4 New USPS Stamps You Can Add to Your Mail This Week
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Hearing that there are planned changes announced by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) would likely lead someone to believe there are more dreaded mail price hikes on the way. But it’s not all bad news that comes out of the agency: Besides recently announcing some convenient upgrades to post offices across the U.S., the service is also continuing its perdiodic update of the postage stamps you can purchase. Whether you’re an avid collector or simply like to give your letters a little something extra, you can look forward to some seasonal charm and commemorative offerings with these new USPS stamps on your next visit.
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1 | Holiday Stamps
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As winter approaches, everything gets a little more festive—including the mail. Last month, the USPS revealed this year’s illustrated Holiday Cheer stamps , which are sold in booklets of 20 as Forever stamps.
“With colder days and longer nights approaching, these stamps offer a fresh and festive way to brighten up our holiday cards and letters, in turn, brightening the lives of our friends and loved ones,” Michael J. Elston , USPS vice president of labor relations, said at the release announcement event.
The set features four designs by artist Denise Fiedler . They include a fruit arrangement in front of an evergreen branch; a wreath covered in holly berries and a bow; a pair of cardinals perched on mistletoe branches; and a bunch of scarlet amaryllis flowers.
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2 | Winter Landscapes
USPS
Those aren’t the only seasonally appropriate stamps hitting the post office: On the heels of the Holiday Cheer release, the USPS also announced its Winter Landscapes set for 2025.
According to a press release, the images acknowledge that winter is “not only a season but a state of mind,” pointing out that the beauty surrounding us during the shorter and colder days still can provide its own sense of warmth and color. Designed by USPS art director Ethel Kessler with five selected images from photographers, the postage stamps showcase the varying looks of the season.
They include a country landscape with two red barns creating stark contrast to the freshly fallen snow surrounding them, while another shows a fence surrounded by tall trees covered in a fresh drop of the white stuff. There’s also drooping evergreens covered in snow with a hill in the distant background, a set of icicles at sunset with frozen waves behind them, and a house sitting beneath a pastel-colored sky.
Similar to the Holiday Cheer set, these forever stamps will be sold in booklets of 20.
RELATED: See a Sticker on Your Mailbox? Don’t Touch It, USPS Says .
3 | Elie Wiesel stamp
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Postage stamps have long been used to commemorate those with great achievements. Now, the USPS is honoring author, humanitarian, and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel with his own, making him the 18th person to receive the honor, per a press release.
“The Postal Service honoring Elie Wiesel is important because our stamps highlight the greatness of the American experience. This stamp serves as a reminder of this remarkable man, and his legacy of resilience and compassion,” Ronald A. Stroman , a member of the Postal Service Board of Governors and dedicating official for the stamp, said at a release ceremony in New York City last month.
“As a journalist, as an author, as an activist, and most importantly, as a teacher, Elie Wiesel chose again and again to speak for those who had no voice and it is a well-deserved recognition to have his image as the 18th stamp in the Distinguished Americans Stamp series,” he added.
After leaving Europe in the wake of WWII, the Romanian-born Night author officially became a U.S. citizen in 1963. He spent the rest of his life tirelessly advocating for human rights and the Jewish experience, earning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.
The stamps bear a black and white portrait of Wiesel taken by photographer Sergey Bermeniev . The stamps can be used for two ounce letters and are unaffected by postage price changes.
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4 | Jimmy Carter stamp
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Earlier this month, the USPS announced it was commemorating former President Jimmy Carter with his own stamp . The agency announced the release on what would have been the Georgia native’s 101st birthday, Oct. 1, 2025.
“Born in 1924 in Plains, Georgia—a town of just 600 people—Jimmy Carter’s story is one of humble beginnings leading to a lifetime of extraordinary service,” Thomas J. Marshall , general counsel and executive vice president of the U.S. Postal Service, said during the ceremony.
“During his presidency from 1977 to 1981, he confronted many challenges and achieved many milestones. But perhaps the most remarkable chapter began after he left the White House. Rather than retreating to a comfortable retirement, he and his wife, Rosalynn, embarked on what many consider the most consequential post-presidency in American history,” he added.
