US #2766
1993 29¢ Joe Louis

• First US stamp to honor a professional boxer
• Issued on 55th anniversary of Louis's most famous match (and victory) against Nazi Germany's Max Schmeling
• Part of the Sport Series of US stamps
  
  

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set:  Sports Series
Value:  29¢, First Class Mail Rate
First Day of Issue:  June 22, 1993
First Day City:  Detroit, Michigan
Quantity Issued:  160,000,000
Printed by:  Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method:  Offset/Intaglio
Format:  Offset printing plates of 200 (10 across, 20 around) and Intaglio printing sleeve of 400 subjects (10 across, 40 around); split into panes of 50 (10 across, 5 down)
Perforations: 11.1 x 11

Why the stamp was issued:  To honor Joe Louis, the "Brown Bomber."  He held the heavyweight boxing title longer than any other man up to that time – 11 years, 8 months, and 8 days.

About the stamp design:  The design showcases a painting by California artist Thomas Blackshear whose work also appeared on Black Heritage and 1990 Classic Films stamps.  Blackshear submitted two sketches of Joe Louis for the stamp.  The Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee approved the version with boxing ring ropes in the background and Blackshear completed the final painting from there.

The big, bold lettering on the stamp was intended "to emulate the Ring magazine type look from the 1930s and 1940s, the kind of type that suggests a boxing poster," according to project manager Terrence McCaffrey.

Special design details:  The smooth boxing gloves on the final stamp design were actually the second pair Blackshear painted.  The first, based on a photograph, were training gloves that had stitching between the fingers.  The Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee noticed and asked Blackshear to redo them with the smooth gloves worn by boxers in official matches.

About the printing process:  The stamp was printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on their six-color offset, three-color intaglio webfed D press.  The stamps were produced in panes of 50, vertical, 10 across, 5 down with offset printing plates of 200 stamps (10 across, 20 around) and intaglio printing sleeves of 400 stamps (10 across, 40 around).

First Day City:  The stamp was dedicated on a specially made boxing ring stage in Detroit's Joe Louis Arena.  Louis's son, Joe Louis Barrow Jr., was in attendance.  There was also a second-day ceremony for the stamp at the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York.  Interestingly, the second-day ceremony was delayed until June 24th to allow Louis's son time to travel from Detroit to Canastota, so it actually occurred on the third day the stamp was on sale.

Design Reveal:  The stamp design was revealed on September 18, 1992, at the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York.  Among the guests was former heavyweight champion and household name George Foreman.  Interestingly, the USPS announced the stamp would be issued on June 11, 1993, in Canastota during the yearly Boxing Hall of Fame weekend.  In the end, the stamp was issued later in the month and Canastota was the site of the second-day issue ceremony instead.

Change in Series:  Originally, the Joe Louis stamp was slated to be the 1993 entry in the Black Heritage Series.  However, the Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee decided to use Percy Lavon Julian, so Joe Louis was added to the Sports Series instead.

About the Sports Series:  The USPS began the Sports Series (also known as the American Sports Personalities Series) on September 22, 1981, to honor America's greatest athletes.  The first two stamps in the series pictured golf legends Babe Zaharias and Bobby Jones.  The final stamp was issued April 7, 2006, and commemorated boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.  Click here to read more about the Sports Series and the athletes included.

Louis's Legacy:  Arthur Ashe Jr. said it best when he wrote "Louis literally represented 'his race' at a crucial time in Black American history.  Boxing and track and field were the only sports in which blacks were able to go as far as their talents would take them.  Sports were the only andeavor – outside entertainment – where blacks could ever hope to rise above an artificial ceiling placed on advancement...  Perhaps Louis' primary contribution was in positively representing what could be done if Blacks were allowed to compete fairly with whites under the same sets of rules..."  Ashe went on to say that, in his prime, Louis was "the best known and most admired Black man on earth."

Boxing Career:  Born Joe Louis Barrow, he shortened his name to Joe Louis after he began his boxing career.  In 1934, he won the National Amateur Association Light Heavyweight Championship.  Later that year, Louis became a professional boxer, winning his first 22 fights, 18 with total knockouts.

He continued his victory streak until Max Schmeling of Germany defeated him in the 12th round on June 19, 1936.  However, Louis didn't stay down for long and became heavyweight champion of the world on June 22, 1937, when he knocked out James J. Braddock.  He was the youngest man to hold the title up to that time.

Louis faced off against Schmeling again a year after winning the championship, with higher stakes than just pride.  Louis served as a symbol of America, facing off against Hitler's Nazi Germany.  His victory after a technical knockout 2 minutes and 4 seconds into the first round brought together both White and Black Americans as they celebrated America's triumph over a hero of Nazi Germany.

In the end, Louis held the heavyweight title for nearly 12 years, defending it against up-and-coming fighters 25 times.  He retired undefeated in 1949, but later came back and lost a couple of matches to future heavyweight champions.  In 1990, Louis became a member of the first group of inductees into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.