After a close battle with India in the second round of the 2017 Stamp Madness contest, Canada now faces the U.S. in its third matchup of the bracket-style tournament held by the American Philatelic Society (APS).
To cast your vote via Facebook, click here and “Like” the 1946 eight-cent Eastern Farm stamp (Scott #268) representing Canada. To vote via Twitter, “Like” the tweet below.
Canada’s competition this week is the U.S. 1964 World’s Fair stamp, which features artwork by architectural illustrator John Wenrich, who was involved with the New York fairs of 1939 and 1964.
The other third-round matchup is between Laos’ 1958 Elephant stamp and New Zealand’s 1946 Southern Alps and Chapel stamp.
Voting for the “philatelic final four” began yesterday and is open until midnight on April 5.
Organizers said the second round “saw a couple of upsets, including a result that was tied online and broken by in-house votes at the American Philatelic Center.”
Final 4! Re-tweet to vote for U.S. World's Fair Stamp. Like for Canada Stamp. #APSstamps #StampMadness https://t.co/yaOjIg5w8i pic.twitter.com/zsSeh1G6vg
— Amer Philatelic Soc (@APS_stamps) March 31, 2017
CANADA’S JOURNEY TO THE FINAL FOUR
One stamp will be crowned champion after four rounds of voting. The original 16 stamps represented four regions, including the Americas, Europe, the Pacific, and Afro-India. All stamps from the regions of Europe and Afro-India are now eliminated, and only stamps from the Americas and the Pacific remain.
In the previous round, Canada’s 1946 Eastern Farm stamp defeated India’s 1949 Taj Mahal stamp; and in the opening round, the Eastern Farm stamp topped Chad’s 1964 Potter stamp.
CHOOSING 16 STAMPS
According to the APS, some guidelines were used in choosing the original 16 stamps for the contest.
These guidelines include:
• featuring only standard postage stamps (no airmail, express mail, revenue stamps, etc.);
• using no specific images of individuals (kings, queens, scientists, musicians, etc.);
• avoiding the use of “masterwork” paintings and photos (although statuary and buildings were allowed);
• attempting to capture diverse designs, colours, topics, and countries (although only independent countries, no colonies, were allowed);
• using only common stamps and no rarities; and
• using stamps from after the Second World War through 1970.