Ben Franklin, America’s Postage Stamp Star — on the Wane?

Abstract

This paper is an assessment of Ben Franklin’s evolving figure in U.S. postage stamps, focusing especially on the contrast between the 2006 tercentennial Franklin 4-stamp panel, a rather high-brow representation of Franklin as an intellectual, and his traditional image as a homely, common face. The singular history of U.S. postage stamps, with their innovative choice of historical figures as subject matter and their broader emphasis on commemoration, is briefly summarized. The evolution of the Franklin figure — the most common postal image, along with George Washington — is then detailed, showing how the traditional image prevailed until the 1950s, before being progressively displaced by a more cultural and, lately, intellectual image of the nation’s “electrizer”.