# 5420 - 2019 First-Class Forever Stamp - Spooky Silhouettes: Cat and Raven
US #5420
2019 Cat and Raven – Spooky Silhouettes
• The 3rd time Halloween was commemorated on US stamps (the first was the 1974 Legend of Sleepy Hollow stamp, the 2nd was the 2016 Jack-O’-Lanterns)
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Spooky Silhouettes
Value: 55¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue: October 11, 2019
First Day City: Milford, New Hampshire
Quantity Issued: 40,000,000
Printed by: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method: Flexographic, Rainbow Foil
Format: Panes of 20
Tagging: Nonphosphored Type III, Block Tag
Why the stamp was issued: To celebrate the fun and spookiness of Halloween.
About the stamp design: Pictures a digital illustration of a traditional symbol of Halloween – black cat and raven – in a black silhouette with a yellow backlit window.
Special design details: To add to the fun of the stamp design, shimmering rainbow foil was added to the printing process.
First Day City: The First Day of Issue Ceremony was held at the Milford Pumpkin Festival in Milford, New Hampshire.
About the Spooky Silhouettes set: Four stamp designs celebrating Halloween. Each image pictures a digital illustration of a traditional symbol of Halloween: black cat and raven, ghosts, spider, and bats. Each is represented in a black silhouette with a backlit window pane of a different color: yellow, orange, red, and purple, respectively. Each stamp also includes rainbow foil, making the designs even more fun.
History the stamp represents: When people think of Halloween, a number of spooky symbols come to mind. One of the most common is the black cat. In fact, in the United States, it is said that if a black cat crosses your path you will be cursed with bad luck. At the same time, in other countries, black cats are believed to be very lucky. So where did our black cat superstition come from?
When the Pilgrims came to America, they brought with them a set of very strict religious beliefs. This led them to condemn anything and anyone even remotely resembling evil. It was these early Americans who began to associate black cats as being the familiars of witches – firmly believed to be worshipers of Satan. Anyone found to be the owner of a black cat was severely punished and sometimes even killed. The cats themselves were also destroyed.
Today, America’s prejudice against black cats is not nearly as severe as it was for the Pilgrims, though the spooky feeling these felines give us still lingers. This has led many people to avoid black cats, especially around Halloween. Considering this history, it is only fitting that the black cat was pictured on one of the United States’ 2019 Spooky Silhouettes stamps.
US #5420
2019 Cat and Raven – Spooky Silhouettes
• The 3rd time Halloween was commemorated on US stamps (the first was the 1974 Legend of Sleepy Hollow stamp, the 2nd was the 2016 Jack-O’-Lanterns)
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Spooky Silhouettes
Value: 55¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue: October 11, 2019
First Day City: Milford, New Hampshire
Quantity Issued: 40,000,000
Printed by: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method: Flexographic, Rainbow Foil
Format: Panes of 20
Tagging: Nonphosphored Type III, Block Tag
Why the stamp was issued: To celebrate the fun and spookiness of Halloween.
About the stamp design: Pictures a digital illustration of a traditional symbol of Halloween – black cat and raven – in a black silhouette with a yellow backlit window.
Special design details: To add to the fun of the stamp design, shimmering rainbow foil was added to the printing process.
First Day City: The First Day of Issue Ceremony was held at the Milford Pumpkin Festival in Milford, New Hampshire.
About the Spooky Silhouettes set: Four stamp designs celebrating Halloween. Each image pictures a digital illustration of a traditional symbol of Halloween: black cat and raven, ghosts, spider, and bats. Each is represented in a black silhouette with a backlit window pane of a different color: yellow, orange, red, and purple, respectively. Each stamp also includes rainbow foil, making the designs even more fun.
History the stamp represents: When people think of Halloween, a number of spooky symbols come to mind. One of the most common is the black cat. In fact, in the United States, it is said that if a black cat crosses your path you will be cursed with bad luck. At the same time, in other countries, black cats are believed to be very lucky. So where did our black cat superstition come from?
When the Pilgrims came to America, they brought with them a set of very strict religious beliefs. This led them to condemn anything and anyone even remotely resembling evil. It was these early Americans who began to associate black cats as being the familiars of witches – firmly believed to be worshipers of Satan. Anyone found to be the owner of a black cat was severely punished and sometimes even killed. The cats themselves were also destroyed.
Today, America’s prejudice against black cats is not nearly as severe as it was for the Pilgrims, though the spooky feeling these felines give us still lingers. This has led many people to avoid black cats, especially around Halloween. Considering this history, it is only fitting that the black cat was pictured on one of the United States’ 2019 Spooky Silhouettes stamps.