Postal Service unveils Mister Rogers stamp

PITTSBURGH — It was a beautiful day to honor Mister Rogers with a postage stamp.

The U.S. Postal Service on Friday released a stamp featuring Fred Rogers, the gentle TV host who entertained and educated generations of preschoolers on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

The stamp pictures Rogers in his trademark cardigan along with King Friday, a puppet character from the show’s Neighborhood of Make-Believe sketch.

A dedication ceremony was held at the Pittsburgh studio where Rogers filmed his beloved PBS show, which aired between 1968 and 2001. Rogers died in 2003 at age 74.

Among those attending were Rogers’ widow, Joanne, and David Newell, who played Mr. McFeely, the deliveryman on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

Joanne Rogers said that when she first saw the stamp, it was “love at first sight.”

Postmaster General Megan Brennan said at the unveiling that Mister Rogers “made the ups and downs of life easier to understand for the youngest members of our society.”

“He shaped generations with his kindness and compassion,” she said.

WQED Art Director Jim Cunningham attends the U.S. Postal Service Dedication of the Mister Rogers Forever Stamp at WQED’s Fred Rogers Studio Friday in Pittsburgh, Pa.