COURTESY PHOTO
The 2002 Hawaiian Missionaries souvenir sheet has
four 34-cent stamps with reproductions of the 1851-53
Hawaiian Missionary stamps. Also featured on the sheet
is a photo of an envelope sometimes known as
the "Dawson cover."

Isles get triple recognition
in new stamps

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By B.J. Reyes
breyes@starbulletin.com

A decade after the last Hawaii-themed postage stamp was issued, images and icons of the Aloha state will be represented on no less than three stamps in 2002.

The new stamps include the long-awaited one honoring swim and surf legend Duke Kahanamoku, a souvenir sheet featuring Hawaiian Missionary stamps of the 1850s, and a likeness of Waikiki featured as part of a 50-piece panel with stamps representing each state.

In all, the U.S. Postal Service yesterday announced the introduction of 21 new stamps or sets of stamps for its 2002 Commemorative Stamp Program.

The most noteworthy of the Hawaii-themed stamps is the image of Kahanamoku, the three-time Olympic gold medal winner widely considered to be the "Father of Surfing," with his arms folded and standing before a backdrop of surfers and Diamond Head.

"The stamp celebrating the life of one of the islands' most respected citizens will delight not only the people of Hawaii, but surfers and sports enthusiasts worldwide," said U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka (D, Hawaii), chairman of the Senate Postal Subcommittee.

The Hawaiian Missionaries souvenir sheet features four 34-cent stamps bearing reproductions of the 1851-53 Hawaiian Missionary stamps: one 2-cent, one 5-cent and two 13-cent designs. A header image shows a wood engraving of Diamond Head. Also on the sheet is a photograph of an envelope sometimes known as the "Dawson cover," the only surviving envelope to bear a 2-cent Hawaiian Missionary stamp.

"All those missionaries are very well known," said Kay Hoke, treasurer of the Hawaiian Philatelic Society.

Unlike the Duke stamp, scheduled to be issued in Hawaii Aug. 24, Kahanamoku's birthday, the Missionaries sheet is scheduled to be unveiled in New York City in the fall, postal officials said.

Hoke said he hopes something can be worked out to either move the ceremony to Hawaii or have a simultaneous first-day issuance in New York and Hawaii.

"We were the only sovereign nation that had our own postage stamps, and these were our first stamps," he said. "It obviously belongs in Hawaii for its first-day issue. We really would like to see it come out here."

The 50-stamp "Greetings from America" panel is scheduled for release in April. Inspired by the retro "large letter" postcards of the 1930s and 1940s, the stamps combine flora and fauna with local points of interest for each state. Hawaii's stamp features a likeness of Diamond Head and Waikiki and the state flower, the yellow hibiscus.

The last Hawaii-themed stamp issued by the postal service was in 1992 and featured the ohia tree.