US POSTAL HISTORY BLOG

It’s not surprising to learn that there was trouble delivering the mail from the beginnings of the General Post Office in the 1700’s. What is surprising is that the ‘new’ U.S. Congress considered this a high priority on its agenda, and in 1777 created the position of Inspector of Dead Letters. In today’s politically correct parlance, these facilities have been renamed Mail Recovery Centers (MRC). Read the rest »

On February 11, 2008, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced an increase in postage rates. Along with other increases, the cost of a 1st class stamp will be raised to $0.42 on May 12th.While the most visible change is the 1-cent increase for First-Class Mail letters, the changes are broader and include prices that could save you real dollars when shipping packages:

The Postal Service is authorized by The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act to adjust prices each May. The good news is that the Act also limits increases to be no more than inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index. That basically means that postal rates, at worst, can only stay at their current relative cost. As some increases may be below inflation, the average relative cost of postage will actually decline.

Now may be a good time to stock up on Forever Stamps. These 1st class stamps, currently priced at $0.41, may be used in place of the new $0.42 stamps. Generally, being able to buy something now that will have a higher value later is seen as in investment. More than 6 billion “forever” stamps have been sold since they were introduced last year. Read more about the Forever Stamp.

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.

A forever stamp is valid for first class postage no matter what the rate. By concept, once purchased, a forever stamp is a perpetual stamp that never expires or declines in value. Although the U.S. has used non-denominated stamps in its history, they were not the same as a forever stamp. The U.S. Postal Service used lettered stamps as contingency stamps several times when postage rates increased.

The U.S. Postal Service submitted a proposal in May 2006 to the U.S. Postal Rate Commission to create a forever stamp beginning in 2007. Future forever stamps would be sold based on the first class rate at the time they are purchased.

More than 6 billion “forever” stamps have been sold since they were introduced last year. The USPS sold $267.7 million worth of them in March, up from $207.9 million in February and $115.3 million in January.

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Aerophilately – A combination of aero (air) and philately (the hobby of stamp collection) gives us aerophilately, the popular area of collecting devoted to air mail. Aerophilately is the hobby of collecting air mail stamps, and envelopes (covers) that have been sent by air mail — including by airplane, balloon or other types of aircraft. Many consider airmail a snapshot of the development of aviation and its effect on world communications as new routes opened the doors between people, nations, and continents.
 
Air Mail Etiquettes – Etiquettes are labels and stickers that are affixed to covers to denote a special type of service such as registration, certified, etc. Air mail etiquettes, denoting non-ground transport, they may be created by a government or a private firm. Air labels are similar to etiquettes. They are issued by airlines as a way to advertise their name and identify airmail letters. The definitive guide is the eight-volume Airtransport Label Catalogue, published by the Aeronautica and Air Label Collectors Club.