http://www.stampandcoin.co.uk FEBRUARY 2016 109M
ost philatelists
have a
particular
favourite set
of stamps. I
have always
admired the many US stamps designed
by Clair Aubrey Huston, who was
responsible for almost all his country’s
stamps from around 1902 until well
into the 1930s. Huston was employed
by the Bureau of Engraving and
Printing for more than 21 years.
Huston was always trying to achieve
symmetry in his designs and frequently
added a lot of wording making the
purpose of the stamps very clear.
The above certainly holds true for
the two stamps released by the USA on
18 May, 1925. They carry the wording
‘Norse-American Centennial’ and the
year dates 1825 and 1925.
On 9 October, 1825 the sloop
Restaurationen arrived at the harbour
of New York with the first group of
immigrants from Norway. They all
came from the Stavanger area and they
were all Quakers. There is nothing
to suggest that religious persecution
forced them to leave their country in
search of a better future in America.
The group comprised 52 people.
They had spent 1,800 ‘speciedaler’ to
buy the sloop and had also added a
load of iron to be sold on arrival in
America. After a long and adventurous
journey which included illegal liquor
sales in British ports, the load of iron
was sold at a loss. The first years in
the United States were rather difficult
and many considered returning to the
home country.
This first group of Norwegians was
then followed by many others. They
mostly settled in the northern states
where the climate was rather similarJohn F Kennedy’s statement ‘everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of
American life’ summed up the country’s multicultural nature. This attitude to immigration has also
been celebrated on US stamps, including an intriguing pair from 1925, as Christer Brunstrom revealsto what they were used to back home.
Some of them excelled in skiing during
the long winters.
The set has two values – the
inland rate of 2 cents and the foreign
rate of 5 cents. The 2c depicts the
Restaurationen on its way across
the Atlantic. The crossing was far
from easy and it took more time
then expected as it also included an
unplanned stop at Madeira.
Huston then chose to depict a
Viking ship on the 5c. Very possibly he
wanted to remind US letter writers of
the Vikings who first came to Vinland
(believed to be Newfoundland) more
than 1,000 years ago.
There never was any longer
permanent settlements in Vinland
but it is believed that Vikings from
Greenland came to America in search of
wood. Much suggests that Christopher
Columbus was aware of these early
travels when he first sailed to America
in 1492, although he believed he had
come to the East Indies.
The pictured Viking ship had been
built in Norway and a crew then
sailed it to the World Columbian
Exhibition in Chicago where it arrived
on 13 July, 1893; it would have beenone of the highlights of the event.
Today the two stamps remain
popular. Plate number blocks of this
issue are uncommon and usually
command high prices. They are
basically blocks of eight stamps
with attached margin where the two
plate numbers (one for each colour)
and an arrow can be found. The
5c plate block in unmounted mint
condition is rather valuable. The
collection of plate number blocks
remains a popular speciality among
US collectors.
First Day Covers of this 1925 issue
exist from several US cities. Covers
with single stamps are valued at
about £10 each; FDCs having the
pair are rather unusual and generally
sell for more than covers with a
single stamp.
Although only comprising two
stamps, a collection of the Norse
American issue can easily fill a few
album pages. Finally, it is interesting
to note that the US Post Office
Department devoted two stamps to
this anniversary. Perhaps the reason
was that the sloop was the smallest
vessel ever used to bring emigrants
from Europe to the USA.Stamp Miscellany
Stamps celebrate
Norwegian emigrants
The two stamps issued
in 1925 to mark the
centenary of the arrival
of the Norwegian
immigrants in the USAp109 Stamp Miscellany.indd 109 21/12/2015 10:33