# 2785 - 1993 29c Classic Books: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

U.S. #2785
1993 Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm – Classic Books

• Honors beloved children’s book Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, a literary classic read by countless Americans
• One of four stamps in the Classic Books set
• Issued during the annual conference of Literary Volunteers of America, Inc. in Louisville, Kentucky

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set:  Classic Books
Value:  29¢, First Class Mail Rate
First Day of Issue:  October 23, 1993
First Day City:  Louisville, Kentucky
Quantity Issued:  150,200,000
Printed by:  American Bank Note Company (6-color Miller offset sheetfed press and 3-color Giori Simplex intaglio sheetfed press)
Printing Method:  Offset, Intaglio
Format:  Panes of 40 (vertical 8 across, 5 down)
Perforations:  11 x 11.1 (Bickel reciprocating stroke perforator)
Tagging:  Prephosphored paper and block tagging applied over Little Women and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm stamps

Why the stamp was issued:  To honor a popular children’s book – Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm – that has become a literary classic in the United States.

About the stamp design:  The stamp pictures Rebecca as seen through the window of the stagecoach taking her away from Sunnybrook Farm to her aunts’ home.

Special design details:  Lamb submitted several other possible scenes, but the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee strongly preferred the stagecoach scene, so that was the final design chosen.

First Day City:  The Classic Books stamps were issued in Louisville, Kentucky, to coincide with the annual conference of Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc.

About the Classic Books set:  The Classic Books stamps were created using artwork by Jim Lamb of Issaquah, Washington, with input by art director Richard Sheaff.  The artwork pictured on the stamps was created using acrylic, with the posing of the figures referenced from photographs of Lamb’s family and friends in costumes.  Lamb altered everyone’s faces to avoid the controversy of picturing living people on stamps.  “What I was after was the poses and the way the fabric lies and the way the light strikes the subject,” he said.  “When you’re doing a painting you like to have access to that kind of information, to bring a little more credibility, a little more reality to it.”  Lamb skimmed each of the books to be represented on the stamps to get an idea of what images might be best.  “In no case did I try to paint a specific scene from any of the novels.  My whole idea was just to kind of capture the feel of the book rather than anything specific.”

The selvage of the panes reads “These stamps honor four/classic books enjoyed by/’youngsters of all ages.’”  “Mark Twain’s (Samuel/L. Clemens) classic novel/ Huckleberry Finn was/first published in 1884.”  “Louisa May Alcott’s/enduring two-volume/Little Women was first/published in 1868 &/1869.”  “Kate Douglas Wiggin’s/long-popular Rebecca of/Sunnybrook Farm was/first published in 1903.”  “Laura Ingalls Wilder’s/popular Little House on/the Prairie was first/published in 1932.”

When the USPS pre-released the four stamp designs to the public in October 1992, some of their feedback led to adjustments to the original artwork.  The Little Women design was altered to make the oldest sister appear younger as audiences mistook her for Mrs. March rather than one of the sisters (Lamb gave the figure a braid instead of a bun and softened her features).  The letter on the oldest sister’s lap was also changed from having a ragged, torn top to a smooth one. 

The Huckleberry Finn design was also changed to make the steamboat a sidewheel model rather than the original sternwheeler that was pictured (this made the boat more historically accurate to the time period the novel was set in).  Lamb also took out some of the white flowers at Huck’s feet to improve the legibility of the “USA.”

History the stamp represents:  Although she wrote more than 20 children’s books, Kate Douglas Wiggin is best remembered for her endearing novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.  Born Kate Smith in Philadelphia in 1856, she spent her childhood in Maine.

Moving to California at age 17, she established the first kindergarten in the West, as well as a training school for teachers.  To raise funds for her kindergarten projects, Wiggins began writing children’s books.  Her first novel, The Story of Patsy, was published in 1883, and was followed four years later by the enormously popular The Birds’ Christmas Carol.  Her greatest triumph, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, was published in 1903.

One of the few stories for young girls to rival Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, this lively tale tells the adventures of Rebecca Randall, who leaves Sunnybrook Farm after her father’s death to live with her aunts.  Many of the novel’s characters, places, and events were taken from Wiggin’s childhood in Maine.

In addition to writing children’s stories, she also wrote several adult books and an autobiography.