About This Stamp
In 2014, the U.S. Postal Service® celebrated the winter holidays internationally with the Forever® stamp, Global Holiday: Silver Bells Wreath. This was the second issuance in the Global Holiday series.
An elegant wreath of silver bells graces this round holiday stamp. The circle of densely packed bells is arranged against a deep green background, with a rich red bow anchored at the top of the wreath. The words “Forever” and “USA” and the date “2014” surround the wreath in silver type. Also in silver type is the word “Global" at the bottom of the stamp.
Wreaths can be made from plants such as eucalyptus, laurel, pine boughs, and mistletoe, or materials such as metal, glass, wood, paper, or wire. They come in almost any shape or size, and ideas for decoration are virtually limitless—silver bells, flowers, fruit, berries, ribbons, bows, glass ornaments, teddy bears, model cars, candy—anything that reflects personal style.
Whatever the shape or embellishment, wreaths express the festive spirit of the holidays, and the Global Holiday: Silver Bells Wreath stamp can add the same touch of holiday joy to your cards and letters.
Issued at the $1.15 price, this Global Forever® stamp can be used to mail a one-ounce letter to any country to which First-Class Mail International® service is available. As with all Global Forever® stamps, this stamp will have a postage value equivalent to the price of a single-piece First-Class Mail International® first ounce machinable letter in effect at the time of use. To distinguish this stamp from other Forever® stamps, the shape of the international stamp is round and bears the words "Global Forever.”
Art director William J. Gicker and Michael Owens designed the stamp. Sally Andersen-Bruce photographed the wreath, which was constructed by Michael Owens. Angelica Dennis created the bow.
Stamp Art Director, Stamp Designer
William Gicker
William Gicker served as Director of Stamp Services for the U.S. Postal Service from 2020 until his retirement in 2023. In that position he oversaw stamp development, stamp products and exhibitions, stamp manufacturing, stamp fulfillment, and the Postmaster General’s Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC).
Gicker began working for the U.S. Postal Service in 1998. Initially assistant editor of USA Philatelic, the quarterly stamp catalog produced by Stamp Services, he soon became editor where he oversaw the catalog’s award-winning program until 2013.
Named creative director of stamps in 2001, Gicker became manager and creative director of Stamp Development in 2015. Working closely with Postal Service art directors and CSAC, he managed the creative development and quality control of more than 800 stamp issuances and 1,700 individual stamp designs.
He has served as art director for some of the most popular stamps issued by the Postal Service: the five-year Art of Disney series; Star Wars; Holy Family; Harry Potter; and Hot Wheels. As both art director and designer, Gicker lists among his many stamps, Holiday Baubles; the first international rate Global stamp in 2013; and the Gifts of Friendship joint issuance with Japan. He was also art director for the first stamp to celebrate Diwali, eight more Global Forever® stamps, and several Christmas Madonna and Child issuances, the most recent in 2024.
A native of Pennsylvania, Gicker graduated from West Chester University with a bachelor of arts degree in English Literature. He and his family live in Washington, DC.
Stamp Designer
Michael Owens
Typographer
Greg Breeding
Greg Breeding is a graphic designer and principal of Journey Group, a design company he co-founded in 1992, located in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was creative director until 2013, at which time he began serving as president and continued in that role through 2023.
Breeding’s fascination with modernism began while studying design at Virginia Commonwealth University. His affinity with the movement continues and motivates his ongoing advanced studies at the Basel School of Design in Switzerland most every summer.
As an art director for postage stamp design since 2012, Breeding has designed more than 100 stamps covering a diverse array of subjects, from Star Wars droids and Batman to Harlem Renaissance writers and the transcontinental railroad.
His work has been recognized in annual design competitions held by Graphis, AIGA, PRINT magazine, and Communication Arts.
Breeding lives in North Garden, Virginia, with his wife and enjoys nothing so much as frolicking on the floor with his grandchildren.
Photographer
Sally Andersen-Bruce
Sally Andersen-Bruce has been the president and sole proprietor of her photography business for more than 30 years. Based in Connecticut, her assignments have taken her all over the world for clients such as IBM, Polaroid, AT&T, Pepsi, Fortune, and the Wall Street Journal.
Her portfolio includes photographic content for corporations, institutions, and publications, focusing on executives, products, food, architecture, financial reports, and websites.
In addition to her commercial work, she has collaborated with several museums, including the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico; the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont; and the Strong Museum in Rochester, New York.
Andersen-Bruce’s photographs have appeared on numerous U.S. postage stamps, among them Classic American Dolls (1997), Neuter and Spay (2002), Nutcrackers (2008), Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet (2010), Weather Vanes (2012), Gingerbread Houses (2013), and Diwali, first issued in 2016. Most recently, her photograph appeared on the 2025 Lunar New Year • Year of the Snake stamp.