“Landing of the Pilgrims,” the two-cent carmine rose stamp, honors the voyagers who came ashore just before winter, too late to plant crops or build more than the simplest forms of shelter that first year. Many didn’t survive the winter. This settlement is where our Thanksgiving holiday started. Tradition says a grateful Pilgrim colony offered up thanks for several days after the first harvest was gathered. This issue shows the Pilgrims landing at Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Contrary to early public opinion, stamp experts believe today that this issue illustrates fine detail and required extreme skill from the engraver. In fact, had the cloud background been left out of the design, philatelists feel this issue might rank as one of the outstanding US stamps of the 20th century.