29c Nat 'King' Cole single

The Postal Service honored five American music legends with the issuance of the Popular Singer commemorative stamps on September 1, 1994, in New York at Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The stamps feature Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, Ethel Waters, Nat "King" Cole, and Ethel Merman.

The Popular Singers stamps were an addition to the Postal Service's Legends of American Music Stamp Series. The series began in 1993 and ran for several years, featuring all generations of American music including jazz, blues, folk, classical, and gospel.

Nat "King" Cole (1919-1965) was born Nathaniel Adams Coles in Montgomery, Alabama. He first came to prominence as a notable jazz pianist with his own King Cole Trio in the late 1930s. Cole later became a vocalist, lending his easy-going style of singing and a husky voice to songs such as "Straighten Up and Fly Right," "It's Only a Paper Moon," "For Sentimental Reasons," and "Mona Lisa." In the mid-1950s, his musical TV series broke color barriers and made history. Popular over two decades, Cole attained lasting acceptance by audiences throughout the world.

Designed by Chris Payne of Cincinnati, Ohio, the 29-cent stamps in panes of twenty were produced in the photogravure process by Stamp Venturers, Inc.

Reference:

Postal Bulletin (August 18, 1994).

mint

10.1 horizontal perforations x 10.2 vertical perforations