Celebrate the Century

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The first sheet in this series, featured events that took place in the United States in 1900s the first decade of the 20th century
The first sheet in this series, featured events that took place in the United States in 1900s the first decade of the 20th century

Celebrate the Century is the name of a series of postage stamps made by the United States Postal Service featuring images recalling various important events in the 20th century in the United States.

Ten of these sheets were issued, with each sheet depicting events of one decade of the 20th century, from the 1900s to 1990s. Fifteen stamps were embedded into each sheet. For the first eight sheets (1900s to 1970s) of the fifteen stamps, one stamp of each sheet was printed using the intaglio process [1], while the remaining fourteen were offset printed along with the rest of the sheet.

Contents

[edit] Format

These gummed souvenir sheets had an unusually large format of 7½"x9" (190mmx229mm). The top left hand corner sported the decade in a number format, the entire background of the sheet was devoted a specific event of that decade (eg. the Wright brothers standing next to their Flyer II on the 1900s sheet.)

The fifteen stamps were printed at an angle of 8°, the horizontal perforations ran from the stamps up to the edge of sheet. The stamps were arranged on the sheets in four rows, and nested in arrangements unique to each sheet. An area was devoted to the description of the decade as depicted by the stamps on it. The description of each stamp was printed on the gummed side of the sheet, behind each stamp.

The words Arts, Sports, Historical Events ran on the left hand edge, Technology, Entertainment, Science ran on the top edge, Political Figures, Life Style on the right hand edge of the sheet.

[edit] The sheets

1900s

1910s

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

[edit] 1900s

Title: Dawn of the Twentieth Century.
Date of issue: 03 February 1998. [2]
Denomination: 32¢
No of stamps in sheet: 15
The stamps:

Background image: The Wright brothers stand beside their Flyer II, near Dayton, Ohio.
Intaglio stamp: The Gibson Girl created by illustrator Charles Dana Gibson.

[edit] 1910s

Title: America Looks Beyond its Borders.
Date of issue: 03 February 1998. [3]
Denomination: 32¢
No of stamps in sheet: 15
The stamps:

Background image: Boy Scouts participate in a patriotic "Wake Up America" rally on New York City's Fifth Avenue.
Intaglio stamp: Panama Canal.

[edit] 1920s

Title: The Roaring Twenties.
Date of issue: 28 May 1998. [4]
Denomination: 32¢
No of stamps in sheet: 15
The stamps:

Background image: Members of a dance troupe strike poses from the Charleston on a California beach during a break in the filming of a movie in 1926.
Intaglio stamp: Charles Lindbergh.

[edit] 1930s

Title: Depression, Dust Bowl, and a New Deal.
Date of issue: 9 October 1998. [5]
Denomination: 32¢
No of stamps in sheet: 15
The stamps:

Background image: A farmer and two sons flee a dust storm in Cimarron County, Oklahoma in April 1936.
Intaglio stamp: Empire State Building.

[edit] 1940s

Title: World War II Transforms America.
Date of issue: 18 February 1999. [6]
Denomination: 33¢
No of stamps in sheet: 15
The stamps:

Background image: A landing party of U.S. Marines storm a beach on Saipan, a Japanese stronghold in the Mariana Islands in 1944.
Intaglio stamp: United Nations.

[edit] 1950s

Title: Family Fun, Suburbia, and Nuclear Threats.
Date of issue: 26 May 1999. [7]
Denomination: 33¢
No of stamps in sheet: 15
The stamps:

Background image: Family in front of a television set.
Intaglio stamp: Polio vaccine.

[edit] 1960s

Title: The Rebellious Sixties and Man on the Moon.
Date of issue: 17 September 1999. [8]
Denomination: 33¢
No of stamps in sheet: 15
The stamps:

Background image: Astronaut Buzz Aldrin sets up seismic equipment to record lunar tremors.
Intaglio stamp: Buzz Aldrin's lunar foot print.

[edit] 1970s

Title: Bicentennial, Watergate, and Earth Day.
Date of issue: 18 November 1999. [9]
Denomination: 33¢
No of stamps in sheet: 15
The stamps:

Background image: Ships gather in New York Harbor under the Statue of Liberty to take part in Bicentennial celebrations, July 4, 1976, marked the 200th birthday of the United States.
Intaglio stamp: Videocassette recorder.

[edit] 1980s

Title: Space Shuttle Launched, Berlin Wall Falls.
Date of issue: 12 January 2000. [10]
Denomination: 33¢
No of stamps in sheet: 15
The stamps:

Background image: The space shuttle Columbia is launched 27 June 1982 on its fourth mission.
Intaglio stamp: None present.

[edit] 1990s

Title: In Final Decade, Cold War Ends, Economy Booms.
Date of issue: 2 May 2000. [11]
Denomination: 33¢
No of stamps in sheet: 15
The stamps:

Background image: Image of currency superimposed by a graph of the rising economy.
Intaglio stamp: None present.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Page 96 US stamps. Mystic Stamp catalog. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  2. ^ Celebrate The Century 1900s. USPS Postal Store archives. Retrieved on 2008-02-13.
  3. ^ Celebrate The Century 1910s. USPS Postal Store archives. Retrieved on 2008-02-13.
  4. ^ Celebrate The Century 1920s. USPS Postal Store archives. Retrieved on 2008-02-13.
  5. ^ Celebrate The Century 1930s. USPS Postal Store archives:Wrong stamp image depicted of page.. Retrieved on 2008-02-13.
  6. ^ Celebrate The Century 1940s. USPS Postal Store archives. Retrieved on 2008-02-13.
  7. ^ Celebrate The Century 1950s. USPS Postal Store archives. Retrieved on 2008-02-13.
  8. ^ Celebrate The Century 1960s. USPS Postal Store archives. Retrieved on 2008-02-13.
  9. ^ Celebrate The Century 1970s. USPS Postal Store archives. Retrieved on 2008-02-13.
  10. ^ Celebrate The Century 1980s. USPS Postal Store archives. Retrieved on 2008-02-13.
  11. ^ Celebrate The Century 1990s. USPS Postal Store archives. Retrieved on 2008-02-13.