Music and the Performing Arts

Topical Reference Page
29 cent stamp showing Elvis singing into a microphone

Elvis Presley stamp, 1993

Find resources related to music and the performing arts on the National Postal Museum's website.

Spiritual Harmonizers pose for a photo
Research Article
Music has been present in the postal employee community from the time employee groups began to organize.
Jazz Flourishes stamp art
Exhibition
New York City is a vibrant hub for music, film, dance and visual art. The city’s cultural and ethnic diversity has long influenced its music and dance heritage, with jazz, rock, hip-hop, salsa, and other styles thriving in all five boroughs. New York City is also home to many musical conservatories and landmarks, such as the Metropolitan Opera House and Carnegie Hall.
Sheet music for the “Postal March and Two Step”
Exhibition
By its very nature popular music represents themes and ideas of...
Stamp featuring a break dancer and a boom box
Celebrate the diverse culture of hip hop with the National Postal Museum and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
two Mariachi stamps
Join educators from the National Postal Museum and the National Museum of the American Latino for an exploration of Mexican mariachi music with a children’s book, museum objects, and postage stamps.
Illustration of Grandpa playing guitar and singing The Owney Song to Sam
Exhibition
Enjoy a musical telling of the Owney Story, sung by Trace Adkins and written by Stephen Michael Schwartz.
Exhibition

This virtual exhibition is the fourth in a series of four focusing on the accomplishments of women featured on stamps. In Women on Stamps: Part 4, we feature women who have made significant contributions to the performing arts.

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Related Blogs

U.S. Postage and the Beatles: The 1999 Stamp, the 2003 Proofs and Future Expectations

Figure 1Fifty years ago the Beatles invaded America with a musical sound and style that permanently influenced American music. Yet their transformative sound was influenced by a variety of distinctly American musical styles, such as Rhythm and Blues, Rock and Roll, and Country and Western. As a consequence of their of influence and popularity, the USPS issued a Beatles stamp as part of the 1960s Celebrate the Century (CTC) commemorative pane issued on September 17, 1999 in Green Bay, Wisconsin (and ,incidentally, the stamp design had been unveiled at a special unveiling ceremony in Liverpool, England on August 31,1999).

Singing a Postal Song

You might know the lyrics to “Please, Please Mr. Postman,” or “Return to Sender,” but how about “My Parcel Post Man” or “The Old Postmaster?” Folks have been...

Marilyn Travels to New Orleans: The Stamp art of Michael Deas

Marilyn Monroe standing over a subway grate in the 1955 movie “The Seven Year Itch” is one of the iconic poses of American cinematic history. It was also the subject of an illustration that artist Michael J. Deas proposed for the Marilyn Monroe stamp souvenir sheet selvage(1) that was to become part of the 1995 Legends of Hollywood series.

Related Content

Jazz in the Collections

Enjoy this selection of Smithsonian Institution museum collection objects related to jazz.

Rock and Roll Music

Enjoy this selection of Smithsonian Institution museum collection objects related to Rock and Roll music.

African Americans in Jazz, Poetry and Beyond

Since the founding of the United States, African Americans have played a pivotal role in American history and heritage. This virtual exhibit showcases African Americans in music, poetry, film, theatre, choreography, and writers in the United States through the lens of American postage stamps.