The Washington–Franklin Issues are a series of definitive U.S. Postage stamps depicting George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, issued by the U.S. Post Office between 1908 and 1922. The distinctive feature of this issue is that it employs only two engraved heads set in ovals—Washington and Franklin in full profile—and replicates one or another of these portraits on every stamp denomination in the series. This is a significant departure from previous definitive issues, which had featured pantheons of famous Americans, with each portrait-image confined to a single denomination. At the same time, this break with the recent past represented a return to origins. Washington and Franklin, after all, had appeared on the first two American stamps, issued in 1847, and during the next fifteen years, each of the eight stamp denominations available (with one exception) featured either Washington or Franklin.
In the early Washington–Franklin issues (1908–1911), every design incorporated a pair of olive branches surrounding one or the other of the two profiles. From 1912 on, however, the Franklin-head issues would instead appear with Oak leaves near the bottom of the oval in the image. Olive branches and oak leaves are often used as symbols for peace (olive branches) and strength (oak leaves), though no significance was officially acknowledged in their use here. The Washington–Franklins were issued in denominations ranging from 1 cent to 5 dollars, each value printed in different color ink. The two engravings of either Washington or Franklin are employed in five basic design themes (i.e., framework, ornaments, lettering) which in turn were used to print more than 250 separate and distinct stamp issues over a fourteen-year period. During this time seven separate series of the Washington–Franklins appeared in succession, each series differing somewhat from its predecessor in physical characteristics (i.e., paper type, perforation size, etc.), while some series would also introduce new denominations printed with new colors. Produced by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington D.C., these issues were generally printed by the flat-plate process, but several of the issues also employed other new and experimental printing methods, including use of the revolutionary rotary printing press and the offset printing process. The first Washington–Franklin postage stamp to be released was a 2-cent stamp issued on November 16, 1908. Other denominations soon followed and would continue to appear through the first World War years, with the last Washington–Franklin postage stamp issued in 1923. The series thus survived for almost fifteen years, longer than any previous U.S. postage stamp series produced by a single printing organization.Armstrong, Martin A., Washington Franklins 1908–1921, (1979)
Background During the several decades that led up to the production of the Washington–Franklin issues the printing technology of U.S. Postage stamps was in many respects still in its development stages. As a consequence the U.S. Post Office would often receive complaints from the general public about its postage stamps. In 1869 the Post Office faced its first nationwide complaints when it issued a set of ten stamps that broke from the tradition of honoring and depicting statesmen (selected Presidents and Franklin) on the faces of all U.S. Postage stamps. Withering criticism also cited the small size and inconvenient shapes of the 1869 stamps and faulted their adhesive gum as inadequate. Consequently, this issue was short lived and pulled from post offices across the nation. As the years passed other complaints ranged from criticism about stamp subject and design, difficulty with perforations and even objections to the often unpleasant taste of the gum on the backs of stamps. Many of the criticisms also came from postal clerks who complained about the insufficiently varied choice of colors used on the issues, which sometimes resulted in the same or similar color appearing on several different denominations, making it visually difficult to sort mail quickly. Shortly after the turn of the 19th–20th century the problem of improving stamps and production prompted debates in Congress and the Senate, debates into which President Theodore Roosevelt sometimes injected himself. For example, Roosevelt argued that in observance of the upcoming 100th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, Lincoln should be included in the new definitive 1908 issue then being planned. Lincoln, however, was omitted: instead he would be honored with his own anniversary commemorative stamp in 1909. Many of the innovations employed in the production of the Washington–Franklin Issues were the result of this ongoing effort to improve on the production of U.S. Postage.
Stamp design The Washington–Franklin issues employed a classical yet simple style in their designs with either Washington or Franklin displayed in full profile, both figures surrounded, in early issues, with an arrangement of olive branches. This style was in stark contrast with that of the definitive stamps previously issued in 1902–03 as that issue not only presented a variety of American historical figures, but framed them with an elaborate assortment of allegorical and ornamental designs—which, in spite of their artistic quality, were criticized as so flamboyant that they detracted from the central portrait and theme. The relatively austere design consequently chosen for the Washington–Franklins was the result of this concern.
In keeping with the quest for simplicity the original design concept was not for a Washington–Franklin series, but for a series devoted exclusively to Washington, with all its near-identical stamps exhibiting the same image of the first United States President—they would differ from one another only in denomination and color. This idea originated with one Charles H. Dalton of Boston, who, in a letter to his Senator, Winthrop M. Crane, expressed admiration for the current British stamps, all of which employed the same profile portrait of King Edward VII. Dalton recommended that the next U.S. series be similarly uniform, with every one of its stamps presenting the same profile head of Washington found on the 2¢ denomination of the 1894 First Bureau Issue. The senator passed this letter on to the Postmaster General, George Meyer, who by and large followed Dalton's recommendation.Johl, Max G. The United States Postage Stamps of the Twentieth Century, Vol. 1 (1937), p. 104. Full uniformity, however, would have violated a long-standing postal tradition dating back to 1851, which had placed Franklin on every definitive one-cent stamp issued by the U.S. Post Office. It may have been for this reason that Franklin was admitted to the 1908 series in the single case of the one-cent stamp. The Washington–Franklin series resulting from this compromise was designed by the renowned artist Clair Aubrey Huston, known for his many postage stamp designs.Scotts Stamp Identifier Most denominations of the 1902–03 series had been identical in color to their counterparts in the preceding First Bureau Issue. By contrast, the Washington–Franklin set preserved the previous colors only for its five lowest values: new and very different colors were chosen for all denominations of 6-cents and higher.
