Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-07-25
Propaganda Stamps
Prove Their Worth
By James Waldo Faucet.

first adhesive postage stamp, might have
decided that it should show nothing at
ALL Instead, 1t was his choice that it
should publicize the beautiful young
Queen of England, Victoria Regina.
The date was 1910. Almost every
stamp printed since then has been a
propaganda label of one kind or another.
To trace the evolution of stamp COM
positions from the original Penny Black
to the latest of its innumerable successors
would be fascinating avocation Sir
Rowland was man of excelling genius
He made his gracious sovereign the most
notably famous woman In the world.
But he also set a fashion, established a
model which even now, after more than
100 years, still is effective.
Switzerland and Brazil in 1843 both
tried numerical designs. The and
rappen stamps of Zurich and the Bulls
Eyes OF Rio de Janerio are much sought
after by collectors, but they are not
artistic in any proper use of that word
nor do they convey in themselves any
message. France in l849 brought out a
20-centime black and l-franc orange
vermillion representing the goddess
Ceres, gracefully engraved by ]. J. Barre
and printed by M. Hulot. Belgium dur
ing the same 12-month period produced
a 10-centime brown and a 20-centime
blue, two very attractive stickers bearing
the portrait of King Leopold I.
American Innovations.
The example OF Britain thus accepted
by Lowland neighbor also was followed
by Spain in 1850-with two patterns Of
fering profiles of Queen Isabella II.
Meanwhile, in 1847, the United States,
having investigated procedures in Lon
don released its first scent red brown
and 10-cent black adorned with portraits
OF Benjamin Franklin and George WASH
ington. To the gallery Thomas Jefferson
was introduced in 1856, Andrew Jackson
in 1868, Abraham Lincoln in 1866. Then
came the pioneer "patriotics' in 1863
the 2-cent Pony Express, Scent locomo-
tive, 10-cent shield and eagle, 12-cent
steamship Adriatic, 15-cent Landing of
Columbus and 24cent Declaration of
Independence. The series was not pop
ular. 1t was replaced with the National
Bank Note Co. sequence of Franklin,
Jackson, Washington. Lincoln Stanton,
Jefferson. Clay, Webster, Winfield Scott,
Hamilton and Perry, 1901. Unques-
tionably, the United States had discov-
cred the principle of praising great men
in stamps. That was Sir RoWlands idea.
Had Prince Albert been the actual SOW
ereign - not merely her consort - his
countenance and not his wife's would
have shone upon the No. postal issue.
But the American adapters of the
British conception were not interested
in heads of state" exclusively. They
made two innovations worth mentioning.
First, they included in their propaganda
campaigns the pictures of men who did
not achieve the presidency; second they
discovered the magnetic power OF de-
signs telling stories
Another step forward was taken when
the United States Post Once Depart
ment was persuaded to realize the pro-
motion value of so-called commence
rative" stamps. The World Fair at Chi
cago, celebrating the 400th anniversary
of the discovery of America by Chris
topher Columbus, was significantly adj
vertised by the circulation Of 16 scraps
of paper" telling the familiar but always
colorful tale of the voyage of the
Grand Admiral from Palos to Watlings
and the events that ensued therefrNl
Denominations ranged from cent to IS;
the vignettes were copied from famous
noirotinpc ho
Half century after their f1rst-day sale
mint set was catalogued at approx
mately $250-more than it's aggregate
weight in diamonds. No finer COM
memoratives'' ever have been manufac-
tured.
But the Columbians have been imi-
tated endlessly both at home and abroad
What had been done for Chicago was
demanded for Omaha and the Trans
Mississippi Exposition there in 1898, and
series of nine scenic labels were exc
cuted by the Bureau of Engraving and
Printing-the first big job of It's kind
done in Washington. Then followed
naturally enough, similar yet not so no.
tably esthetic issues for Buffalo, 1901
st. Louis, 1904; jamestown, 1907; San
Francisco 1912; Chicago. 1893, and single
stamps for Philadelphia 1926; San Diego
1875; San Francisco and New York
1899. These exposition propaganda stick
ers, of course, were intended to promote
the arts of peace
Enemy Countries Policy.
rorr,Ss a
begun to appreciate the propaganda op-
portunities provided by stamps. Ger
many, commencing in 1872, made use of
the imperial eagle as a symbol of RAM
pant military might. The common Ger
mania" sequence was launched in 1900,
and flambouyant double-size 5-mark
commemorative depicting Kaiser Will
helm II in uniform and with flag and a
sword, appeared the same year. Japan
brought out two stamps ornamented
with field guns in 1906 and two decorated
with the countsnance of the notorious
Empress lingo, the lady militarist, in
1908. Italy started with stamps in honor
of Dante and Mazzini in 1921 and 1922,
but soon had recourse to emblems of
fascism and imperialism. BY 1882 the
great majority of postal emissions at
Rome were frankly provocative. Musso-
lini was portrayed as conqueror on
horseback on one Of set OF Black Shirt
labels. The first German stamp to show
Hitler was released in 1887.
In the United States no attempt was
made to employ postal designs to con-
structive psychological purpose during