Title: Butler & Carpenter correspondence
Description: This collection of correspondence documents the business dealings
of Butler & Carpenter (1862-1878). The firm engraved and printed revenue
stamps for legal documents and various commodities – including alcohol,
tobacco, matches and medicine.
Title: Railway Mail Service
Description: This archival collection documents the history of the Railway
Mail Service (1832-1977). At the height of its service in the 1930s, more
than 10,000 trains were used by the RMS to move the mail into every city,
town, and village in the United States. The collection is currently uncatalogued.
It contains both documents and photographs. The contents include: business
records, correspondence, media coverage, photographs and other material relating
to the RMS.
Title: Aerial Mail Service
Description: This archival collection documents the history of the Aerial
Mail Service (1918 – 1927). On May 15, 1918, the U.S. Post Office Department
established the first air mail route in the United States between New York,
NY, and Washington, DC. From its inception, the Aerial Mail Service was intended
to operate only as long as necessary to clearly demonstrate the practicality
of commercial aviation and induce private enterprise to take over the operation.
The Post Office relinquished control of the service to private air-transport
carriers on June 30, 1927.
Title: Highway Post Office
Description: This archival collection documents the history of the Highway
Post Office (1941 – 1974). On February 10, 1941, the Highway Post Office
inaugurated service between Washington, DC, and Harrisonburg, VA. Highway
mail routes served an average of 25 post offices directly and many others
indirectly through Star Route and railway mail connections. The end of the
Highway Post Office system was signaled by a major reorganization within the
Post Office Department - the adoption of the sectional center concept and
high-speed sorting equipment in 1974.
Title: Panama Canal Zone Post Office
Description: This archival collection documents the history of the Panama
Canal Zone Post Office (1904 – 1999). When the Canal properties were
turned over to the United States in 1904, the Department of Revenues established
an independent postal service to handle ordinary mail, money orders and postal
savings. The Panama Canal Zone postal service continued to operate until 1999,
when the Republic of Panama resumed control of the Canal.
Title: Frederick J. Melville working papers
Description: Frederick Melville was Great Britain’s greatest writer,
editor and publisher of philatelic literature from the 1890’s to the
1940’s. These are his working papers – research, drafts, articles
and books on a wide range of philatelic topics.
Title: Thaddeus P. Hyatt working papers
Description: Dr. Hyatt was a leading student and collector of worldwide material
concerning the movement of mail. The collection includes journal articles,
newspaper clippings, photographs and other ephemera on the subject.
