"As long as the interest is there, the stamps will continue to be sold!" declares Telluride Postmaster Richard Dieterich, holding up a page of 45-cent stamps titled "Breast Cancer," featuring an eye-catching, artsy image of a woman performing a monthly breast cancer check designed by Ethel Kessler, of Bethesda, Md.

The extra eight cents customers pay for each stamp goes directly to breast cancer research. Since the stamp's 1998 debut, complete with a first-day ceremony held at the White House, nearly $40 million has been raised.This stamp is one in a series of fund-raiser stamps; a 9/11 Heroes stamp and a Stop the Family Violence stamp debuted in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Most specialty stamps have a life span of roughly three years, but when officials moved to cancel the breast cancer stamp, a public outcry led to its reinstatement. "The success" of the breast cancer stamp sales, observes Dieterich, "is due to the great public interest so far."

The breast cancer, heroes and domestic violence specialty stamps are available from any post office clerk – and soon will sell in stamp machines as well.

– Travis Wentworth