1996 32c Folk Heroes: John Henry
# 3085 - 1996 32c Folk Heroes: John Henry
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US #3085
1996 John Henry
- Part of set of four featuring characters from American Folklore
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Folk Heroes
Value: 32¢, First-class mail rate
First Day of Issue: July 11, 1996
First Day City: Anaheim, California
Quantity Issued: 23,687,500
Printed by: Ashton-Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method: Lithographed
Format: Panes of 20 (5 across, 4 down) from plates of 120 subjects (8 across, 15 down)
Perforations: 11.1
Why the stamp was issued: The set of four Folk Heroes stamps were issued to celebrate folklore characters of America.
About the stamp design: The stamp artwork was made by Dave LaFleur, a commercial illustrator. His style is similar to murals and posters created during the New Deal era in America and Soviet propaganda art. LeFleur’s characters show strength through their thick necks and strong jaws. For his portraits, LaFleur didn’t want to be influenced by anyone else’s illustrations, so he read their stories in books without illustrations to develop his own images of the men. He painted the Folk Heroes using oil paints rather than acrylics or watercolors used for most stamp art.
Initially, the USPS had tasked Dave LaFleur with painting six folk heroes “ the four that were issued as well as Johnny Appleseed and Rip Van Winkle. They liked his paintings but decided to make it a set of four. Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, John Henry, and Mighty Casey were chosen to be portrayed.
First Day City: The Folk Heroes stamps were issued on the opening day of the American Stamp Dealers Association’s Postage Stamp Mega-Event, held in Anaheim, California. Actors portraying the four characters featured on the stamps were in attendance at the ceremony.
Unusual fact about these stamps: The Folk Heroes stamps weren’t the first to feature characters from American folklore. In 1966, the US Post Office Department began issuing stamps in the American Folklore series. These highlighted Johnny Appleseed, Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone, Grandma Moses, and Tom Sawyer, as well as Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman.
About the Folk Heroes stamps: This set of four commemorates some of the greatest heroes of American folklore. These four men were known for their super human strength and size, with a personality to match.
History of this stamp: John Henry – Hero of Railroad Men
Of all America’s tall tale heroes, John Henry was a real flesh-and-blood man. He worked as a gandy dancer – a steel-driving man, for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. In 1870, while drilling in the Big Bend Tunnel in West Virginia (seen on the front), John Henry died.
Shortly after that, both John Henry songs and stories sprang up. Songs set the rhythm for the grueling work on the line. The stories initiated new hands to the fraternity of steel-driving men – the men who moved mountains with sweat and blood so that the country could be bound together with iron rails. At the height of rail power, more than 100 hammer songs and over 100 ballads existed. One-upmanship, of course, made each tale more fantastic with the telling.
Shortly after that, both John Henry songs and stories sprang up. Songs set the rhythm for the grueling work on the line. The stories initiated new hands to the fraternity of steel-driving men – the men who moved mountains with sweat and blood so that the country could be bound together with iron rails. At the height of rail power, more than 100 hammer songs and over 100 ballads existed. One-upmanship, of course, made each tale more fantastic with the telling.
John Henry was special from birth. In some tales, he weighs 44 pounds; in others, he walks and talks at birth. In still others, he is born with a hammer in his hand. Full grown, John Henry could do anything that required muscle, and did it well. But more than anything else, John Henry’s passion was to be a steel-drivin’ man. Finally he was, and he was the best there ever was.
That’s why John Henry pitted his muscles against the muscle of a steam engine – and won. But he died in the doing with his hammer in his hand, gaining immortality.
US #3085
1996 John Henry
- Part of set of four featuring characters from American Folklore
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Folk Heroes
Value: 32¢, First-class mail rate
First Day of Issue: July 11, 1996
First Day City: Anaheim, California
Quantity Issued: 23,687,500
Printed by: Ashton-Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method: Lithographed
Format: Panes of 20 (5 across, 4 down) from plates of 120 subjects (8 across, 15 down)
Perforations: 11.1
Why the stamp was issued: The set of four Folk Heroes stamps were issued to celebrate folklore characters of America.
About the stamp design: The stamp artwork was made by Dave LaFleur, a commercial illustrator. His style is similar to murals and posters created during the New Deal era in America and Soviet propaganda art. LeFleur’s characters show strength through their thick necks and strong jaws. For his portraits, LaFleur didn’t want to be influenced by anyone else’s illustrations, so he read their stories in books without illustrations to develop his own images of the men. He painted the Folk Heroes using oil paints rather than acrylics or watercolors used for most stamp art.
Initially, the USPS had tasked Dave LaFleur with painting six folk heroes “ the four that were issued as well as Johnny Appleseed and Rip Van Winkle. They liked his paintings but decided to make it a set of four. Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, John Henry, and Mighty Casey were chosen to be portrayed.
First Day City: The Folk Heroes stamps were issued on the opening day of the American Stamp Dealers Association’s Postage Stamp Mega-Event, held in Anaheim, California. Actors portraying the four characters featured on the stamps were in attendance at the ceremony.
Unusual fact about these stamps: The Folk Heroes stamps weren’t the first to feature characters from American folklore. In 1966, the US Post Office Department began issuing stamps in the American Folklore series. These highlighted Johnny Appleseed, Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone, Grandma Moses, and Tom Sawyer, as well as Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman.
About the Folk Heroes stamps: This set of four commemorates some of the greatest heroes of American folklore. These four men were known for their super human strength and size, with a personality to match.
History of this stamp: John Henry – Hero of Railroad Men
Of all America’s tall tale heroes, John Henry was a real flesh-and-blood man. He worked as a gandy dancer – a steel-driving man, for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. In 1870, while drilling in the Big Bend Tunnel in West Virginia (seen on the front), John Henry died.
Shortly after that, both John Henry songs and stories sprang up. Songs set the rhythm for the grueling work on the line. The stories initiated new hands to the fraternity of steel-driving men – the men who moved mountains with sweat and blood so that the country could be bound together with iron rails. At the height of rail power, more than 100 hammer songs and over 100 ballads existed. One-upmanship, of course, made each tale more fantastic with the telling.
Shortly after that, both John Henry songs and stories sprang up. Songs set the rhythm for the grueling work on the line. The stories initiated new hands to the fraternity of steel-driving men – the men who moved mountains with sweat and blood so that the country could be bound together with iron rails. At the height of rail power, more than 100 hammer songs and over 100 ballads existed. One-upmanship, of course, made each tale more fantastic with the telling.
John Henry was special from birth. In some tales, he weighs 44 pounds; in others, he walks and talks at birth. In still others, he is born with a hammer in his hand. Full grown, John Henry could do anything that required muscle, and did it well. But more than anything else, John Henry’s passion was to be a steel-drivin’ man. Finally he was, and he was the best there ever was.
That’s why John Henry pitted his muscles against the muscle of a steam engine – and won. But he died in the doing with his hammer in his hand, gaining immortality.