US Postage, 1940 To 1959

These are stamps that I have accumulated over the years. You might have some of these, too. I like them okay, or else I wouldn't have them, now would I? They're not of any real value, not investment-grade certainly. I don't have all of them; just a bit of this, and a bit of that...

1940, 10¢ dark brown, a.k.a. "Mark Twain"...

I would have the 10¢ depicting A. G. Bell to illustrate, the key to the entire set, but I don't like telephones.

1940, 3¢ henna-brown, and commemorating the 80th anniversary of the "Pony Express"...


1940, 3¢ light violet, the 50th anniversary of the Pan-American Union...

That's the first time I've scanned that one, and now I know why. That was most likely one of the last, if not the last, copy within the book at the stamp shop. It has a pulled-perf, and the gum has begun to threaten the stamp. I could transform it into an NG. That would reveal the actual colour of the original ink.

Those are the "Three Graces", the "Three Fates", or the three witches from Macbeth; take your pick.

1941-44, "Air Mail", in carmine(6¢), olive-green(8¢, '44), violet(10¢), brown-carmine(15¢), bright green(20¢), blue(30¢), and orange(50¢)...

Aren't those pretty. Scott, however, states that that's a "Twin-Motored Transport Plane". Sure, it's got two motors, but what's the make and model? Even my Scott U.S. Specialised isn't all that special in providing additional information about that issue. Well, I had to go and take a look online...

...and found nothing. Now, for what was essentially a re-print, for what may have been a rate-adjustment, the 1946 5-cent features a DC-4 "Skymaster", a quad-motor plane...and as the catalogues state. <grumble grumble grumble>

1942, 3¢ violet...

1943, 5¢ blue-violet, pale blue, greenish blue & black, "Overrun Countries", "Greece"...

I have the set of thirteen, as there were quite a few countries that were overrun during World War II, but I scanned only that one, at the time. Then, why that one, I do not know.

1944, 3¢ violet, "Golden Spike Ceremony"...

1944, 3¢ violet, the "50th Anniversary of Motion Pictures", depicting members of the U.S. armed forces watching same in the South Pacific, and one of my favourite stamps of the era...

1944-51, "Special Delivery", in blue(13¢, '44), and black(20¢, '51); these were re-prints of those a generation before...

The plane on the transport series of airmail stamps is generic. It does not represent a specific model of twin engined transport plane (though it looks a lot like a DC-3 or Curtiss CW-20). One giveaway that it is not a real twin-engined transport is the triple tail. The original version of the DC-4 had a triple tail, but the triple tail is mostly associated with the Lockheed Constellation. Those aircraft had four engines, not two. I am unaware of any twin engine transport plane with a triple tail.

The 6 cent version was reissued in 1943 as a booklet stamp:

Basil

The 20c special delivery with the old-timey mail truck was one of my treasures when I was a kid, and the "Overrun Countries" set has always been one of my favorites.

I have always had a spot spot for these issues as well since I was a kid. Recently completed a plate block collection of Overrun Countries, Famous Americans, and that airmail series. If you hunt around, they can be had very affordably and look quite nice on display.

I find it interesting that many of the airplanes, trucks and other equipment were actually "state of the art' when the stamps were issued.

Check out Scott US C1-6 and the Parcel Post issues.

Thanks all. Yes, I had seen a lot of these, used, and within my father's collection when I was 8 or so. When I got older, I wanted mint examples. These were all had at the brick-and-mortar shops when I lived in the city, back in the '80s and '90s. Sadly, the two shops are no longer there. Isn't that the way.

Would that those in charge had not cobbled together an imaginary plane for that issue; the taking of liberties.

Of course the Transcontinental RR stamp has long been criticized for the smoke and the flag blowing in opposite directions.

Yes, I see that now. Of course, they wanted the flag to be seen within the scene, or vignette.

I've edited the original post. It turned out that I do have stamps from 1940, per the title of this thread, but only three.

1945, 3¢ yellow-green, "From the Halls of Montezuma, to the Shores of Tripoli..."...

1945, 2¢ carmine-rose...

1945, 3¢ olive, the Army...

It appears that the government lumped the Air Force in with the Army, within that issue, as a stamp specifically for the Air Force does not appear until later.

1945, 3¢ blue, the Navy...

1945, 3¢ dark blue, Texas centenary...

1946, 3¢ dark violet, Tennessee sesquicentenary...

1947, 3¢ bright red-violet...

...and who turned night into day. Artificial lighting has its advantages; and disadvantages.

1947, CIPEX...


I have to wonder as to how many individuals may have tried to pass those two off as #1 & #2 to the unsuspecting and unwitting.

I'm sitting here looking through my virtual Scott catalogue to organise these issues, and there are many other issues of the era that I'm seeing that I would like to have. Back then, at the stamp shops, there was a selection, yet limited. Then, we did what we might.

Incidentally, there were a lot of issues released in 1948, hence, I have quite a few...

1948, 3¢ brown-violet, Mississippi Territory sesquicentennial...

1948, 5¢ blue, Swedish Pioneers centenary; another favourite...

1948, 3¢ dark violet, "Progress of Women" centenary...

1948, 3¢ bright red-violet...

The man loved animals, in his youth at least; a plus in my book.

1948, 3¢ bright red-violet...

...a Chief Justice during F. D. Roosevelt's presidency.

1948, 3¢ blue, Palomar observatory, which houses a parabolic mirror 200 inches in diameter...

That one is especially meaningful to me, as I have over twelve telescopes, including a 4" fluorite-doublet.

1948, 3¢ sepia, and depicting a Light Brahma rooster...

1948, 3¢ orange-yellow, "Gold Star Mothers"...

1948, 3¢ dark brown, "Indian Centennial"...

1948, 3¢, and yet another bright red-violet...

When Will Rogers stated that, it "blew" most every one's mind.

Another of my personal favourites of the era...

1948, 3¢ henna-brown...


Then, 1948 came to a close.

Thanks for sharing. I began collecting such stamps and beyond 1950 as I nbought stamp grab bags of "vintage" mnh ones to select. Then recently I got three stampyears books heavily discounted - 1999, 2000 and 2003. Some nice stamps and all have one of the prettiest stamp series ever put out by the USPS - "Nature In America" panes of stamps within beautiful renderings of various ecosystems found in the US. A total of 12 were issued, the last being in2010. So one of my collecting goals is to get the stamp yearbooks from 1999 - 2010 for the panes and whatever stamps or panes I may enjoy. So far results have been pretty good and the books make good coffee table books or potential gifts (heck even an item to sell on eBay though I imagine for under $10 according to eBay sold prices).

Thanks. I have a number of issues from 1940 to about 2000 or so.

A happy July 4th to all...