Erstagsbrief / First Day Cover
In 1967 the professional organization American Institute of Planners (AIP) held their 50th annual meeting. Place was Washington DC, time was early October, discussions focused on the question of progressive urban planning under the influence of social science and contemporary understandings and reconstruction of communities. Think about papers such as "The City as a Mechanism for Sustaining Human Contact". Another, possibly even bigger highlight was a postage stamp issued on the meeting's second day. It specifically honored the movement of engaged urban planning and held the motto "plan for better cities" high in its lower case lettering. Although the motto of the conference was "The Next Fifty Years 1967/2017: The Future Environment of a Democracy", it would have been probably to wordy for such a small piece of postal paper. Which, by the way, of course stands itself as another example of an infrastructural solution and "mechanism for sustaining human contact". Fittingly for the occasion, the design for the stamp was provided by an instructor in the School of Architecture, Division of Urban Planning, Columbia University, Francis Ferguson. "It pictures a bird's-eye view of what suggests a modern, planned American city." as the October 1967 issue of the AIA Journal described it in its news column (page 26). I have no better words for it, so I leave it with that. Unfortunately, I don't have any information on the cover design either. Still, I find it as fascinating as collectable to see the topic of urban design and planning featured that prominently on stamps.
Crosspost with Instagram: Ben Kaden (@ben.kaden)