1960 4c Wheels of Freedom

U.S. #1162
4¢ Wheels of Freedom

Issue Date: October 15, 1960
City: Detroit, MI
Quantity: 109,695,000
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Rotary Press
Perforations: 11 x 10 1/2
Color: Dark blue

U.S. #1162 was issued to coincide with the opening of the 1960 National Automobile Show in Detroit, Michigan. The stamp pictures a steering wheel with a car, truck, and tractor in each section. On either side of the wheel are the Western and Eastern Hemispheres of Earth.

Detroit – the Center of the U.S. Automotive Industry

This stamp was issued to honor the contributions of the automobile industry to American life, in conjunction with the National Automobile Show. Its design symbolizes the worldwide importance of motor vehicles for transportation, commerce, and food production.

Detroit, Michigan, is one of the world’s great industrial centers. As the leading automotive production center in the United States, Detroit has earned the nicknames Automobile Capital of the World and Motor City. More than 10% of the workers in metropolitan Detroit are employed in automotive manufacturing.

As the center of automobile production, Detroit was the first city to have a paved concrete road (1909), the first to install a traffic light (1915), and the United States’ first urban freeway (1942).