After producing stamps made of lace or smelling of chocolate, Switzerland's postal service has turned to the Alpine country's forests for inspiration. Swiss Post on Thursday launched its latest unusual commemorative stamp, a square of pinewood with a face value of 5 Swiss francs. The stamps, which celebrate Switzerland's lumber industry, are roughly the thickness of a credit card.
Designed by Thomas Rathgeb, a graphic artist who works for Swiss Post, the stamps are made from 120-year-old pines felled in northern Switzerland. "Rathgeb's design focuses on the sustainability and uniqueness of this natural, living material — the structure of the wood, integrated into the contemporary design, produces a different picture on each stamp. This makes each stamp unique, just as each tree is unique," said Swiss Post. In 2001, Swiss Post produced a scratch-and-sniff stamp which looked uncannily like a square of chocolate on an open foil wrapper. A chocolate scent was sealed in tiny capsules in the stamp. A year earlier, it released a stamp edged with lace to celebrate northwest Switzerland's traditional lace-making industry. The wooden stamps go on sale at post office counters across the country on Sept. 7, but collectors already can buy them on the postal service's Web site, Swiss Post said. Link ... Source: Yahoo News!
