Sketching the Pandemic Year 2020 week 51

Sketching the Pandemic Year 2020 week 51 December 13-19 

Sketching the Pandemic Year 2020 in the Smithsonian Engagement Calendar had an unexpected benefit for me - I learned a lot of interesting history through the photos for each week from the Smithsonian collection. The stamp pictured is a $1 beer revenue stamp proof single, 1871 Card, scarlet and black ink engraved frame and vignette from the collection of National Postal Museum. Who knew there was a beer revenue stamp !!! According to the write up on the page, “at the time this stamp was printed, the federal beer tax was $1 per barrel. Brewers purchased sheets of the stamps without gum or perforations, cut the stamps apart, canceled them and pasted them over the stopper of the beer barrel so that tapping the barrel destroyed the stamp. This 1871 proof contains two mistakes : Secretary of Treasury Hugh McCulloch’s name is misspelled ’McCullogh’ and the word ‘printing’ contains a typo.”

I am not much of a beer drinker - beverage of my choice is coffee with lots of soy milk ! This particular morning a rainbow fell  through the window across the tablecloth and the coffee mug - best start for a beautiful day ! The table cloth and the patterns on my cup complement the photo on the opposite page quite well. Savoring the moment, I knew what to draw for that week :) 

Rainbow cup watercolor and pen by Meera Rao