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Designing and producing the tropical floral wreath for the United States Postal Service's Christmas 1998 stamps was an experience of a lifetime for Michaele Thunen.


After seeing a variety of wreaths in the Calyx and Corolla cut flower catalogue, an art director for the postal service requested four different wreaths to represent distinctive regions of the United States: a dried Victorian wreath to depict the Northeast, a chili pepper wreath for the Southwest, an evergreen wreath for the Pacific Northwest, and an orchid-hibiscus wreath for the tropical states. Michaele was head stylist for the catalogue for many years, and was asked to design the exotic wreath and to style the others provided by several of the catalogue's established vendors. Because the stamps were to be sold as a set, each of the wreaths had to be styled with exactly the same dimensions to ensure that all four would appear uniform in size and shape when photographed.


That December, 1998, Michaele was waiting in line at the crowded Albany, California post office, as we all do during the holiday rush, until it was her turn. The woman behind the counter graciously took care of her stack of packages. Michaele wrote her check and handed it to the clerk. Upon glancing at her signature, the clerk yelled out: "It's YOU!" Michaele, nodded with a smile, while the postal worker ebulliently pointed to the press release announcing the stamps with the names and home towns of each designer. She very excitedly declared that she had been waiting for Michaele to come to that post office and to her window, since the article mentioned that Michaele lived in the neighboring town of Berkeley. Then to Michaele's great surprise and embarrassment, she turned to the line of people and announced, "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the woman who designed the Christmas wreath stamp." And with that, they all clapped.