On September 16, 1946, the "Peace Issue", featuring Canada's primary industries and raw materials, replaced the wartime pictorial postage stamps. Wartime stamps of tanks, munition factories and destroyers gave way to pictorials featuring such images as a hydro power station, B.C. lumber operations and an Atlantic train ferry.
The Peace Issue consisted of nine denominations, each with a different design: 8¢, 10¢, 14¢, 20¢, 50¢, $1.00, 7¢(airmail), 17¢(air mail special delivery), 10¢ (special delivery).
The original 17 cent special delivery air mail stamp had a spelling error. The French word for express was incorrectly engraved with a circumflex accent: EXPRÊS. A new die with the correct grave accent was produced and the revised stamp with EXPRÈS was issued on December 3, 1946.
The next section of this post shows photographs used by the artists to design some of the Peace Issue pictorials and collages of stamp models approved for engraving.
8 cents : Eastern Canada farm scene, Ontario
10 cents : Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories
The 10 cent denomination featured a view of Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, where prospectors discovered pitchblende deposits, the source of radium and uranium.
14 cents : Hydro-Electric Power Station on Saint Maurice River, Quebec
20 cents : Combined Reaper and Thresher, Canadian Prairies
A combined reaper and thresher drawn by a tractor in use on a Canadian prairie wheatfield was shown on the 20 cent denomination.
50 cents : Felling Big Trees in British Columbia
The 50 cent denomination showed logging operations in British Columbia.
$1.00 : New Train Ferry with fishing boat, Prince Edward Island
The $1.00 was based on a painting by John Ellison of a train-ferry operating between Prince Edward Island and the mainland with a sailing boat.
Based on a painting by John Ellison
7 cents Air Mail : Canada Geese Near Sudbury, Ontario
The seven cents air mail features Canada geese in flight near Sudbury, Ontario.
17 cents Air Mail Special Delivery
The design of the 17 cents air mail special delivery stamp consisted of a DC 4-M airplane flying over Quebec City.
EXPRÊS Error
EXPRÈS Correction
10 cents Special Delivery
The 10 cents special delivery stamp featured the Canadian coat of arms.
First Day Covers
(Source of images :National Archives of Canada)
8 cents : Eastern Canada farm scene, Ontario
10 cents : Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories
The 10 cent denomination featured a view of Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, where prospectors discovered pitchblende deposits, the source of radium and uranium.
14 cents : Hydro-Electric Power Station on Saint Maurice River, Quebec
20 cents : Combined Reaper and Thresher, Canadian Prairies
A combined reaper and thresher drawn by a tractor in use on a Canadian prairie wheatfield was shown on the 20 cent denomination.
50 cents : Felling Big Trees in British Columbia
The 50 cent denomination showed logging operations in British Columbia.
$1.00 : New Train Ferry with fishing boat, Prince Edward Island
The $1.00 was based on a painting by John Ellison of a train-ferry operating between Prince Edward Island and the mainland with a sailing boat.
Based on a painting by John Ellison
7 cents Air Mail : Canada Geese Near Sudbury, Ontario
The seven cents air mail features Canada geese in flight near Sudbury, Ontario.
17 cents Air Mail Special Delivery
The design of the 17 cents air mail special delivery stamp consisted of a DC 4-M airplane flying over Quebec City.
EXPRÊS Error
EXPRÈS Correction
10 cents Special Delivery
The 10 cents special delivery stamp featured the Canadian coat of arms.
First Day Covers
