New York City Exhibition Press Materials

Photo credit: Fotobriceno

Photo credit: Fotobriceno

Photo credit: Fotobriceno

Photo credit: Fotobriceno

Illustrator: Howard Koslow

The Brooklyn Bridge was the first steel-wire suspension bridge and the first to use pneumatic chambers during construction. When it opened on May 24, 1883 after 14 years of construction, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Tom Engerman

The Statue of Liberty, standing at the entrance to New York Harbor since its dedication in 1886, has welcomed millions of immigrants to the United States. “Lady Liberty” has the distinct honor of appearing on more US stamps than any other national monument.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Dan Cosgrove

Grand Central Terminal, which opened in 1912, was recognized as the largest and grandest railway station in the world. Encompassing nearly 48 acres on two levels, the terminal was built when rail was the predominate mode of travel. Grand Central Terminal still serves both suburban and long-distance travelers.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Howard Koslow

The Ellis Island Immigration Museum celebrates the nation’s largest immigration inspection station, which operated from 1892 until 1954. Twelve million immigrants entered the US through the doors of Ellis Island, and their descendants account for nearly half of the country’s population.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Paul Calle

The Empire State Building is an iconic 102-story skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. Opened in 1931, this building held the record as the tallest in the world for nearly 40 years until the topping of the World Trade Center’s North Tower in 1970.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Robert Geissmann

Fiorello H. LaGuardia served three terms as mayor of New York City. He reorganized the powerful Tammany Hall political machine and balanced the city’s budget. He focused on municipal beautification and civil construction projects like the airport that later was to bear his name.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Howard Koslow

The UN Headquarters is an example of the International Style of architecture, characterized by rectilinear forms, glass and steel, flat roofs, and open interior spaces. Popular in Europe and the US in the 1920s and 1930s, this architectural style was well-suited for large urban projects.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Thomas Blackshear

A. Philip Randolph was a prominent labor leader and civil rights advocate who helped organize the famous 1963 March on Washington. Ahead of his time, Randolph become a labor leader when labor unions openly espoused anti-black policies and a national civil rights movement barely existed.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Richard Waldrep

Theodore Roosevelt started his political career in the New York State Assembly and later became the Governor of New York State. Elected Vice President under William McKinley, Roosevelt became the 26th President after McKinley’s assassination. He was the first President to serve entirely in the twentieth century.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Ferdinand Ralph Petrie

Frances Perkins served as Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest-running appointee in that position and the first woman in a Presidential cabinet. Her early career began at the New York Consumers League, where she lobbied for better working hours and conditions.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Wilson McLean

Showboat was one of the first Broadway productions with a bi-racial cast. Written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II and based on Edna Ferber’s bestselling novel of the same name, the show premiered at the Ziegfeld Theatre on December 27, 1927 and ran for 77 weeks.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Tim O’Brien

Moss Hart was an award-winning dramatist, director, performer, producer, theater owner and writer. He won a Tony Award as director of the musical My Fair Lady. This portrait shows Hart surrounded by marquee-style titles of three of his famous plays. A fourth marquee displays his name and evokes the iconic feel of Broadway at night.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Mark English

George Gershwin was one of America’s greatest Broadway writers, orchestral composers, and popular songwriters. His satirical play Let Them Eat Cake was the first musical comedy to win a Pulitzer Prize. Porgy and Bess, Gershwin’s greatest Broadway play, was widely regarded as America’s first folk opera.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Drew Struzan

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II won Pulitzer Prizes, Tony Awards, Academy Awards, Emmys and Grammys. Their timeless productions include Oklahoma!, Carousel, The Flower Drum Song, South Pacific, and The King and I. Their final collaborative play, The Sound of Music, won five Tony Awards.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Drew Struzan

Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, one of the greatest husband and wife acting teams on Broadway, performed together in more than 40 plays and became stars of stage, screen and radio. Inseparable on and off stage, they were married 55 years.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Kadir Nelson

