US #5373
2019 55¢ “Antelope” – Post Office Murals
• Commemorates the Great Depression-era mural “Antelope” at the Florence, Colorado, post office
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Value: 55¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue: April 2, 2019
First Day City: Piggott, Arkansas
Quantity Issued: 30,000,000
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US #5373
2019 55¢ “Antelope” – Post Office Murals
• Commemorates the Great Depression-era mural “Antelope” at the Florence, Colorado, post office
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Value: 55¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue: April 2, 2019
First Day City: Piggott, Arkansas
Quantity Issued: 30,000,000
Printed by: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method: Offset
Format: Panes of 10
Tagging: Nonphosphored Type III, Block Tag
Why the stamp was issued: To honor the “Antelope” post office mural in Florence, Colorado, created during the Great Depression.
About the stamp design: Pictures the US post office mural “Antelope” (1939) in Florence, Colorado. The mural was completed by artist Olive Rush.
First Day City: The First Day of Issue Ceremony was held at Piggott Main Post Office in Piggott, Arkansas, the location of one of the murals on the stamps.
About the Post Office Murals set: Includes five stamps celebrating the artwork of muralists tasked with beautifying American post offices and boosting morale during the Great Depression. Each of the stamp designs pictures a different mural from a US post office: “Kiowas Moving Camp” (1936) Anadarko, Oklahoma; “Mountains and Yucca” (1937) Deming, New Mexico; “Antelope” (1939) Florence, Colorado; “Sugarloaf Mountain” (1940) Rockville, Maryland; and “Air Mail” (1941) Piggott, Arkansas.
History the stamp represents: During the Great Depression, any major project was a godsend for local residents of a town or city. These projects meant jobs and money for those who were able to do the tasks required. In Florence, Colorado, one of these projects was moving their post office to a new building.
The original Florence Post Office was built shortly after James McCandless founded the town in 1872. Unfortunately, the original adobe building burned down sometime before 1888, and the post office was moved. In 1897, the post office went back to its original site in a new building. It moved twice more before finally landing on North Pikes Peak Avenue in 1937.
Like other locations across the country, the Works Progress Administration commissioned an original mural for the Florence Post Office. The painting was created by Olive Rush in 1939, the same year the city’s post office building was added to the National Register of Historic Sites. The mural pictures a herd of pronghorn grazing near a watering hole. This species was once a rarity in Colorado, but through conservation efforts, made a big comeback. In the midst of the Great Depression, the mural reminded people to keep working hard and that they, too, would see prosperity again.
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