1990 25c America: Grand Canyon

US #2512
1990 Grand Canyon

• 2nd stamp in the America Series
• Pictures Arizona’s Grand Canyon

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set: America Series
Value:  25¢
First Day of Issue:  October 12, 1990
First Day City:  Grand Canyon, Arizona
Quantity Issued:  143,995,000
Printed by:  American Bank Note Company
Printing Method:  Photogravure
Format:  Panes of 50
Perforations:  11

Why the stamp was issued:  This stamp was issued as part of the America series in cooperation with several countries in North and South America.

About the stamp design: Mark Hess was chosen as the artist to create the painting that became the image on the Grand Canyon stamp.  He has preciously designed the Classic Mail Transportation block.

First Day City:  The stamp was issued on Columbus Day at the El Tovar Hotel on the south rim of the canyon.

About the America Series: Issued between 1989 and 1992, the America Series was a collaboration between the 24 Western Hemisphere countries in the Postal Union of the Americas and Spain (PUAS).  PUAS was originally founded in 1911 as the South American Postal Union to encourage the improvement of postal services.  The US joined the union in 1922.
In 1985, the PUAS congress approved the America Series – a multi-year, multi-national series in which the participating nations would issue stamps with themes relating to the Americas.  The purpose of the series was to honor the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World.  The themes would be: 1989 – pre-Columbian people and their customs, 1990 – natural surroundings seen by discoverers, 1991 – the discovery voyages, and 1992 – the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus.
In 1988, two USPS officials flew to Havana, Cuba, a country with no diplomatic relations with the US at the time, and whose stamps were embargoed, to discuss the project with other members of the PUAS.  The meeting was intended to coordinate efforts between the nations on design and marketing and to help those countries that had research, design, or printing issues.  Each stamp from each country had to include a special PUAS logo and a stylized post horn and the word AMERICA larger than the issuing country’s name.  In the Spanish-speaking countries, the logo is UPAE, for Union Postal de las Américas y España. 
By 1992, USPS’s interest in the series had waned.  While they did issue a set of four stamps honoring the arrival of Christopher Columbus, the stamps and selvage had no mention of PUAS and didn’t include the large AMERICA wording.  The 1992 block was also a joint issue with Italy.

History the stamp represents:  Long before recorded history, the Colorado River carved through an ancient plateau.  A river valley over 6,000 feet deep and up to 18 miles wide was created, stretching from southern Utah to northwestern Arizona.
Modern explorers first reached the Grand Canyon in the 1820s.  Exploration of the canyon continued throughout the 19th century.  No profit-making venture could be produced except mining, which often proved to be more work than it was worth.  One failed miner, Captain John Hance, eventually turned to managing a hotel and guided trail.  Other settlers further improved upon the tourist trade, building more hotels, trails, and roads.  The Grand Canyon was on its way to becoming a popular vacation destination.
In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt visited the canyon for the first time.  He was so fascinated that he reportedly proclaimed, “let this great wonder of nature remain as it now is… keep it for your children, your children’s children, and all who come after you…”  Though he was able to create a game preserve a few years later, Roosevelt failed repeatedly in establishing the canyon as a national park.  But Arizona’s statehood in 1912 and the creation of the National Park Service led Congress to establish Grand Canyon National Park in 1919.