Description: In 1930, Spain introduced a set of stamps depicting Goya's "Naked Maja" causing scandal and protests denouncing the threat to public morality. Four years later, some practical jokers in the United States put the Goya issued stamp in its proper perspective by using the one peseta of the set as the basis for a very clever caricature. In 1934, the U. S. Postal Service decided to issue a stamp for Mother's Day (Scott No. 737). The idea was said to have originated with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. His roughly pencilled sketch for the stamp, which depicted James Whistler's famous portrait of his mother, was almost exactly followed by the artists at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The principal change was the addition of the flowers in the left corner of the stamp. By coincidence, the color of the Mother's Day stamp was almost identical with the 1 peseta Goya stamp, thus permitting the "mating" of the two stamps into a novelty that brings a double-take when seen. A number of collectors took the newly created "stamps" (sometimes called "mockups") and placed them on envelopes. They went through the mail undetected. The prank was not pulled often enough to evoke protests and stamp magazines of the period, still under the influence of Victorian prudery, hardly gave it a mention. Circumstances often affect the value of stamps. One might think that the 4 peseta Goya stamp, originally costing four times that of the 1 peseta, would be the more valuable stamp. However, so many of the 1 pesetas were ruined to make the Mother's Day caricature that today the more common, and originally much less expensive, 1 peseta stamp catalogues at more than the four peseta. This listing includes the 1934 U.S. issue of the Mother's Day "Whistler's Mother" 3 cents stamp, the 1930 Spain issue of the Goya's "Naked Maya" 1 peseta stamp, the mockup of the two stamps, as well as the Scott Stamp Monthly article entitled "Whistler's Mother and the Naked Maya". See photos.
Price: 24.95 USD
Location: West Covina, California
End Time: 2024-09-20T18:12:00.000Z
Shipping Cost: 4.95 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Denomination: 3 cents & 1 peseta
Year of Issue: 1930 & 1934
Place of Origin: United States
Quality: Mint Never Hinged/MNH
Color: Violet
Grade: Ungraded
Topic: Whistler's Mother & Goya's Nude Maya
Certification: Uncertified
