6039 – 2025 First-Class Forever Stamp – Snow-Covered Trees and Fence

US #6039
2025 Snow-Covered Trees and Fence

• Part of set featuring five different designs
• Issued for use on 2025 holiday and winter mail

Stamp Category:  Special
Set:  Winter Landscapes
Value:  78¢, First Clas Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue:  September 19, 2025
First Day City:  Danville, Indiana
Quantity Issued :  48,000,000
Printed by:  Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method:  Offset
Format:  Double-sided Booklet of 20

Why the stamp was issued:  The Winter Landscapes stamps honor the beauty of a snowy scene.

About the stamp design:  USPS art director Ethel Kessler used existing photographs of winter landscapes to create the five stamp designs.

First Day City:  The First Day of Issue ceremony was held during the INDYPEX Stamp Show.

About the Winter Landscapes Set:  After every snowstorm, when the winds calm and the skies clear, we’re treated to a magical glimmering white scene.  Hills and rooftops sparkle under the sun, forests grow quiet beneath heavy branches of white, and even the most ordinary streets appear transformed.  Yet, many of the most breathtaking winter landscapes in American memory followed some of the harshest storms. The contrast between nature’s fury and the peace that follows gives these moments their lasting power.
The 1936 North American cold wave froze rivers and even parts of Chesapeake Bay, with wind chills dropping to –85°F.  Life ground to a halt.  When the storm finally passed, whole towns glittered under snow and ice, shining despite the hardship.  Decades earlier, the “Year Without a Summer,” in 1816, had brought frost and even June snow to New England.  Crops failed, yet the strange sight of green fields frosted white created unforgettable scenery.
The 1886 blizzard buried Kansas farms, but afterward the vast prairie stretched smooth and silver in the sunlight.  Commerce ground to a halt as rivers and harbors turned solid in The Great Freeze of 1857, yet ice bridges gleamed.  The Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 left devastation, but also mountains glistening beneath towering drifts.
The 2025 winter landscape stamps capture that spirit, showing how snow can soften even any storm into moments of still beauty.

History the stamp represents:  The year 1816 is remembered as the “Year Without a Summer,” when unusual cold and even snowfall struck during the warmest months.  The cause was the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in April 1815, one of the most powerful volcanic explosions in history.
The eruption blasted so much ash and debris into the atmosphere that it blocked sunlight around the globe.  As a result, North America and Europe experienced bitterly cold weather even in June, July, and August.  In New England, frost occurred on multiple summer nights, and snow was reported in June.  Crops failed as corn and wheat withered in the fields, and farmers faced food shortages.
The harsh year earned several nicknames, including “Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death.” Across the United States, families struggled to survive as livestock starved and prices for what little food remained skyrocketed.  The effects were felt worldwide: famine struck parts of Europe and Asia, while in Switzerland, the gloomy, sunless skies inspired Mary Shelley to begin writing Frankenstein.  The Year Without a Summer was a striking reminder of how events on the other side of the world could change daily life.  It remains one of the most dramatic examples of global climate disruption in history.