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Home , Airmail, National Postal Museum, Owney (dog), Postal museum, Postmark

Behind the scenes at theNational Postal

The only surviving U.S. The first postal stamps issued Highlights piece postmarked by the became valid from the July 4, 1776, a letter from for use on July 1, 1847. The Benja- lawyer William Bant to min Franklin stamp paid the rate Postal Declaration of Indepen- for a half-ounce sent up to 300 dence signer John Han- miles. The Museum’s cock complains about the stamp paid for longer distances or collection British stealing his horse. heavier mail.

22 The Postal Record May 2018

hough the Smithson- central role the had in mak- ian’s National Postal ing the United States what it is today, Museum in Washing- as well as a newfound appreciation of ton, DC, is celebrating stamps and (the collection its 25th anniversary, and study of postage stamps), head the stories it tells began curator Nancy Pope said. Twith the founding of the nation. “We want people to understand just Since 1993, the National Postal how deeply entwined the post office Museum has surprised millions of visi- was in the creation and the building of tors by explaining how the Post Office this nation,” she said. “Many people helped to build, and bind together, a don’t realize that this is one organiza- growing country. Most of the muse- tion that is in the Constitution, with National um’s visitors take the mail for granted, Congress being given the power to but leave the building with a greater create post offices and post roads, and understanding of the amazing logistics that was a power that helped in the behind moving the mail and of the expansion of the country.” Visitors to the often A statue of find a newfound sense of wonder for Benjamin something most see as a routine part Franklin looks out over the of life, she said. museum’s “You have the collection boxes first floor. on the street. You have the mailbox at your house. You have the letter carriers walking up and down the Postal street. You’ve got the post offices in the town. It is so much a part of our daily life that we don’t see it,” Pope said. “We like to show people that this stuff that we take for granted has a really fascinating story behind it and The a very intriguing history. We take it for is located in Washington, DC, Museum granted that when we put a letter in next to Union Station. the mailbox it will get there; we don’t think about the mechanisms that have

In 1918, the Post Office fed into the printing press issued a stamp to com- upside down, creating a memorate its new air mail sheet of “Inverted Jennys” service using the Curtiss that were erroneously JN-4H “Jenny” airplane, sold. Inverted Jennys are with an image of the air- now among the most fa- plane. One sheet of 100 mous—and valuable—rare stamps was inadvertently stamps with errors.

May 2018 The Postal Record 23 Behind National the scenes Postal at the Museum

been developed over the centuries to A large beacon also is on get that letter there.” display, a reminder of the advances the The Postal Museum occupies the for- Post Office made in aviation naviga- mer Main Post Office building in Wash- tion technology. Next to the beacon, ington, DC, an ornate Beaux Arts-style visitors can walk into a mail rail car building that opened in 1914. It is host and learn how railroads sped up mail to 6 million objects—the second-largest delivery. To quicken things even more, collection of all the Smithsonian postal employees sorted mail on the , after the Museum of Natural cars while en route to their destination History. The building, including the on specialized cars like the one in the grand marble and bronze details in its museum. Using hooks to grab mail- lobby, was restored shortly after the bags in each town instead of stopping Postal Service stopped using it for mail kept the train on schedule, a technique service in 1986. The edifice is now part later used for airmail. of the museum’s story, honoring a past And, of course, it wouldn’t be a when public buildings were works of postal museum without an LLV. art in themselves. Aside from many other intriguing, Inside, visitors learn about the and sometimes strange, technolo- crucial role of the Post Office and the gies used throughout our history to fascinating innovations that have move the mail—from horse-drawn kept the U.S. Postal Service delivering mail wagons to letters sent to soldiers overseas via microfilm to pneumatic to the country. tubes—the museum shows the story In the main lobby, several of how postal delivery bound a young, once used for airmail loom over- growing nation together. As the coun- head, including the Wiseman-Cooke try expanded, the Post Office went The museum is housed in the former Main airplane, the first to carry U.S. mail. A with it. Mail service was an essential Post Office building and maintains the team led by Californian Fred Wise- part of life that put a town on the antique feel. man built it from nothing but draw- map, sometimes literally. ings and photos of other aircraft, “Post offices were quite often one of and Wiseman took it on its maiden the first things that a new town had,” mail flight in 1911, with a handful of Pope said, “and if you look at so many mail, about 20 miles from Petaluma towns, especially on the frontier, you’ll to Santa Rosa, CA. He flew about 100 find that they were named for their feet off the ground at up to 70 mph. first .” Though Wiseman delivered most of By transferring news, vital docu- his mail after landing, he sometimes ments, money and goods from town to tossed mail into yards from the air. He was met by a crowd in Santa Rosa that gathered to cheer his historic flight.

