The state outline on a scroll beside the capitol dome, under Wisconsin's one-word motto: "Forward."

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Catalog Number: Scott #957

• Denomination: 3 cents (3¢)

• Date of Issue: May 29, 1948

• Printing Method: Rotary Press, Engraved (Intaglio)

• Perforation: 11 × 10½

• Color: Dark Violet

• Subject: An outline map of Wisconsin and the State Capitol, with the motto "Forward"

• Format: Commemorative single

CONDITION ANALYSIS (Seller-Assessed)

• Status: Used

• Grading: Fine

• Postmark: Light machine postmark of faint lines across the center and right of the design. The state map, the capitol, and the dates 1848 and 1948 remain clearly readable.

• Obverse: The scroll with the state outline, the domed State Capitol, the motto, and the denomination are all sharp and identifiable.

• Reverse: No original gum present, as expected for a used stamp. The paper shows light toning with faint show-through, and no tears or thinning visible.

• Centering / Margins: The design sits comfortably within the frame, with slight leftward and downward shifts.

• Perforations: Intact on all four sides.

HISTORY

Wisconsin joined the Union in 1848 as the thirtieth state, and this stamp marks its centennial with two well-chosen symbols. On the left, the state's distinctive outline is drawn on an unrolled scroll bearing the dates 1848 and 1948; on the right stands the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, its great dome one of the largest of any statehouse in the country. Across the top runs the single word that is the state motto: "Forward."

That motto captures something real about Wisconsin's history. In the decades around 1900 the state became a national laboratory for progressive reform. Under leaders like Robert La Follette it pioneered the direct primary, workers' compensation, and the close partnership between state government and the University of Wisconsin known as the "Wisconsin Idea," the belief that the university's knowledge should serve the whole state. Wisconsin often tried policies years before the rest of the country adopted them.

Issued May 29, 1948, in dark violet, the centennial stamp presents the state as forward-looking and civic-minded, exactly the image Wisconsin liked to project. It is a clean, confident design, honoring a hundred years of a state that prided itself on leading rather than following.

STEVEN SAYS

Wisconsin's motto really is just "Forward," one word, and it fits. Around 1900 the state was a genuine reform lab, trying out ideas like the direct primary and workers' comp years before anyone else. The stamp keeps it simple: the state outline on a scroll and that big capitol dome. A hundred years of a state that liked to go first.