Despite the vast number of Washington–Franklin stamps released—as said, more than 250 in seven different series—only five basic designs were employed during their printing and production. Two separate engravings—one of Washington, the other of Franklin—are used in the five basic design types. The engraving of George Washington was modeled after a bust (sculpture) by the celebrated sculptor Jean Antoine Houdon. The image of Franklin in this issue was engraved by Marcus Baldwin who modeled his engraving after a photograph of a plaster bust of Franklin created by Jean Jacques Caffieri in 1777. As the issue evolved through its seven series, Washington and Franklin replaced each other on some values—marking the first time in United States postal history that two men had appeared on the same denomination in one issue. Indeed, both Washington and Franklin ultimately appeared on the 1-cent, 8-cent, 10-cent, 13-cent, 15-cent, 50-cent and 1-dollar values.
Washington with Olive branches, postage spelled out, TWO CENTS Franklin with Olive branches, the denomination spelled out, ONE CENT (denomination is only spelled out on the 1- and 2-cent, 1908, 1909 and 1910 issues, six stamps.) Washington with Olive branches, postage in numeral form, used on all denominations with the exceptions of the 9, 11, 12, 20 and 30-cent and the 2 and 5-dollar amounts. Franklin with Oak leaves, postage in numeral form, used on denominations from 8-cents to 1-dollar. Franklin with horizontal frame, used on 2 and 5-dollars denominations, postage amount in numeral form.
In the case of the first four designs, preparing printing plates for each stamp required two separate transfer phases. Two different steel dies were used, one containing the Washington or Franklin engraving, the other providing the framework and lettering. After every image on the steel plate had been impressed with both design components, the plate was heat-treated and hardened to prepare it for printing. In the lower-denomination Washington–Franklin Issues, 400 separate impressions appeared on a printing plate, referred to as a flat plate. The higher value of 1-dollar was printed from a flat plate of 200 subjects. The fifth design required different plates for each of the two elements, as printing took place in two stages: the frame was first printed in color and, in a second impression, the Franklin portrait was laid over it in black. These $2 and $5 values employed plates of 100 subjects.
Stamp issues The first Washington–Franklin stamp issued was a two-cent red Washington-head, issued on November 16, 1908, to pay the first class postage on a standard letter. The seven separate and distinct Washington–Franklin series appeared at intervals of a year or two and included denominations that ranged from 1-cent to 1 or 5 dollars, depending on the series. The different issues can be distinguished from one another by one or more of several factors: perforation gauge, the type of stamp paper—or, in some unusual varieties, by the printing method used. Four or five basic paper-types were employed during the life of the issue. Two of these have different watermarks (consisting of single-line and double line letters: 'USPS'), while another paper-type had no watermarks (watermarks are detected by placing the stamp in a special fluid). In 1909 a much less common type of bluish paper was used, made of 35% rag stock combined with the usual wood pulp and can readily be identified by its faint bluish-gray color. (N. B., Some contend that bluish paper contained only 10% rag stock.) Later in the same year the Post Office is supposed to have experimented with China clay paper, but whether such a paper stock actually existed has become a matter of dispute.
Stamp issues chart + The Washington–Franklin stamp issues of 1908–1923: dates of issue Denomination 1908–1909DL-Wmrkperf.12 1909Bluish-paperperf.12 1910–1911SL-Wmrkperf.12 1912–1914SL-Wmrkperf.12 1914–1915SL-Wmrkperf.10 1916–1917Un-Wmrkperf.10 1917–1923Un-Wmrkperf.11 1 cent F O – Dec 2 1908 F O – Feb 16 1909 F O – Nov 23 1910 W – 12 Feb 1912 W – 5 Sep 1914 W – 27 Sep 1916 W – 23 Mar 1917 2 cents W T – 16 Nov 1908 W T – 16 Feb 1909 W T – 23 Nov 1910 W – 12 Feb 1912 W – 5 Sep 1914 W – 25 Sep 1916 W – 23 Mar 1917 3 cents W – 24 Dec 1908 W – 16 Feb 1908 W – 16 Jan 1911 – W – 18 Sep 1914 W – 11 Nov 1916 W – 23 Mar 1917 4 cents W – 24 Dec 1908 W – 16 Feb 1908 W – 20 Jan 1911 – W – 7 Sep 1914 W – 7 Oct 1916 W – 23 Mar 1917 5 cents W – 19 Dec 1908 W – 16 Feb 1908 W – 25 Jan 1911 – W – 14 Sep 1914 W – 17 Oct 1916 – 7 Mar 1919 (red error) W – 23 Mar 1917