1941 50c Twin-Motored Transport Plane, Orange

U.S. #C31
1941 50¢ Twin-Motored Transport
Twin-Motored Transport Plane Issue
Issue Date: October 29, 1941
City: St. Louis, MO
Quantity: 11,160,600
Printed By: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Rotary press printing
Perforations: 11 X 10 1/2
Color: Orange

This stamp is part of a series of airmail stamps that began appearing in 1941, all sharing the same twin motored transport plane design but issued across a range of denominations and colors to cover the various domestic and international airmail rates in use at the time. Planning for this series dated back to 1936, as the Post Office sought a uniform group of stamps that could cover, singly or in combination, all airmail postage requirements, replacing a mix of airmail stamps issued since 1928 that had varied widely in size, shape, and design. This fifty cent orange denomination replaced the earlier Trans-Pacific airmail issue of the same value and denomination, and it went on sale on October 29, 1941, just weeks before the United States entered World War II.

Because of the war, this series of seven stamps became the only new airmail stamps issued for domestic and international routes throughout the entire conflict, meaning this design carried American airmail across the globe during one of the most demanding periods in the postal service's history. The higher denominations within the series, including this fifty cent value, were generally intended for transoceanic and international airmail routes that carried steeper postage rates than standard domestic mail.

The design shows the transport plane banking through the sky, its twin engines and propellers rendered in fine detail against a backdrop of clouds. The entire stamp is printed in a bold orange tone, one of several colors used across the series to help distinguish between the different denominations at a glance. This stamp is part of real American history - it helped carry the mail through the Second World War.