S3001

Scenic American Landscapes

Niagara Falls

Collins Cover Announcement 

Niagara Falls

Annie Taylor was a school teacher from Bay City, Michigan, and on October 24, 1901, she became the first person and only woman to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. It was 5-1/2 feet long, two feet, four inches in diameter at the head, three feet in the middle and fifteen inches at the foot. Construction was of

1-1/2 inch staves of Kentucky oak.

On the fateful day, she was rowed to Grass Island above the thundering falls. She climbed into the barrel and strapped herself into a harness between two large cushions. A bicycle pump was used to force an air supply into the barrel, and the hatch was sealed. At exactly 4:05 p.m., she was set adrift and her perilous voyage began. Annie and the barrel plunged over the fearsome falls at precisely 4:23, and after several anxious moments was pulled to the shore below at 4:40 p.m. She was blue and numbed with cold, but

she had made it!

From that day on, Annie Taylor was known as the "Queen of the Mist." She achieved a measure of fame and toured with vaudeville shows. She then settled down in Niagara Falls where she appeared with her oak barrel selling souvenir postcards and giving autographs. Visitors to the museum in Niagara Falls, Ontario can see the barrel and review the amazing feat by the Michigan school teacher. They can marvel at a daredevil stunt of personal courage as the monstrous torrents of cascading water were challenged by an oak barrel and a brave woman. They can relive the day when Annie Taylor became the "Queen of the Mist."

This novel hand painted cover is one that you will be glad to have included in your collection. The fortyeight cent airmail stamp is postmarked at Niagara Falls, New York. Annie poses with her barrel and a kitten as a tour boat cruises below the falls in my hand painted cachet. An FDC that definitely captures a piece of Americana. Niagara Falls - Item #S3001 - $12.50.

Summer 2024 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 30 S3001 — Niagara Falls — 5-12-99

This series of three magnificent waterfalls spans the border of the United States and Canada. It is part of America's oldest state park and has breathtaking views. When the stamp was released, I decided to design my cachet around the real-life story of Annie Edson Taylor, a school teacher who was the first person and only woman to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel and survive. It was an amazing feat — a daredevil stunt of personal courage as the monstrous torrents of cascading water were challenged by a brave woman in an oak barrel. This cover is new to my mail sales.