Canadian Philately - The Stamps and Postal History of Canada 1851 to Present by Brixton Chrome

Today, we get firmly into the commemoratives of Queen Elizabeth II's reign. Between 1955 and 1957, the Canadian post office released 21 commemorative stamps. The Prime Ministers series, which had been started in 1951 concludes during this period in 1955, as does the Wildlife Issue, which was begun in 1953. It has stamps featured from each of the three years, with the loon stamp of 1957 being the last one. During this period we see the re-appearance of bi-coloured commemorative stamps, with the 1955 World Boy Scout Jamboree Issue and the 1956 Fire Prevention Issue. Also, the very first se-tenant designs appear - a trend that continues to this day, and dominates the face of Canadian stamp production. Se-tenant simply refers to two or more different stamp designs printed together on the same sheet, and it first appears during this period the the 1957 Recreation Sports Issue. The layout of the designs within the sheets is such that it is possible to collect 21 different se-tenant co...

Today's post will conclude the King George VI period with a look at nine commemorative issues that were released between March 3, 1947 and October 26, 1951. All of the issues, except for the 1947 Canadian Citizenship issue were designed by Herman Herbert Schwartz, who by now, is well known within Canadian philatelic circles as the country's leading stamp designer. He was involved in the production of the model upon which the Citizenship Issue was designed, but the designer himself was Alan Brookman Beddoe. Silas Robert Allen and William F. Ford, both prominent engravers with the Canadian Bank Note Company (CBN), were responsible for all the engraving. The CBN printed all of the issues except for the Prime Ministers series in sheets of 200, which were split into four post office panes of 50, while the Prime Ministers stamps were printed in sheets of 400, which were then split into four post office panes of 100. These commemorative issues are important because they mark the be...