Artist Puts Nixon Behind Bars

Tricky Dick is suddenly a hit in liberal Santa Cruz, Calif., where residents are snapping up commemorative Richard Nixon stamps to put the 37th president where some say he belonged - behind bars.

The Nixon stamp had been a sluggish seller in Santa Cruz, outsold 10 to one by the Marilyn Monroe stamp, postal officials said.

That was before a local publisher began producing “The Nixon Envelope” a few weeks ago. When affixed with a 32-cent Nixon stamp, it looks like the former president is peering out from a jail cell.

“The guy belongs behind bars,” said envelope creator Thom Zajac, 40, publisher of the Santa Cruz Comic News.

So far, the envelopes are only available at a handful of Santa Cruz stores and by mail order, Zajac said, adding that “if it doesn’t work here, it won’t work anywhere.” A packet of 10 envelopes retails for $3.29.

But sales have been brisk, with 10,000 sold in a month, he said.

“Most people think it’s funny,” said Rob Hook, who sells the envelopes in packs of 10 and 40 at his Paper Visions store on Pacific Avenue. “A few people don’t, but in Santa Cruz, most people do. It’s kind of ironic, but this might actually help sales of the stamp.” Indeed, it has.

Don Cattivera, postmaster at the downtown Santa Cruz branch, said stamps bearing the controversial Republican’s portrait were collecting dust until the envelopes hit.

“Of all the stamps to come out recently with movie stars and past presidents, that was the slowest seller,” Cattivera said.

Now, postal workers can hardly find them, Cattivera said. The downtown branch had only a few hundred Nixons left Wednesday, and offices in Eastside Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley were sold out, he said. The Postal Service plans to produce the stamp through the end of the year.

“I figured the envelope would make a run on them, but not like this,” Cattivera said. “It may become a collector’s item just on that basis.”

Postal workers have seen Nixon stamps marked with mustaches and devil’s horns, but defacing a stamp invalidates it, Cattivera said. The Nixon Envelope does not alter the stamp itself, so it’s legal, he said. He even bought a pack himself.

“My friends will get a laugh out of it,” Cattivera said, pulling a pack of 10 from his drawer. “We’d seen these things around town and thought it was a novel idea. I wish I’d thought of it.”