US POSTAL HISTORY BLOG

An independent federal agency, the USPS gives new meaning to the phrase ‘full service.’ delivery. With its army of men and women in uniform, the USPS is the only delivery service in America with the will and the way to visit every address in the nation. (And that’s regardless of snow, rain, sleet, and other carrier-unfriendly conditions including dogs!)
 
The Postal Service works hard to earn its annual revenue of $75 billion, delivering nearly half the world’s mail. Much of the credit for that work and that revenue goes to USPS postage stamps. BUT…with the online stamps readily available, are USPS stamps becoming the Edsel of the postage world?
 
Nearly 10 years ago, on March 21, 1998, technology site C/Net announced, “The Postal Service cemented its place in the Internet age today with the unveiling of the first electronic stamps.” The launch of the stamps represented the first new form of postage approved in 78 years. (In 1920, the Postal Service approved postage meters, still commonly used by businesses.)
 
Many people said e-stamps would be the death knell for traditional stamps and the end of beautifully designed commemorative and definitive issues…not to mention the end of nearly 200 years of U.S. postal stamp collecting. But a decade later, stamps are as strong as ever. The 2008 Commemorative Postage series is as eagerly anticipated as any before it.
 
Yes, the traditional stamp is alive and well and being purchased by the millions. And I don’t think that e-stamps will replace traditional stamps any more than I think that email will replace good old forms of communication like handwritten letters and cards. Cold technologically produced stamps will never replace warm, tangible bits of art. (Although I am in favor of the move from lick-and-stick stamps to self-adhesive!)
 
And here’s another thought. Interest in stamps has never been greater and the Internet fuels that interest with thousands of websites that provide information, auctions, and opportunities to purchase stamps.
 
In the long run, the medium that some thought threatened the creation of postage stamps may, in fact, be the reason they thrive.