T1501

Constitution Bicentennial

House of Representatives

Collins Cover Announcement 

BICENTENNIAL 

OF THE 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Davy Crockett -- King of the Wild Frontier and Congressman from Tennessee. For this issue, I decided to feature one congressman from the 200 year history of the House. After considering many individuals, I decided on a folk hero who was very popular in the 1950's -- Davy Crockett who served from 1827 to 1834.

The hand-painted cachet is two-tier. First, the frontiersman walks along a mountain trail and is suddenly confronted by a huge grizzly. Davy is dressed in fringed buckskin and a coonskin cap and carries his trusty rifle -- Old Betsy. The towering bear, rearing on hind feet, must decide on a retreat to safety or on an attack on the sharp-shooting frontiersman. It is an excellent action cachet. Also contributing to this FDC is an oval portrait of the congressman in a period ornate frame.

In addition to the new Bicentennial House stamp, I've added the 1967 5-cent Davy Crockett stamp. This adds visual appeal and interest and makes it a combo First Day Cover. Both stamps are tied by a marvelous pictorial First Day cancel featuring the Capitol Dome and especially designed for the U.S. House of Representatives Bicentennial. This is a very large cancel and the cover was planned for it.

Planning, designing, painting, and servicing a COLLINS FDC are all very important functions in regard to the final product.

Sometimes everything clicks perfectly and that's the case with this one. Don't miss it for it is a dandy. I follow the same formula for the still-to-be-offered Senate, Executive, and Judicial issues. Davy, so the song goes, was "Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee, greenest state in the land of the free." He died in the defense of the Alamo as a Texas and American hero. This cover is as crisp as a fresh breath of Smokey Mountain Air. Item #T1501 - $7.75.

Winter 2025 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 14 T1501 — Bicentennial — U.S. House of Representatives with Davy Crockett cachet — 4-4-89

My cachet approach for this issue was to focus attention on one famous congressman, and I chose Davy Crockett of Tennessee. He was the frontiersman made famous by Walt Disney in the 1950s. One of Davy's adventures (an encounter with a large bear) is shown on my hand painted cachet. Also, there is a smaller cachet of a framed oval portrait of the congressman. I've added the very nice five-cent Davy Crockett stamp to add philatelic interest, and both stamps are tied to the cover with a super pictorial/slogan first day postmark.