Philately

U.S. Postage Stamps of 1960

2010/12/23 By Rob 5 Comments

It is that time of the year again when I look back at the commemorative postage stamps of 50-years ago. This year we look at the stamps of 1960, a new decade. Stamps issued then celebrated current events as well as 50th and 100th anniversaries.

I also have a similar review of stamps from 1959, 1958 and 1957.

First up is the “American Credo” series, each featuring a historical quote as selected 100 “distinguished Americans”. Some of these quotes are just as radical now as they were then. In fact, I think if you wore some of these on a T-shirt to the airport you would be detailed for questioning.

“Observe food faith and justice toward all nations”, George Washington in his Farewell Address.
“Fear to do ill, and you need fear nought else”, Ben Franklin in “Poor Richard’s Almanac”
“I have sworn… hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man”, Thomas Jefferson in letter to Benjamin Rush.
“And this be our motto, in God is our trust”, Francis Scott Key, from the poem “Defense of Fort McHenry” (later to be the National Anthem)
“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves”, Abraham Lincoln in letter to H.L. Pearce.
“Give me liberty or give me death”, Speech given in Richmond on March 23, 1775

Lord Baden-Powell founded the scouting movement in 1908, in England. The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) was incorporated in 1910. The 50th anniversary jubilee stamp was designed by the famous illustrator Norman Rockwell. Rockwell had a long association with BSA, having started, at age 19, painting covers for their magazine “Boy’s Life. The USPS released a 100th anniversary stamp this in 2010, with a design by Craig Frazier.

The 1960 Winter Olympic Games were held in Squaw Valley, California, considered an unlikely host at the time the games were awarded to them. These were the first Olympic games to have electronic data processing facilities, in this case provided by an IBM 305 RAMAC.

1959/1960 was the first UN-designated “International Year”, in that case dedicated by the General Assembly as “World Refugee Year” with the aim, “to focus interest on the refugee problem and encourage additional financial contributions from Governments, voluntary agencies and the general public for its solution”.

The design here was by Ervine Metzl.

The UN has dedicated 2011 to several causes, including “International Year of Forests”, “International Year of Chemistry”, “International Year for People of African Descent” and “World Veterinary Year”.

The Water Conservation stamp was part of a series that included Soil Conservation in 1959 and Range Conservation in 1961.

The South-East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was formed in 1954, as a collective defense against communism in South-East Asia. It never really had any power, managed to stay out of the Vietnam War, and was disbanded in 1977.

The “American Woman” stamp does not appear to mark any specific event, contemporary or historical. Typically the date of the first issue and the post office honored to have the first day of issue postmark bears some significance. But this issue was first released June 2nd, 1960 in Washington, DC, a date and place (as far as I can determine) of no particular significance. Remember, this was an active period of the Woman’s Rights movement in the U.S. In 1958 Eisenhower asked Congress to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. Eleanor Roosevelt opposed ERA and backed Adlai Stevenson against Kennedy in 1960. In 1960 the FDA first approved the use of birth control bills. So I take this stamp is serving a contemporary political, even propagandistic purpose, similar to Kennedy’s compromise “Commission on the Status of Women”, with Eleanor Roosevelt as Chairman. We should consider also the Cold War and how women were portrayed in contemporary Soviet propaganda.

Hawaii became the 50th State on August 21st, 1959. This obviously required an update to the Flag. According to USC Title 4, Chapter 1, §2, “On the admission of a new State into the Union one star shall be added to the union of the flag; and such addition shall take effect on the fourth day of July then next succeeding such admission.” Thousands of designs were submitted for the new flag. The winner was 17-year old Bob Heft, whose design was originally done for school project where it receive only a B- grade.

So the new Flag was made official July 4th, 1960, along with a commemorative stamp.

(I wonder if there were any First Day Covers of this issue, considering that post offices are not open on Federal holidays?)

The Pony Express was a mail service from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California, around 1,900 miles. For all its fame, even today, it was a relatively short-lived service, from April 3, 1860 to October 1861, interrupted by the Civil War and then made obsolete by the telegraph. The centennial issue was designed by noted illustrator Harold von Schmidt.

The “Employ the Handicapped” issue commemorated the meeting of the 8th World Congress of the “International Society for the Welfare of Cripples” in New York City. Over 3,000 delegates attended. This society was later renamed the “International Society for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled” and more recently to “Rehabilitation International”.

