About This Stamp
With the issuance of this stamp, the U.S. Postal Service celebrates the joyous holiday of Hanukkah with a charming image of a hanukiah, the nine-branch candelabra used only at Hanukkah.
Art Director and stamp designer Antonio Alcalá created the ink drawing using irregular lines to suggest a more human presence. He completed the image by digitally adding blue to the stamp background and white to the hanukkiah. The flames are rendered in yellow.
Hanukkah is the Hebrew word for “dedication.” Tradition relates how a miracle took place after the Maccabees reclaimed the Temple in Jerusalem. During the rededication of the Temple, Jewish worshippers discovered that only one small jar of consecrated oil remained, enough to last just one day. They lit the Temple menorah, which miraculously burned for eight days, providing enough time to produce more oil. Today the miracle of the oil is celebrated each year at Hanukkah with the ceremonial lighting of the hanukiah. The hanukiah features a center candle, the shamash or helper, used to light the other eight candles, which symbolize the miracle of the oil.
The Hanukkah 2024 stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp in panes of 20. This Forever stamp will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.
Stamp Art Director, Stamp Designer, Stamp Illustrator
Antonio Alcalá
Antonio Alcalá served on the Postmaster General’s Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee from 2010 until 2011, when he left to become an art director for the U.S. Postal Service's stamp development program.
He is founder and co-owner of Studio A, a design practice working with museums and arts institutions. His clients include: the National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, National Portrait Gallery, National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Phillips Collection, and Smithsonian Institution. He also lectures at colleges including the Corcoran College of Art + Design, SVA, Pratt, and MICA.
In 2008, his work and contributions to the field of graphic design were recognized with his selection as an AIGA Fellow. He has judged international competitions for the Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, AIGA, and Graphis. Alcalá also serves on the Smithsonian National Postal Museum and Poster House Museum’s advisory councils. His designs are represented in the AIGA Design Archives, the National Postal Museum, and the Library of Congress Permanent Collection of Graphic Design.
Alcalá graduated from Yale University with a BA in history and from the Yale School of Art with an MFA in graphic design. He lives with his wife in Alexandria, Virginia.