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The new flag stamp isn't the first featuring Nebraska. Roger Humphries, customer relations coordinator for the U.S. Postal Service in Omaha, says five other stamps have been issued that related directly to the state:
• Nebraska Territorial Stamp - 3 cents - 1954
• Nebraska Statehood Centennial stamp - 5 cents - 1967
• Nebraska State Flag stamp - 13 cents - 1976
• Nebraska State Bird/Flower stamp - 20-cents - 1982
• Greetings from Nebraska stamp - 34 cents - 2002
Running horses depict Kentucky. A whale provides a glimpse of the Alaska wilds.
Iowa is shown as an endless sea of corn. Kansas is represented by a manicured farmstead.
On its new 44-cent stamp, Nebraska has been immortalized with a ... center pivot.
“Right away, we said someone had superb judgment,” said Ed Burchfield, director of corporate relations at Valmont Industries, the Nebraska-based irrigation manufacturer.
The U.S. Postal Service began releasing its new series of state stamps in 2008, working its way through the union in alphabetical order. Nebraska's stamp will be among a set scheduled for a 2010 release.
Each state gets a prominent rendering of its flag on the left side of its stamp, thus the name of the new series, “Flags of Our Nation.” To the right is a scene meant to be a snapshot of life in each state.
The images are determined by a national committee that often hears from citizens suggesting iconic images, the Postal Service said. Most every Midwest stamp released to date has captured some aspect of rural life.
Burchfield said Valmont didn't provide any input and wasn't asked to. It saw the stamp for the first time about a year ago — and immediately was excited about the artistic rendering of such a ubiquitous feature in the state's landscape, he said.
“Nebraska is one of the most irrigated (states). ... We sit on top of the Ogallala Aquifer. When you drive down I-80 and on side roads, you're going to see pivots everywhere.”
In fact, one-third of Nebraska's harvested cropland — or 7,516,000 acres — is irrigated, the vast majority with center pivots, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Even Hollywood has latched onto the image of Nebraska as an irrigated land. In the newly released movie “Up in the Air,” aerial shots capture the prominent circles of green that mark pivots at work.
Valmont is especially fond of the Postal Service's rendering.
“We're almost certain it's a Valley system, which we make,” Burchfield said.
Contact the writer:
444-1116, judith.nygren@owh.com
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