Charles R. Chickering

Charles Ransom Chickering (October 7, 1891 – April 29, 1970) was best known as the freelance artist who designed some 77 postage stamps for the U.S. Post Office while working at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, DC.

[a] He continued the practice in civilian life and became a noted artist-illustrator who worked for a number of prominent magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post, which were very popular during the pre-television era of the 1920s to 1940s.

[3] Charles Ransom Chickering (aka "Chick") was born on October 7, 1891, in the Smithville section of Eastampton Township, New Jersey, on the Atlantic coast, not far from Philadelphia.

His son David maintained that Charles enlisted in the US Army before they got around to drafting him, and was originally assigned to the infantry where he was soon transferred to a cavalry unit.

Stationed in France during the war his talents were put to use when he was assigned to duty in Dijon making medical illustrations of body-part wounds of soldiers who died in battle and were brought in for autopsy.

Recognized for his illustrating ability working for the Army during the first world war he was commissioned by the government and designed recruitment posters for the Navy Department.

Chickering developed heart problems which ultimately claimed his life while living in Island Heights, New Jersey, on April 29, 1970.