Stamp honor for entertainer Danny Thomas goes one better

By Michael Baadke

Each stamp issued by a country ultimately serves as its ambassador. It provides a message about what that country represents, what it appreciates and holds dear, and what it believes should endure.

The Danny Thomas forever stamp that will be issued Feb. 16 by the United States Postal Service achieves a special quality, because it represents two important features of the individual it honors.

The stamp is pictured on page 1 with an article by senior editor Denise McCarty.

Thomas is known as a comedic actor and night club entertainer, and, because of his achievement in those fields alone, he might have been given the honor of appearing on a U.S. postage stamp. He was an entertainment pioneer, and his success in that field brought happiness and laughter into homes where his television series were watched and enjoyed.

But a promise Thomas made in prayer would become for him a second career: founding and opening a children's hospital that would offer care for all who need it, regardless of their ability to pay.

For many years, U.S. stamps honored only government or military leaders and explorers, men whose endeavors resulted in the honor that their depiction on a postage stamp conveyed.

It wasn't until the 1930s that U.S. stamps celebrated achievements in sports. In the 1940s, the Famous Americans stamps commemorated authors, poets, educators, scientists, composers, artists and inventors.

From there, the doors for commemoration slowly opened wider with stamps for Girls Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low in 1948, basketball inventor James Naismith in 1961 and conservationist John Muir in 1964.

Was the first true entertainer depicted on a stamp Lou Jacobs, the clown whose distinctive makeup was featured on a 5¢ Circus stamp in 1966? Or was it Walt Disney, who, unlike Jacobs, was specifically honored on the 6¢ stamp bearing his name in 1968?

Over the past few decades, U.S. stamps have honored a long list of celebrity entertainers ranging from W.C. Fields in 1980 to last year's issues for actors Helen Hayes and Gregory Peck and five Latin music legends.

There is no doubt that many on that long list have used their success as entertainers to improve the fortunes of those in need.

Bob Hope, who was honored on a 44¢ stamp in 2009, was a benefactor for the Eisenhower Memorial Hospital and Medical Center in California. James Stewart, the subject of a 41¢ stamp in 2007, raised money for a children's hospital in California and was an active supporter of the Boy Scouts of America.

There is something new and unusual about the Danny Thomas stamp, in that its design represents an honor not only for the individual, but also for his efforts to provide for others.

The stamp design prominently features the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., which Thomas envisioned, constructed and supported for his entire life. And he passed that sense of responsibility on to his children, who continue his philanthropic efforts.

By successfully honoring both the man and his altruism, the Danny Thomas stamp, like the entertainer himself, sets a high standard that others should hope to emulate.

Thomas' legacy of caring for others will now send a message in more ways than one, as the stamp honoring him is used by millions to carry messages through the mail, and hopefully, share the message of the actor's great generosity as well.

The U.S. Postal Service has done well to recognize Thomas on a stamp, and to give equal time to the importance of what Thomas did for others.