# 2773 - 1993 29c Country Music Legends: The Carter Family

U.S. #2773
1993 The Carter Family – Country & Western
Legends of American Music Series

• Celebrates the Carter Family and their contributions to Country Music as well as music as a whole
• Issued as part of the Country & Western honoring members of the Country Music Hall of Fame
• Part of the Legends of American Music Series

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set:  Country Music Legends
Series:  Legends of American Music
Value:  29¢, First Class Mail Rate
First Day of Issue:  September 25, 1993
First Day City:  Nashville, Tennessee
Quantity Issued:  100,000,000 (Includes booklet stamps and panes of 4)
Printed by:  Stamp Venturers
Printing Method:  Photogravure (Printed on a Champlain webfed gravure press)
Format:  Pane of 20 (horizontal, 4 across, 5 down)
Perforations:  10.1 x 10.2 (sheetfed stroke perforator)
Tagging:  Prephosphored paper

Why the stamp was issued:  This stamp was issued to honor country music legend, and member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Carter Family.

About the stamp design:  All four Country & Western stamps picture artwork by Richard Waldrep.  The designs were created using Waldrep’s airbrush paintings based on photographs sent to him by USPS researchers.  Both the Hank Williams and Carter Family stamps have orange backgrounds while the Patsy Cline stamp has a blue-violet background and the Bob Wills stamp has a variegated background shifting from mauve to fuchsia.

First Day City:  This stamp, along with the rest of the Country & Western set, was issued on stage at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, the capital of country music.  There could be no better place for the First Day Issue Ceremony of the stamps honoring members of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

About the Country & Western set:  The four-stamp set was issued to commemorate a handful of the men and women whose contributions to country and western music made history.  The set pictures Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, the Carter Family, and Bob Wills.  The Hank Williams stamp was the same design used earlier in 1993.  Each person pictured in the Country & Western set has the designation of being listed in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

About the Legends of American Music Series:  The Legends of American Music Series debuted on January 8, 1993, and ran until September 21, 1999.  More than 90 artists are represented from all styles of music:  rock ‘n’ roll, rhythm and blues, country and western, jazz and pop, opera and classical, gospel and folk.  In addition to individual singers and Broadway musicals, subjects include band leaders, classical composers, Hollywood songwriters and composers, conductors, lyricists, and more.  The Legends of American Music Series was a huge advancement for diversity because it honored many Black and female artists.

History the stamp represents:  Originally formed in 1926, the Carter Family was one of the most influential groups in the country music field – one that greatly affected succeeding generations of performers.

When A.P. Carter married Sara Dougherty in 1915, the two made a natural duet.  Gathering Appalachian folk music and arranging it for performances, as well as creating new songs, the two entertained family and friends.  Maybelle Carter, who had married A.P.’s brother Ezra, joined the pair in 1926.  The following year the newly formed trio traveled to Bristol to audition for Victor (later RCA Victor).  Out of those who were lucky enough to be paid $50 per recorded song rose two of country music’s most promising stars – the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers.

The Carters’ music appealed to many rural Americans, and broadcasts over radio stations helped increase their popularity.  During the late 1930s and early 40s, other family members joined the trio, and in 1943 the original threesome disbanded.

Teaming up with her three talented daughters, Anita, June, and Helen, Maybelle kept the family tradition alive.  The legend later lived on through June and her husband Johnny Cash as well as other family members.