Celebrating Printer's Labor

I'm just returning from a long holiday weekend celebrating Labor Day by not working. I have lots of material saved up to share this week, but will begin with this 1939 US stamp commemorating the 300th anniversary of the first working printing press in the US; The Stephen Daye Press in Cambridge, Massachusetts. By my count that now makes it 372 years ago. The first published work from the press was a broadside, The Freeman's Oath, followed by an 8 page Almanac for 1639 and the first published book in the US, the nearly 300 page Bay Psalm Book. You can find an interesting account of this first press here or if that's too much work, kick back and listen to the audio clip of it instead.

Gill on Stamp Design

Eric Gill | Notes on Postage Stamps, a 24 page book from the Kat Ran Press contains 56 full-color illustrations and an essay by Gill on his philatelic ideas and opinions. The portraits in the 2 stamps above were designed by Edmund Dulac with the lettering, crown and small ornaments by Eric Gill. This book is available for purchase from Kat Ran Press. They also keep a wonderful archive listed here of other distinguished type designers who have created postage stamps and other assorted philatelic materials. All of their names are clickable here.
:: From mrussem's Flickrsteam.

Cinderellas and the FBI

A couple of months ago I attended a local paper show and met a new dealer there with a lot of cinderella stamps. The stamps above are a couple of the cinderellas I found that day. Although he was a very knowledgeable dealer, he couldn't recall their origin. They appear to be selvedge, or a border strip at the edge of a printed sheet. In this case they are engraved with a pattern of nicely script Es, Ds, Gs and what appears to be either a cap I or a T. I am puzzled over these little stamps, but do enjoy them.
      Side story...after a lengthy conversation, I learned this paper dealer was a former undercover FBI plant during the 60s and hung out with members of the Black Panthers and the Weather Underground in order to gather information. He had some amazzzing and very convincing stories to tell about drug running and the life of an undercover agent. He could recall every detail of conversations, parties and events he attended with these nefarious perps. Coincidently he also happened to know my father who was another FBI guy dealing with interstate bank robbers and crimestopping in that era. Our conversation made for a very entertaining afternoon of ephemera and espionage. He is now retired from the FBI and collects cars and blimp ephemera. Go figure. Below are a few more cinderellas, cancelled stamps and poster stamps I picked up from my new dealer friend that same day.

TypeOcentric Ephemera

The designers of these labels and poster stamps probably each did 100s of them in the course of their careers, but it's sad that most have ended up in the dustbin of obscurity and will never receive due credit for their artwork. At least their designs have a legacy and it makes me happy to share them. I've credited the owners in each case. 

Japanese Matchbox Label

:: From Crackdog's photostream

Czech matchbox label for Hotel Jalta in Prague.

:: From Diskurs photostream

1931 German poster stamp, unknown designer. 

:: From Letterology archives 

1964 Hungarian Matchbox Label

:: From Shailesh Chavda photostream

Czechoslovakian Stamp Designs

I'm a long-time fan of Czechoslovakian postage stamp design and have posted some of my own favorites stamps in the past here. Oliver Thomas has a wonderful Flickr set of additional Czech stamp designs including those here and they are very well documented. The variety and styles of the hand lettered text on these stamps is stunning.

Design credits from top to bottom:
1. Zdeněk Sklenář, 1974
2. Karel Svolinský, 1980
3. Karel Vodák, 1968
4. Jaroslav Lukavsky, 1971
5. Jaroslav Lukavsky, 1971
6. Ivan Strnad, 1971
7. Bedřich Housa, 1972
8. Anna Podzemná, 1978
9. Josef Herčík, 1979

Designer Postage Stamps

Earlier this month, metal and digital book designer Michael Russem of Kat Ran Press wrote and excellent article for Design Observer about his collection of postage stamps by AIGA Medalists. The first stamp here by Lucian Bernhard was not really a postage stamp, but  a poster stamp meant for advertising. You can read his entire post at Design Observer and see a slideshow of all the AIGA medalists' stamp designs. While you are at it, pay a visit to Russem's great website where he displays a number of other postage stamps by type designers such as Wim Crouwel, Eric Gill, David Quay, Herman Zapf, Reynolds Stone, Neville Brody and Gerard Unger.

From the top: First 2 stamp designs were by Lucian Bernhard in 1909 and 1910.
The 3rd stamp, Freedom of the Press, is by Lester Beall, 1958.
The Voice of America, Georg Olden, 1967.
America's Libraries, Bradbury Thompson, 1982.
A Nation of Readers, Bradbury Thompson, 1984.
A Nation of Readers, Bradbury Thompson, Phototypesetting films, 1984.
United Nations, Immunize Every Child, Seymour Chwast, 1987.

Belle Lettres

These little gems are from my small, but growing collection of Czechoslovakian postage stamps. Stunning handmade letterforms. Another good reason to write more letters.
:: From The Letterology Archives