US POSTAL HISTORY BLOG » Postal History

Owney the famous postal dog met his tragic demise in Toledo

Don — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:28:33 +0000

Owney was a scruffy mutt who became a regular fixture at the Albany, New York, post office in 1888. His owner was likely a postal clerk who let the dog walk him to work. Owney began to ride with the bags on Railway Post Office (RPO) train cars across the state . . . and then the country! The RPO clerks adopted Owney as their unofficial mascot, marking his travels by placing medals and tags from his stops on his collar.

Lou Hebert who has been reporting and writing broadcast news in the Toledo area for four decades sent me information recently that he authored a story on the adventurous life and tragic demise of Owney the Postal Dog. I’m sure you will find his story of interest.
Click here for his article…

Free Stampless Covers Delivery

Don — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:01:18 +0000

In the early part of the 19th century, envelopes were not used. Instead, a letter was folded and the address placed on the outside of the sheet. The customer had to take a letter to the post office to mail it, and the addressee had to pick up the letter at the post office, unless he or she lived in one of about 40 big cities where a carrier would deliver it to the home address for an extra penny or two.

Street boxes for mail collection began to appear in large cities by 1858. In 1863, free city delivery was instituted in 49 of the country’s largest cities. By 1890, 454 post offices were delivering mail to residents of United States cities. It was not until the turn of the century, however, that free delivery came to farmers and other rural residents.

See my stampless covers for sale on eBay.

Railway Postal Mail Service

Don — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:55:18 +0000

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.

Historic Event Covers

Don — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:03:58 +0000

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.

Confederate Handstamps

Don — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:20:37 +0000

The Confederate Period in American history begins on December 20, 1860 when South Carolina seceded from the Union. Other states would soon follow to form a confederacy, but official stamps issued by the Confederates would not appear until nearly a year later – October 1861. In the absence of a government-issued postage stamp, Confederate postmasters were faced with a dilemma: how to keep the mail (and postal finances) moving. Most of the time they simply accepted payment in cash and applied a ‘PAID’ hand stamp to the envelope.

Confederate Postmasters Provisionals –Civil War era postmasters in small Southern towns were able to handstamp mail to keep it moving while waiting for Jefferson Davis’ government to issue Confederate stamps. But the time-consuming process was inefficient for busy post offices in larger cities. This led to the creation of Civil War Postmaster’s provisionals. Some provisionals are envelopes pre-stamped with a postmark hat has been modified to say ‘Paid.’ Other provisionals are envelopes with pre-stamped amounts printed on them. Some of the most interesting provisionals of the period are traditional stamps produced by local printers.

Stampless Covers and Postal Markings

Don — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:32:48 +0000

Robert F. Chambers (1887-1947) loved stamps, but he is also credited as one of the first American collectors to appreciate and amass stampless covers and postal markings. His extensive collection includes examples from the Colonial period through the 1890′s. Meticulously assembled, it contains most types of postal markings available for the 125-year period. such as straight-lines, territorial, fancy and unusual markings such as oval, CDS, packets, ship markings, railroad and mail route markings. It is now in the possession of the Rhode Island Historical Society.

The Presidential Issue – Prexies

Don — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 11:46:39 +0000

Nicknamed ‘the Prexies’ by collectors the Presidential Issue is a series of definitive postage stamps issued in the United States in 1938. The unique collection features all 29 U.S. presidents from George Washington through Calvin Coolidge. The Presidents are depicted as small busts printed on solid-color designs on stamps valued up to 50-cents. The designs are black on white with colored lettering for the $1, $2, and $5 values. Many irregular values were included simply to ensure so that each Commander-in-Chief had a stamp of his own. Additional stamps depicted Benjamin Franklin on a half-cent stamp, Martha Washington on a one-and-a-half-cent stamp, and the White House, on a stamp with a value of four-and-a-half cents.

Just What Is A Cachet?

Don — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 13:34:47 +0000

Ask some people what ‘cachet’ means and they’re likely to tell you it’s a French word that refers to a stamp or a seal. Others may refer to its common English usage to refer to something that gives the owner superior status…as in “owning a bottle of Lafitte-Rothschild champagne gave the host a certain cachet among his guests.”

But to a devotee of postal history, a cachet is a design or inscription (other than a cancellation or pre-printed postage) that appears on an envelope, postcard, or postal card to commemorate a postal or philatelic event.

Cachetmaking is truly an art form. The designs may be produced in a variety of ways, including drawing or painting directly onto the envelope, serigraphy, block printing, and lithography. Engraving, and more recently laser printing and rubber stamping have been used to create cachets.

Cachets can be official or private and they commemorate everything from political opinion, to specific routes, or the Super Bowl. Cachets for first day covers (FDC) made their appearance in 1923. Prominent philatelist and cachet-maker George W. Linn created a design for the Harding Memorial stamp issue. With this creation, Linn created an entirely new collecting area, and for many years, through his firm, Linprint, printed and sold first day cachets.

In the 21st Century, the largest and best-known cachetmaking companies, which typically produce thousands or tens of thousands of printed cachets for U.S. stamp issues, are Artcraft, Fleetwood, House of Farnam, and Colorano. For collectors, detective work may be required to determine which cachet makers (old and new) created which designs. However most cachet makers have a continuing of style to their designs and repeat certain elements…subtly, but effectively ‘branding’ their work.

Among the chief clues for identifying cachets are trademarks, names or initials, addresses, borders, continuity of style, stuffers and advertisements.

One cachet designer well known for continuity of style is F.R. Rice’s whose lifesaver-style border is found on about 75% of his designs. C. Stephen Anderson’s cachets consistently feature an illustration with an historical narrative printed below it.

Printing U.S. Postage Stamps

Don — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:12:53 +0000

Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson (RWH&E), one of the most prominent printing and engraving firms in nineteenth-century America, was the first to receive a government contract for designing and printing U.S. postage stamps. Though the firm’s production was small—only two stamp Issues—its artistry set the standard for succeeding U.S. printing and engraving firms. The RWH&E issues were generally superior to the first stamps produced by other countries.

Patriotic Covers of The Civil War Era

Don — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 01:56:34 +0000

The Civil War patriotic covers and other printed stationery items created by the Charles Magnus Company are distinguished by their eye-catching hand-coloring. To create the covers, a pre-cut stencil pattern was laid over a black and white design and color was applied. The workers, primarily women and children paid a salary of 8-cents per day for their labors, were given free reign in their color selections. As a result, Civil War patriotic covers with designs created by the Charles Magnus Company may be truly unique.