Withdrawn Atomic Bomb Stamp Of 1995

Was this stamp (from the same pane) "crass and tasteless?"



One thing is similar between the two stamps: they allude to an event, without "calling out" the nation involved. The handling of controversial events, on stamps, will always be controversial. Judgment calls will be made. But what happened with the atomic bomb stamp was a form of censorship. Was that the correct response?

By surprise because the Allied leadership was thinking that the Japanese would be thinking the way that they think; after all, who would think differently?

If they had known their enemy, they might have predicted that the atomic bombs would do what a years-long campaign of staggering airborne violence had not.

Hint: 'Commodore Perry, and the Opening of Japan'. Japanese culture permits surrender in the face of (what we call nowadays) technological superiority. They are allowed to say "Oh, well, if our enemies can do that, there is no dishonor in surrender." Gunpowder'n'cannon did the trick in 1853, Little Boy & Fat Man did the trick in 1945. Same trick.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

As terrible as they were, it's likely that the advent of nuclear weapons helped usher in an era of relative peace amongst the great powers. The principle of mutually assured destruction (MAD) in the nuclear age has made even limited warfare between nuclear states almost unthinkable. While the world as a whole hasn't been free of warfare even for a single day following the use of the A-bombs, direct and open warfare between advanced nations has become pretty rare. Of course nukes are just one reason among many for this, but I think it's important not to overlook it.

i was just wondering what will be the reaction or feeling of Japanese who suffer, when they see it....

bljcr

You're right, it isn't crass or tasteless, it's just not very good art. The "Truman announces the end of the war" stamp is, however, truly dreadful - looks like an illustration from a 1960s in-flight magazine.

Artful

Absolutely agree!

Geoff

Geoff,

The Truman stamp was meant to look, more or less, like a colorized version of a 1940's photograph. I finally got a copy of Linn's 1995 Stamp Yearbook, and the issue is thoroughly discussed and documented (24 pages). Alas, the pictures are all black and white. But they do verify that the image in my original post was the stamp originally proposed (except that the image in Linn's reads "Atom bombs" rather than "Atomic bombs" shown on the image I posted). However, CSAC actually looked at two versions of the stamp. The other showed the same mushroom cloud, but in the lower right depicted a stop watch supposedly recovered from the rubble with the hands at the precise moment of impact, and the legend read "Atom Bomb Levels Hiroshima August 6, 1945." CSAC at least chose the less "intense" version ("Atom Bombs Hastens War's End" vs "Atom Bomb Levels Hiroshima"). But even that was too much for the PC crowd.

Basil

Postcard featuring the Japanese Fleet in 1904 ... before the victory over Czarist Russia.

Pardon me while I feel sorry for somebody else.

http://www.oberlin.edu/archive/hold...minhist.html ... addressee Irving W Metcalf (1855-1938) was a member of the Oberlin College Board of Trustees from 1900 to 1925

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey