Postage Pattern

42
Price (in U.S. cents) of a first-class postage stamp, effective today.

$.41
Price of a "Forever Stamp" up through this past week. Forever Stamps will always be accepted for first-class letters, no matter how high stamps may go in the future. They're a good short-term investment, but given that the price of a stamp has remained pretty steady in inflation-adjusted terms for the last 30 years, I have no plans to buy a lifetime supply.

368
Days that the price of a first-class stamp held at 41 cents -- they went from $.39 to $.41 on May 14, 2007.

$.20
Price of a stamp in the early '80s, when I first started writing letters. So the price has more than doubled in my lifetime -- file it under Things That Make You Feel Old.