Federal Duck Stamp Program
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Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps, commonly known as “Duck Stamps,” are pictorialstamps produced by the U.S. Postal Service for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Federal Duck Stamps are a vital tool for wetland conservation. Ninety-eight cents out of every dollar generated by the sales of Federal Duck Stamps goes directly to purchase or lease wetland habitat for protection in the National Wildlife Refuge System. Understandably, the Federal Duck Stamp Program has been called one of the most successful conservation programs ever initiated and is a highly effective way to conserve America’s natural resources.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
First Federal Duck Stamp. Design by J.N. "Ding" Darling Source: Federal Duck Stamps. (n.d.). U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service. Retrieved Oct 5, 2012, from <a href="https://www.fws.gov/birds/get-involved/duck-stamp/buy-duck-stamp.php">http://1.usa.gov/8dJBF</a>
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
1934
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Link: <a href="https://www.fws.gov/birds/get-involved/duck-stamp.php">U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service</a>
Medium: Postage Stamp
English
Stamp
Postal
Ducks
First United States Postmaster Benjamin Franklin
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Franklin was appointed postmaster of Philadelphia by the British Crown Post in 1737. Newspaper publishers often served as postmasters, which helped them to gather and distribute news. Postmasters decided which newspapers could travel free in the mail — or in the mail at all.
Postmaster General Elliott Benger added to Franklin’s duties by making him comptroller, with financial oversight for nearby Post Offices. Franklin lobbied the British to succeed Benger when his health failed and, with Virginia’s William Hunter, was named joint postmaster general for the Crown on August 10, 1753.
Franklin surveyed post roads and Post Offices, introduced a simple accounting method for postmasters, and had riders carry mail both night and day. He encouraged postmasters to establish the penny post where letters not called for at the Post Office were delivered for a penny. Remembering his experience with the Gazette, Franklin mandated delivery of all newspapers for a small fee. His efforts contributed to the Crown’s first North American profit in 1760.
In 1757, while serving as joint postmaster general, Franklin went to London to represent Pennsylvania’s government. In 1763, back in the colonies, he traveled 1,600 miles surveying post roads and Post Offices from Virginia to New England. In 1764, Franklin returned to London, where he represented the interests of several colonial governments. In 1774, judged too sympathetic to the colonies, he was dismissed as joint postmaster general.
Back on American soil in 1775, Franklin served as a member of the Second Continental Congress, which appointed him Postmaster General on July 26 of that year. With an annual salary of $1,000 and $340 for a secretary and comptroller, Franklin was responsible for all Post Offices from Massachusetts to Georgia and had authority to hire postmasters as necessary.
Joseph-Siffred Duplessis
Portrait of Benjamin Franklin, first Postmaster General of the United States (and Continental Congress). <br /><br />Source: USPS. (n.d.). Benjamin franklin first postmaster general. Retrieved Oct 22, 2012, from <a href="https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/pmg-franklin.pdf">http://1.usa.gov/QwarWG</a>
Metropolitan Museum of Art
ca. 1778
Joseph-Siffred Duplessis
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Link: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Benjamin_Franklin_by_Joseph-Siffred_Duplessis.jpg">Benjamin Franklin (via Wikipedia)</a>
Medium: Painting
English
Figures
Postal
Historic
Congresswoman Cecil Murray Harden, Advocate of Women Post Office Workers
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Cecil Harden had served as a congresswoman before Postmaster General Arthur E. Summerfield appointed her as Special Assistant for Women's Affairs. Even though some still didn’t like the idea of women mail carriers, Summerfield and Harden wanted to employ more women for the job. Harden went across the nation in a speaking tour to promote women in post offices, encouraging women to take on the jobs and offering her aide whenever she could. By January of 1961, reports showed that her help worked, as the number of women rural carries had been raised from 380 to 487. In addition, she was the only Republican woman to have represented the state of Indiana in the U.S. Congress.
Library of Congress
Wikimedia<br /><br />Source: Cecil Murray Harden. (n.d.). Women in Congress. Retrieved Oct 26, 2012, from <a href="http://history.house.gov/People/Detail/14512?ret=True">http://history.house.gov/People/Detail/14512?ret=True</a>
Library of Congress
1949-1959
Library of Congress
Library of Congress
Link: <a href="http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000182">Biographical Directory of the United States Congress</a>
Medium: Photograph
English
Figures
Postal
Historic
Postmaster John Wanamaker
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When John Wanamaker was appointed to be the Post Master General in 1889, he implemented many changes that are still in use today. He started the use of commemorative stamps, and was so confident it would work that he personally bought $10,000 dollars worth of them. He made plans to have the first free rural service postal program, which would have mail carriers go to rural areas where most mail services weren’t available. In addition to these, he also designed an underground system of tubes for swift mail delivery in Philadelphia, New York, St. Louis, Boston and Chicago. Each tube could fit over 600 letters and yet be able to be dispatched every 6 to 15 seconds. It highly improved distribution between stations, and could get mail to trains before they took off.
