Page 95 - Demo

Herman Maul was born on February 11, 1897 in Columbus, Ohio, where he lived his entire life. He was a stamp collector as a boy, but eventually became more interested in cachets than stamps. He was a private in World War I, and during his working life was a draftsman for various firms. Herman was working for the State of Ohio when he retired. He once said, %u201cDraftsmen draw nothing but straight lines. I wanted to draw curves.%u201d Which he did with his hand-drawn cachets.It was in the 1940s that Herman became interested in patriotic envelopes. Between 1942 and 1946, he began creating his own designs, and exchanging them with a small circle of friends. This evolved into cachets for First Day Covers, and his first was for the 5%u00a2 Roosevelt issue of 1946. All his early cachets were produced in small quantities, were not sold, and were only exchanged with acquaintances.Eventually, Maul expanded his production to as many as twenty covers per stamp issue. Besides U.S. stamps, he created cachets for United Nations stamps, political inaugurations, and other special events. All are highly sought-after by collectors. Over the years, Herman created more than one cachet design for stamps he considered particularly interesting. Because they are all hand-painted, his cachets with a similar design still vary from one to another. The last Maul cachets were created for the Babe Ruth stamp of 1983, which he drew not long before his death at the age of 86. Some showed Ruth, incorrectly as a right-handed batter, an error he quickly corrected. .