Clair Aubrey Houston facts for kids

Inverted Jenny, a famous error stamp Designed by Clair Aubrey Huston, 1918
(Huston designed the airplane to be upright)

Clair Aubrey Huston (also known as Charles Aubrey Huston) was a very important person in the world of postage stamps. He was the main stamp designer for the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) in the early 1900s. The BEP is where U.S. money, stamps, and other important government papers are printed.

Huston worked at the BEP for over 21 years. During this time, he designed many of the United States' postage stamps.

Designing Famous Stamps

Clair Aubrey Huston designed entire sets of U.S. stamps. These include the popular Washington-Franklin stamps and the Regular Issues of 1922. He often looked at famous American paintings and sculptures for ideas. For example, he used art by Gilbert Stuart as models for his designs.

One of Huston's most famous designs is the 24-cent Curtis Jenny airmail stamp from 1918. This stamp became super famous because the picture of the biplane was accidentally printed upside down!

Six years earlier, Huston had already designed a stamp with an airplane. This was for the 20-cent parcel post stamp. It was actually the very first postage stamp in the world to show an airplane!

Warren G. Harding
memorial stamp of 1923

Huston also designed the Warren G. Harding memorial stamp in 1923. He created this stamp in just one day! This was super fast because people really wanted a stamp to remember President Harding after he passed away. The stamp was released only a month after his death. This was a record for U.S. postal history that has never been broken.

The first stamp designed by Huston that the Post Office released was the 2-cent Washington "shield" stamp. It came out in November 1903. This stamp replaced an older design that people didn't like very much. People were happy with Huston's new design. The next year, a series of five stamps for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, also designed by Huston, went on sale.

Washington-Franklin design used on stamps from 1908–1922

Huston designed the Washington-Franklin stamps, which featured George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. These stamps were printed for a very long time, more than any other series of stamps. He was also the main designer for the U.S. Regular Issues of 1922-1931.

Clair Aubrey Huston created dozens of different U.S. postage stamp designs. Besides the world-famous Inverted Jenny airmail stamp, he also designed stamps for:

• The Founding of Jamestown
• Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant (regular issues of the 1920s)
• The Huguenot Walloon celebration of 1924
• The Pilgrim Tercentenary of 1920
• The American Indian regular issue of 1923

His Washington-Franklin stamps and his seven designs for the 1932 Washington Bicentennial are some of his most well-known works.

Huston's Stamp Designs

U.S. Parcel Post Stamps (1912-13)

First Parcel Post stamps issued by the U.S. Post Office, 1912-13

Washington-Franklin Issues

• Washington-Franklin Issues
• 

  Issue of 1908

• 

  Issue of 1908

• 

  Issue of 1912

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  Issue of 1917

• 

  Issue of 1918

Regular Issues of 1922-1931

• Regular Issues of 1922-1931
• 

  Nathan Hale

• 

  Benjamin Franklin

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  George Washington

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  Abraham Lincoln

• 

  Martha Washington

• 

  William Howard Taft

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  Theodore Roosevelt

• 

  James Garfield

• 

  William McKinley

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  Ulysses S. Grant

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  Thomas Jefferson

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  James Monroe

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  Rutherford B. Hayes

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  Grover Cleveland

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  Benjamin Harrison

• 

  American Indian

Selected Issues

• Selected Issues
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  Issue of 1903

• 

  Issue of 1920