The Fifth World Forestry Congress was held in Seattle, Washington in 1960, with the theme of “Multiple Use of Forest and Associated Lands”. You can see that in reflected in the stamp design, showing the five major uses: wood, water, forage, recreation, and wildlife.

This was a join-issue, designed by Charles R. Chickering and Leon Helguera, with the same design used for a simultaneous Mexican issue.

In 1860 the Japanese sent their first diplomatic mission to the United States, leading to the ratification of the “Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation”. I wonder how this commemoration was viewed in 1960, with the pain of WWII so much closer in the minds of contemporaries?

“Wheels of Freedom”, in conjunction with the 1960 National Automobile Show in Detroit.

We know this better today as the “Boys & Girls Clubs of America”. The first Boys Club was formed in Hartford, Connecticut in 1860.

This one was slightly controversial at the time. The Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee which reviews and recommends proposals for stamp subjects initially rejected the proposal to issue a stamp to mark the new automatic mail sorting facility in Providence, calling it “self-serving”. But the Postmaster General overruled their recommendation. A few years, and one congressional hearing later, the prototype facility, called “Project Turnkey”, was declared a failure. Of course, look 50 years later, as we’ve honed delivery, both public mail service as well as private couriers, to a fine edge. It just took some time.

The Camp Fire Girls was founded in 1910 , the same year as Boy Scouts of America. The Girl Scouts of America came about two years later, in 1912. Even 100 years later, the rivalry continues unabated.

“Communications for Peace”. Echo I was a passive communications satellite, meaning it merely acted as a reflector (a 100-foot Mylar balloon), bouncing signals back to earth.

U.S. Postage Stamps of 1959: A View from 50 Years Later

2009/12/30 By Rob 6 Comments

What We Commemorate

Commemorative stamps memorialize recently-deceased presidents, mark important anniversaries, acknowledge national institutions, boast of engineering, scientific and artistic achievements and celebrate victory in war and in peace. Historically, U.S. stamps have portrayed the country as we like to imagine it is, or was.

If history is written by the victors, then that portion of history represented on our stamps is written by the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC). As we look at the commemorative issues of 1959, we might ask three questions:

What is the ostensible subject of the stamp, the real historical event?
What was notable about the subject matter in 1959? What recommended this for commemoration? How did the ethos of 1959 color the portrayal of the subject?
How is the subject viewed today? Is it of enduring interest? For example, was it widely celebrated in 2009?

The Lincoln Sesquicentennial

The sesquicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln in 1959 was celebrated by a redesign of the Lincoln Cent (retiring the “wheat back” and introducing the “Lincoln Memorial” reverse) and with a series of four commemorative stamps. The first stamp (actually issued in 1958) marked the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. I covered that stamp last year with the other 1958 stamp issues.

The Final Report of the Lincoln Sesquicentennial Commission gives many details of these stamps and the ceremony around their release:

The second stamp in the Lincoln Commemorative series was of 1-cent denomination and the first-day issuance was held at Hodgenville, Ky., on February 12, 1959. Hodgenville was chosen as the site since it is the nearest post office to Lincoln’s birthplace. A commemorative event had already taken place here when on December 27, 1958, Commission Chairman Cooper, Senator Thruston B. Morton, and Representative Frank Chelf, all of Kentucky, formally presented to Carl Howell, president of the Hodgenville Chamber of Commerce, the Post Office Department’s cancellation die hub, especially prepared for commemorative use at the Hodgenville Post Office during Lincoln Year. The die was inscribed : “Lincoln’s Birthplace, Sesquicentennial, 1809- 1959”

Mr. Howell turned the die over to Postmaster Russell Parker, who began using it on January 1, 1959, to cancel all mail issuing from the Hodgenville Post Office. At this ceremony, also attended by Mr. George M. Moore, executive assistant to the Postmaster General, announcement was made of the first-day issue of the new 1-cent Lincoln stamp. This second stamp in the commemorative series was arranged vertically, printed in green and measured 0.84 by 1.44 inches in size. It bore the head of Lincoln from the famous portrait by George Peter Alexander Healy. After Lincoln’s election to the Presidency in 1860, he sat for a portrait by this famous American artist. This portrait, known as the “Beardless Lincoln,” is owned by the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C, and was used for the design of the stamp. Initial quantity issued: 90 million.

If you look at the original Healy portrait you will notice that Ervine Metzl’s stamp design departs just slightly from a literal copy. The features are the same, but the pose has been adjusted with a slight twist to the neck and tilt to the head. Compare the angle of the shoulders in the original compared to Metzl’s pose. Posing, like fashion, changes over time.

The third stamp in the commemorative series was of 3-cent denomination, arranged vertically, the same 0.84 by 1.44 inches in size, and maroon in color. It featured the sculptured head of Lincoln by Gutzon Borglum which was completed in 1906 in marble and is now in the rotunda of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. The first-day sale ceremony was held at the Cooper Union in New York on February 27, 1959, as a prelude to Cooper Union’s own centennial year and marked the 99th anniversary of Lincoln’s address there. It was on February 27, 1860, that Lincoln, speaking in the Great Hall of the Cooper Union, delivered what has come to be known as his famous “right makes might” speech. As he concluded his address, the campaigner said :

‘Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.’

As a memento of this first-day-issue ceremony, the printed program carried a picture of Lincoln delivering his Cooper Union Address on the front cover and the first-day cancellation on the inside. The Honorable Robert F. Wagner, mayor of New York City, gave greetings; Postmaster General Summerfield delivered the address; and Dr. Edwin S. Burdell, president of the Cooper Union, responded. Initial quantity of stamps issued was 90 million. There were 1,576,866 stamps sold in New York City on this first day of issue and 437,737 covers canceled.

Compare the stamp design with a photo of the Capitol’s Borglum Lincoln bust. The name Gutzon Borglum may be more familiar to you as the sculptor of Mount Rushmore.

The fourth and final stamp in the Sesquicentennial series was placed on first-day sale at a special ceremony on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., May 30, 1959. This date also marked the anniversary of the completion of the Lincoln Memorial, the most popular shrine in the United States. The stamp, printed in blue, arranged horizontally and measuring 0.84 by 1.44 inches, featured a drawing by Fritz Busse of the head of Lincoln in the Memorial sculpted by Daniel Chester French.

Cosponsored by the Lincoln Sesquicentennial Commission and the Post Office Department, the stamp dedication ceremony drew an audience of several hundred persons, including diplomats. Cabinet officers, Members of Congress, Lincoln enthusiasts, and scores of visitors to the Nation’s Capital. Following the Presentation of Colors by the Joint Services Color Guard and an invocation by Maj. Gen. Frank A. Tobey, Chief of Chaplains, U.S. Army, the audience heard a stirring eulogy to Mr. Lincoln by John B. Fisher, a member of the Commission’s Executive Committee. Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton- delivered an address of welcome, Deputy Postmaster General Edson O. Sessions gave the dedication address, and Mrs. Katharine McCook Knox, an honorary member of the Commission, presented to the Post Office Department a reproduction of the Healy portrait of Lincoln on which the i-cent stamp in the series is based. L. Rohe Walter, special assistant to the Postmaster General, presided.

Oregon Statehood Centennial

The Oregon Statehood issue, Scott #1124, was designed by illustrator Robert Hallock. The wagon is unhorsed, signifying that the travelers have arrived at their destination, perhaps having traveled along the famed Oregon Trail. The star represents statehood. You can see Mt. Hood on the right.

Ten Years of NATO

Only 10 years? This seems like an unsubstantial achievement. Or was this beating expectations? Keep in mind the world of 1959: Castro in charge in Cuba, the first American dies in Vietnam, the Space Race heating up, and de Gaulle withdrawing France from NATO in 1959, preferring to develop their own force de frappe deterrent. So I’m not sure what exactly we were celebrating.

The design here is by Stevan Dohanos, a social realist illustrator known for his Saturday Evening Post covers.

Arctic Explorations

This design by George Samerjan marks two events: the 50th anniversary of Admiral Peary reaching the North Pole, and the 1959 sub-polar transit (Operation Sunshine) of the nuclear submarine “Nautilus”.

(Btw, it is well worth a trip to Groton, Connecticut to visit the Submarine Force Museum. If you are not claustrophobic you can take a self-guided tour of the Nautilus.)

World Peace through World Trade

There is an IBM connection on this one. Former IBM president — and a giant of industry and commerce — Thomas J. Watson, Sr., coined this phrase in an address to the International Chamber of Commerce in 1937. It then became an IBM advertising slogan which was featured for many years on a 30-foot sign on the side of 590 Madison Ave in NYC.

It is interesting that the slogan was pre-war, though the stamp is post-war. Certainly the optimism of world peace in 1937 was not very prescient. But post-war there was a string of successes including Bretton Woods (1944), GATT (1947) and the Marshall Plan (1948). For a generation that saw two world wars and world-wide depression, there was a lot to be optimistic about in 1959.

The design by Robert Baker, features a globe and laurel.

Centennial of the Comstock Lode

Silver was discovered in Utah Territory (now Nevada) in 1859 on the slopes of Mt. Davison. The commemorative stamp, designed by Robert L. Miller and W.K. Schrage is based on an old print which I have not been able to identify.

Of course, this is a romanticized view of the original event, which was soaked in blood and whiskey. No mention is made of the most significant social result of the silver rush, namely the instability introduced into the US currency system, then based on gold and silver, by the rapid increase in the silver supply. Left uncorrected this would have lead to inflation, which was favored by those in debt. This became the largest political issue of the day, culminating in the Coinage Act of 1873 (which de-monetized silver) and the 1896 presidential campaign of the populist William Jennings Bryan and his renowned “Cross of Gold” speech:

If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing, we shall fight them to the uttermost, having behind us the producing masses of the nation and the world. Having behind us the commercial interests and the laboring interests and all the toiling masses, we shall answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to them, you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.

Opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway

The St. Lawrence Seaway was opened in 1959, a joint U.S.-Canadian venture that connected the Great Lakes to the sea, an event considered momentous enough to warrant a contemporary stamp issue. The design of the stamp was also a collaborative venture, by Arnold Copeland, Ervine Metzl, William H. Buckley and Gerald Trottier. There was a corresponding Canadian stamp featuring the same design which was issued simultaneously.

The 49-Star Flag

Alaska joined the Union as the 49th state on January 3rd, 1959. The design of the Union (that portion of the flag which has the stars) was updated to include the 49th star, but this design was in use only for a short period of time, since Hawaii became the 50th state later that year. So the 49-star flag was only officially used from July 4, 1959 to July 3, 1960. It must have been good business for flag makers that year.

So what happens if a new state is added in the future, say Washington, DC, or Puerto Rico? USC Title 4, Chapter 1, § 2 covers this:

On the admission of a new State into the Union one star shall be added to the union of the flag; and such addition shall take effect on the fourth day of July then next succeeding such admission.

What about the design? Where exactly do you put a 51st or 52nd star? The US Army’s Department of Heraldry has that covered, with contigency designs for 51-56 stars. Just in case.

Soil Conservation

Now here’s a topic you don’t hear a lot about these days. Errosion. Soil conservation. Contour plowing. We don’t hear much about it these days, mainly because the movement, lead by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Soil Conservation Service after the 1930’s “Dust Bowl”, was successful. By plowing fields parallel to the natural contours of the land, water run-off was reduced, preventing topsoil errosion, improving the efficiency of irrigation and increasing crop yields.

Centennial of Drake’s Oil Well

When you think of oil wells, you typically don’t think of Pennsylvania. But that is where a lot of the early work happened, including the first US oil refinery (Pittsburgh) and Colonel Edwin L. Drake’s early oil well (some claim it to be the first in the U.S.) in Titusville. Of course, there were no automobiles in 1859. Coal was king. So what kind of “petroleum” industry was there? Kerosene, mainly for lamps, as a replacement for whale oil.

American Dental Association Centennial

The American Dental Association resulted from a merger of several smaller associations at a convention in Niagra Falls in 1859. The Association’s 1959 centennial celebrations in New York City made the headlines due to an unplanned intersection with cold war politics. The Association had booked the Waldorf Astoria for their celebrations, but the day before their event, they received a call from the City asking if they would relinquish that space so the City could hold a luncheon in honor of the visiting Soviet Premier Khrushchev. The Association refused to give up their space, a stance warmly supported by Vice-President Nixon, who was a featured speaker at their event. Probably a wise choice. Remember, this was a time when many thought that fluoridation of water was a communist conspiracy. If the ADA had yielded publicly before Khrushchev it would have given the lunatic fringe more fodder.

