About This Stamp
This 40-cent stamp features a red fox. Sold in panes of 20 and in self-adhesive coils of 3,000 and 10,000, the stamp is intended for use by bulk mailers for items such as circulars, newsletters, and catalogs. It can also be used by customers who enjoy using a variety of stamps on their envelopes and packages. The stamp art features a pencil-and-watercolor illustration — the handsome face of a red fox from preexisting artwork by wildlife illustrator Dugald Stermer (1936–2011). His penciled calligraphy on the stamp indicates the animal’s common name and its scientific classification, Vulpes vulpes. Intelligent and highly adaptable, the red fox is well known to Americans coast to coast, including much of Alaska — absent only from Hawai‘i and parts of the Southwest. Foxes are found not only in woodlands and open country, but also in suburbs and cities. Versatile omnivores, they hunt rodents, birds, fish, insects, and invertebrates, and also eat nuts, roots, berries, and more. The fox’s large ears and keen senses are invaluable for pursuing prey. The red fox is named for its most common rusty coloration, which includes darker forelegs and white fur both on the animal’s underside and on the tip of its bushy tail. Some individuals are gray or white. The fox vixen gives birth to several helpless young as winter turns to spring. The kits emerge from their underground den after several weeks of parental care. By autumn, the kits will be fully grown. Red foxes are versatile omnivores, hunting rodents, birds, fish, insects and invertebrates. They also eat nuts, roots, berries, and more. The fox’s large ears and keen senses are invaluable for pursuing prey. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamp.
Stamp Art Director, Stamp Designer
Ethel Kessler
Ethel Kessler is an award-winning designer and art director who has worked with corporations, museums, public and private institutions, professional service organizations, and now, the United States Postal Service.
After earning a B.F.A. in visual communications from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Kessler worked as a graphic designer and project manager for the exhibits division of the United States Information Agency. Her work was distributed internationally on subjects such as Immigration, Entrepreneurship, Renovation of American Cities, and the Bicentennial of 1976. She was also responsible for exhibits in Morocco, Botswana, and El Salvador.
In 1981, she established Kessler Design, Inc., for which she is creative director and designer. Clients have included the Clinton Government reorganization, the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic Television, the National Park Service, and the American Institute of Architects.
She has been an art director for the U.S. Postal Service’s stamp development program for more than 25 years. As an art director for USPS, Kessler has been responsible for creating more than 500 stamp designs, including the Breast Cancer Research stamp illustrated by Whitney Sherman. Issued in 1998, the stamp is still on sale and has raised more $98 million for breast cancer research. Other Kessler projects include the popular and highly regarded Nature of America 120 stamp series, a collaboration with nationally acclaimed nature illustrator John Dawson, the 12-year Lunar New Year series with Kam Mak, the American Filmmaking: Behind the Scenes 10 stamps issued in 2003, a 2016 pane of stamps celebrating the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, and the 2023 stamp honoring Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And many, many others.