"Jobless men in a soup kitchen"
By Fred Baumann
Issued late in 1932, Canada's George V Medallion definitives were used until mid-1935, a short span during the hardest years of the century for many Canadians.
I had cheap used examples of these stamps in my callow youth, but barely noticed them.
The bearded profiles lined up across my album page like jobless men at a soup kitchen, a brief queue between more elegant portraits of the graying, medal-bedecked king that preceded and followed them. You get a sense of the contrast in the three stamps shown below.
Equipped by my fellow collectors with half a century of insight, I now know the Medallions merit a more appreciative look.
These elements were first combined with the profile of George V created by Australian sculptor Mackennal on a 3¢ red letter-rate stamp (Scott 192), one of three commemoratives released July 12, 1932, to herald the Imperial Economic Conference in Ottawa.
https://www.linns.com/news/world-st...ression.html