Ice Skating with George Washington during the IGY

Back in my post of 11/28/20, I mentioned that the U.S. IGY stamp "was one of the last three U.S. stamps issued with a 3¢ denomination. The rate for first-class postage had been unchanged since 1932, but went to 4¢ on August 1, 1958."

So I've been looking to buy covers franked after the rate went up, using the 3¢ IGY stamp was another 1¢ stamp to make up the difference. I recently acquired two such covers.

The first cover adds a George Washington 1¢ stamp. It is a definitive or regular or ordinary stamp, issued for routine use, and printed over a longer period of time with no fixed printing quota (Juell et al., 2016, p. 702-703). Recall that the IGY stamp is an example of a commemorative stamp. 

Front of cover with 3¢ IGY stamp and 1¢ George Washington stamp

I like this cover in that it was postmarked during the IGY, but after the rate increase, so the extra stamp was required.

The postmark location is Army-Air Force Service, APO-23.  APO stands for "Army Post Office," and is associated with Army or Air Force installations.

The cachet and the cancel slogan refer to Operation Ice Skate, Ice Island T3.

According to a web page from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, in March 1952, a C-47 aircraft from Thule Air Base landed on iceberg T-3, which was seven miles long and protruded 50 feet above the surrounding icepack, and a weather station was installed. Huts were flown in and assembled by the military. Scientists performed numerous scientific investigations including hydrographic measurements, seismic soundings, and meteorological observations. Studies were continued during the IGY under the aegis of Project ICESKATE.

Whoever thought you could have a post office on an iceberg? This web page, as part of a polar philately site, further discusses T-3 and its mail.

I wonder if that cachet represented Carol Heiss, who won the women's World Figure Skating Championship for five consecutive years (1956–1960), encompassing the IGY. Only Sonja Henie (10 straight!), Herma Szabo (5 in a row), and Michelle Kwan (5, but not consecutive) had as many. I don't remember ever hearing about this great champion before. Have a look here (sorry, can't embed this one).

My second cover used the same combination of stamps.

Front and back of cover with 3¢ IGY stamp and 1¢ George Washington stamp

This postmark dates to 1959, after the end of the IGY. The location of the postmark is the U.S. Navy cargo ship USS Arneb, which saw service in the Arctic and during Operation Deep Freeze in the Antarctic. 

The Artmaster company has been making cachets like the one on the front of this cover since 1946. I wonder if that dog sled team is on the Moon looking up at the Earth? I am working on a spreadsheet compilation of my cover collection, many with cachets, that I hope to be able to share before long.

As for the cachet on the back, Task Force 43 was formed under the Commander in Chief, U. S. Atlantic Fleet, as the support force for American participation in the IGY. Here is a clearer image of the Task Force 43 image. I like the (sea)bee.

These two covers intersect with the collection categories of military covers, navy covers, polar covers. Pretty cool.

Three stamps of the Liberty Series,
from my childhood collection

The Washington stamp (1954, Scott #1031) is from the so-called Liberty Series (Juell et al., 2016, p. 110-119), taking its name from three Statue of Liberty stamps in the series. This series replaced the 1938 Presidential series of definitives, and was in turn replaced by the Prominent Americans Series beginning in 1965. Eventually there were 60 stamp varieties printed in the series, covering 26 different denominations. A Post Office Department news release in 1964 stated that the "In God We Trust" text included on the State of Liberty stamps marked "the first time that a religious tone has been incorporated into a regular or ordinary stamp." Something to distinguish U.S. stamps from godless Soviet Union stamps during the Cold War, I suppose. This phrase (IGWT) had already appeared on some U.S. coins, but did not become the official U.S. motto until 1956, or start showing up on paper currency until 1957.

Undamaged postage stamps don't expire, even as postal rates change. Since 2007, we've been able to buy Forever Stamps to avoid having to mix stamp denominations to meet changing postage rates.