July 20, 1969

2009/07/19 By Rob 3 Comments

Paul Calle (1928-) drew science fiction illustrations, including for now-legendary magazines like Galaxy Science Fiction and Amazing Stories. Then a funny thing happened. The science fiction became real. Sputnik launched in October, 1957. NASA was created in 1958. Glenn orbited the earth in 1962. The space race was on.

In the Fall of 1962 NASA chief James Webb created the NASA Art Program. Under the direction of James D. Dean, artists were invited to Cape Canaveral, to observe and interact with the astronauts and staff and to document history in the making.

The invitation letter stated:

When a major launch takes place, more than two hundred cameras record every split second of the activity. Every nut, bolt and miniaturized electronic device is photographed from every angle…but as Daumier pointed out a century ago, “The camera sees everything but understands nothing.” It is the emotional impact, interpretation and hidden significance of the events that lie within the artist’s vision.

Paul Calle was one of the artists engaged, during the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. Calle’s illustration of the Apollo 11 moon landing is one of the iconic images of landing, as reproduced in the 1969 air mail stamp, Scott # C76, in 6-color Giori process:

We’ll be remembering a lot tomorrow — the astronauts, the engineers, the journalists — that all contributed to what was a defining moment of the modern era. Let’s also remember the artists and the part they played.

(And why don’t we have any good moon landing songs from the time?)

Through two lenses

2008/12/31 By Rob 1 Comment

Last year at this time, I took a look at the US postage stamp commemorative issues of 1957. Now is time to look at the issues of 1958. Since these issues are themselves retrospective in nature — looking back at events at their 50, 100, 150 or 200 year anniversaries — we’re really look back through two lenses. We’re looking back at the world of 1958, itself looking back at the events of 1858 and 1758.

Postage stamps, like coins, throughout history, have been instruments of propaganda as much as instruments of commerce. It is said that history is written by the victors. If so, the commemorative stamps are created by the great-grand children of those victors. It is interesting to ponder what messages these stamps are delivering, what they say about the dreams and fears of 1958 America, how we romanticize our past and give a exuberantly optimistic view of progress and the future.

This 1958 stamps, from a graphic design perspective, are fascinating. We’ll see here a variety of styles, including stamps design by long-time career designers at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing as well as designs from commercial illustrators. My perception is that we had a greater range of styles back in 1958 than we have today, where now U.S. stamps have a dulling sameness to them.

First up for 1958 was this green 3-cent issue commemorating the centennial of the birth of Liberty Hyde Bailey, a botanist associated with Michigan State and Cornell University.

Aside from his scientific accomplishments, Bailey was a prolific author on horticultural topics and an accomplished prose stylist (as well as a poet). From his 1922 The Apple-Tree:

The apple is a sturdy tree. Short of trunk and short of continuous limb, it is yet a stout and rugged object, the indirectness of its branching branches adding to its picturesque quality. It is a tree of good structure. Although its limbs eventually arch to the ground, if
left to themselves, they yet have great strength. The angularity of the branching, the frequent forking, the big healing or hollow knots with rounding callus-lips, give the tree character. Anywhere it would be a marked tree, unlike any other.

The design of this issue was by Denver Gillen. Note also that Gillen, in 1939, while working in the art department at Montgomery Ward, illustrated the original Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer children’s book.

The tradition of World’s Fairs or Expo’s goes back to Prince Albert’s Crystal Palace, and perhaps before. In 1958 the Expo came to Brussels. This stamp was released on April 17th to mark the opening of Expo 58, and shows a view of the United States Pavilion. More notable, and still existing from the Expo, is André Waterkeyn‘s sculpture Atomium, a model of an iron crystal. I wonder if that was featured on any Belgian stamp this year? I know they commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Expo on a special 100 Euro coin.

James Monroe. Fifth President of the United States. The Monroe Doctrine. Monrovia, Liberia. Then I draw a blank. We probably spent all of 15 seconds on the Monroe administration when I studied American History. But I can tell you one thing about this stamp, a purple 3-cent issue released on April 28th, 1958, the bicentennial of Monroe’s birth. It was based on a Gilbert Stuart painting now held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which you can see here.

Minnesota became the 32nd state, in 1858. This centenary of this event was commemorated in a stamp design by Homer Hill. I have no information on whether this was an original design or whether it was based on an existing painting or photograph. Let me know if it looks familiar. Is it an artist’s conception? Or is it an actual identifiable location? I’ve only been to Minneapolis, and it sure isn’t there.

The International Geophysical Year (IGY) invited global cooperation and coordination in the geophysical sciences. Two major accomplishments of IGY were the discovery of the Van Allen Belts and the publication of Pogo’s G.O. Fizzickle.

This stamp was designed by Ervine Metzl, using a portion of Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam and a coronagraph image of the Sun. This was printed via the Giori press. This is one of my favorites of 1958. I like the contrast and use of color.

Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason. Although Mason, sometimes called the “Father of the Bill of Rights” is notable in his own right, this stamp was issued to mark the bicentennial of his home, Gunston Hall.

Interestingly, George Mason University’s mascot is named “Gunston”, though he is green and furry and in general has very few Georgian architectural elements.

It is pronounced like “Mac-i-naw”. One may forgive the odd pronunciation when reminded that we are thus saved from attempting the native name, which was “Michilimackinac”. It may not be generally known outside of North American, but the state of Michigan is unique in that it formed from two non-contiguous parts, with the northern portion, called the Upper Peninsula, jutting out of Wisconsin, and sharing no land border with Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. After nearly a century of talking about it, the “Mighty Mac” finally bridged the Straights of Macinaw, allowing the Yoopers (those who live in the Upper Peninsula) and Trolls (those who live south of the bridge) to visit without the dreaded detour through the land of the Cheeseheads.

Next up is a bridge of another kind. This issue commemorates the centenary of the trans-atlantic cable which first ran from Newfoundland to Ireland.

One of the first ceremonial messages, send from President Buchanan, can be read as an early affirmation of net neutrality:

To Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Queen of Great Britain: The President Cordially reciprocates the congratulations of Her Majesty the Queen on the success of the great international enterprise accomplished by the science, skill and indomitable energy of the two countries. It is a triumph more glorious, because far more useful to mankind, than was ever won by conqueror on the field of battle. May the Atlantic telegraph, under the blessing of heaven, prove to be a bond of perpetual peace and friendship between the kindred nations, and an instrument destined by Divine Providence to diffuse religion, civilization, liberty, and law throughout the world. In this view will not all nations of Christendom spontaneously unite in the declaration that it shall be for ever neutral, and that its communications shall be held sacred in passing their places of destination , even in the midst of hostilities?

The design is by George Gusti, better known for his magazine covers for Fortune, Time and Holiday magazines. Here he takes on classical figures — Neptune/Poseidon and an oceanid (Amphitrite?) — but with a modern, even futuristic design. In contrast, look at a more conventional depiction, a 1936 Australian stamp commemorating the laying of a cable from Australia to Tasmania. In comparison, Giusti’s design is bold, fresh and modern.

Note also the rate increase to 4-cents, which took effect August 1st, 1958. The previous rate increase, from 2 to 3-cents was in 1932.

1959, not 1958, was the big Lincoln year. 1959 was the secquicentenital (150th anniversary) of Lincoln’s birth, a year that saw several Lincoln stamp issues, as well as a new design of the reverse of Lincoln Cent. I expert we’ll see new Lincoln stamps in 2009, for the bicentential, as well as the already-announced four new designs for the penny reverse.

But 1958 was the 100’s anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. It seems that every election year, the presidential debates are inevitably compared to these famous debates. But although the format may be similar in structure — statement, counter-statement and rejoinder — the scale of the Lincoln Douglas debates was much larger. They had a series of seven debates, over a period of two months. In each debate, the first candidate spoke for 60 minutes, followed by a 90 minute counter-statement by his opponent, concluding with a 30 minute rejoinder by the initial speaker. In comparison, modern presidential debates are trite affairs, little more than posturing and sound bites.

The design of this issue was by Ervine Metzl, based on an original by Joseph Boggs Beal.

Freedom of the Press. OK. We’re all in favor of that. But why commemorate it in 1958? The fundamental right is in the Bill of Rights, ratified in 1791. Before that the Massachusetts Constitution (1780) and the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) also affirmed the freedom of the press. But none of this hit major anniversary dates in 1958. So what is going on here?

