The Woman Behind the Post Office’s Gingerbread Stamps
Photo: United States Postal Service
If you’re a baking enthusiast, we’re pretty sure which stamps adorn your holiday cards this year: these gingerbread houses. The seasonal stamps from the U.S. Postal Service are actually photographs of four delicious mini-dwellings created by Teresa Layman, a gingerbread house expert who authored two books on the subject.
The entire process, from the first shoot with photographer Sally Andersen-Bruce to the issuing of the stamps, took almost six years, Layman told us. She started with non-edible mock-ups and, by the fifth shoot art directed by Derry Noyes, graduated to ingredients you could happily snack on: gingerbread, royal icing, and a selection of candies.
But rest assured, no one ate them. Layman stored the original creations in airtight boxes in her basement.
A gingerbread house Layman created for The Chicago International Miniature Show. Photo: Teresa Layman Designs
The Connecticut resident isn’t a professional baker. Layman started making gingerbread houses as a teenager and fell in love with the process. Why, she’s not exactly sure. “I just like them,” she said, laughing.
Her passion today is for dollhouses and miniature knotted rugs, but she still has advice for would-be “candy architects,” as the Postal Service called her. “Have patience,” she counseled. “It’s not a process as simple as ‘Add water and there it is.’” Also, find a gingerbread recipe with no leavening agents. “They make the gingerbread too soft, which means it won’t stand for as long.” Finally, try to find a dry place to work. “Gingerbread’s biggest enemy is humidity,” she warned.
A miniature English cottage Layman designed. Photo: Teresa Layman Designs
Is Layman baking anything for the holidays? Yes, her newest obsession is springerle cookies, delicate molded creations that look almost like bas-relief. They appeal to her love of tradition and of all things tiny and intricate. “People have been making these cookies for almost 500 years,” she said.
That should be enough to qualify the baked goods for a stamp, no? Perhaps in 2015.
The kitchen inside Layman’s English cottage. Photo: Teresa Layman Designs
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