Issue Date: November 22, 1938
City: Washington, DC
Quantity: 49,878,000
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Rotary press
Perforations: 11 x 10 ½ 
Color: Vermillion

 

Known affectionately as the “Prexies,” the 1938 Presidential series is a favorite among stamp collectors. The 22¢ denomination pictures Grover Cleveland, the only President to serve two terms that were not consecutive. He was also the first President to be married in the White House, and his daughter, Esther, was the first and only child to be born there.

 

The series was issued in response to public clamoring for a new Regular Issue series. The series that was current at the time had been in use for more than a decade. President Franklin D. Roosevelt agreed, and a contest was staged. The public was asked to submit original designs for a new series picturing all deceased U.S. Presidents. Over 1,100 sketches were submitted, many from veteran stamp collectors. Elaine Rawlinson, who had little knowledge of stamps, won the contest and collected the $500 prize. Rawlinson was the first stamp designer since the Bureau of Engraving and Printing began producing U.S. stamps who was not a government employee.