The stamp commemorates the 150th anniversary of the birth of O. Henry, the pen name of William S. Porter, who was born in Greensboro, NC, on September 11, 1862. He became one of America’s most popular writers of short fiction, with stories such as “The Gift of the Magi,” “The Last Leaf,” and “The Ransom of Red Chief” celebrated for their humor, irony, and skillful unfolding of plot, often capped with a surprise twist.
As U.S. Postal Service Chief Operating Officer Megan Brennan put it at the time, O. Henry was one of America’s wittiest and most popular short fiction writers. His sharp prose and the cinematic speed of his storytelling have long been seen as characteristically American — critic Guy Davenport even compared his jauntily comic style to ragtime music.
Drawing on O. Henry’s close association with New York City, art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamp using artwork by illustrator Cap Pannell, basing the author’s portrait on a photograph from his younger years, probably the late 1880s. The background features the city’s elevated rail, drawn from a historic image now held by the New York Public Library.
