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.[8] Ten of these sheets were issued, with each sheet depicting events of one decade of the 20th century, from the 1900s to 1990s.[8][9] Fifteen stamps were embedded into each sheet.[8] For the first eight sheets (1900s to 1970s) of the fifteen stamps, one stamp of each sheet was printed using the intaglio process,[10] while the remaining fourteen were offset printed along with the rest of the sheet. All the sheets were printed by the Ashton-Potter USA printing company.[2]
Celebrate the Century
United States
APU, Williamsville, NY, US [1]
various
various
Ashton-Potter USA [2]
190 mm × 229 mm (7.5 in × 9.0 in)
11.5[3]
Events of the 20th century in the US in 10 sheets that commemorates each decade
Various people, things, events in 15 stamps per sheet
Not rare
32¢ x 15 ($4.80)
1900s to 1940s
33¢ x 15 ($4.95)
1950s to 1990s
About $150 for all the sheets [7]
Format[edit]
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 (e.g. the Wright brothers standing next to their Flyer II on the 1900s sheet.)
The fifteen stamps were printed at an angle of 8°,[11] 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 stamp images for the first five sheets were selected by Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee[8] and those for the remaining five sheets were selected by a nationwide poll.[8][12][13][14]
CTC Education Series[edit]
The USPS with the US Department of Education[4] and ten of the leading K–12 educational associations,[4][18] started the education program involving more than 300,000 students across the U.S. in a comprehensive, in-class curriculum program which would take students on a field trip through the decades of the 20th century.[4][5]
The program kits were created for students from grades 3 to 6, and was available to teachers free of charge. Each kit included a teacher's guide, a student activity magazine, computer activities, internet linked sites, multimedia classroom visuals,
school balloting for students and take home projects for children for parental participation.[4][18] In a survey taken in 1999 of 20,000 educators,[19] it was revealed that the program was a big success.
The sheets[edit]
1900s[edit]
Title: Dawn of the Twentieth Century.
Date of issue: 3 February 1998.[20]
Denomination: 32¢
No of stamps in sheet: 15
The stamps: