On today’s date in 1951, Canada’s Post Office Department (now Canada Post) issued four stamps (Scott #311-314) celebrating the 100th anniversary of the transfer of postal services from Great Britain to British North America.
The three lower denominations (SC #311-313) emphasize the development of communications by land, water and air, each of which was closely related to the development of postal services in Canada. The set’s fourth stamp (SC #314) features the Province of Canada’s first stamp, the three-pence beaver (SC #1), issued in 1851.
The series’ first day of issue coincided with a stamp exhibition called Capex (Canadian Association for Philatelic Exhibitions). Each of the four stamps in this issue was printed by the Canadian Bank Note Company and designed by Herman Herbert Schwartz.
The set’s five-cent denomination features the side-paddle wheel steamer the City of Toronto.
THE STAMPS
The four-cent stamp (SC #311) displays trains from 1851 and 1951. The lower portion features an old-fashioned wood-burning steam-engine and train while the modern train in the upper half of the stamp is a composite picture of two Canadian units—the first streamlined diesel-electric locomotive manufactured in Canada at the Montreal Locomotive Works in April 1950, and a train in regular passenger service in 1951 on the Canadian Pacific Railway between Montreal and Vermont.
The seven-cent stamp depicts a stagecoach passing a hotel in contemporary Toronto.
The five-cent stamp (SC #312) displays the City of Toronto, a side-paddle wheel steamship, based on an original drawing by G. A. Cuthbertson. The ship, built in present-day Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., sailed from Lake Ontario to Prescott on the St. Lawrence River. In the upper half of this stamp is a reproduction of the Canadian National Steamship, Prince George, which was built in Victoria, B.C. and operated at the time of issue from Vancouver to Alaska.
The 15-cent denomination was the first 15-cent stamp to be issued by Canada since 1908.
The seven-cent stamp (SC #313) depicts a stagecoach passing Jordan’s York Hotel on King Street East in present-day Toronto. In 1814, the legislature met in this hotel after invading U.S. forces destroyed the government buildings the previous year. The stamp’s upper half features a 1951-type Canadian-built North Star plane in the service of Trans-Canada Airlines.
The 15-cent stamp (SC #314) is a reproduction of the 1851 three-pence beaver stamp designed by Sir Sandford Fleming. It was the first 15-cent denomination issued in Canada since 1908; officials believed it would be convenient for customers who wished to pre-pay the postage on airmail letters to Europe.
