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What becomes a legend?

The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries.

The U-S Postal Service has a series of stamps called Legends of Hollywood. It has
included John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, and Marilyn Monroe. This year's stamp honors
Charlton Heston.

And if ever there was a Legend of Hollywood, it's Shirley Temple, who died recently.
She was the most popular and successful  child star ever. In fact, in the mid-1930's,
she was Hollywood's most famous and popular star… period. She had starred in 15 movies
by the time she was 10.

So a Legends of Hollywood stamp would appear to be a slam-dunk. And yet…. Is Shirley
Temple commercial enough?

The Postmaster General says the Postal Service needs to issue stamps with more-commercial
subjects, so it can sell more stamps. The head of marketing reportedly vetoed plans for a
Sarah Vaughn stamp, because she didn't think young people know who the jazz singer was.

And the Legends of Hollywood series is all about commercialism and pop culture. Shirley
Temple's film career ended 65 years ago. Today's young people don't know who she was.
Heck, they probably have never been served a Shirley Temple – the non-alcoholic cocktail
for kids.

Other stamp series still include forgotten people and events, bringing them back to public
attention. That's even been true of the Legends of Hollywood series.

Hopefully, it still is. That's one of the purposes of commemorative stamps.

I'm Lloyd de Vries of The Virtual Stamp Club. For more on stamps and stamp collecting,
isit virtual-stamp-club-dot-com.

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