Bain News Service
John Wanamaker<br /><br />A black and white photograph of John Wanamaker, the 35th United States Post Master General. Source: Pope, Nancy. (2007). John Wanamaker Portrait. National Postal Museum. Retrieved Oct 26, 2012, from <a href="https://postalmuseum.si.edu/collections/object-spotlight/wanamaker-portrait.html">http://bit.ly/S4PHFv</a>
Library of Congress
July 22, 1915
Bain News Service
Library of Congress
Link: <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ggb2005019587/">Library of Congress</a>
Medium: Photograph
English
Figures
Postal
Historic
Postmaster General James A. Farley
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Postmaster General James Aloysius Farley among the hundreds of thousands of letters sent during National Air Mail Week, which celebrated the 20th anniversary of the first regularly scheduled airmail service.
James Farley became the Postmaster General during the Great Depression, so it’s more than obvious he had a difficult time during his post. Yet he still managed to make the Post Office Department turn a profit, and was a big part in air mail service. He employed the army to help deliver mail, and also oversaw the first air mail delivery to China. He worked with the president of Pan American World Airways to ensure safe travels for the pilots and fewer damages for the packages delivered. With his reorganizing and revolutionizing the way air mail was handled, he reduced the causalities and helped further the use of air mail. He and President Roosevelt also created National Air Mail Week, which encouraged everyone across the nation to use air mail.
Smithsonian Institution
James A. Farley <br /><br />Source: Sheahan, Mary. (2010, June 23). James A. Farley. National Postal Service. Retrieved Oct 22, 2012, from <a href="http://bitly.com/TO9dLe">http://bitly.com/TO9dLe</a>
Smithsonian Institution
1938
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
Link: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/2551232980/">James A. Farley (via Flickr)</a>
Medium: Photograph
English
Figures
Postal
Historic
James Farley Post Office
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The James A. Farley Post Office Building is the main post office building in New York City. Its ZIP code designation is 10001. Built in 1912, the building is famous for bearing the inscription: Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. In 1982, the post office was officially designated The James A. Farley Building, as a monument and testament to the political career of the nation's 53rd Postmaster General.
Upon opening in 1914 it was named the Pennsylvania Terminal. In July 1918, the building was renamed the General Post Office, and in 1982, renamed once more as the James A. Farley Building. James Farley was the 53rd Postmaster General and served from 1933 to 1940. He died in 1976. The building has its own railroad platform in Penn Station.
The Farley Building was instrumental to maintaining service levels in the New York City area following the 9/11 attacks when it served as a back up to operations for the Church Street Station Post Office located across the street from the World Trade Center complex. Advances in automated mail processing technology, coupled with adjustments to postal distribution and transportation networks now make it feasible to absorb associated mail volumes at the Morgan Center.
The James Farley Post Office is being adaptively reused and converted to house a new concourse for New Jersey Transit. The New Jersey Transit facility within the historic Farley Post Office will be named the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Station. Beyond retail lobby services, other postal operations that would remain in the building will include express Mail, mail delivery, truck platforms, and a stamp depository. Administrative offices for the Postal Service's New York District will also be headquartered within Farley and Operation Santa Claus will remain at the landmark post office.
H. Finkelstein & Son
Source: James A. Farley Post Office. (2010, August 31). Post Office World. Retrieved February 11, 2012, from <a href="https://www.nycgo.com/attractions/james-a.-farley-post-office-midtown-west">http://bit.ly/Wkcz8g</a>
General Post Office (New York)
1910-1920
H. Finkelstein & Son
General Post Office (New York)
Link: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_General_Post_Office,_New_York_City.png">General Post Office (New York) via Wikipedia</a>
Medium: Photomechanical Print
English
Office
Postal
New York
First US Postage Stamp 1847
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Benjamin Franklyn, one of the U.S. Founding Fathers, was the first Postmaster General under the Continental Congress. In 1775, Franklin served as a member of the Second Continental Congress, which appointed him Postmaster General on July 26 of that year. With an annual salary of $1,000 and $340 for a secretary and comptroller, Franklin was responsible for all Post Offices from Massachusetts to Georgia and had authority to hire postmasters as necessary.
U.S. Postal Service
US Phila and Mystic Stamp Company<br /><br />Benjamin Franklyn, the first U.S. Post Master General was featured on the first U.S. Postage Stamp in 1847.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://about.usps.com/publications/pub100/pub100_007.htm">U.S. Postal Service</a>
U.S. Postal Service
1847
U.S. Postal Service
U.S. Postal Service
Source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin">Wikipedia</a>
Medium: Postage Stamp
English
Stamp
Postal
Historic
V-Mail During World War II
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In both world wars, letter writing was a popular means of improving the morale of troops overseas. During the latter years of World War II, V-mail became a popular and inexpensive way of communicating with loved ones. V-mail letter forms could be purchased inexpensively at stores or post offices.
Completed forms were then photographed, put on film, flown overseas, reproduced at mail centers and delivered to the recipients. This 1942 poster produced by the Government Printing Office promotes the usage of V-mail as being reliable, fast and patriotic.
Office of War Information domestic photographic units
LOC & University of North Texas<br /><br />Source: Library of Congress Catalog No. 93511448 Source: Library of Congress, <a href="http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/homefront/gallery.html">"On the Home Front. America During World War I & II"</a>.
Library of Congress
Circa 1942
Office of War Information domestic photographic units
Library of Congress
See also <a href="https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/v-mail.pdf">United States Postal Service</a> July 2008. Retrieved May 23, 2015.<br /><br />Link to <a href="https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibitions/victory-mail">Smithsonian National Postal Museum V-Mail Exhibit</a>
Poster
English
Artwork
Postal
War Mail
Pony Express Route 1860-1861
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Issued by the American Pioneer Trails Association in commemoration of the Pony Express Centennial, April 3, 1960 - October 24, 1961. This pictorial map shows route of Pony Express with names and location of relay stations.
American Pioneer Trails Association
Pony Express <br /><br />Contributor: William Henry Jackson, 1843-1942 Source: Library of Congress <br /><br /><a href="http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g4051p.tr000013">Catalog No. g4051p tr000013</a>. Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C. 20540-4650 USA
Library of Congress
1960
American Pioneer Trails Association
Library of Congress
Library of Congress
Photograph
English
Map
Postal
Postal
Barefoot Mailman Mural
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Barefoot Mailman Summary
The barefoot mailmen of Florida worked as carriers on the first U.S. mail route from Palm Beach to Miami. It took them three days each way walking barefoot on the sand to complete their routes. Though the United States Post Office Department has maintained no record of the Barefoot Mailmen, a monument at Hillsborough Inlet and a New Deal era mural currently hanging in the West Palm Beach Post Office depict the mail carriers at work.
Barefoot Mailman Full Description
The mural "Legend of James Edward Hamilton, Barefoot Mailman" was painted by Connecticut artist Steven Dohanos and hangs in the main U.S. Post Office in West Palm Beach to commemorate James Edward Hamilton, one of the Barefoot Mailmen, who died while crossing the Hillsboro Inlet carrying mail in 1887. This image is panel two of six panels painted by Dohanos in 1940 during the New Deal as part of a WPA initiative.
The week-long route was a great improvement over the mail route available before 1885. Prior to that year, it took a voyage of 3,000 miles and a period of six weeks to two months for a letter to arrive in Miami. When the United States Post Office decided to improve its Florida service in 1885 by establishing the barefoot route, it was a welcome decision. When the job was put out to bid, one of the men interested in the route was James E. “Ed” Hamilton, who had come to Hypoluxo Island from Kentucky. Stormy weather came regularly near the end of September and early October in 1887, so that all the low lands were under water. On October 10, 1887, Ed arrived in Hypoluxo with the mail pouch from Palm Beach, having rowed ten miles in his small skiff. Although he mentioned that we was not feeling well, he insisted on continuing his trip. Due back on Saturday afternoon, he did not return.
Suspicion focused on a stranger noticed by Charles Coman, the keeper at the Fort Lauderdale Station (New River House of Refuge). Coman had heard the stranger coming from the beach, having arrived from the north. When Hamilton's friends arrived at Hillsboro Inlet, the boat Hamilton would have used had disappeared. It seemed that he had seen his boat on the other side of the inlet and had plunged into the water to retrieve it. To Hamilton's friends, the possibility of his drowning was out of the question, he was an excellent swimmer and the current at this spot was not very strong. There were sharks here at this time of year, but there was no sign of any when the search was taking place. There were, however, numerous alligator tracks. Even an excellent swimmer might not have escaped them. The stranger accused by Coman of foul play was later charged with tampering with government property (Hamilton's row boat) and was tried in Federal Court in Jacksonville. He was acquitted and his name was never entered in the court records.
The barefoot route was continued until 1892 when a rock road was completed from Jupiter to Miami. The Bay Biscayne Stage Line took over the mail contract at that time. Henry John Burkhardt, who settled at Hillsboro Inlet in 1891, was the last of the barefoot mailmen.
Steven Dohanos
James Edward Hamilton <br /><br />Source: Kleinberg, Eliot. (2012 Oct 11). Bare Foot Mailman vanished 125 years ago today. The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved November 9, 2012, from <a href="https://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/2012/10/11/barefoot-mailman-vanished-125-years-ago-today/">http://bit.ly/RgTKAI</a> <br /><br />For Further Exploration Please Visit <a href="http://on.fb.me/PLS5Dp">http://on.fb.me/PLS5Dp</a>
Smithsonian American Art Museum
1940
Steven Dohanos
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Link: <a href="http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=6922">James Edward Hamilton via Smithsonian American Art Museum</a>
Medium: Mural
English
Artwork
Postal
Post Office