Vintage Unused Aster Flower Stamps (The Seasonal Garden), USPS Postage 32c

Product Description

• Quantity: 1
• Vintage Unused/Uncanceled U.S. Postage Stamp
• Aster, Flower, The Seasonal Garden, Pink/Red/Yellow/Green, Multicolored
• Topic: Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Seasons, Fall, Fall Garden Flowers
• Size: 1¾ x 1 inches (approx.)
• Condition: mint, unused/uncanceled
• Adhesive Type: gummed
• Face Value: 32 cents each (USD) 

Flower Information

Aster in Greek means “star”. Asters are in the daisy family and are notable for their starburst arrangement of bright petals, which most often surround a yellow center. The flowers are small but numerous, giving the plants the look of being “nothing but color” when in full bloom.

Asters have a fascinating history. They are also known as the Michaelmas daisy for their tendency to bloom around the autumn equinox, which coincides with the feast of St, Michael. The leaves and roots were used medicinally by Native Americans. Legend has it that the greek god Virgo sowed them from stardust. Another legend says they sprang from the tears of the goddess Asterea, who grieved upon seeing a devastated Earth after the great Flood. Also known as “starwort” and “eye of Christ,” asters were long believed to have magical powers. In ancient Greece, wreaths of asters adorned the altars of all the gods. Down through the centuries, some people burned aster leaves to keep away evil spirits, while others ground aster roots to cure sickly bees and the bite of mad dogs. Today, gardeners mostly grow asters for their beautiful fall flowers and to provide late-season food for pollinators.

Stamp History

Illustrated for the United States Postal Service (USPS) by Ned Seidler, this stamp is part of the The Seasonal Garden series. In 1992, the USPS issued a pane of 50 stamps, each depicting a different American wildflower. This series proved to be so popular that the USPS followed up with a colorful stamp booklet for each season honoring American garden flowers. Starting with the spring issue, the booklets were produced from 1993 to 1996. The artwork for each of these beautiful garden scenes depicts five seasonal flowers clustered together in bouquet format.

"Aster" is one of five stamps in the Fall Garden Flowers series that was released on May 15, 1993. The selected fall blooms were the aster, chrysanthemum, dahlia, hydrangea, and the rudbeckia. Including hydrangea as a fall flowering plant illustrates the difficulty of seasonal categories, since this flower is sometimes regarded as a late spring or summer bloom. Unlike the other seasonal issues, here the artist allowed for space between the individual flowers.

Stamp History Courtesy of Smithsonian National Postal Museum