On Aug. 2, 1971, U.S. astronaut Dave Scott A mail piece carried by the famous Pony postmarked mail on the moon—an act as nation- Express took a few years to cross the conti- ally symbolic as planting a flag. During an Apollo nent and reach its destination in New York. 15 moonwalk, Scott pulled from a pouch an It comes with a notation: “recovered from a bearing die proofs of two 8-cent stamps mail stolen by the Indians in 1860.” By the issued to commemorate lunar exploration. Scott postmarked the envelope on the moon as time it reached New York in 1862, the Pony the Postal Service officially issued the stamps on Earth. The first Scott made was Express had already dissolved. faint, so he made another below it. He left visible smudges of moon dust on the envelope.

24 The Postal Record May 2018

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1 7 Planes, trains and automobiles Mail Call explores

are just some of the ways the Post how the military post-

Office has moved the mail. Visitors al system works and The exhibit explores the process-

find out more in this exhibit. why the mail is an ing technology of the postal sys- tem and how those systems have important resource. evolved over the last 200 years.

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Customers and Com- munities uses a series

of exhibits to examine the evolution of mail

delivery to vastly expanding urban and rural populations in

the 20th century. The Post Office was instrumental This gallery in helping to form the United 6 presents rotat-

States. This exhibit examines how ing exhibits on the country relied on the mail as it topics of special expanded across the continent. 2 interest.

5 The United States Postal Inspection Service—one of our nation’s oldest federal law enforcement agencies—protects mail, post offices and postal employees. 1 As visitors step into this introduc- tory gallery, they encounter the

world’s first —the 2 1 1840 —and learn how it revolutionized communication.

Stamp images—including the top- selling 1993 Elvis stamp, and the

stamp that helped raise almost

$72 million for breast cancer

research—illustrate how stamps

have shaped history and honored

people and places worldwide.

7 The Gallery presents rotat- Here, visitors have access to 275 5 ing exhibits on topics of special interest. 6 1 5 pullout frames displaying7 tens 7 of 4 3 thousands of stamps and pieces of

mail from the National Philatelic

Collection along with the Post-

master General’s and Benjamin K. Miller collections.6 1 5 2 7 7 4 3

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These rare stamps tell stories about 6 important moments in U.S. history, from the Stamp Act and the American Revo- lution to the Apollo 3 15 Moon landing. At wall displays supplemented5 by 1

Each one conveys exhibit frames, visitors investigate significant informa- markings on mail transported on land tion about stamp de- and across seas, by air and in space. sign and production, Among the many historic artifacts are 4 including one of the a 1390 Silk Road letter, a letter mailed most famous stamp aboard Titanic during its first and only printing errors ever voyage, Amelia Earhart’s brown leather made. flight suit, a mailbox remnant from the

1906 San Francisco earthquake, and a

mailbox from Sept. 11.

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6 At interactive displays flanking a large globe, visitors explore examples

of how stamps reflect their countries of origin and connect people, places and cultures worldwide.

In this highly interactive area, visitors 4 are immersed in examples of how stamp content, design and produc- tion have changed over time and how modern U.S. stamps reflect the nation’s identity. town and throughout rural areas, War veterans. By the end of the 19th along with building roads for that pur- century, 13,696 letter carriers were de- pose, the Post Office Department kept livering mail in cities—a workforce that a sprawling nation united. numbers about 200,000 today. And, in the process of creating This month, the Postal Museum is and constantly reinventing its postal recognizing the 100th anniversary of system, the United States demon- the world’s first regularly scheduled strated the power of innovation and airmail service with a temporary technology, combined with a skilled exhibit. The “Postmen of the Skies” was a stray mutt that befriended and dedicated workforce, to move exhibit recognizes the pilots who de- postal employees at the Albany, NY, post things on an enormous scale across livered through the air, beginning with office in 1888. Soon, the scruffy dog was riding on mail trains, where clerks an entire continent. a flight from Washington, DC, to New That power is on display in the considered him a good-luck charm. Many York City on May 15, 1918, in a Curtiss clerks marked his travels with metal tags museum’s “Systems at Work” exhibit, JN-4H, a plane nicknamed “Jenny” on his collar. Owney rapidly became the which recreates the various ways let- (see the stamp on page country’s most famous dog, as newspa- ters, magazines, parcels and other mail 23). By 1920, airplanes were whisking pers reported on his travels nationwide. have traveled from sender to recipient mail across the country from New York He even took an around-the-world trip in over the last 200 years. 1895, traveling with mailbags on trains to San Francisco. And in its “Customers and Commu- and steamships to Asia and across Europe Army pilots were the first to fly mail, nities” exhibit, the museum looks at before returning to Albany. After the dog but the Post Office Department took died in 1897, his body was preserved, how city delivery shaped expectations over the airmail system with civilian and it is on display at the museum, still for service and kept families in touch pilots a few months after the maiden adorned with the tags that marked his as the population grew more mobile. travels. Visitors to the museum can watch flight. Some Army aviators took jobs Free city delivery transformed the an old-timey filmstrip about Owney. Post Office into a customer-based with the Post Office to continue their system that made mail an easy and work on the new enterprise. They were inexpensive tool for everyone. Before pioneers with a dangerous mission— free city delivery was initiated in 1863, more than 30 pilots died flying the mail. customers went to the local post office In death, they were heralded as heroes. to send or receive mail. In a few large When private air carriers emerged, cities, private would bring the Post Office began contracting the mail to customers’ homes, if they work to them. By 1927, all airmail was could afford that service. flown by private , ending the The introduction of free city delivery postal airmail system, but the valu- required an expanded workforce of able airmail contracts kick-started the letter carri- development of commercial aviation. ers. Many of “Postmen of the Skies” will close on the earliest May 27, 2019. letter carriers The Postal Museum explains more were Civil than how we deliver —the

The tiny South American colony of British Guiana issued a few temporary stamps, including 1-cent and The oldest paper letter in the museum’s 4-cent values, in 1856 while the postmaster waited collection, the 1390 “Silk Road Letter” dis- on a shipment of stamps from England. Multiple cusses prices of luxury fabrics and spices copies of the 4-cent stamp have survived, but the purple-hued 1-cent stamp on such as cinnamon and pepper. Mailed by display at the museum is the only one of its kind, and the most valuable stamp a Venetian merchant in Damascus on Nov. in the world. The “One-Cent Magenta” set records for stamp auction prices the 24, 1390, it traveled to Beirut, then by sea last four times it was sold, most recently for nearly $10 million. to Venice, a journey that took a month.

