USPS marks milestone with new stamps and commemorative items
By Dennis Sadowski
Even before the United States declared independence from the British crown, the Second Continental Congress on July 26, 1775, established a formal postal system, naming Benjamin Franklin as the first postmaster general.
The Congress recognized that efficiency in communication—18th century style—was necessary as settlers expanded into far-reaching places in the 13 territories that would eventually encompass a new country.
Early in colonial times in the 1600s there was little need for mail service because few colonists needed to send mail to each other. Without post offices, people often left letters at businesses and inns to be picked up whenever the addressee visited.
Any formal mail service the colonists required more likely involved corresponding with friends, family and businesses in Britain and Europe. Mail was sent via ocean-crossing ships and often took months to deliver.
Franklin went about setting up a broad system of post offices and mail delivery routes. At the time there were 69 post offices spread across the colonies. All but nine remain open today.
Franklin’s experience in running the mail operation in Philadelphia surely helped. In 1753 he became one of two joint postmaster generals for the colonies, establishing mail routes that connected communities. He implemented plans that cut delivery time in half between Philadelphia and New York.
However, the British stepped in and fired Franklin in 1774 because of his connection to the rising revolutionary activities in the colonies. The Continental Congress quickly stepped in and hired him for a daunting task. He held the job less than 14 months before he was appointed ambassador to France on Sept. 14, 1776.
Today’s U.S. Postal Service, a not-for-profit, self-supporting agency, succeeded the Post Office Department on July 1, 1971. As the nation’s largest civilian employer with about 500,000 workers, the USPS continues the tradition of delivering mail to addresses in 50 states, five territories and the District of Columbia. While it may have its challenges, it is the largest postal operation in the world.
The USPS is marking its noted anniversary with a new logo and the release on July 23 of two stamp issues.
The “Eagle in Flight” logo was unveiled April 25. The design in red, white and blue features a bald eagle, a symbol that has been on the postal service seal since 1970. “The eagle encompasses everything USPS stands for and embraces the symbol the nation’s founders chose to represent America’s strength and freedom,” the agency said.
One commemorative stamp issue featuring Franklin is based on an 1875 reproduction of an 1847 5-cent stamp, one of the first official U.S. postage stamps. The new forever stamp will be valued at the new 73-cent first-class rate that goes into effect July 13. Simple descriptive wording marking the anniversary and the agency appear at the top and bottom of the design.
Two panes of 10 stamps featuring the intaglio-printed Franklin stamp will be part of what is known in philately as a prestige booklet. Titled “Putting a Stamp on the American Experience,” the 32-page booklet will review in text and images the cultural influence of stamps on American heritage, the postal service said.
It will sell for $20.95, above the $15.60 price of the stamps.
The second stamp issue is an eye-catcher. It encompasses a pane of 20 “forever” stamps under a banner that reads “250 Years of Delivering.” Cartoonist Chris Ware designed the stamps, which invites “the public to spot a fun array of familiar postal items and icons while following a mail carrier on her rounds through four seasons of the year,” the USPS said in a news release announcing the issue.
In addition, the celebration throughout the rest of the year will include a USPS-licensed coffee table book; a 250th anniversary edition of “The United States Postal Service: An American History” online and in print; an episode of the “Mail with Mr. ZIP” YouTube series; social media, podcasts and blog posts; and advertising focusing on the “Delivering since 1775” theme.
Dennis Sadowski can be reached at sadowski.dennis@gmail.com