The real occasion of this stamp is the 50th anniversary of the founding of the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri — the first journalism school in the world.

There were several regular, scheduled overland postal routes in operation in 1857-1858. James E. Birch had a line that ran from New Orleans to San Diego, and John Butterfield had a route from St. Louis to San Francisco. Butterfield’s operation proved to be the more successful, and this commemorative stamp illustrates his route in the background,

The original design for this issue was done by Bureau of Engraving and Printing veteran Charles Chickering.

Noah Webster was the dictionary guy, not to be confused with New Hampshire statesman/orator Daniel Webster. 1958 was the bicentennial of Noah’s birth. We can thank Noah for the American spelling reform of words like color, center and defense. The design, by Charles Chickering, is based on an engraving held by the National Portrait Gallery.

The 1958 Forestry Conservation stamp was designed by Rudolph Wendelin, a career artist for the U.S. Forestry Service, best known as the artist behind Smokey the Bear posters and other graphics, from 1944 to 1973.

Fort Duquesne was located in what is now Point State Park in down-town Pittsburgh. George Washington, then a Lt. Colonel in the Virginia Militia, campaigned against Fort Duquesne, unsuccessfully. Soon after the fort was set afire and abandoned by the French in the face of advancing troops lead by Brigadier General John Forbes, who then occupied what was left of the fort on November 25th, 1758. Forbes health declined soon after and he was dead three month later.

So the English victory was not great. But what warrents commemoration is that from the ashes of Fort Duquesne sprung a new fort, named for William Pitt the Elder. And Forbes named the settlement outside of Fort Pitt “Pittsborough” or as we call it today, “Pittsburgh”.

The stamp was based on figures from a 19th century engraving “Washington Raising the British Flag at Fort Du Quisne”.

A Lick Back in Time

2007/12/20 By Rob 11 Comments

Updating a post from 2006, I’d like to take a look back at the commemorative stamp issues of 1957. What do we choose to remember, and how do we remember it? What was considered significant back in 1957, but is now forgotten? What icons have remained with us, and which have faded from view?

First up is Scott #1086, the Alexander Hamilton bicentennial issue, in rose red from a design by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s William K. Schrage.

Hamilton, was born in the West Indies, on the island of Nevis, thus Constitutionally unable to be President, though well-qualified otherwise. He was a member of General Washington’s staff, later our first Treasury Secretary, co-author of the Federalist Papers. He was shot and killed by Vice President Aaron Burr in a duel.

The design also features the old Federal Hall in New York City, which was the original national capitol building, before the move to Washington, DC.

Scott # 1087, designed by Charles R. Chickering, commemorates the 20th anniversary of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, later called the March of Dimes. The deisgn features a woman/nurse, a boy and girl (the youth of the nation most benefited from the historic medical achievement) and the caduceus emblem on the shield, the symbol of the medical profession.

Those of us born after polio was eradicated may not appreciate the massive effort, in education and vaccination, that occurred in the 1950’s to wipe out polio. One poll at the time indicated that more people knew about the polio vaccine than knew the name of the President. Almost 2 million participated in clinical trials of the Salk vaccination. By 1957 the number of polio cases were dramatically falling. It was time for a victory stamp. Note that it says “Honoring those who helped fight polio” not “Honoring those who are helping fight polio”. It was clear that the fight had been won.

Scott #1088 commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. This orgaization was broken up in 1970 and split into the National Geodetic Survey and the Office of Coast Survey, both parts of NOAA.

Note the light bursts streaming out from the horizon. That seemed to be a popular effect in 1957, featured in the March of Dimes stamp above, as well as in Oklahoma statehood and Old Glory issues below.

Scott #1089, design by Robert J. Schultz, honors the American Institute of Architects on their centennial. Originally formed as the “New York Society of Architects” with 13 members, the are still going strong with over 80,000 members. They have a nice web page with a retrospective, “Celebrating the Past, Designing the Future“.

The next story does not have a happy ending. 1857 was the founding of the Saucona Iron Company, later called Bethlehem Steel. They were the top ship builder of WW II, with over 1,000 ships, employing over 300,000. They made the steel that built the Golden Gate Bridge and much of NYC’s skyline. They reached their peak in the 1950’s, one of the largest corporations in America and the highest-paid executive executive in the the country.

