USA // Gone with the Wind // Philately // Computer Software Services

#2446 // March 23, 1990 // Hollywood, CA
(ex "Classic Films" block of four)
Promotional poster for the
1939 movie version of Margret Mitchell's
1936 bestseller "Gone With the Wind"

American film actor Clark Gable
(* 1901, † 1960) in the movie role of
the adventurer "Captain Rhett Butler",

English film actress Vivian Leigh
(* 1913, † 1967) in the movie role of
the southern belle "Scarlet O'Hara"

#3185i // September 10, 1998 // Cleveland, OH
(ex souvenir sheet of 15 different
stamps celebrating the 1930s)
Celebrate the Century Series

Margret Mitchell's 1936 novel
"Gone With the Wind",
Cherokee rose blossom
(Georgia's state flower),
saber grip

One of the most popular novels of all time, the epic "Gone With the Wind", written by US American author and journalist Margaret Mitchell (* 1900, † 1949) was first published in 1936. The historical novel and romantic drama is set in Clayton County, GA and in Georgia's state capital Atlanta against the backdrop of the American Civil War (1861-1865) and the Reconstruction Era (1865-1871). Mitchell began writing the novel in 1926 and it took ten years and several modifications and rewritings of the plotlines to complete the bestseller. In 1937 she received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her book.

Predominantly a love story, Mitchell tells the story of Scarlett O'Hara, a beautiful young southern belle who falls madly in love with a man whom she can never have - all the while rejecting the advances of the one man who loves her. Thus unfolds one of the most popular works of fiction ever written. The main characters are:

Scarlett O'Hara,
southern belle, madly in love with Major George Ashley Wilkes, and daughter of irish immigrant Gerald O'Hara and his wife Ellen, owner of the cotton plantation "Tara"

Captain Rhett K. Butler,
Scarlett's admirer and in love with her, adventurer and businessman often publicly shunned for his scandalous behavior

Major George Ashley Wilkes,
beau ideal of Southern manhood, engaged/married to his cousin Melanie Hamilton, and son of widowed John Wilkes, owner of the cotton plantation "Twelve Oaks"

Melanie Wilkes, née Hamilton,
genuinely humble, serene and gracious Southern woman, married to her cousin George Ashley Wilkes


Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal, annually awarded by Columbia University, NYC, for excellent achievments in newspaper and online journalism, photography, literary, and musical composition. The prize is named after the American-Hungarian publisher Joseph Pulitzer (* 1847, † 1911) and was first awarded in 1917.	"The Oscar", annually awarded prize by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, CA, for excellent achievements in cinematic. The prize was first awarded in 1929.

David O. Selznick (* 1902, † 1965) of Selznick International Pictures, a Jewish Hollywood motion picture studio, wanted to produce a film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's historical novel after he bought the rights in July 1936 for US$ 50,000. However, Selznick experienced problems with the screenplay, the running time of the film, and the casting of the leading roles. Therefore filming was delayed for two years. Finally the main characters of the novel were represented by:

Vivian Leigh (Scarlet O'Hara), Clark Gable (Rhett Butler), Leslie Howard (Ashley Wilkes), and Olivia de Havilland (Melanie Hamilton/Wilkes).

For the premiere of the film at the Loew's Grand Theatre in Atalanta, GA, on December 15, 1939 one million people came to the city. It was the climax of three days of festivities hosted by Mayor William B. Hartsfield (* 1890, † 1971), which included a parade of limousines featuring stars from the film, receptions, thousands of Confederate flags and a costume ball. Eurith D. Rivers (* 1895, † 1967), the governor of Georgia at that time, declared December 15 a state holiday.

At the 12^th Academy Awards held in 1940, the film received ten Academy Awards for excellent achievements in cinematic, present-day officially known as "The Oscar".