The 39th president helped cement his legacy with his life after leaving the Oval Office as he did in it, working towards humanitarian and charitable efforts, also earning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. The image shown on the stamp is of a 1982 oil painting of the former Commander in Chief by artist Herbert E. Abrams .
See a Sticker on Your Mailbox? Don’t Touch It, USPS Says
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Your mailbox serves a very simple purpose: receiving mail and leaving outgoing mail for a carrier to pick up. Still, some of us enjoy sprucing up our mailboxes, adding personal flair, color, or even decals to help an otherwise standard mailbox stand out. But if you notice a paw print sticker on your mailbox that you didn’t add, don’t start peeling it off just yet—it’s likely part of a program run by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to help keep carriers safe. Read on to find out what these stickers mean and why you shouldn’t remove them.
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In 2023, more than 5,800 Postal Service workers were attacked by dogs while delivering mail, up from 5,300 in 2022, according to a USPS press release.
Larger cities had the highest numbers of attacks, with Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, St. Louis, and Cleveland claiming the top five spots.
“Even though a customer’s dog is friendly to most people, it can always have a bad day,” said letter carrier Tara Snyder . “I know, from experience, even when a dog is in the house, customers need to make sure their door is secure so their dog can’t push it open and bite the letter carrier.”
To her point, the USPS writes that “all dogs can bite, even those perceived as nonaggressive.” In fact, many of the attacks that letter carriers report are by dogs whose owners told them, “My dog won’t bite.”
Such an attack can result in consequences for the homeowner, too. According to data from the Insurance Information Institute, the average cost per insurance claim for a dog bite is $64,555, the USPS states.
“When a postal employee suffers an injury, the owner could be responsible for medical bills, lost wages, uniform replacement costs, and pain and suffering for the employee,” they explain.
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To combat dog bites, the Postal Service shared tips on how pet owners can “support safe mail delivery.” These include keeping dogs inside the house or behind a fence, away from the door or in another room, or on a leash.
“Pet owners also should remind children not to take mail directly from a letter carrier as the dog may view the carrier as a threat to the child,” they state.
Mail carriers also follow protocol to keep them aware of areas where dogs might be present, and they’re equipped with scanners to remind them of possible dog hazards, as well as dog warning cards that are added during mail sorting.
In 2020, the USPS added another preventive measure: the PAWS Program . First introduced in Pennsylvania, the program uses mailbox stickers to keep carriers safe.
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The PAWS Program uses color-coded stickers affixed to mailboxes to inform mail carriers about dogs in the area. An orange sticker with a black paw print tells carriers that there is a dog at this home, while a yellow sticker with a black paw print tells them there is a dog at the next house.
Citizens are informed ahead of time that the stickers may appear on their mailboxes. In a notice sent to Lakewood, Ohio, residents, the Postal Service wrote, “Carriers will soon be placing a paw sticker on mailboxes to indicate that a dog or dogs live in the area —yellow indicates dog nearby/orange indicates dog at residence. The sticker will act as a reminder to the carrier that they should proceed with caution, especially when delivering packages to the door.”
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Removing these stickers may do more harm than good, as your mail service can be halted if your carrier feels unsafe. Not only does this affect the home of the dog owner, but it also applies to the entire neighborhood, the USPS said in a previous press release . Service isn’t restored in these instances “until the aggressive dog is properly restrained.”
At the end of the day, these stickers are put in place to “reduce the risk of dog bites and attacks that occur while delivering mail,” which is just another reason you should leave the sticker on your mailbox.
“We all love our dogs,” Kimberly Tilley , acting postmaster for Winston-Salem, told WGHP. “We love our animals, but we … have to take responsibility to protect the carrier and the people around us as well from our animals.”
Tilley added that dog bites are more common than you think, and they can be traumatic for carriers. “Once a carrier has been bit, it sets some fear in them long term for the rest of their life,” she told the outlet.
However, although these stickers are strongly recommended, if you object to having a sticker placed on your mailbox, you can opt out , Kyle Stevens , Southwest Carrier Annex station manager in South Dakota, told KELO in 2021. To do so, the first step would be to contact your local post office.
This story has been updated to include additional entries, fact-checking, and copy-editing.
