Object Details
- Depicts
- Ma Rainey, American, 1886 - 1939
- Description
- Jazz and blues legends were honored with the eight 29-cent stamps in Legends of American Music Stamp Series issued on September 17, 1994, in Greenville, Mississippi, at the Delta Blues Festival. The stamps feature Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Jimmy Rushing, Mildred Bailey, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, "Ma" Rainey, and Howlin' Wolf.
- Born Gertrude Melissa Nix Pridgett, "Ma" Rainey (1886-1939), the Mother of the Blues, joined the black vaudeville troupes touring the South at age 14. Shortly after she married William "Pa" Rainey, she began to work into her "Rabbit Foot Minstrels" plaintive tunes she had first overheard a young Missouri woman sing. Among her most memorable songs are "See See Rider," "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," and "Bo Weavil Blues."
- Howard Koslow designed the images for Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Jimmy Rushing, Mildred Bailey, and Julian Allen designed the images for Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, "Ma" Rainey, and Howlin' Wolf. Ashton-Potter (USA), Ltd., printed The stamps using offset lithography.
- Reference:
- Postal Bulletin (September 1, 1994).
- mint
- 11 horizontal perforations x 10.8 vertical perforations
- Credit line
- Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.
- September 17, 1994
- Object number
- 1995.2075.57
- Type
- Postage Stamps
- Medium
- paper; ink (multicolored); adhesive / lithography
- Place
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Postal Museum Collection
- Title
- Scott Catalogue USA 2859
- National Postal Museum
- Topic
- Music & Musicians
- Black Heritage
- Contemporary (1990-present)
- Women's Heritage
- U.S. Stamps
- Record ID
- npm_1995.2075.57
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm816900af9-b1a9-4e51-b569-1be74d3cb17c
