USPOD Abraham Lincoln Sesquicentennial

U.S. POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT (POD) issued a set of four stamps in their Lincoln Sesquicentennial Series between 1958 and 1959. The one cent stamp of Lincoln (shown in this Block set) was derived from the George Peter Alexander Healy's painting, "Beardless Lincoln". It was completed in 1860, soon after Lincoln's election to the Presidency. The first day of issue of 12 February 1959.  The postmark cancellation originated from Hodgenville, Kentucky, the nearest town to Lincoln's birthplace. A total of 120,400,200 stamps were printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, using a rotary press. It featured 10 ½ x 11 perforations, carried a value of one cent and was dark green in colour.

Lincoln was the first U.S. President to have a beard. He grew it after being elected, perhaps on the advice of an 11-year-old girl. Grace Bedell, of Westfield, New York, wrote a letter to Lincoln on October 15, 1860, during the Presidential election that year, urging him to grow a beard. She told Lincoln he would be “much improved in appearance, provided you would cultivate whiskers.”

Lincoln was so amused by the letter that he wrote back to her four days later. “As to the whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece of silly affectation if I were to begin now?” he wrote. However, between the election and the time he took office in March 1861, Lincoln grew the suggested beard. Later, as he traveled from Illinois to Washington, D.C., he stopped in Westfield and met Grace Bedell.
 
Other reasons for Lincoln’s new fashion may include concerns about his youth. At age 51, Lincoln was the youngest person elected President at the time, and may also have added the beard to suggest maturity.

Source: U.S. Post Office Department