Culture Notes

Going postal

Purists are upset about the newest 32-cent stamp from the U.S. Postal Service, which features none other than that wascally wabbit, Bugs Bunny. Traditionally, stamps have depicted patriotic symbols or people, events, and sites from American history. The latest vogue in the post office is to portray icons of the pop culture, from Elvis to AIDS ribbons. Putting a cartoon character where George Washington used to be is the last straw for many stamp collectors, who are becoming increasingly vocal over what they see as the trivialization of America's national emblems. Originally, the postal service approached the Walt Disney corporation in the hopes of printing Mickey Mouse stamps, but Disney demanded a royalty. Warner Brothers, keepers of the Looney Tunes franchise, allowed Bugs Bunny to appear for free (except for license fees for the sale of the inevitable T-shirts, coffee-mugs, and related merchandise). Barry Zeihl, spokesman for the Postal Service, defends this embrace of pop culture. "The nature of America today," he maintains, "is commercial." c

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