The Lincoln Ellsworth Postage Stamp

Front:
POLAR STAR EARSWORTH TRANS ANTARCTIC FLIGHT INGTO SEP 14 1988 USA25 20066 Lincoln Ellsworth DC

Back:
LINCOLN ELLSWORTH First Day of Issue: September 14, 1988 First Issue Location: Washington, D.C. Airplanes opened Antarctica for more detailed explora- tion. Soaring above the barren lands of ice and snow, an airman could see vistas which had been barred to men for centuries. Within the ice-bound borders of Antarctica, great glaciers rise into snow-covered mountain ranges as rivers of pale, green ice flow slowly towards the sea. In certain spots — called "oases" – there are ice-free clearings, lakes of open waters, and simple plants of algae, lichens, mosses and fungi. The 1930's brought more reliable air transportation, and men who had here- tofore only dreamed of the mysteries of the unexplored continent could now exalt in the promise of the future. Among them was Lincoln Ellsworth. Between 1933 and 1939, Ellsworth explored Antarctica from the air. He saw things that no man before him had ever seen. In 1936, Ellsworth set off in his plane, The Polar Star, on a thirteen- day flight across the “Unknown Southland." He also dis- covered the Ellsworth Highland and American Highland in the cold Antarctic region. No. 88-55 ©1988 The Maximum Card Collection A Division of Unicover Corporation • Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 Original painting by Tom McNeely