Joe DiMaggio, born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio and nicknamed “Joltin’ Joe” and “The Yankee Clipper,” was an All-Star in each of his 13 seasons as a New York Yankee. He helped the team win ten American League Pennants and nine World Series Championships. This portrait is based on an iconic photograph showing DiMaggio following through on a right-hand swing.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Howard Koslow

Jackie Roosevelt Robinson, the first African American major league baseball player, signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Over his ten seasons as a Dodger, he helped the team win six National League Championships and one World Series Championship. He was the first major league baseball player to be honored on a US stamp.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Dean Ellis

The Shot Heard ‘Round the World honors the 1951 National League Championship series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. In the bottom of the ninth, the Giants’ Bobby Thomson hit a three-run homer that gave the Giants a 5-4 National League Pennant victory.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Davis Meltzer

Babe Ruth, born George Herman Ruth and known as the “Sultan of Swat,” hit 714 home runs and set or tied 76 records during his 15 years as a New York Yankee. He helped the team win seven American League Pennants and four World Series Championships. This artwork was a draft portrait that was not used for the final stamp design.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Dean Ellis

World Series Rivals depicts the crosstown rivalry between the Yankees and the Dodgers. During the 1950’s, the Yankees played in eight World Series, including four against the Dodgers, who beat the Yankees once. The transit token is a reminder that these intra-city match-ups were known as “subway series.”

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Richard Waldrep

Immigration has been a powerful cultural force for New York City and the US as a whole. More than 40% of the current US population had at least one ancestor processed at Ellis Island, which opened in 1892 as a Federal immigration station. This stamp design was based on a 1905 black-and-white photo of an Italian family on a ferry from the New York City docks to Ellis Island.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Richard Leech

Streetcars began operating along Bowery and Fourth Streets in 1832. Called “horsecars,” these horse-drawn streetcars rolled along special rails in the middle of the road. Forerunners of today’s mass transit system, streetcars allowed people to move quickly throughout the city and were especially crucial in Manhattan, which, during this period, was developing into a major business center.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Paul Rogers

Thanksgiving Day Parade is an iconic annual event in New York City, associated with marching bands, large balloons depicting cartoon characters, and slow-moving floats featuring celebrities. The artist used digital software to create the final artwork. It depicts a New York City street teeming with energy and excitement on a clear but chilly November day.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Drew Struzan

Seinfeld Television Series was a highly rated situation comedy show that ran from July 5, 1989 to May 14, 1998. Jerry Seinfeld himself actually participated in the design of the artwork, which features the interior of his fictional apartment.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Dennis Lyall

The First Published Crossword Puzzle appeared in the New York World Newspaper on December 21, 1913. Known as a “word-cross” puzzle, it was similar to contemporary crossword puzzles. The puzzle became a regular weekly feature and spread to other newspapers across the US.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Meltzer Davis

Jazz originated in the African American community during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Traveling musicians spread jazz from Southern cities such as New Orleans throughout the US. In New York City, jazz found a home in the clubs and speakeasies of the Prohibition period.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Rafael Lopez

Tito Puente was an award-winning performer, arranger, composer and conductor. Popularly known as “El Rey” (The King), Puente bridged Afro-Caribbean musical styles and orchestral jazz. Raised in Spanish Harlem, he recorded more than 140 albums over a career that spanned more than 60 years.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Meltzer Davis

Arturo Toscanini, an acclaimed classical musician, served as guest conductor of the New York Philharmonic from 1926 to 1936. Then, in 1937, at age 70, he took charge of the NBC Symphony, an orchestra created by the National Broadcasting Company. Toscanini led this orchestra for 17 years until his retirement in 1954.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Rafael Lopez

Merengue is a music and dance style brought to New York City night clubs by immigrants from the Dominican Republic. Regarded as the national dance and music of the Dominican Republic, merengue incorporates elements of European and African styles.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection

Illustrator: Meltzer Davis

Ethel Merman starred in some of Broadway’s most popular plays, such as Girl Crazy, Anything Goes, and Annie Get your Gun. With her powerhouse voice, Merman, who was born and raised in New York City, made “There’s No Business like Show Business” her signature song.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection