When railway mail service began, mostly letter mail was sorted on the cars, which were not equipped to distribute other kinds of mail. By about 1869, other mail, except packages, was sorted as well.

In 1930, more than 10,000 trains were used to move the mail into every city, town, and village in the United States. Following passage of the Transportation Act of 1958, mail-carrying passenger trains declined rapidly. By 1965, only 190 trains carried mail; by 1970, the railroads carried virtually no First-Class Mail.

On April 30, 1971, the Post Office Department terminated seven of the eight remaining routes. The lone, surviving railway post office ran between New York and Washington, D.C., and made its last run on June 30, 1977.

The largest airmail customers were in the banking business. They used the service to send checks and financial papers more quickly. Bankers wanted to reduce the float time of checks and pushed for an extension of routes. Financial papers were light, and the cost to send them was low—just 16 cents an ounce, having been reduced from 24 cents in July 1918 to attract more customers. It was further reduced to six cents per ounce on December 15, in an effort to draw even more customers. In July 1919, the extra charge for airmail was eliminated completely and airplanes began to carry a random selection of mail. The charge would be reinstated in 1924 when regular transcontinental service began.

Postal aircraft could fly with sacks of mail for an average cost of $64.80 for each hour in the air. Pilots received a base pay of about $3,600 per year and then were paid five to seven cents more for each mile they flew, flying an average of five to six hours each day. After a year in operation, postal revenues for the year totaled $162,000. The cost to fly the mail had been just $143,000. This first year of operation was to be the only time in airmail history that the service showed a profit.

The phrase ‘historic event covers’ conjures up images of scruffy old envelopes that passed through the mails when your great-granddad wore short pants and the world moved at a slower pace. 

Also known as souvenir covers and special event covers, these artful message carriers were created for a wide range of unique occasions.  The covers often include a descriptive write-up to explain the event.  One such one-and-only cover:  “President Richard M. Nixon Resignation.” (The Nixon cover includes both text and a photo of the disgraced Commander-in-Chief )

Event covers mark achievements in aviation, entertainment, politics, transportation, sports, and even philately!  The Postal Service traditionally kicks off National Stamp Collecting Month by issuing new commemorative stamps in late September or early October.

So event covers, those collectible bits of history that celebrated World’s Fairs and Amelia Earhart’s around-the-world flight in 1937, are as modern as contemporary space travel.  Covers honoring the 1991 Apollo Space flight and covers dedicated to the new millennium attest to the our continuing fascination with history captured on envelopes and postcards.  Still, however, the allure of days-gone-by and the charm of early 20th Century event covers make them especially prized.

Among the most popular of bygone times captured by event covers is the 1933 Century of Progress.  From May 27 to November 1, 1933, the civilized world was focused upon 424 acres of land along the shore of Lake Michigan, edging Chicago.  It was the one place on earth where you could see ‘tomorrow’…today.  And people brought home a little piece of the future when they purchased colorful event covers and other printed souvenirs.