critic described the collection as "reducing a 250th semiquincentennial milestone to a lifestyle brand archive", and I think that sums up the problem brilliantly. The stamps aren't completely culturally irrelevant, but they seem more interested in presenting an attractive Ralph Lauren version of America than actually exploring what America is. 4/10

Innovation and Creativity — Considering this collection was curated by Ralph Lauren, this might be the most disappointing part.

Whatever you think of his work, Ralph Lauren is one of the most famous American designers ever, so I expected the stamps to have some real creative flair. Instead, they feel incredibly safe and frankly boring.

There isn't an interesting visual idea connecting the stamps, an unusual interpretation of the anniversary or anything that really surprises you. Most of the designs amount to a photograph of a familiar American object with "American Icons" written underneath it.

For such an important anniversary, why not experiment? The designers could have connected past and present, shown how America has changed over 250 years, commissioned new artwork or found some clever way of making the stamps tell a story when placed together.

Instead, we get hamburgers, cowboy hats and teddy bears presented exactly as you would expect hamburgers, cowboy hats and teddy bears to be presented.

Sorry, Ralph. 0/10

Collectability — This should have been the American stamp issue of the year. A country's 250th anniversary only happens once, and it should have been fairly easy to produce a collection that people would be excited to own.

Instead, USPS has certainly managed to get people talking about these stamps, but mostly for all the wrong reasons.

Does controversy make them more collectable? Possibly. Sometimes unpopular or strange issues become fascinating years later precisely because they capture a particular moment in time. These stamps could eventually become famous as the controversial 250th anniversary issue, which would at least give collectors a story to tell.

But controversy doesn't automatically make something valuable. As Tony Lester of Tony Lester Auctions has said: "Whether the American Icons stamps go on to be genuinely sought after, or simply remembered as a curiosity of the period, only time will tell. As ever, novelty and present-day hype are no guarantee of future value."

I think "curiosity of the period" might turn out to be exactly right. 2/10

Personal Appeal — One rather angry American on Facebook described these stamps as "f***ing trash".

I'm not going to go quite that far.

But I really don't like them.

What bothers me most isn't that the stamps are hideous, because they aren't. Some of the individual photographs are actually quite nice. It's that this was such a huge opportunity and the result is so underwhelming.

This is the 250th anniversary of the United States of America. It should feel important. It should make Americans proud of their history and perhaps make people outside America curious to learn more about it. The stamps could have shown something of the country's creativity, achievements, landscapes, people and enormous cultural influence.

Instead, I'm looking at a hamburger and a teddy bear. 0/10

Overall Score: 9/60 The basic idea of celebrating American icons is a good one but unfortunately this feels like an enormous missed opportunity.

For an ordinary issue about American popular culture, I might have given higher marks. But these stamps aren't for an ordinary occasion. They're commemorating 250 years of the United States, and that deserves something far more ambitious. Personally, I'm not too interested in the arguments about commercialism. I'm more surprised that a creative genius like Ralph Lauren gave us this bland and totally unexciting set of stamps. The biggest problem is probably that the collection doesn't make me want to discover anything about America. It just shows me things I already associate with the USA like flags, cowboys, hamburgers and pickup trucks. A really great anniversary issue could have made me look at America differently and these don't. There has been an unusual amount of criticism from the American public about these. If "American Icons" proves anything, it's that even a set of stamps celebrating something non-controversial like an important anniversary can be divisive if you don't get the basics right. Let's hope that Royal Mail don't get any ideas or we'll be looking at stamps showing a full English breakfast, beans on toast, a corgi draped in a Union Jack, a top hat, a biscuit being dunked in a cup of tea and a rainy umbrella.

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