POSTER STAMPS AND LABELS OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES

U.S. Fund Labels:

17. "AMERICAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE HELSINKI - 1940 GAMES - St. MORITZ" above; printer's imprint: "AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY" below design; Vignette: a scene from the 1932 Games in Los Angeles - seven runners on the track, in the foreground; background depicts a portion of the stadium with its arched entrances, flags atop the latter, and seats crowded with spectators; a be-ribboned torch to left side; a be-ribboned USA Olympic coat-of-arms to right side. 41x28mm,perf 12, each label of one color only, as follows: a)red , b)green , c)blue , or d)purple ... each: $1.00

17a. Same as #17 but imperf & without gum ... each: $2.50

17 & 17a issued in sheets of 40(5x8), PM4S, perforations pass through selvage which measures 21 mm at top & bottom and 23mm on sides. The following information is printed on the selvage:

Left side-"V OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES ST. MORITZ, SWITZERLAND. FEBRUARY, 1940."

Right side: "GAMES OF THE XII OLYMPIAD. HELSINKI, FINLAND. JULY 20-AUGUST 4, 1940."

Top: "AMERICAN VICTORY STAMP THE AMERICAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE HAS ISSUED THESE OLYMPIC STAMPS TO HELP RAISE THE FUND REQUIRED TO SEND THE FOREMOST AMATEUR ATHLETES IN THE UNITED STATES TO THE 1940 OLYMPIC GAMES."

Bottom: "THE OATH TAKEN BY ALL COMPETITORS IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES. "WE SWEAR THAT WE WILL TAKE PART IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN LOYAL COMPETITION, RESPECTING THE REGULATIONS WHICH GOVERN THEM, AND DESIROUS OF PARTICIPATING IN THEM IN THE TRUE SPIRIT OF SPORTSMANSHIP FOR THE HONOR OF OUR COUNTRY AND THE GLORY OF SPORT."

See "1948-London" label nos. 3 & 3a for a reissue of the above items,with appropriate changes in texts & dates. A notable change occurred in 1948 in that the name "American" was changed to "United States"

Autographed Sheets: Imperforate, ungummed sheets of the 1940 issues (17/a) were signed by several prominent persons, including the following: R.E. Byrd, Charlie Chaplin, Lily Pons, Eddie Rickenbacker, Eleanor Roosevelt, Shirley Temple, Orson Wells (Additional signers, known to the reader, are solicited).

In the 1930's, Byrd was arguably the most famous man in America. He is the only person ever to have three ticker-tape parades in New York City (in 1926, 1927 and 1930) given in his honor.

6/18/19 - eBay listing - Full sheet in green autographed by famous explorer, author, and ornithologist William Beebe.

The above finds, plus a tip from Polish Olympic maven Roman Babut led me to the 1940 Official Report of the American Olympic Committee and the July 15, 1939 issue of Stamps Magazine, where I found these names of some of the signers of the sheets: Admiral Richard E. Byrd, Alfred P. Sloan, Bing Crosby, Bob Burns, Charlie Chaplin, Col. Theodore Roosevelt Jr., Edgar A. Guest, George Ade, Grantland Rice, Joe E. Brown, John Kieran, Lily Pons, Louis Bromfield, Lowell Thomas, Orson Welles, Paul Whiteman, Sherwood Anderson, Shirley Temple, Thomas Mann, William Beebe.

IN ADDITION, the Stamps item states that each celebrity signed TWENTY sheets, or five sets! So we now know the relative scarcity of these treasures!

6/19/19 - Polish collector Roman Babut asked if I knew what race was depicted on the set of US labels above, and who were the runners. I did not, but with the aid of Google I was able to find out rather easily. The venue is clearly the Los Angeles Olympic Stadium (now called the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum), easily recognized by the distinctive arches. And it makes sense they would have chosen an image from the most recent American Olympics. Then I fed the image to Google with the hint that it was a race from 1932, and back came the photo on the right, and the information that it was the finish of the Men's 800 Meters race. The stamps shows the race near its start, with the runners still in their lanes, but you can compare faces and numbers and see they are the same. The runners, in the order of the finish, are Tommy Hampson - Great Britain, Alex Wilson - Canada, Phil Edwards - Canada, Eddie Genung - United States, Edwin Turner - United States, Chuck Hornbostel - United States, Jack Powell - Great Britain, Séra Martin - France, Otto Peltzer - Germany.

I know, nine runners listed, eight in the photo, but only seven in the image on the stamp. ???

8/27/23 - Visitor Victor Afanasiev, Minsk, Belarus wrote as follows:

I am writing this email on the subject of the US cinderellas issued to raise funds for the 1940 US Olympic team.

At your site, you discuss the identification of the athletes in the photo on those cinderellas.

Unfortunately, you base your findings on a wrong identification of the photo from the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. It's not 800m but the 1500m final whic can be clearly concluded fromm the fact that the photo contains John (Jack) Lovelock (No. 353) from New Zealand - you can check Wikipedia or Olympedia.

Therefore, the athletes in the stamps are (left to right) Jack Lovelock (353), Norwood Hallowell or Arthir Crowley (I can't identify who is who, the other is the outmost right, leading athlete, their numbers were 415 and 429), Luigi Beccali (No. 256, the winner in that event), a Finnish runner (possibly, Eino Purje but I'm not sure), Phil Edwards from Canada, Glenn Cunningham (416).

Thanks, Victor.

DuBois listing:

19. "LATVIJA" in black at bottom of vignette; a large, black panel at bottom of label. 01ympic rings, in green, above the following three-language texts (French, English and German):

"AUX Jeux Olympiques 1940 via les Pays Baltiques / To the Olympic Games 1940 via the Baltic States / Zu den Olympischen Spielen 1940 durch die Baltischen Staaten" - printer's imprint below design on left: "S.L.M. Turisma nodala" - Vignette: a girl in national dress, waving a handkerchief; a landscape scene, mostly buildings, in the background; a white border and a white line between the panel & vignette portions; printer's imprints below. 35.5x62mm, perf 10.25, multicolored ... $12.00

DuBois listing:

20. "See Europe and the Olympic Games Helsingfors 1940 with Bill Henry and the American Express" - design covers gutters. 38x51mm, imperf. Colors: blue, red, white ... Rare

Note: Bill Henry was a prominent Olympic Historian who published a book in 1948 titled "An Approved History of the Olympic Games"; a 1984 edition was issued, edited by Patricia Henry Yeomans (Bill Henry's daughter) Alfred Publishing Co. Inc., P. O. BOX 5964, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413.

The two following labels were issued in anticipation of the Olympic Games that were scheduled to be held at Helsinki:

 
#1940-F- 22 and similar item

22. A Finnish Souvenir Cheese-Carton Label: "1940 OLYMPIA 1940" across oval-shaped, top of label; "VALIO JUUSTOA OST" at lower left; "RASVAA K.A.45%FETT I.T." at bottom, center; "120 GR. NETTO" at lower right. Vignette: classic statue of discus thrower, in white, in front of gold Olympic rings. 101x49mm (overall), background of texts is red, texts are either white or black, vignette background is gray and has inner white border & outer gold border, outer edge is white with gold inner border ... Rare

(Valio Helsinki Cheese Co., 45% fat, 120 grams, net) An attractive, very Olympian label!

Translation:
XII OLYMPIAD FINLAND 1940
GALENA REPRESENTATIVE
BUREAU BULGARIA: AG SOFIA

Circular label with scalloped edges, Olympic rings
Diameter - 1.75"
Image courtesy of Philippe Pavard.

11/21/17 - I found an eBay auction for a copy of this label on Worthpoint, with the following explanation: