Issued on September 25, 1934, the 4-cent Mesa Verde stamp was a key component of the National Parks series, a project championed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes. Both avid stamp collectors, they understood the power of postage to promote a "See America First" campaign during a time of economic hardship. The series of ten stamps, each featuring a different national park, was designed to be visually appealing and accessible to the public, with over 19 million of the Mesa Verde stamp issued. The design, created by Victor S. McCloskey, Jr., was based on a photograph of Cliff Palace. This remarkable structure, nestled in a large alcove in the cliffs of the Mesa Verde, is a complex of over 150 rooms and 23 kivas (ceremonial chambers). It is believed to have been a social, administrative, and ceremonial center for the Ancestral Pueblo people between approximately 1190 and 1280 CE. The stamp's brown color evokes the earthy tones of the sandstone cliffs and the adobe mortar used in construction. The issuance of this stamp not only provided a beautiful piece of philatelic art but also served as a miniature travel poster, inviting Americans to explore the ancient history preserved within their own borders.