Black Cinema To Be Celebrated In 2008 Stamp Series
The U.S. Postal Service has announced a number of new stamps to be issued during the course of 2008. Among the many commemorative themes will be a series on early black cinema in June.
The Vintage Black Cinema stamps will be based on images from five vintage movie posters: The 1921 silent film The Sport Of The Gods; 1929's Black And Tan, which featured the first film appearance of Duke Ellington; the 1935 French film Princess Tam Tam, one of four films to star Josephine Baker; 1929's Hallelujah, one of the first major-studio films to feature an all-black cast; and the 1945 film short Caldonia, featuring "jump blues" leader Louis Jordan in one of the first precursors to today's music videos.
Other special stamps to be issued in 2008 include a Frank Sinatra stamp, a series on state flags, a series celebrating Latin percussion, and later this month, the 31st stamp in the Black Heritage series honoring Charles W. Chesnutt, a pioneering writer recognized today as a turn-of-the-century literary realist who explored the color line in American life.
