“Toward United Nations, April 25, 1945”

In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt championed a new world peace organization to replace the League of Nations. World nations agreed to an international conference to be held in San Francisco and a postage stamp issue was planned to commemorate the event. Intended as a postal ambassador for the fledgling organization, the stamp was assigned a 5¢ value, the first class surface rate to foreign destinations.

Various designs were rejected and on 3 April, Roosevelt suggested the wording “Toward United Nations, April 25, 1945”, and a simple border with the words over a laurel branch. Roosevelt died two weeks before the conference and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing added his name to the design as the quote’s author.

Thank you My Dear Friend Merja for this rare cover, postmarked in San Francisco on 25^th April, 1945.