Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Fans petition White House for Liberace postage stamp

Liberace Museum

Liberace Museum

Liberace plays the rhinestone Baldwin piano.

Click to enlarge photo

Liberace opens at the Sahara with Karen Wessler on June 21, 1966.

A group of dedicated Liberace fans are on a mission to take the pianist’s image around the world. They launched a petition this week nominating Liberace to be immortalized on a U.S. postage stamp.

“Liberace wanted to be on a stamp before he died, but they had a rule that you had to be dead 10 years,” said local Liberace enthusiast Christine Kramer, who penned the petition and runs a “Liberace deserves a stamp” website. “Then 10 years came and went. But there are so many parts of our lives that are influenced by him. Every year there is someone on American Idol that wouldn’t be there if there were no Liberace. He was the first one to take a famous lifestyle over the top, to have a sense of humor and change how rich people lived. We wouldn’t have ‘Jersey Shore’ or ‘Real Housewives’ if there wasn’t Liberace first.”

The U.S. Postal Service just changed their rules for stamp submissions. Living figures can now be honored, and the post office is asking the public for input as to who should be chosen first. Kramer wants to make sure Liberace gets his stamp before someone like Snooki.

“I’m competing against the Justin Biebers of the world,” Kramer said. “Cher already said she wants one.”

Kramer submitted a petition to the U.S. Postal Service and the White House on Tuesday asking them to consider Liberace. If she gets 5,000 signatures by Oct. 26, the Obama administration will issue an official response to her request. Kramer understands it’s ceremonial but hopes it will help her cause.

The Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, which evaluates the merits of stamp proposals, receives up to 40,000 suggestions for new stamps every year. They narrow the choices down to about 50 finalists, and the postmaster general makes the final decision.

Liberace fans had previously nominated him for a stamp but their submission was rejected. Feb. 4 will mark the 25th anniversary of his death, and Kramer hopes the timing is right for another try.

If Liberace were selected, the post office would do a national search for stamp art and open the submissions up to a national vote.

“It’s time to fix this historical oversight,” Kramer said. “I would love for this to be a great community-thing for Las Vegas. We’ve had so much depression in our city, why not have Liberace lift us up?”

Las Vegas was Liberace’s primary venue for performing. The city also housed the Liberace Museum until it closed Oct. 17.

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