Page 26 - Demo

A Century of Progress %u2022 Vintage PostcardsPhilately and the FairNew Postage Stamp and First Day CoverWhen the Zeppelin Co. was invited to fly one of its airships to the 1933 Chicago World%u2019s Fair, Commander Hugo Eckener agreed%u2014but only if the U.S. issued a special commemorative stamp for the occasion. He demanded, as well, that the resulting postal revenue be shared with the Zeppelin Company to help defray the flight%u2019s cost. At first, both the Post Office and President Roosevelt rejected the idea. After all, the U.S. had released three Zeppelin stamps back in 1930, in denominations of 65%u00a2, $1.30, and $2.60. But in the end, the Post Office acquiesced, and approved the issuance of another Zeppelin stamp. To distinguish it from the three earlier Zeppelin stamps, collectors dubbed it the %u201cBaby Zeppelin.%u201d After agreeing to Germany%u2019s request for this new U.S. stamp, the 776-foot LZ-126 Graf Zeppelin%u2019s schedule was revised to include Chicago as a stop. Of the 50%u00a2 cost of each stamp sold, a whopping 42%u00bd%u00a2 went to the Zeppelin Co.By the time the Post Office agreed to create the stamp, it had just six weeks to produce and distribute it in order for mail to travel by steamer to Germany and then return back to the U.S. on a special flight. Victor McCloskey Jr. designed the stamp at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. It features the Graf Zeppelin flying over the Atlantic Ocean, with the Century of Progress%u2019 Federal Building on the left, and the Zeppelin hangar in Friedrichshafen, Germany on the right. The Baby Zeppelin was assigned Scott Catalog #C18, and four different printing plates were used: 21171, 21172, 21177, 21178. But the stamp sold poorly, so most of them were destroyed. In the end, a mere 324,070 were placed into circulation. It was released in five U.S. cities on different days, first in New York on October 2, then in Washington, DC, Miami, Florida, and Akron, Ohio, with the last city being Chicago%u2014on October 7.First Day Cover, Chicago release of the Baby Zeppelin stamp. Rubber-stamp cachet with %u201cDispatched from Chicago.%u201d Cancelled on October 7, 1933, but held at the Post Office until the Graf Zeppelin arrived in Chicago on October 26. Backstamp Akron, Ohio October 26, 1933.