1935 Farley's Special
Printings
and
Related Philatelic Items
A philatelic and
political controversy
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Introduction
| In
1933, philately began a new era when Franklin D.
Roosevelt was invested as a philatelist
President. He then named a friend, James A.
Farley, as US Postmaster General. Farley provided him and other
Officials, special full sheets of some of the
1933-34 issues before they were finished
( generally imperforate and without gum).
It was the beginning of
a philatelic saga which ended in a precedent.
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| Related
Regular Issues |
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| In 1935,
those Farley's gifts became public and the
philatelic and politic scandal was even debated
at the Senate. To
appease angry philatelists who were crying
injustice, it was decided to print, in limited
quantities, those issues in the same condition as
the Farley favors to his friends and to sell them
in full sheets and in line or gutter blocks from
sheets.
Roaring philatelists
were almost satisfied with this decision and
Farley made over 1.5 million dollars from this
sale...
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| Pairs
and Cross Gutter Block |
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|
Newburgh
Issue
Vertical
and Horizontal
Gutter Blocks with
upper, bottom,
left and right dash |
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| Related
Plate Blocks |
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| Single
and Pairs |
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|
Mother's
Day Issue
| Blocks |
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| Line
pairs & Cross Line Block |
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| Vertical
& Horizontal Line Block |
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| Vertical
Line Block with Arrow |
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| Horizpntal
Line Block with Arrow |
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| Plate
Blocks |
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| The
problem was that the original Farley sheets
donated to President Roosevelt, Interior
Secretary Ickes and others, was personally signed
by the PMG, thus still with a tremendous
collectible value. FDR's collection was auctioned
at Harmer in 1946 including some of the sheets
autographed by Farley.
Mother's day sheet had the following inscription
on its selvage:
"This is the first
sheet of this stamp. Compliments of James A.
Farley, Postmaster General, 4/13/34. This is to
certify that only five sheets were issued
unperforate. This and the other four sheets were
autographed as they came off the press." Signed:
James A. Farley
|
|
Roosevelt
himself sign some sheets.
Farley's
sheet with inscription
and Roosevelt autograph. |
Smithsonian Institute |
|
There were 21 different
issues reprinted.
They are gathered in this exhibit by topic, showed as link at the
top of each page.
Note:
some singles, pairs and blocks, without line or gutter, can not
be distinguished from the regular issues.
Next
For more historic
information
and album pages |
Bibliography
Baur, Brian C.; Franklin
D. Roosevelt and the Stamps of the United States;
Linn's
Sloat, Ralph L. ; Farley's
Follies; Bureau Issues Association Inc.
All available at the APS Library
