Celebrate the Century

Celebrate the Century is the name of a series of postage stamps made by the United States Postal Service featuring images recalling various important events in the 20th century in the United States.

Ten of these sheets were issued, with each sheet depicting events of one decade of the 20th century, from the 1900s to 1990s. Fifteen stamps were embedded into each sheet. For the first eight sheets (1900s to 1970s) of the fifteen stamps, one stamp of each sheet was printed using the intaglio process [cite web
url =http://www.mysticstampcatalog.com/2007/lg_display.cfm?page_number=96&catalog=ms
title =Page 96 US stamps
accessdate =2008-02-07
publisher = Mystic Stamp catalog] , while the remaining fourteen were offset printed along with the rest of the sheet.

Format

These gummed souvenir sheets had an unusually large format of 7½"x9" (190mmx229mm). The top left hand corner sported the decade in a number format, the entire background of the sheet was devoted a specific event of that decade (eg. the Wright brothers standing next to their Flyer II on the 1900s sheet.)

The fifteen stamps were printed at an angle of 8°, the horizontal perforations ran from the stamps up to the edge of sheet. The stamps were arranged on the sheets in four rows, and nested in arrangements unique to each sheet. An area was devoted to the description of the decade as depicted by the stamps on it. The description of each stamp was printed on the gummed side of the sheet, behind each stamp.

The words "Arts, Sports, Historical Events" ran on the left hand edge, "Technology, Entertainment, Science" ran on the top edge, "Political Figures, Life Style" on the right hand edge of the sheet.

The sheets

1900s

Title: "Dawn of the Twentieth Century". Date of issue: 03 February 1998. [cite web
url =http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&productId=17013&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=13383
title =Celebrate The Century 1900s
accessdate =2008-02-13
publisher = USPS Postal Store archives] Denomination: 32¢ No of stamps in sheet: 15 The stamps:
* 1st row: Ford Model T; President Theodore Roosevelt; Movie "Great Train Robbery"; Crayola crayons; St. Louis World's Fair
* 2nd row: Pure Food and Drug Act; Wright Flyer; Ashcan School
* 3rd row: Ellis Island; John Muir
* 4th row: Teddy bear; W. E. B. Du Bois; The Gibson Girl; 1903 World Series; Robie HouseBackground
Gibson Girl created by illustrator Charles Dana Gibson.

1910s

Title: "America Looks Beyond its Borders". Date of issue: 03 February 1998. [cite web
url =http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&productId=17012&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=13383
title =Celebrate The Century 1910s
accessdate =2008-02-13
publisher = USPS Postal Store archives] Denomination: 32¢ No of stamps in sheet: 15 The stamps:
* 1st row: Charlie Chaplin; Federal Reserve System; George Washington Carver
* 2nd row: 1913 Armory Show; Transcontinental telephone line; Panama Canal
* 3rd row: Jim Thorpe; Grand Canyon; I Want You; Boy Scouts of America; President Woodrow Wilson;
* 4th row: First Crossword puzzle; Jack Dempsey; Erector Set; Child Labor ReformBackground
Boy Scouts participate in a patriotic "Wake Up America" rally on New York City's Fifth Avenue. Intaglio stamp: Panama Canal.

1920s

Title: "The Roaring Twenties". Date of issue: 28 May 1998. [cite web
url =http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&productId=17011&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=13383
title =Celebrate The Century 1920s
accessdate =2008-02-13
publisher = USPS Postal Store archives] Denomination: 32¢ No of stamps in sheet: 15 The stamps:
* 1st row: Babe Ruth; Novel: The Great Gatsby; Prohibition; Toy trains; Womens suffrage
* 2nd row: Emily Post; Margaret Mead; John Held, Jr.; Radio; Chrysler Building
* 3rd row: Jazz; Notre Dame's Four Horsemen; Charles Lindbergh
* 4th row: Automat; Black ThursdayBackground
Charleston on a California beach during a break in the filming of a movie in 1926. Intaglio stamp: Charles Lindbergh.

1930s

Title: "Depression, Dust Bowl, and a New Deal". Date of issue: 9 October 1998. [cite web
url =http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&productId=17010&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=13383
title =Celebrate The Century 1930s
accessdate =2008-02-13
publisher = USPS Postal Store archives:Wrong stamp image depicted of page.] Denomination: 32¢ No of stamps in sheet: 15 The stamps:
* 1st row: Franklin D. Roosevelt; Empire State Building; Life Magazine; Eleanor Roosevelt; New Deal Program
* 2nd row: Superman; Household Conviniences; movie: Snow White; novel: Gone with the Wind; Jesse Owens
* 3rd row: 20th Century Limited; Golden Gate Bridge; Florence Owens Thompson;
* 4th row: Bobby Jones; MonopolyBackground
Cimarron County, Oklahoma in April 1936. Intaglio stamp: Empire State Building.

