Mesa Verde National ParkPágina 21 de 33
How Stamp Collectors Won the 1934 National Park Stamps, Over a Billion Printed
The Great Depression did not stop the Post Office Department from printing more than one billion national park stamps in under two years. The ten-stamp series issued in 1934 became one of the most recognized series of US stamps. National Park Service Director Stephen T. Mather reportedly first called for such a series in 1925, but stamp collectors were ultimately responsible for creating it. The National Park Service tells the story in its 50 Nifty Finds series.
Collectors make the case
It has been reported that Park Service Director Stephen T. Mather first called for national park stamps in 1925. Collectors made it happen. In November 1933, philatelic societies, joined by Senator Homer T. Bone and Representative Wesley Lloyd, petitioned President Franklin D. Roosevelt for a series picturing scenes in national parks and monuments. They had a receptive audience, because Roosevelt and Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes both collected stamps. The Park Service Bulletin of December 1933 welcomed the revived movement, and a Washington newspaper editorial argued that the slogan "See America First" could have no better application.
NPS Chief Photographer George A. Grant at Yellowstone National Park, 1933. NPS History Collection.
Director Arno B. Cammerer told chief photographer George A. Grant to pick photographs. Grant recalled in a 1962 oral history that it was an awful time making the selections, and he even shrank negatives to postage-stamp size to see which would read at that scale. He chose five of the images himself. The rest came from Ansel Adams, J.E. Haynes, Asahel Curtis, H.L. Bradley and the Thompson Company.
A late approval
As late as April 29, 1934, it was unclear the series would be issued, partly because a presidential series was also proposed and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing might not manage both. On May 16, 1934, Postmaster General James A. Farley authorized the park stamps in conjunction with the Interior Department's observance of the National Parks Year. The bureau, under Alvin W. Hall, designed and printed the first stamp in just two months.
These were the first series devoted entirely to scenic views of national parks. They were printed larger than usual, at .84 by 1.44 inches, to show off the pictures, in perforated sheets of 50. On March 15, 1935, the series was reissued in ungummed, unperforated sheets of 200 and panes of six. The press called such special printings "Farley's Follies," and this was his last.
The ten stamps
| Stamp | Color | Photograph | Issued | Printed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1¢ Yosemite | Green | Ansel Adams | July 16, 1934 | 80 million |
| 2¢ Grand Canyon | Red | Grant, 1930 | July 24, 1934 | 75 million |
| 3¢ Mount Rainier | Purple | Asahel Curtis | Aug. 3, 1934 | 85 million |
| 4¢ Mesa Verde | Brown | not named | Sept. 25, 1934 | 19,178,650 |
| 5¢ Yellowstone | Blue | J.E. Haynes | July 30, 1934 | 35 million in the first order |
| 6¢ Crater Lake | Blue | not named | Sept. 5, 1934 | 16,923,350 |
| 7¢ Acadia | Black | H.L. Bradley, an NPS employee | Oct. 2, 1934 | 15 million |
| 8¢ Zion | Gray-green | Grant | Sept. 18, 1934 | 15 million in the initial printing |
| 9¢ Glacier | Pink | Grant, 1932 | Aug. 27, 1934 | 15 million |
| 10¢ Great Smoky Mountains | Gray-black | Thompson Company | Oct. 8, 1934 | 20 million |
Victor S. McCloskey Jr. designed most of the stamps. The Great Smoky Mountains stamp was designed by Esther A. Richards, a Philadelphia artist the bureau hired temporarily, making it the first U.S. postage stamp designed by a woman.
The 2-cent Grand Canyon stamp, 1934. NPS History Collection.
The 8-cent Zion stamp, 1934. NPS History Collection.
Stories behind some of them
- Yosemite. First-day sales at Yosemite topped 250,000 stamps, with more than 26,000 covers canceled. A souvenir sheet of six was printed for a philatelic convention in Omaha in October 1934, sold at the convention and by mail order but not in post offices afterward.
- Yellowstone. Farley sold the first block himself, acting as postal clerk at Yellowstone, to Senator Joseph C. O'Mahoney, who gave it to William Henry Jackson, then 91, the first person to photograph Old Faithful in 1871. Jackson gave it to the park museum. Some critics thought the vertical Yellowstone and Yosemite stamps the most beautiful of the set.
- Crater Lake. The Post Office first announced Zion and Sequoia stamps, but lobbying by Oregon's Representative put Crater Lake in Sequoia's place. A proof printed in orange was rejected, and blue, to match the lake, was approved on August 29, 1934. With no time to engrave new plates, collectors complained that the water came out nearly white and the crater walls deep blue. Of the unperforated 200-stamp sheets placed on sale in March 1935 only 7,270 sold, and the rest were gummed, perforated and sold again.
- Zion. Collectors noticed its color. It was called olive green, or like winter apples, after 30 years in which the 8-cent stamp had been plain olive.
- Glacier. Grant's original photograph, taken July 17, 1932, showed a couple at the lake's edge. They were left out of the stamp.
- Great Smoky Mountains. Newspapers first said it would be yellow, the traditional 10-cent color. On October 2, 1934, the color was changed to slate gray, which gave it a more distinctive tint but, critics said, a less clear picture.
The 7-cent Acadia stamp, 1934. NPS History Collection.
H.L. Bradley's image submitted for the 1934 Acadia stamp. NPS History Collection.
Sources
- National Park Service, 50 Nifty Finds #9: Green Stamps; rewritten in hubnx's own words. The page's stamp images for Yosemite, Mount Rainier, Mesa Verde, Yellowstone, Crater Lake and Great Smoky Mountains, and its photograph of a couple, are left out.