May 2018 The Postal Record 27 Behind National the scenes Postal at the Museum

contents of the envelopes help the of American life at every time in our museum tell personal stories. For history, according to museum director instance, in the temporary exhibit Elliot Gruber. “In Her Words: Women’s Duty and “We have an opportunity to make Service in ,” letters written a much more significant impact, not by women affected by World War I only related to and phi- bring to light their perspectives on the lately, “but on bringing any American change that the “Great War” brought to story to life,” he said. their lives. The exhibit is open through Because the museum is competing Aug. 5. with other activities and demands in And, of course, the museum has the busy lives of its visitors, especially many historic and valuable stamps, related to families, it focuses on bring- as encouraging the appreciation of ing the displays to life in engaging, their design and collection is a central three-dimensional ways. “Twenty or 30 part of its mission. The museum hosts years ago, you would build an exhibit the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery, behind glass cases,” Gruber said. To the world’s largest gallery dedicated attract and interest today’s visitors, to philately. It contains more than “you need to create those experiences 20,000 stamps and other objects of that will be interesting to people while Edison E. Mouton and Rexford Levisee interest both to casual visitors and they’re also learning.” were employed by the U.S. Post Office experienced collectors. Even philately gets a modern, color- Department as airmail pilots. On Sept. The museum’s stamp gallery is ful display in the stamp gallery, as 11, 1920, Mouton flew the last leg of the far from a mere collection of post- many items, including tiny stamps, nation’s first cross-country airmail flight, age. The miniscule pieces tell stories are surrounded by multimedia dis- landing at Marina Field, CA, after flying from American history and beyond. plays and other artifacts that help to the 250 miles from Reno to San Francisco in one hour and 58 minutes, a new flight Along with historic stamps and other explain their significance. Visitors can record for that distance. items related to their place in history, take digital photos and use a com- the Postal Service keeps much of the puter tool to design and print their original art used in the production in own stamp. the “’s Collection,” The museum continues to mine its which is on long-term loan to the mu- rich collection for new stories to bring seum. Among the works are original to the public. Next year, it is planning paintings of Elvis Presley and Marilyn an exhibit on baseball. Monroe that were considered but not “It starts with our postal history used for stamps memorializing these and our stamps,” Gruber said. “From American icons. that, how do we bring experiences The magic of the Postal Museum that inform our visitors even more?” lies in the way the Post Office relates The museum will bring the full story to nearly every aspect of baseball as seen through postal

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service not only protects the integrity of the mail—it protects lives. In 1996, postal inspectors finally caught up with the “Unabomber,” Ted Kaczynski, who had been sending bombs by mail since 1978. His bombs killed three people and injured 23. In his isolated cabin in Montana, Kaczynski was ar- rested by postal inspectors with these handcuffs.

28 The Postal Record May 2018 ‘Secret’ items from the vault eyes to the exhibit by borrowing The Postal Museum has many other items of interest in its vault that are not on items from other Smithsonian muse- permanent display because there simply isn’t enough space. The Postal Record ums, the Postal Inspection Service, asked the curators to give us a peek at a few of the pieces in the vault that relate the Baseball Hall of Fame in Coopers- to letter carriers. town, NY, and private collectors to This uniform jacket was worn by letter craft an immersive experience. carrier Adolph Morgen of the St. Paul, The story of the mail isn’t over yet. MN, Letter Carrier Band around 1904. The Postal Service and the men and women who fulfill its mission are helping to shape our economic future through e-commerce. New technology and a changing economy are trans- forming the way postal employees do our jobs, and this is sure to continue. The Postal Museum will have more to show us in the next 25 years. “I’m very excited about where we’re going,” Gruber said, “because it’s incredible the stories we can tell.” A member of the New York The museum may also bring a City Letter Carrier Band booth to NALC’s national convention played this French horn. It in in July. If you are there and was found in the James A. Far- meet someone from the museum, be ley Post Office in New York. sure to share any interesting ideas— museum staff always want to hear from letter carriers. The National Postal Museum is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., except Dec. 25. It is located at 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE, in Washing- This antique U.S. mail cart was ton, DC, next to Union Station. Admis- manufactured by the Fairbanks sion is free. Company and used by the Kansas If you can’t come to the Postal City, MO, post office. Museum in person, you can take a virtual tour. Go to postalmuseum. si.edu/visit/virtual-tour.html to fol- The well-worn seat of this postal bicycle low the map through the exhibits shows that letter carriers or mail messengers and view 360-degree panoramas of used it frequently for deliveries. The wire the galleries. PR mesh basket is a hand-constructed addition.

In 1941, a Japanese bomb sunk the U.S.S. Oklahoma If you visit the Postal in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Years later, divers recov- Museum, be sure to look ered a stark reminder of this tragic date in history—a in all directions at the stamp device used on the , still set exhibits, and then look to the day before the attack, Dec. 6, 1941. The hand- down. In the lower lobby, stamp was used to cancel stamps on incoming mail to even the floor is a nod sailors on the battleship. Many of those sailors did not to the mail—the tiles live to read letters from home again. resemble envelopes.

May 2018 The Postal Record 29