This stamp, Scott #1090, was issued at the height of Bethlehem Steel and the US steel industry. The bold, proud design was by Antonio Petruccelli, well-known for his Fortune Magazine covers and other illustrations.

So where is the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the American steel industry?

There isn’t one. The Bethlehem plant closed in 1995 and the company was bankrupt by 2001.

“Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”

Next up is the 1957 International Naval Review commemorative, with design by Richard A.Genders. This was held in conjunction with the Jamestown 350th anniversary. In 2007 we certainly saw a lot of celebrations of observances of the 400th anniversary there.

Now comes a puzzle. The next stamp marked the 50th anniversary of Oklahoma statehood, with an issue featuring the title “Arrows to Atoms”. The arrows part is clear enough — Oklahoma, formally called the Indian Territory, was home to many tribes, including the Cerokee, Chichasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole.

But what was the connection to the atom? I have absolutely nothing on this. Anyone have any ideas? Is this just 1950’s atom-age kitsch? Or was there some significant Oklahoma connection to early atomic testing? (I didn’t see any talk of atoms in Oklahoma’s 100th anniversary celebrations this year.)

Next up is the National Education Association, the NEA, the largest labor union in the country, with a staff of 550 and a budget of $300 million. Founded in 1857 when the New York Teachers Association put out a nation-wide call for public school teachers to unite, it celebrated its centennial in 1957. Still going strong at age 150. Unlike steel workers, we’ll always need teachers.

If we did this stamp over again today, I wonder if we would show a laptop rather than a globe?

Here is my favorite stamp of 1957, the 48-star “Old Glory” issue, designed by Victor S. McCloseky, Jr. This is the first issue in the US to use the Giori press, a form of intaglio which used precisely cut ink rollers which could apply two or three ink colors to the same press, which then could be applied to the sheet in a single pass, avoiding the types of misalignment problems which could occur in multi-pass color processes.

Maybe I’m getting old and curmudgeonly, but you can keep your modern “stickers” that they pass off for postage stamps today. The Incredible Hulk? Muppets? Darth Vadar? When did we run out of real heroes to put on our stamps that we need to resort to fictional (and highly commercial) characters?

1957 saw the 350th anniversary of the first British ship built in the new world, the Virginia of Sagadahoc, built in the short-lived Popham Colony, in Maine. This is a small stamp, but lists 4 designers: Ervine Metzel, Mrs. William Zorach, A.M. Main, Jr. and George F. Cary II. That is somewhat unusual. There is nothing elaborate about this design that would suggest a need for 4 designers. I wonder if this was the result of a design contest, with citizen submissions plus actualization by B.E.P. professionals like Metzel?

Another Ervine Metzel design, this on 200th anniversary of the birth Lafayette, the Frenchman who gave notable service in both the American and French Revolutions. His popularity in the U.S. was enormous in the 19th century and most U.S. states have towns or counties named Lafayette (or Fayette or Fayetteville), and many towns have a street named after him, often intersecting with, or near a Washington Street.

Another Giori press issue, raising awareness of wildlife conservation and the plight of the endangered Whooping Crane.

Finally, we have a commemoration of the Flushing Remonstrance. This, like the Diet of Worms or the the Synod of Hippo, sounds a lot funnier than it is. Not as well-known as it should be, the Flushing Remonstrance was a protest by English farmers under Dutch jurisdiction in New Netherlands (later New York) against the government sanctioned persecution of the Quakers. It is one of the earliest American statement on religious toleration:

The law of love, peace and liberty in the states extending to Jews, Turks, and Egyptians, as they are considered the sonnes of Adam, which is the glory of the outward state of Holland, soe love, peace and liberty, extending to all in Christ Jesus, condemns hatred, war and bondage. And because our Saviour saith it is impossible but that offenses will come, but woe unto him by whom they cometh, our desire is not to offend one of his little ones, in whatsoever form, name or title he appears in, whether Presbyterian, Independent, Baptist or Quaker, but shall be glad to see anything of God in any of them, desiring to doe unto all men as we desire all men should doe unto us, which is the true law both of Church and State; for our Savior saith this is the law and the prophets. Therefore, if any of these said persons come in love unto us, wee cannot in conscience lay violent hands upon them, but give them free egresse and regresse unto our Town, and houses, as God shall persuade our consciences.