Colonial American Craftsmen Postage Stamps, 1974

U.S. Postal Service Honors Wigmaker, Glassmaker, Silversmith, Hatter

Jul 3, 2009

Leonard Everett Fisher of Westport, Connecticut designed all four 8-cent postage stamps and executed them using the scratch board method.

In 1971 the United States Postal Service started a series of commemorative stamps for the American Bicentennial. The Colonial American Craftsmen stamps are the second in the series. The first had been an 8-cent “American Revolution Bicentennial” stamp which bore the logo of the event.

Glass Blowing First Introduced at Jamestown, Virginia

According to Janet Green, glass blowing is the oldest of the three crafts first introduced in Virginia in Colonial America. It first appeared in 1608 in Jamestown. However, many early attempts at glassmaking were unsuccessful, and the bottle depicted in the stamp design is typical of the Casper Wister manufacture in New Jersey later in the 1700s. A short history of colonial glassmakers and glassmaking can be found here.

American-Made Wigs Originated in Williamsburg, Virginia

Most gentlemen who wore wigs in colonial America had no choice but to have their hairpieces imported from England. The first American-made wigs are thought to have been made around 1700 in Williamsburg. The second stamp in the Craftsmen series depicts a “Bag-Wig” typical of those made by American wigmaker Edward Charlton around 1750 in that city.

A Hatter Adorns the Third Stamp in Bicentennial Series

A close look at the hat-maker in this series of stamps shows that he is working on a three-cornered beaver hat with a flat crown. This is the type produced in Danbury, Connecticut around 1780 by impromptu hatter Zadoc Benedict. Mr. Benedict reportedly discovered how to turn fur into felt when he patched a hole in his shoe. Perhaps the artist was thinking of Benedict when he drew the design.

Silversmiths Began in Boston, Massachusetts Around 1635

The silversmith is represented in the fourth stamp. The only one of the four crafts to originate outside of Virginia, American silversmithing traces its origins to Boston between 1635 and 1640. The stamp design illustrates a type of teapot created by Paul Revere about 1780 with the silversmith tapping the pot against a “beak horn” anvil to smooth the inside.

Artist Leonard Everett Fisher was born in New York in 1924. He was educated at Yale University School of Art after serving his country in World War II. Some of his works were incorporated into a mural in the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. His illustrations of Colonial Craftsmen for the United States Postal Service are timeless examples of his talent.

The stamps in this series were printed on the Cottrell press and 135 million were printed. Bicentennial stamps have an interesting evolution and are widely collected. In addition to Bicentennial collectors, those interested in wigs, hats, silver pieces and glass objects also collect these beautiful items.

The copyright of the article Colonial American Craftsmen Postage Stamps, 1974 in Collecting Stamps/Coins is owned by Marie Brannon. Permission to republish Colonial American Craftsmen Postage Stamps, 1974 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.