Playful Stamps Herald the Festive Season

The U.S. Postal Service ended its 2021 program with a couple of first-class Forever domestic issues, both blocks of four. A Visit from St. Nick revisits the oft-told Christmas Eve tale of a special visitor while Otters in the Snow offers seasonal images of the playful mammal. Both sets are being sold in booklets of 20. The following are excerpts of the full New U.S. Issues column, which can be read in full online at stamps.org/news. 

Otters have appeared rarely on U.S. stamps. You can find a river otter on a 22¢ stamp in the 50-stamp North American Wildlife set of 1987. Another otter appears on the U.S. 1990 block of four Sea Creatures, but that’s a sea otter. River otters do pop up on stamps from other countries, including Finland, Great Britain, Ireland, the Soviet Union, Slovenia, Sweden and Vietnam.

St. Nick, or Santa Claus, on the other hand, has become quite common on end-of-year U.S. holiday stamps since the first Santa Claus stamp in 1972, in which the iconic figure was seen holding up a horn with his sack at his feet. After that, there are at least another 26 face-different Santas – including appearances as an ornament, a cookie, a nutcracker, an animated cartoon and a soda pop advertisement – through 2020. This year’s St. Nick stamps retell the classic tale, “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” which can also be seen, at least in part, on stamps from 1991, 1996 and 2012.

Otters in Snow 

Four images of the alert and playful North American river otter reveling in winter’s white landscape appear on a set of seasonally appropriate stamps (Figure 1).

The stamps were issued October 12 without a national first day ceremony in Otter, Montana, which might be one of the most isolated places the U.S. Postal Service has ever formally issued a stamp. The unincorporated community of Otter, along Montana’s southern border with Wyoming, had a population of 375 in 2007, according to City-Data.com. Located in the Custer National Forest and along Otter Creek, it has an elevation of 3,484 feet and has had a post office since 1895. 

Figure 1. Technical details and purchasing information for Otters in Snow are available from here. 

Each stamp shows an otter delighting in winter’s white wonderland. The first image is an otter poking its head out of an icy body of water; the second shows an otter sliding on its back, tail first, down a snowbank; the third depicts an otter, belly up, facing the viewer, sliding down a snowbank; and the fourth shows an otter chest-deep in a snow drift. They’re darn cute and if you don’t believe otters looks like this in the snow, go search the web as I did. 

The original illustrations, which may look like photographs to some, were created from artwork by illustrator John Burgoyne, of West Barnstable, Massachusetts. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamps. The images were rendered in pen and nk, with watercolor in shades of brown for the otters, using black for facial features and crosshatching. The wintry background is white, with blue water, light blue and violet shadows, and black crosshatching. 

Burgoyne has created artwork for several U.S. definitives, all featuring fruits. Burgoyne’s artworks include four 33¢ postcard rate apple stamps (2013); 5¢ pinot noir grapes (2016); 1¢ apples (2016); 10¢ pears (2016); 3¢ strawberries (2017); and 2¢ Meyer lemons (2018).

“This is his first non-fruit assignment,” Noyes said. “His art produces well at stamp size and I was happy we could give him an opportunity to do other subjects. He is very versatile and wonderful to work with.”

“I do it all by hand,” Burgoyne told the Cape Cod Times in 2016. “That’s why most people come to me. National Geographic has people who do maps on the computer, but when they want one that looks like the original, they come to me.” More of Burgoyne’s work can be seen at http://www.johnburgoyneillustration.com.

The playful North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) can be found in riparian areas throughout most of the United States and Canada, often in the same areas as beavers. These otters prefer freshwater habitats but can also be found in salt water.

This elegantly long and sleek mammal is designed for life in and around the water, no matter the season. In addition to webbed feet, an otter has a muscular tail, measuring about 40 percent of its body length, that powers it in swimming and diving. Otters may look a bit awkward when walking on land, but they are nothing but graceful as they twist and loop through the water, slide down snowbanks or romp in the snow. This “play” helps them strengthen social bonds, hone hunting skills, and mark territory.

Derry Noyes – Art Director

We’ve had some birds in the snow on stamps, so how did you come to choose otters as a subject? 

John had an existing piece of art of otters in snow and we thought they would make a great subject for a winter theme. 

How did you come up with the otter scenes on each stamp? Did you or the artist study otters for a bit and make suggestions or did these all come from the artist? 

He used photographs as reference. We explored the idea of including different animals in snow but decided just otters in different positions worked best as a block of four. Overall, it’s more cohesive and otters are just so appealing and playful. 

Each stamp shows a single otter. Was there any thought of including more than one on a stamp? 

Yes, we experimented with more than one otter per stamp, but they were too small when reduced down to stamp size. 

I wondered if the snow on the otter’s head was realistic or artistic license so I checked online and saw otters looking like that. Any idea where that element entered the design? 

Otters are by nature very playful. The snow on top of their heads is fun and their facial expressions make it look as if they are loving it all. And, as you said, there is reference that backs that up. 

Is there anything else interesting you would like to add about these stamps? 

Nothing more to add, other than they make me smile. Much needed levity these days.