Mister Rogers stamps for sale again after winning national contest
The Mister Rogers stamps have officially gone back on sale at the post office, and they are seemingly the hottest-selling item in the neighborhood.
At the Latrobe Post Office on Monday morning, just steps from the Mister Rogers statue, neighbors gathered to celebrate the return of one of the community's favorite hometown heroes.
Peggy Zirkle stopped in for her mail and left with a pleasant surprise.
"What does Fred Rogers mean to you?" asked KDKA's Chris DeRose.
"First word that comes to mind is kind and sincere with people that he met," Zirkle said. "And the way he spoke to you, he looked you in the eye and really meant what he said."
"When you came in here today, you didn't realize they were selling the stamps, did you?" asked DeRose.
"I didn't," said Zirkle. "But I thought that was great because I heard on the news that he won the competition."
The Mister Rogers Forever Stamp, first released in 2018, quickly became one of the agency's most popular commemorative stamps, with millions sold.
This year, more than 500,000 Americans cast votes in the Stamp Encore Contest to bring their favorite stamp back into circulation as part of celebrations surrounding the Postal Service and the nation's 250th anniversary.
"You know, you think about, if there's ever a time right now that we all need 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood' in all of our neighborhoods, it's now," said Mark Wahl, a strategic communications specialist with the United States Postal Service. "So what a fitting time for it to come out."
For James Okonak and the staff at the McFeely-Rogers Foundation in Latrobe, the stamp's comeback is another reminder that the lessons Rogers taught decades ago still resonate today.
And perhaps even more impressive, Rogers didn't just win the contest. He won it by a 40,000-vote margin.
"A lot of local people voted for it, and overwhelmingly, Fred was number one," said Okonak. "It just shows how very popular Fred still is."
The Mister Rogers stamps will be in circulation while supplies last, but you may want to go online or get to your neighborhood post office sooner, rather than later.
