The hotly awaited Route 66 stamps that commemorate the highway’s centennial this year officially went on sale Tuesday.
Here is the U.S. Postal Service’s video introducing the stamps:
You can buy them at U.S. post offices. Or you can order a sheet of 16 stamps for $12.48 here and have them delivered.
The stamps feature eight photographs from each state that Route 66 traverses. The images were taken by longtime Mother Road photographer David Schwartz (aka Pics on Route 66).
The stamps were officially issued on Tuesday in Phoenix in an event attended by several Route 66 roadies.
Others took pictures of the stamps they purchased at their local post office.
The Associated Press published a story Tuesday about how Schwartz became a Route 66 fan — mainly through Depeche Mode’s version of “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66.”
Industrial-leaning synth-pop strains might seem incongruous with such a vista, but it was the alternative rock band’s homage to Route 66 that seduced David J. Schwartz. With camera in hand he has made 42 trips over two decades along the celebrated highway, qualifying himself for the job of creating postage stamps commemorating the Mother Road’s centennial. […]
As teenagers in 1988, Schwartz and his best friend had planned a road trip after girlfriends introduced them to Depeche Mode, where they discovered a cover of Bobby Troup’s 1946 pop standard, “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66.” Schwartz’s mother nixed his participation, delaying his first taste of the open road until 2004.
To Schwartz, the road — stretching 2,448 miles (3,940 kilometers) — represents a significant piece of a newly mobile 20th century America, from its debut in 1926 to its decommissioning in 1985: “Road trips, big cars, neon signs.” Though retired from the federal highway system, vast stretches of the route are still in use and a favorite of road warriors and tourists to this day.
“So much to explore. You start here in Illinois on 66 and you’re cruising through prairie land,” Schwartz said during a recent interview in Springfield. “By the time you get out west, you’re in the desert or you’re in mountains through hairpin turns. It’s just an incredible journey and you just get such a beautiful slice of America going through it.”
They are so-called “forever” stamps, which means they remain valid for mailing a standard, first-class letter regardless of future postal rate increases.
A great many of the stamps, however, will probably be framed and hung on the walls of Route 66 enthusiasts’ homes.
(Image of the 2026 Route 66 Centennial Stamp Collection via USPS)