US #3428 from the Distinguished Americans Series. Click the image to order.
Jonas Edward Salk was born on October 28, 1914, in New York, New York.
Salk attended the Townsend Harris High School for gifted students and had a reputation for being a perfectionist. He would also read anything he could get his hands on.
US #WV1 was issued for a fair in Albany in 1864. Click the image to order.
On October 27, 1863, the first major Sanitary Fair was held to raise money during the Civil War.
With the outbreak of fighting in the Civil War, women left at home wanted to contribute. Perhaps one of the earliest meetings of women to discuss their contribution was held on April 25, 1861, in New York City. This led to the creation of the Women’s Central Association of Relief.
US #1325 was issued on the 150th anniversary of the canal’s groundbreaking in Rome, New York. Click the image to order.
On October 26, 1825, the Erie Canal opened, offering a quicker shipping route through New York’s waterways.
In the early 1800s, sending goods west from New York City across the state was expensive and took a lot of time. There were no railroads yet and it took two weeks to travel by stagecoach. Several New York legislators proposed the idea of building a canal across the state, and they received tremendous support from Governor DeWitt Clinton.
US #2388 was issued one month before Byrd’s 100th birthday. Click the image to order.
Richard Evelyn Byrd was born on October 25, 1888, in Winchester, Virginia.
Byrd was descended from one of the first families of Virginia – among his ancestors were John Rolfe and Pocahontas. Byrd attended the Virginia Military Institute and the University of Virginia before enrolling in the US Naval Academy.
US #3882 was issued for Hart’s 100th birthday.
Playwright and theater director Moss Hart was born on October 24, 1904, in New York City, New York.
Hart was raised in relative poverty in the Bronx. As a child, he was close to his Aunt Kate, who took him to the theater frequently. Though he lost contact with her after she and his parents had a falling out, he always credited her with giving him his love for theater. He learned that the theater made possible “the art of being somebody else… not a scrawny boy with bad teeth [and] a funny name.”
US #1203 – The original non-error stamp issued on this day in 1962. Click the image to order.
On October 23, 1962, the US Post Office Department unknowingly issued an unknown number of inverted Dag Hammarskjöld error stamps. The fallout from this issue became known as Day’s Folly (after Postmaster General J. Edward Day).
