Name/Title
Texas Centennial Stamp Designers Signed [First Day Cover]Description
First Day Cover for 3c Texas Centennial commemorative stamp. Cachet features the Federal Building at the Texas Centennial Exposition. Signed by the Texas Centennial Stamp design team:
Alvin R. Meissner, Designer
William B. Wells, Lettering
Frank Pauling, Etching of Alamo
Leonard C. Kauffmann, Portrait of Austin
Carl T. Arlt, Portrait of HoustonContext
The Texas centennial stamp of March 2, 1936 commemorates the centennial of the adoption of the Texas Declaration of Independence. The 3-cent violet stamp features portraits of Sam Houston, general of the Texas army and later governor of Texas and U.S. senator, and Stephen F. Austin, founder of the Texas colony. The portraits flank an image of the Alamo, prominent in the center of the stamp.
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing assigned engravers a portion of the stamp which emphasized his particular area of expertise. In practice, this meant the senior engravers were assigned the task of engraving the portrait (Leonard C. Kauffmann, Portrait of Austin and Carl T. Arlt, Portrait of Houston) or vignette (Frank Pauling, Etching of Alamo) and the less senior engravers the task of engraving the numerals, lettering and frame (William B. Wells)