1940s

Title: "World War II Transforms America". Date of issue: 18 February 1999. [cite web
url =http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&productId=16915&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=13382
title =Celebrate The Century 1940s
accessdate =2008-02-13
publisher = USPS Postal Store archives] Denomination: 33¢ No of stamps in sheet: 15 The stamps:
* 1st row: World War II; Antibiotics; Jackie Robinson
* 2nd row: President Harry S. Truman; Women support war effort; Television
* 3rd row: Jitterbug; Jackson Pollock; G. I. Bill; Big band; United Nations
* 4th row: Baby boom; Slinky; A Streetcar Named Desire; Citizen KaneBackground
United States Marines storm a beach on Saipan, a Japanese stronghold in the Mariana Islands in 1944. Intaglio stamp: United Nations.

1950s

Title: "Family Fun, Suburbia, and Nuclear Threats". Date of issue: 26 May 1999. [cite web
url =http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&productId=16914&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=13382
title =Celebrate The Century 1950s
accessdate =2008-02-13
publisher = USPS Postal Store archives] Denomination: 33¢ No of stamps in sheet: 15 The stamps:
* 1st row: Polio vaccine; Teen Fashion; 1951 National League; Explorer I; Korean War
* 2nd row: Desegregating public schools; Tailfin; The Cat in the Hat
* 3rd row: Drive-in theater; New York Yankees vs Brooklyn Dodgers 1949 - 1956
* 4th row: Rocky Marciano; I Love Lucy; Rock and roll; Daytona 500; 3-D moviesBackground
Polio vaccine.

1960s

Title: "The Rebellious Sixties and Man on the Moon". Date of issue: 17 September 1999. [cite web
url =http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&productId=16913&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=13382
title =Celebrate The Century 1960s
accessdate =2008-02-13
publisher = USPS Postal Store archives] Denomination: 33¢ No of stamps in sheet: 15 The stamps:
* 1st row: Martin Luther King; Woodstock Music and Art Fair; Moon landing; Green Bay Packers; Star Trek
* 2nd row: Peace Corps; Vietnam War; Ford Mustang; Barbie; Integrated circuit
* 3rd row: Laser; AFL-NFL; Peace symbol
* 4th row: Roger Maris; The BeatlesBackground
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin sets up seismic equipment to record lunar tremors. Intaglio stamp: Buzz Aldrin's .

1970s

Title: "Bicentennial, Watergate, and Earth Day". Date of issue: 18 November 1999. [cite web
url =http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&productId=16912&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=13382
title =Celebrate The Century 1970s
accessdate =2008-02-13
publisher = USPS Postal Store archives] Denomination: 33¢ No of stamps in sheet: 15 The stamps:
* 1st row: Earth Day; All in the Family; Sesame Street
* 2nd row: Disco; Pittsburgh Steelers; United States Bicentennial
* 3rd row: Secretariat - Horse of the Year; Videocassette recorder, Pioneer 10; 1970s fashion
* 4th row: ABC's Monday Night Football; Smiley face; Boeing 747; Medical imagingBackground
New York Harbor under the Statue of Liberty to take part in Bicentennial celebrations, July 4, 1976, marked the 200th birthday of the United States. Intaglio stamp: Videocassette recorder.

1980s

Title: "Space Shuttle Launched, Berlin Wall Falls". Date of issue: 12 January 2000. [cite web
url =http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&productId=16806&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=13381
title =Celebrate The Century 1980s
accessdate =2008-02-13
publisher = USPS Postal Store archives] Denomination: 33¢ No of stamps in sheet: 15 The stamps:
* 1st row: Space shuttle; Cats an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical; San Francisco 49ers; Iran hostage crisis; Figure skating
* 2nd row: Cable TV; Vietnam Veterans Memorial; Compact Disc; Cabbage Patch Kids; The Cosby Show
* 3rd row: Fall of the Berlin Wall; Video games; E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
* 4th row: Personal computer; Hip hop cultureBackground
space shuttle Columbia is launched 27 June, 1982 on its fourth mission. Intaglio stamp: None present.

1990s

Title: "In Final Decade, Cold War Ends, Economy Booms". Date of issue: 2 May 2000. [cite web
url =http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&productId=16805&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=13381
title =Celebrate The Century 1990s
accessdate =2008-02-13
publisher = USPS Postal Store archives] Denomination: 33¢ No of stamps in sheet: 15 The stamps:
* 1st row: Major League Baseball; Gulf War; Seinfeld
* 2nd row: Extreme sports; Improving education; Computer graphics
* 3rd row: Peregrine Falcon removed from Endangered species list; John Glenn returns to space; 30th anniversary of the Special Olympics; Virtual Reality; Jurassic Park
* 4th row: Titanic movie; Sport utility vehicle; World Wide Web; Mobile phoneBackground

ee also

*Canada Post millennium stamps
*Millennium stamp
*Nature of America

References

* [http://www.usps.com/images/stamps/ctc.htm? Celebrate the Century] USPS official site
* [http://community.livejournal.com/psk_stampindex/5529.html Celebrate the Century - US stamp sheets]