The Canadian Postal Museum is the only museum in Canada dedicated to preserving the heritage of Canadian postal communication and objects representative of international postal heritage. The collection covers ancient and modern history, science and technology, philately, fine art, architecture, folk art and the decorative arts. The Canadian Postal Museum is proud to be one of the five largest postal museums in the world, ranking second worldwide for number of visitors. Since 2000 the Canadian Postal Museum has been a member of the prestigious Club de Monte-Carlo de l’élite de la philatélie, whose members include 17 postal museums and world-renowned collectors from 24 countries.
Submission – 2002
Refused die proof showing the Royal William in blue. In 1933, one hundred years after the Royal William became the first steam ship to cross the Atlantic, the Postmaster General of Canada marked this accomplishment with the issue of a commemorative stamp. Unfortunately this first attempt was incorrect – the ‘Royal William’ pictured was actually an American vessel built in 1837! The refused drawing was submitted on the 22nd of June, by the 28th of June a second draft was approved and the stamp was released on August 17 1933. This die proof is a rare and important piece in Canadian philatelic history.
CPM 1974.1940.120
Submission – 2000
The first image submitted to the Postmaster General for the January 1929 issue depicted two fishing boats, rather than the Bluenose. The accompanying maquette shows how the artist’s design evolved. The border created for the proposal was kept, but the main image was replaced by a montage of two photographs by W.R. MacAskill to produce the famous Bluenose stamp, released January 8, 1929. The fishing boat image had been used before on the back of the two-dollar bill of the Dominion of Canada, which bore the portrait of King Edward VII.
CPM 1999.109.1- 3
