Can you tell us how this stamp came to be selected for issue by the Post Office Department (interview question #4)?

Arthur E. Summerfield was the 57th Postmaster General (1953-61), an appointee of President Eisenhower. He presided over a modernization of the Post Office Department (known as the United States Postal Service since 1971). On March 26, 1957, just three months before the beginning of the International Geophysical Year, he created the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC) in order to utilize public input to recommend stamp subjects to the PMG for final approval. These suggestions were to pay more attention to the design and aesthetic appeal of stamps and also to reinforce the interests of stamp collectors.

CSAC (Post Office Department photo; from the Bureau Specialist, vol. 28, June, 1957, p. 184)

CSAC held its first meeting at the Post Office Department in Washington, D. C. on April 30, 1957. Shown are, from left to right, Robert E. Fellers, Director, Division of Philately, Post Office Department; Abbott Washburn, Deputy Director, United States Information Agency; Franklin R. Bruns, Jr., Curator, Division of Philately and Postal History; H. L. Lindquist, Chairman, National Federation of Stamp Clubs; Sol Glass, President, Bureau Issues Association, Inc.; Summerfeld; Arnold Copeland, President,The Westport Artists, Inc.; Ervine Metzl, President, Society Of Illustrators; William H, Buckley, President, New York Art Directors Club; and L. Rohe Walter, Special Assistant to the postmaster General. The Committee includes representatives of the post office department, the communities of philatelists, and the profession of designers/illustrators. Very brief bio notes for each member were given in an earlier post.

On Nov. 2, 1957, Summerfield made known a list of nine selections for commemorative postage recommended by CSAC to be issued during 1958, one of these being a stamp honoring the International Geophysical year. The stamp was announced in the Postal Bulletin of April 24, 1958. The U.S. ended up issuing a total of 18 commemorative stamps and three airmail stamps in 1958.

Ervine Metzl designed the IGY stamp with an original drawing on which the stamp was based. Metzl, an illustrator who was on the CSAC as a representative of the art and design community, explained that “In the small confines of a postage stamp we have endeavored to picture a man’s wonder at the unknown together with his determination to understand it and his need for Spiritual inspiration to further his knowledge.” He discussed his ideas of effective graphic design in his book The Poster: Its History and Its Art (Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1963, 183 p.). Metzl designed a total of 10 U.S. postage stamps.  

Illustration of Ervine Metzl, from the jacket of his book The Poster: Its History and Its Art