MONTEREY PARK, Calif. The Postal Service booth did a brisk business Saturday among the street food stalls, vendors and carnival rides that filled Garvey Avenue in Monterey Park during the citys popular Lunar New Year Festival.
First day of issue! Lunar New Year stamps, get em right here, said Rob Lindbloom, a local post office official who waded into the crowd holding a sheet of new postage stamps high above his head. Commemorate the Year of the Rat!
The Year of the Rat stamp is the first in a new series the Postal Service is launching to celebrate Lunar New Year, which occurs each year on the second new moon after the winter solstice. The rat is the first animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac, which restarts on Jan. 25 with the Lunar New Year.
