Stamps Across the Pacific: Part 5 - Lunar New Year Stamps

A visual history of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander migrations

Forever Celebrating Lunar New Year: Year of the Rat stamp (2020-01-11) by United States Postal ServiceSmithsonian's National Postal Museum

Lunar New Year Stamps, 2020-2022

Continued from Stamps Across the Pacific: Part 4

Following on the extremely popular issues from 1992-2004 and 2008-2019, the third set features striking photos of three-dimensional, paper-cut masks featuring the animals of the lunar zodiac created especially for the series by artist and illustrator Camille Chew.

Forever Year of the Ox stamp (2021-02-02) by United States Postal ServiceSmithsonian's National Postal Museum

A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Chew is known for her playful and intricate depictions of animals, drawn from her interpretations of Chinese mythology and folklore.

Lunar New Year celebrations in the United States can be traced back to the earliest Chinese immigrant communities in California, where the holiday was being celebrated even before the American Civil War.

Forever Lunar New Year: Tiger stamp (2022-01-20) by United States Postal ServiceSmithsonian's National Postal Museum

As Asian immigration increased and diversified, Vietnamese, Korean, and Filipino Americans, among others, joined in and spread the tradition across the country.

Although each community has its own unique customs and traditions, most Lunar New Year celebrations feature decorations, fireworks, dancing, food, and colorful parades.

Credits: Story

This virtual exhibition was created by Daniel A. Piazza, NPM’s chief curator. It incorporates some content from an earlier virtual exhibition, People and Places of the Pacific, originally created by Museum Specialist MJ Meredith and Web Intern Joan Flintoft and subsequently updated by Lauren Maloy.

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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