About This Stamp
Celebrate the fun of America's state and county fairs with four se-tenant stamps from the U.S. Postal Service®. Annual events that families and communities anticipate with enthusiasm, state and county fairs provide social and educational value with opportunities to learn, teach, socialize — and to have lots of fun.
The four colorful stamps were designed to work together as a panorama of familiar, traditional fair activities, while each stamp also works as an individual picture. The style of the stamp art is whimsical, meant to evoke a nostalgic feeling for America’s fairs past and present.
Long before there were extension services or schools of agriculture, America’s fairs were organized to educate farm families in the agricultural, mechanical, and domestic arts. Fairs gave farmers the opportunity to learn new techniques for improving their farms, including the introduction of better implements and equipment to enhance agricultural production.
Even at the earliest fairs, the educational mission was enlivened by competitions for “best” or “biggest” in various categories. Today, these educational competitions are among the most popular events at the fair. Competitors eagerly vie to produce the best in baked goods or the most perfect — and largest — example of a particular fruit, vegetable, or flower. Competitive livestock exhibitions display the hard work and discipline that go into raising farm animals. A lucky few proudly display the ribbons their efforts have won.
Today's fairgoers appreciate the importance of finding sources of locally produced food. Fairs provide opportunities for consumers to connect with farmers, identify local suppliers of organic food, or learn about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) groups, where consumers can buy shares in a local farmer’s seasonal produce and products.
The art director was Greg Breeding. Mike Ryan designed the stamps using original art by Mick Wiggins.
The State and County Fairs stamps were issued as Forever® stamps in panes of 20. These Forever stamps will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.
Stamp Art Director
Greg Breeding
Greg Breeding is a graphic designer and principal of Journey Group, a design company he co-founded in 1992, located in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was creative director until 2013, at which time he began serving as president and continued in that role through 2023.
Breeding’s fascination with modernism began while studying design at Virginia Commonwealth University. His affinity with the movement continues and motivates his ongoing advanced studies at the Basel School of Design in Switzerland most every summer.
As an art director for postage stamp design since 2012, Breeding has designed more than 100 stamps covering a diverse array of subjects, from Star Wars droids and Batman to Harlem Renaissance writers and the transcontinental railroad.
His work has been recognized in annual design competitions held by Graphis, AIGA, PRINT magazine, and Communication Arts.
Breeding lives in North Garden, Virginia, with his wife and enjoys nothing so much as frolicking on the floor with his grandchildren.
Stamp Designer and Typographer
Mike Ryan
Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Mike Ryan was creatively inspired by his father, a pressman. In 2002, he graduated from James Madison University with a B.A. in fine arts with a concentration in graphic design. After working as a designer at Think Design in Richmond from 2002 to 2003, he spent two years at Tradeshowdirect.com before moving to Journey Group in 2005. He served as Journey’s design director from 2007 to 2015, when he became the firm’s creative director. The U.S. Postal Service® Edgar Allen Poe Commemorative Edition booklet, which he designed was featured in the PRINT Regional Design Annual and the HOW International Design Annual. Ryan's stamp designs for the U.S. Postal Service include Have a Ball! (2017), State and County Fairs (2019), Backyard Games (2021), Ernest J. Gaines (2023), and School Bus (2023).
Stamp Artist
Mick Wiggins
An award-winning freelance illustrator, Mick Wiggins earned a B.F.A. in sculpture in 1975 from the University of South Florida. He worked as art director at the magazine PCWorld in San Francisco and later began his career in illustration. He is known as one of the early pioneers in the use of digital media.
Since 1985, Wiggins has worked in the U.S. and internationally, creating illustrations for clients that include Apple, IBM, The New York Times, Random House, Atlantic Magazine, and Penguin Publishing. His recent work includes poster illustrations for a Broadway musical, illustrations for several children's picture books, and a 45-foot mural for a flagship store in Manhattan.
Wiggins lives in Little Rock, Arkansas. In addition to his freelance work, he teaches illustration at the University of Arkansas.
His first stamp designs for the U.S. Postal Service, State and County Fairs (2019), were followed by his stamp designs for Backyard Games (2021).