The US Postal Service has introduced its new 2009 Hanukkah stamp featuring a photograph by Ira Wexler, award-winning DC-based advertising photographer.
When asked by Postal designer Carl Herrman to help suggest a concept for this historic stamp, Wexler felt it should be about the light from the candles. After all, Wexler commented, “Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights. It’s a celebration and I hope that people look at it and feel the glow and warmth of the Menorah lights and of holiday itself.”
In addition to working with clients like Citibank, Exxon, Coca-Cola and HP for the past 42 years, Wexler’s images have been featured on other stamps, including the original Teddy Bear stamp and the popular Purple Heart stamp. “As a former Bar Mitzvah boy,” he said, “it was an honor to help concept and photograph the third-ever U.S. Hanukkah stamp.”
The stamp displays an image of a menorah, designed by Lisa Regan of Garden Deva, with nine lit candles, and was officially dedicated in October at the Mega Stamp Show in New York. Thirty-five million copies of the 44¢ first-cass stamps were printed.
“We hope Americans will use these stamps to spread the joy of the holidays on cards and letters across the nation this holiday season,” said David Failor, the USPS’s executive director of stamp services. The 2009 Hanukkah stamp is the third U.S. issuance to commemorate the holiday. The Postal Service issued its first Hanukkah Stamp, which featured a stylized illustration of a menorah, as a joint issue with Israel in 1996. A design featuring an ornate dreidel followed in 2004.
Of note, the stamp almost didn't get produced. Originally, an off-the-shelf menorah was selected by Carl Herrman and sent to Wexler’s studio to be photographed. When the Postal Service ran into problems getting copyright permission, the project was about to be scrubbed. At that point, Wexler’s wife and partner, Paula Rubin-Wexler, suggested having a menorah designed just for the project. She consulted Whitney Bingham, owner of The Muse in Frederick, MD, a shop known for hand-made art objects. Several metal sculptors were invited to submit drawings and Regan was awarded the project.
The finished menorah and a box of Hanukkah candles were shipped to Wexler, who produced the image at his studio in Braddock Heights, MD. “It was a long and circuitous path,” he said, “and the results are so worth all of the effort we put in. I feel very lucky to have taken part in the making of a stamp that represents this holiday to Jewish people everywhere.”
Since it was produced, the stamp has taken on a life of its own. It has been featured in newspaper articles and on some TV news shows across the country. It’s even listed at auction on eBay in England. This year, Hanukkah began at sundown on Friday, December 11.