It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood as Mr. Rogers gets a stamp

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood for Fred Rogers fans: the late star of “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” will be on a stamp.

The U.S. Postal Service has announced its 2018 stamp lineup, and one of the famous faces to be honored with a stamp is Fred Rogers, the gentle-voiced icon of early childhood television who entertained with live-action stories and puppets.

The Fred Rogers Company, a company formed by the late star to promote PBS Kids programs and produce children’s media, announced the measure on its site. “‘Forever’ our favorite neighbor, we’re so excited that Fred is listed among these iconic cultural figures,” the statement read.

Rogers, who was also a Presbyterian minister, was known as an icon of children’s television, and as an advocate for various causes. His testimony before a U.S. Senate committee advocating government funding for public television is often cited as turning around the push to eliminate funding in 1969, increasing PBS from $9 million to $22 million after Rogers’ six-minute argument that public television for children helped encourage them to become happy and productive citizens.

Rogers’ show won four Emmys, as well as a lifetime achievement Emmy for Rogers. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, at least 40 honorary degrees, and a Peabody Award, as well as induction into the Television Hall of Fame. The Smithsonian Institution displays one of his trademark sweaters.

Rogers’ stamp will show him in his familiar red cardigan, along with the hand puppet King Friday. Rogers died in 2003.

Other stamps will include:

▪  Commemorating the Year of the Dog in the Lunar New Year series — the Year of the Dog begins on Feb. 16.

▪  Singer and civil rights activist Lena Horne; Sally Ride, physicist and the U.S.’s first female astronaut; iconic singer/songwriter John Lennon;

▪  Featuring bioluminescent life underwater; the Hawaiian Byodo-In Temple; Sleeping Bear Dunes in a Michigan national park;

▪  Remembrance of the U.S. participation in World War I, which came to an end 100 years ago in 1918;

▪  Celebrating STEM education — science, technology, engineering and mathematics;

▪  And the 200th anniversary of the state of Illinois. The Prairie State officially joined as the 21st state of the union on Dec. 3, 1818.

This story was originally published December 14, 2017 at 5:34 PM with the headline "It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood as Mr. Rogers gets a stamp."