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- Postal Service marks 250th anniversary with stamps honoring Ben Franklin and postal carriers</p>
<p>SUSAN HAIGHJuly 23, 2025 at 9:58 PM</p>
<p>Postmaster General David Steiner looks at a just unveiled Benjamin Franklin stamp to mark the 250th anniversary of postal service's founding, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)</p>
<p>The U.S. Postal Service on Wednesday marked its upcoming 250th anniversary with the release of new commemorative stamps, including an exclusive, modernized version of the nation's first 5-cent stamp featuring Benjamin Franklin, the first postmaster general.</p>
<p>The event was held at the USPS headquarters in Washington and included an appearance by the 76th postmaster general. David Steiner, a former waste management company CEO and a former board member of the shipping giant FedEx, began in his new role last week.</p>
<p>"For the United States Postal Service, today is a milestone 250 years in the making," Steiner said in a statement. "These stamps will serve as a window into our shared history."</p>
<p>The U.S. mail service officially turns 250 years old Saturday. Established by the Second Continental Congress in 1775, the Postal Service was launched nearly a year before the colonies declared their break from British rule. It is seen by historians as crucial to the nation's independence and to keeping the young country unified.</p>
<p>Franklin was chosen as the first postmaster general because he had previously served in the British postal service for North America, including as co-Postmaster General from 1757 until 1774.</p>
<p>A book of 20 Franklin stamps is exclusively being sold with a commemorative 32-page booklet titled "Putting a Stamp on the American Experience." The new Forever stamp features a redesigned, modern interpretation of an 1875 reproduction of the original 5-cent stamp released in 1847.</p>
<p>President George Washington was featured on the first 10-cent stamp.</p>
<p>The USPS has also released a commemorative sheet of 20 interconnected stamps, dubbed "250 Years of Delivering," that portray a mail carrier making her rounds throughout a year. The stamps were illustrated by renowned cartoonist Chris Ware.</p>
<p>Steiner has lauded the Postal Service for its history and recently voiced support for keeping the USPS as a self-financing, independent agency of the executive branch. Last week, in a video message to employees, Steiner said he opposed the idea of privatizing the Postal Service, contrasting with comments made by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk.</p>
<p>"I do not believe the Postal Service should be privatized or that it should become an appropriated part of the federal government," Steiner said.</p>
<p>He said his goal as postmaster was to meet the agency's "financial and service performance expectations" under the current structure.</p>
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