N1501

North Dakota Statehood

Centennial

Collins Cover Announcement 

NORTH DAKOTA STATEHOOD

This First Day Cover is another of the COLLINS Statehood offerings.

A "sodbuster" guides his team of draft horses as his plow upturns the prairie grass to unearth the rich soil below.

Thousands upon thousands of early pioneer farmers helped to transform the seemingly endless prairie into the breadbasket of the world.

In this hand-painted cachet, the settlers' spartan existence is emphasized by the desolation of the empty expanses of land and the small house that is made from the sod of the prairie. Two milk cows graze contentedly nearby as outside the door a woman works over a churn.

The visual impact is quite unusual as a bright multi-colored, cloud filled sky contrasts with the different shades of green of the various grasses. A "final touch" is a windmill, so familiar and so necessary to provide water, which is placed outside of the cachet proper between the text and the stamp.

The North Dakota stamp portraying a picturesque old red, wooden grain elevator is canceled with the First Day bullseye.

A pretty cover from America's heartland. Item #N1501. $7.00.