On this day in history, July 1, 1847, the US Post Office issues the first stamps

"...The two stamps came in two designs, one for each denomination. The five-cent stamp featured a picture of Benjamin Franklin, while the ten-cent stamp depicted George Washington. ... Prior to the invention of the postage stamp, a person mailing a letter would need to bring each letter to the post office and pay for it in person, said the USPS. Rather than a set price, the postage rate was determined by the length of the letter and how far it was being sent, said USPS. ..."    

This Article is From: www.yahoo.com


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Old postal manuals found

Postal manuals from 1940s donated to national museum

"...Buried in the corner of an unused closet for at least 35 years, the book was recently found by Clermont Postmaster Sandy Perkins, who was looking through a dust-covered box at the post office building...."    

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The postal service brought radical change to American retailing

How the postal service revolutionized American retailing

"...at a time when Americans were increasingly attentive to the way high distribution costs were driving up prices, a low-cost parcel post seemed like an obvious way to make the average family better off.

The ascension of Progressive Republicans and Democrats in the 1910 congressional election sealed the deal. President William Howard Taft endorsed the parcel post, and Congress directed the Post Office to begin carrying packages as of Jan. 1, 1913...."    

This Article is From: www.post-gazette.com Read our latest posts! .

Mary Fields biography - Postal History

Mary Fields

"...In 1895 she found a job that suited her, as a U.S. mail coach driver for the Cascade County region of central Montana. She and her mule Moses, never missed a day, and it was in this capacity that she earned her nickname of "Stagecoach", for her unfailing reliability. ..."    

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Postal Savings Bank ...a bit of Postal History

Mailing Our Way to Solvency

"...In 1910, Congress created a postal savings system. The Post Office offered small savings accounts to individual Americans. The system boomed during the Depression and World War II, with a balance of more than $3 billion in 1947 — almost $30 billion in today’s dollars. But F.D.I.C. insurance of private bank accounts removed the advantage of security from the postal savings system, and its fixed 2 percent..."    

This Article is From: www.nytimes.com

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Philatelist Passes: Harvey Karlen

Harvey Karlen: 1918 - 2008: Expert on city's postal history "... Among his books were "Chicago's Mail: An Anthology of Postal History Articles Focusing Upon the Community's Growth, Its Interests and Its Attitudes" and the playfully titled "Chicago's Crabgrass Communities: A History of the Independent Suburbs and Their Post Offices That Became Part of Chicago." ..." [Reference: www.chicagotribune.com]

Links for Harvey Karlen books:
Chicago postal history;: Selections that honor the collecting interest of Richard McP. Cabeen

Chicago's mail: An anthology of postal history articles focusing upon the community's growth, its interests, and its attitudes