Skip to main content
Collections Menu
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Panama Canal Zone First Day Cover
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

Panama Canal Zone First Day Cover

Artifact IDMO 1953.428
Object Type Cover, First Day
Maker (American, 1881 - 1947)
Date1939
Mediumpaper
Dimensionsoverall H 3 5/8 in x W 6 1/2 in (9.2 cm x 16.5 cm )
Physical DescriptionAn unused envelope with a thermographic cachet honoring the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Panama Canal Zone on August 15, 1939. The brown cachet features an illustration of North and South America with text that reads: FIRST DAY CANAL ZONE ISSUE / FIRST DAY / ISSUE / 1939. Adhered in the lower left corner of the cachet, within a border of printed stars, is a small black and white photograph of the deck of a ship on the canal with the caption below: U. S. S. Mississippi in Pedro Miguel Locks. Printed in the upper right corner of the envelope: Regular / Postage / 20 Cents.
Historical NoteThis envelope is one in a group of twenty-four First Day covers (MO 1953.420-MO 1953.443) produced by philatelist Walter G. Crosby to honor the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Panama Canal Zone on August 15, 1939.
Additional Details
Credit LineEstate of Franklin D. Roosevelt
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesStamp Collecting Materials (National Archives Identifier 749938)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestricted
CopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
In Collection(s)
Not on view