The Spokane Carrousel Cachet
The Spokane Carrousel Cachet and Postmark
Second Day Issue
July 22, 1995
On July 21, 1995, the United States Post Office released a set of carousel stamps,
which are shown in the picture above. On the first day of release, these stamps
were available only at Carousel World in Lahaska, Pennsylvania. The horses featured
on the stamps were from the collection of the late Charlotte Dinger, author of
The Art of the Carousel and owner of Carousel World.
Spokane was chosen as a second day release site. On July 22, 1995,
a temporary post office was set up at the site of Spokane's Carousel.
The new stamps were made available by the United States Post Office at
the Riverfront Park Carrousel Station, and a specially
designed cachet envelope was available from Riverfront Park. Only 2500
of these limited edition cachet envelopes were printed.
For those purchasing an envelope and stamps, a specially designed postmark
was available. This postmark was designed for the post office by Bette Largent,
and features Cisco, one of our carousel horses.
The postmark was used only at the carousel site, and only on July 22, 1995.
1988 Carousel Animal Series stamps
|
The cachet envelope, also designed by Bette Largent, features Miss Liberty and
her running mates, as well as our Ruth band organ and the building that
houses our carousel.
The original drawing used for the cachet is on display at a post office in
Spokane Valley, Washington. The proceeds from the cachet sales were the
major fund raiser for our band organ restoration in 1998.
The post office had to pack up shortly before 3 PM, the scheduled time
for closing the sale in the carousel meadow. They had sold out of
stamps! We had broken the record for sales over the Bing Crosby stamp
edition!
The stamps were designed by Paul Calle, the same artist who designed the 1988
carousel animal series. Calle is referred to as a "visual historian" and has
designed various stamps for the U. S. Postal Service ranging from windswept prairies
of the West to the depth of outer space.
|
|
Home
Home Page
