1901 Pan-American Exposition Commemoratives
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The 1901 Pan-American Exposition Commemoratives were issued to promote the Pan-American Exposition World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. They are not "commemorative," in the way we use the term today. Most of these early stamps, like the Columbian and Trans-Mississippi Exposition stamps, were used as promotional items. These stamps reinforce the Exposition and World's Fair's purpose ---to highlighted the technical achievements playing a role in America's new, twentieth century.
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[edit] History
It was organized by the Pan-American Exposition Company, formed in 1897. Cayuga Island was initially chosen as the place to hold the Exposition because of the island's proximity to Niagara Falls, which was a huge tourist attraction. But when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, plans were put on hold.
After the war, there was a heated competition between Buffalo and Niagara Falls over the location. Buffalo won for two main reasons. First, Buffalo had a much larger population — with roughly 350,000 people, it was the eighth-largest city in the United States. Second, Buffalo had better railroad connections — the city was within a day's journey by rail for over 40 million people. In July 1898, Congress pledged $500,000 for the Exposition to be held at Buffalo.
Another helpful factor was that Nikola Tesla had recently invented a three-phase system of alternating current power transmission for distant transfer of electricity. This allowed designers to light the Exposition in Buffalo using power generated 25 miles (40 km) away at Niagara Falls.
The exposition is most remembered because U.S. President William McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, at the Temple of Music on September 6, 1901. McKinley gave an address at the exposition the previous day; his speech included the following words:
Expositions are the timekeepers of progress. They record the world's advancements. They stimulate the energy, enterprise, and intellect of the people, and quicken human genius. They go into the home. They broaden and brighten the daily life of the people. They open mighty storehouses of information to the student....
The newly-developed X-ray machine was displayed at the fair, but doctors were reluctant to use it on McKinley to search for the bullet because they did not know what side effects it may have had on him. Also, ironically, the operating room at the exposition's emergency hospital did not have any electric lighting, even though the exteriors of many of the buildings were covered with thousands of light bulbs. Doctors used a pan to reflect sunlight onto the operating table as they treated McKinley's wounds.
When the fair ended, the buildings were demolished and the grounds were cleared and subdivided for residential streets. A boulder marking the site of McKinley's assassination was placed in a grassy median on Fordham Drive in Buffalo. The sole surviving structure, the New York State building, was designed to permanently outlast the Exposition and be used by the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society as a museum. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987, it can be visited on Nottingham Court.
[edit] The Series
The Pan-American stamp designs are large in comparison to the size of the stamps themselves. When reviewing the quality of these stamps, pay special attention to the top and bottom edges which have a perforated edge. There were no straight-edges at left or right, but even then the stamp may have been reperforated to hide a flaw.
[edit] The 1¢ Fast Lake Navigation
The one cent stamp shows the "City of Alpena" which operated as a Great Lakes steamship. The stamp was printed in two steps, first the illustration of the steamship (printed in black) and then the frame (in green). Since it was difficult for the printer to align the two in frame to be printed perfectly centered, misregistration was to be expected. this creates highly collectible items such as "fast", "slow" and "sinking" ship varieties. But the most collectible variety is the one in which the frame was actually printed upside down! These are known to collectors as "inverted centers" and are highly sought after.[1]
[edit] The 2¢ Fast Express
The two cent stamp portrays the "Empire State Express" out of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroads. The design honors a New York commercial venture. As with the one cent stamp, misregistration of the vignette was common, in fact more so on the two cent than on any others of the series. Shifts with the train well into the frame are known; "Fast" and "Slow" train varieties are popular among collectors. Inverts are known, but are not as common as the one cent inverts.
[edit] The 4¢ Automobile
The four cent stamp portrays an "Electric Vehicle Service," an illustration based on a turn of the century Baltimore and Ohio Railroad flyer. There has been some debate as to whether this stamp was the first U.S. stamp to depict a living person[citation needed]. It is argued that the 2¢ Trans-Mississippi stamp holds that distinction and there is merit in Gary Griffith's argument that the two men depicted in the "front" seat are both chauffeurs and that the man in the passenger compartment is actually the "first living man" depicted on a U.S. stamp - Samuel P. Hege. We advise the reader to use the link to the Griffith article for more on this fascinating subject.
Misregistration of the vignette was not as widespread on this stamp as on the 1¢ and 2¢ stamps. Inverts are known, but are the result of deliberate manipulation, not the result of error as were the one cent and two cent inverts. Still, this has not diminished the desirability of the contrived four cent invert, it actually brings a higher premium than the one cent invert, a non-philatelic invert, and is nearly equal in stature to the non-philatelic two cent invert.
[edit] The 5¢ Bridge at Niagara Falls
The five cent stamp portrays what was then the largest single-span steel bridge in the world, crossing Niagara Falls and linking the U.S. and Canada. Niagara Falls played an integral part of the World's Fair in Buffalo, and the hydroelectric power that it delivered turned on the spectacular "City of Lights", the most breath-taking display of electric light to date, and one of the highlights of the Fair.
The foreign destination fee for first class mail was 5 cents. Covers with an Exposition cancellation bring substantial premiums.
[edit] The 8¢ Canal Locks at Sault de Ste. Marie
The eight cent stamp portrays the canal locks at Sault de Ste. Marie. As with the "Bridge at Niagara Falls" stamp, this stamp illustrates a spirit of international co-operation, with the sister cities Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan and Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario sharing the honors. The locks were a great engineering feat and provided navigational links between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, a busy commercial hub. This busy thoroughfare from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean highlighted the extraordinary engineering achievements for the turn of the century.
Eight cents paid the registered letter fee in 1901, and most covers bearing this stamp are joined by a 2¢ stamp, paying both the letter and registry fee.
[edit] The 10¢ Fast Ocean Navigation
The ten cent stamp portrays the American Liner steamship, St. Paul. The St. Paul was the first commercial ship to be commissioned as a warship during the Spanish-American War, still fresh in the minds of the designers of this series.
Ten cents paid the letter and registry fee in 1901, and solo usage is common for covers bearing this stamp, although the covers themselves are not at all common.
[edit] 1901 Pan-American Exposition at Night Video
[edit] See also
- Temple of Music
- William McKinley assassination
- List of world's fairs
- World's Columbian Exposition
- Louisiana Purchase Exposition
- Raphael Beck
