Scotts #299 US stamps

#299 - 1901 10¢ Pan American

10¢
Light brown and black, dark brown and black

Printing Method: FLAT PLATE
Subject: SS. St. Paul
Number issued: 5,043,700
Perforations: P12
Watermark: Double Line USPS
Scott #: 299
Issued: May 1st, 1901

Value

Used
$1.50 - $5
No postmark with gum (MH)
$30 - $70
Full perfect gum, no postmark
no trace of stamp hinge mark (MNH)
$100 - $125

#299 Plate #'s

#299 was issued with the following plate #'s

Frame plates:
1151
Vignette plates:
1144

Half sheet of #299

Two panes of #299. Each pane had 100 stamps, there were two panes to a sheet of 200

Second Day Cover

Second day cover, May 2nd, 1901. This is the earliest recorded use of a stand alone use of #299.

The Inspiration for the Design

For the vignette was based on this postcard of the St. Paul from the American Line

The St Paul was a cursed ship. It started with a botched launch in 1895, when the ship refused to go down the slipway after the champagne had hit its stern. In 1900 it hit a submerged wreck, sheared off its propellor and burnt out its engine. Eight years later it accidentally rammed a British naval ship, sending the St. Pauls passengers to the lifeboats. It was retrofitted in 1918, but only after it rolled over in its berth. It ended its life an aged, unloved steerage ship in 1920.

Photographs of the SS St. Paul

Essays and Proofs

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299-E1

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299-E2

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299-E3

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299-E4

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299-E5

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299-P2

The Pan American Exposition

The Pan American Exposition was originally planned for 1898 but due to the outbreak of the Spanish American War it was delayed. The Exposition was going to be located at Niagara falls, however due to the mist from the falls, access only being by boat and the size of the site being too small for the envisioned crowds, it was decided to move the Exposition to nearby Buffalo, NY, Buffalo was much better suited to the event. It was held from May 1 through November 2, 1901.

Construction was started in 1899 over a 350 acre site. The videos below don't show the fact that it was a very colorful exposition, the idea being it was to be a 'Rainbow City' in the Spanish Renaissance style. The whole expo was lit up at night, which was quite a feat as the electric light had only recently been invented. This was recorded by Thomas Edison, the video can be seen below.

The Exposition is probably best known for being the scene of President McKinley's assassination. The site of the Expo was on farmers land who has promised that the land would be returned to him in the state they found it, after the Expo had finished. For this reason all the buildings were demolished and the canals filled in. The Exposition should have been a great success, but bad weather and the assassination put a damper on things and it ended up in debt.

Thomas Edison's 1901 film of the Exposition

Thomas Edison's tour of the canal at the Exposition

President McKinley gives speech at the Pan American Exposition. The next day he was assassinated.

The only building to still remain today from the 1901 Pan-American Exposition is the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, it was originally called the New York State Pavilion