How The Seabicuit Stamp Came to Be

Some of you may remember that I posted a blog about the new Seabiscuit stamp, due to be issued on May 11. Well, a faithful reader updated me on how the stamp came to be. I think you will find her story inspiring.

How the Seabiscuit Stamp Came To Be
By Maggie Van Ostrand

On May 11th, a 44-cent rate-change stamp featuring the great racehorse, Seabiscuit, will be issued by the U.S. Postal Service. This stamp, and a pre-stamped Seabiscuit envelope, is significant for one huge reason: We the people did it! It took us eight long years, but we did it. It’s easy to think that we don’t have power in Washington but, when there are enough of us, we can do anything.

In 2001, when Laura Hillenbrand's best-selling book, Seabiscuit: An American Legend, was published, millions of readers were inspired by the true story of “an undersized, crooked-legged racehorse named Seabiscuit,” who beat all odds back in the Thirties and became an American cultural icon.

Impassioned by the book, I took a guided tour of the Biscuit’s home, Ridgewood Ranch, in Northern California, and saw his still-standing barn, weighing shed, and corral. During an old family film of his greatest races and his life at the Ranch, I spoke with another tourist, a man from New Orleans. Over time and telephone, we became friends and he came up with the idea of trying to get Seabiscuit on a California coin. His idea evolved honoring this great horse on a U.S. stamp.

Fat chance, right? We had no money, no lobbyists, and no Washington connections. We had only passion and a belief that the word “No” meant “Try again.”

We learned about the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee, the primary goal of which is to select subjects of “broad national interest for recommendation to the Postmaster General that are both interesting and educational.” To give you an idea of the odds we were up against, only 25 subjects are selected each year out of thousands of submissions. And only one other horse in history (Secretariat) had ever been so honored.

Undaunted, we started a grassroots movement, beginning with local book clubs, then book clubs nationwide. Their members not only signed our petition to the Committee, they circulated it to all their friends, who sent it to everyone they knew. We put the petition on the internet so it could be printed and mailed by anyone interested. We trolled the streets for signatures, promoted the idea on a sports news TV, haunted Santa Anita for signatures, returned to Willits CA (home of Ridgewood Ranch) for the premiere of the movie, Seabiscuit. We did everything we could think of and then some. Thousands of people pitched in, like an Arkansas soybean farmer, a Louisiana pharmacist, a Kentucky woman who cans hams for Hormel, a Massachusetts landscape designer; racetrack people; book lovers everywhere; and many from right here in our own mountain communities.

Yes, there were times of discouragement, disillusionment, and distress, but we never gave up. If Seabiscuit himself never gave up when faced with insurmountable odds, how could we? If his fierce determination to win got him to the finish line to inspire America in the throes of the Great Depression, we had to match that determination.

We may not be able to see the Biscuit run again at Santa Anita, but we can all share in his heritage of beating the odds and achieving our goal.

When you hold the Seabiscuit stamp in your hand, remember: together, we the people can do anything.