About This Stamp
The Post Office Department drew attention to the importance of wildlife conservation with a series of three commemorative stamps issued in 1956. The stamps featured images of the wild turkey, the Pronghorn antelope, and the King Salmon. Each of the Wildlife Conservation stamps paid the postage on a one-ounce first-class domestic letter.
Each of the three intaglio stamps, perforated 11x10 1/2, was printed on the Stickney rotary press from 200-subject plates. Printers used the plates in pairs on the press, so each rotation of the press produced two sheets of 200 stamps, each of which was divided into four 50-subject panes for distribution to post offices.
The 3-cent Wild Turkey stamp was issued on May 5, 1956, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, at the convention of the Wisconsin Federation of Stamp Clubs. Robert W. Hines, an artist for the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of Interior, designed the stamp's vignette. Victor S. McCloskey of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing designed the frame. Charles A. Brooks and John S. Edmondson engraved the die. Four plates were used to print the Wild Turkey stamp: 25395, 25397, 25398, and 25409. An additional plate (25396) was made but found defective, and no stamps exist from this plate.