Romeo, Mich., celebrates new Love stamps, town postmark

Philatelic Foreword by Jay Bigalke

A village in Michigan famous for its name and postmark held the distinct honor of hosting a new stamp issue on Jan. 14.

Romeo, Mich., located about 40 miles north of Detroit, celebrated the issuance of the 2022 Love forever stamps. Among the many highlights of the event, two stood out: bouquets of flowers inspired by the stamps (created by a local florist) and free chocolates for attendees from Juliette Chocolates in Romeo.

Town residents were among the 50 people that gathered for the event. Masks were required, and social distancing was definitely noted.

For stamp collectors, it was a treat to hear from former Romeo postmaster Alex Stubbs, who served in that role for 26 years. He was responsible for starting a special cancellation in 1994 for Valentine’s Day and then a couple of years later for joining efforts with the Juliette, Ga., post office to offer a similar postmark highlighting Shakespeare’s famous star-crossed lovers.

The Romeo postmark tradition marks its 28th year this year.

Stubbs told Linn’s after the first-day event that he still has a copy of the article we published when the postmarks were first offered.

Check out the Postmark Pursuit column in the Feb. 14 issue for details on how to obtain this year’s cancellations from Romeo.

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