Mid-century Stamps of Government Buildings

I recently purchased this set of 1960s-era Liberia stamps, which were issued to celebrate several of the grand new governmental edifices of the Tubman administration's Open Door golden era.

One, at center left, presents the Executive Mansion, looking much the same as today. Another, at right, features a dashing perspective of the Capitol Building, in its original, space-age, Florida motor-inn porosity with the east wing vanishing into the background. The Capitol is shown in its original form, before its airy galleries were cemented over and its ground floor porchway was bricked up into its present-day, bunkered appearance. For more pictures of the Capitol, check out the M2M Architectural Tour.

This duo is teamed with a pair of bi-chrome prints (the brown one being a $1 AIRMAIL), with a sharply angular view of towering Treasury Department, soaring into a partly-cloudy West African sky. Today the building is the Ministry of Finance, still lords over the corner of Broad and Mechlin Streets (US-style governmental "departments" became the present-day "ministries" during the Tolbert years).

There is actually mildly interesting multi-storeyed open courtyard in the interior base of this structure, which isn't evident from the street. Like most buildings in Monrovia, the Ministry's present, dilapidated state makes whole complex rather bleak, unfortunately.

Note the swaying palm in several of the illustrations, recalling the Republic's seal.