I’ve been looking through my Canadian stamps a lot lately, picking over some of my favourites. The 1971 Four Seasons was one of the earliest sets my mom brought home for me, so I’ve always had a soft spot for it. It wasn’t until lately that I began to wonder about how it came about. That’s the thing about stamps, you can look at them a million times and still find something new to think about. 

If a person decided to do a Canadian study in 4 seasons, there would be no better symbol to focus on than the maple leaf.  The maple leaf has been closely associated with Canada since sometime in the 18th century. It appeared on Canadian coins as early as the 1850s.  They first started popping up in stamps during Queen Victoria’s reign, most notably on the 1897-98 Maple Leaf  issues.  

 
** 1897-98 Maple Leaf issues from author’s collection

But it wasn’t until 1959 that the maple leaf became more than decorative trim on stamps. The humble leaf moved from ornamental status to an integral part of the featured design in two issues that year – the Joint US-Canada St. Lawrence Seaway and the Bicentenary of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.  

 ** 1959 stamps from author’s collection

In 1965, after a long, contentious debate, Canada adopted a national flag, which prominently featured a single red maple leaf. With the new flag, came a proliferation of stamps using the maple leaf as the prime image. One of the best was the 1971 Four Seasons, by  Canadian artist Alma Duncan. The series consisted of 4 stamps, one for each season. This was the first of 2 commissions Duncan completed for Canada Post, her second, Floral Aerogrammes, was released in In 1973.    

 
Self-portrait by Alma Duncan pen, ink and
coloured pencils on paper Image courtesy Archives Canada

A person could argue that this is just a standard flora design, and if they were issued by any country other than Canada, I’d agree. But given the importance of the maple leaf as part of Canada’s national identity, it takes on a deeply symbolic feel. Any leaf could have been picked, but Alma chose the iconic maple. 

We’re lucky Archives Canada has some of the artwork and proofs for the stamps so we can follow the design’s progression from detailed sketch to final product. The images remain unchanged, but crucial elements such as font position, colour and style shift throughout the stages, as did the placement of the season. It moved from a center position along the top of the drawing to the small print on the lower left corner of the artwork. 

Spring maple keys  

First stamp in the set with original artwork and specimen
 

     
  **Images courtesy Archives Canada

Summer green maple leaves

Second stamp in the set with original artwork and specimen
     

     
**Images courtesy Archives Canada

Fall with the iconic red leaves 

Third stamp in the set with original artwork and 2 specimens showing different font colours.

It’s interesting to see how Canada Post played around with colours to match the seasons. Above, the summer font is green to match the leaf and the first one is an earthy brown colour to go with the maple key.
 

        
**Images courtesy Archives Canada

Winter fall leaves in the snow

Two specimens testing two font colours.

I couldn’t find the original drawings in the Archives, just these two specimens showing two colour choices. The first uses blue for the font, which picks up the blue shades in the snow. The second falls back on a darker blue-black which brings out the leaf more effectively. 
Image courtesy Archives Canada

    
**Images courtesy Archives Canada

Here are 4 specimen covers for each stamp, printed by the Canadian Bank Note Company. Note the season is still on the top of each stamp and 4 font colours have been used. 

 
Image courtesy Archives Canada

Final stamps

The final production saw a number of significant changes to the design. Canada Post opted for a thin, sleek font, discarding the boxy one on the specimens above. As well, the different font colours were dropped in favour of a standardized blue-grey on all 4 stamps. Discarding the proposed brown, red, green and blue was a good move. When this article was sent out to subscribers for a pre-release view, one frequent follower sent a bit of extra information regarding the font. Many thanks!

One note about the typeface. The typeface was actually the same on all the samples — it was the weight that changed…. The sans serif typeface used for all the samples was Helvetica. Helvetica is available in many weights (or fonts) – light, medium, regular, bold, black etc. The original sketches show a very bold font but the final decision to use a medium weight was the correct one. Newsletter subscriber 

The shifting colours was a little distracting, and by using one colour, the artwork is the main focus now. One last change was made with the price of the fall and winter stamps increased to 7c.

** 1971 stamps from author’s collection

This first day cover solidifies the notion that the use of a maple leaf was a deliberate choice. The cover trumpets the maple leaf as “Canada’s National Emblem”  

Image courtesy Archives Canada

Of the dozens of Canadian flag/maple leaf motifs issued over the decades, the Four Seasons still stands as one of the best. It isn’t an overt display of nationalism, which in my opinion makes it more effective.  

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