BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 3): Mail Marks History

BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 3): Mail Marks History DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 3): Mail Marks History:

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. MMARKS_210828_01.JPG: The following pictures are from the page 2021_DC_SIPM_Mail_Marks DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 3): Mail Marks History (1 photo from 2021)
  The sign indicates where the COVID-19 hand tool can be used to open the display.
2. MMARKS_180526_001.JPG: The following pictures are from the page 2018_DC_SIPM_Mail_Marks DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 3): Mail Marks History (30 photos from 2018)
  Mail Marks History In Times of Trouble
3. MMARKS_180526_006.JPG: Undeliverable 9/11 cover, September 11, 2001
4. MMARKS_180526_010.JPG: Undeliverable 9/11 cover, September 11, 2001
5. MMARKS_180526_013.JPG: In Times of Trouble Cholera Epidemics
6. MMARKS_180526_019.JPG: Cholera fumigated mail, December 1, 1774
7. MMARKS_180526_023.JPG: Cholera fumigated mail, 1831
8. MMARKS_180526_025.JPG: Cholera fumigated mail, November 19, 1848
9. MMARKS_180526_029.JPG: In Times of Trouble Anthrax
10. MMARKS_180526_035.JPG: Cover inspected for anthrax addressed to Vice President Richard B. Cheney, July 18, 2002
11. MMARKS_180526_038.JPG: Cover inspected for anthrax addressed to the Office of the Vice President, October 18, 2001
12. MMARKS_180526_041.JPG: Cover inspected for anthrax addressed to Vice President Richard B. Cheney, October 22, 2001
13. MMARKS_180526_049.JPG: In Times of Trouble Siberian Expeditionary Force
14. MMARKS_180526_052.JPG: Siberia postal agency, October 18, 1918
15. MMARKS_180526_055.JPG: Siberia postal agency, November 1, 1918
16. MMARKS_180526_060.JPG: North Russia Siberia Expedition, June 17, 1919
17. MMARKS_180526_064.JPG: Members of the American Expeditionary Force Siberia arrive in 1918. Providing mail service to U.S. forces in such distant places posed a difficult challenge.
18. MMARKS_180526_068.JPG: In Times of Trouble Civilian Internment
19. MMARKS_180526_071.JPG: Inmates at Auschwitz, the largest and most notorious of six concentration camps set up by Nazi Germany, passed through this gate. Arbeit Macht Frei means "Work Makes One Free."
20. MMARKS_180526_074.JPG: Auschwitz concentration camp, May 13, 1942
21. MMARKS_180526_077.JPG: Japanese-American internment mail, April 12, 1943
22. MMARKS_180526_079.JPG: American WWII internee, August 23, 1943
23. MMARKS_180526_082.JPG: In Times of Trouble Civilian Mail Censorship
24. MMARKS_180526_084.JPG: WWII suspension of service, February 10, 1942
25. MMARKS_180526_087.JPG: United States Army censors perform their duties during World War II
26. MMARKS_180526_089.JPG: WWII civil mail censorship, August 17, 1943
27. MMARKS_180526_091.JPG: WWII censor check for secret ink, July 25, 1944
28. MMARKS_180526_096.JPG: In Times of Trouble Earthquake
29. MMARKS_180526_100.JPG: San Francisco earthquake, April 24, 1906
30. MMARKS_180526_102.JPG: Postal employees saved the main post office building and its contents. With fires under control, business resumed with general delivery service at 9 a.m. on April 20, two days after the earthquake. Stamp sales resumed first days later.
31. MMARKS_180526_104.JPG: One of the greatest natural disasters in U.S. history, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake toppled buildings and opened gaping cracks in the street.
32. MMARKS_140706_001.JPG: The following pictures are from the page 2014_DC_SIPM_Mail_Marks DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 3): Mail Marks History (89 photos from 2014)
  Oregon train robbery cover, 1923 The charred cover was among the remains of a fire that broke out when the D'Autremont brothers used dynamite to hod up the Southern Pacific Railroad's "Gold Special" on October 11, 1923.
33. MMARKS_140706_005.JPG: Chicago Fire Salvaged block of burnt 2c stamps, Chicago Post Office fire, 1871 Salvaged block of burnt stamps, Chicago Post Office fire, 1871 Officials salvaged this partial block of 2-cent Jackson stamps (Scott number 146) from the United States Post Office in downtown Chicago after the Great Chicago fire of October 1871. The fire and water damage testifies to the horrific conflagration that consumed the city. The fire broke out southwest of downtown in the barn behind the home of Patrick and Catherine O'Leary at 137 DeKoven Street on Sunday evening, October 8, 1871, just after nine o'clock. Gale-like winds drove flames northeast, and the fire raged for two days. Rainfall finally accomplished what citizens could not. The blaze finally died, but not before destroying the United States Post Office along with the rest of the central business district. Constructed of stone and with iron shutters and doors, the United States Post Office was believed to be fireproof, but as winds whipped flames toward the post office, postal employees closed the interior iron doors to protect the building. They had already closed outside shutters, as was the practice after office hours. However, a neighboring building fell, damaging the shutters on the north windows and allowing the fire to breach the building's defenses. In less than five minutes, the entire first floor was in flames. Postal employees rushed into the neighboring Customs House, which they believed to be still safe. But, alas, the fire broke through an old staircase and totally destroying the building. How this fire started is still debated, although many still blame Mrs. O'Leary's unlucky cow. Written by Marv Murray April 2013
34. MMARKS_140706_013.JPG: India first official airmail by airplane, February 18, 1911: French pilot Henri Pequet flew five miles with a sack of about 6,000 cards and letters, all with a special cancel: "First Aerial Post, 1911, U.P. Exhibition Allahabad." The delivery represented the world's first official airplane mail.
35. MMARKS_140706_017.JPG: United Kingdom first aerial post, September 9, 1911: Flown on the first day of the United Kingdom's airmail service between Hendon Aerodrome and Windsor Great Park, this postcard carried additional postage for its Swiss destination. The message on the reverse reads: "I am so excited to think of sending you a flying machine full of love."
36. MMARKS_140706_023.JPG: France aviation meet, October 21, 1909: Pilots worldwide barnstormed the countryside in the early 1900s. This postcard from an air racing event in Port Aviation, south of Paris, features pilot Jean Gobron with his biplane and the event label.
37. MMARKS_140706_030.JPG: Sachsen Liegnitz-Dresden flight, November 9, 1913: Flown by the German zeppelin Sachsen from Liegnitz to Dresden, this postcard bears a specially prepared air label of the zeppelin over Liegnitz. The Sachsen rubber stamp marking is inverted.
38. MMARKS_140706_037.JPG: ZR3 (later Los Angeles) transatlantic reparations delivery flight, October 15, 1924: Delivered to the U.S. Navy following World War I, the German airship ZR3 carried this postcard from Friedrichshafen to Lakehurst, New Jersey. The oval cachet translate: "Carried on airship ZR3."
39. MMARKS_140706_049.JPG: Graf Zeppelin and catapult combination flights, September 19, 1934: This is the only known example of a zeppelin cover franked by a revenue duck stamp, which was not valid for postage. Markings show that it traveled over 10,000 miles, from New York through England and Germany to Rio de Janeiro, via at least six modes of transportation -- without detection.
40. MMARKS_140706_054.JPG: San Francisco earthquake, April 24, 1906: Postmarked six days after the devastating 1906 earthquake, this cover arrived in Washington, DC, on April 30 with 4 cents postage due. Makeshift post offices in San Francisco accepted mail without postage and sent it to the receiving post office, where postage due was assessed and collected from the recipient.
41. MMARKS_140706_062.JPG: Postal employees saved the main post office building and its contents. With fires around control, business resumed with general delivery service at 9am on April 20, two days after the earthquake. Stamp sales resumed five days later.
42. MMARKS_140706_065.JPG: A view from the post office building shows the damage wrought by the 1906 earthquake.
43. MMARKS_140706_069.JPG: This cachet shows a zinc ball used during the Siege of Paris. The French set up nets to trap the balls, but none were recovered during the period of the siege.
44. MMARKS_140706_074.JPG: Zinc ball mail, January 1, 1871: During Germany's 1870-1871 Siege of Paris, the French tried to deliver mail to Paris by placing letters inside zinc balls and floating them down the Seine River. The experiment was not successful, but some balls -- and the letters inside -- were retrieved after the siege.
45. MMARKS_140706_083.JPG: Pigeon mail, November, 1870: During the Siege of Paris, balloons moved mail and carrier pigeons out of the city. The pigeons carried an early form of microphotography that enabled 16 pages of text to be placed on a 1-1/4" by 2" piece of film. Of about 400 pigeons released, only one in eight returned.
46. MMARKS_140706_103.JPG: Mail robbery, c. 1852: A conductor aboard the Baltimore Railroad's mail train confessed to stealing checks and cash from numerous mail pieces, including this cover, 1852. Sentenced to five years in prison, he was later pardoned by President Millard Fillmore.
47. MMARKS_140706_110.JPG: Salt Lake City air crash, December 15, 1936: En route to Salt Lake City, Utah, Western Air Express Flight 6 crashed. Winter conditions delayed discovered of the wreck and delivery of mail until spring. An auxiliary mark explains "Delay Due to Air Mail Interruption Near Salt Lake City." Moisture separated the stamp from the cover.
48. MMARKS_140706_122.JPG: The pilot of Western Air Express Flight 6 flew a Boeing 247D aircraft, like this one. Amelia Earhart helped search for the downed plane. All seven people aboard died.
49. MMARKS_140706_125.JPG: First transatlantic solo flight piloted by a woman, 1932
50. MMARKS_140706_132.JPG: First solo flight from Honolulu to Oakland, 1935
51. MMARKS_140706_135.JPG: First first solo nonstop flight from Mexico City to Newark (destination New York City), 1935.
52. MMARKS_140706_139.JPG: Autographed envelope prepared for Earhart's ill-fated world flight, 1937
53. MMARKS_140706_144.JPG: 20c "Muestra" Specimen overprint, Mexico, 1935 20c Earhart overprint, Mexico, 1935
54. MMARKS_140706_149.JPG: Amelia Earhart's flight suit, 1920s: Amelia Earhart wore this brown leather flight suit designed for female pilots. Fully lined with orange, red, and brown plaid flannel, it provided insulation from the elements while flying in an open cockpit or at high, chilly altitudes. The snap collar protected against drafts.
55. MMARKS_140706_158.JPG: U.S. first official airmail by airplane, September 23, 1911: Postmaster General Frank H. Hitchcock authorized mail to be flown at the International Aviation Tournament in Garden City, New York. Pilot Earle L. Ovington flew the first official U.S. airmail on September 23, first day of the meet.
56. MMARKS_140706_164.JPG: U.S. first official airmail service by airplane, May 15, 1918: President Woodrow Wilson signed this envelope, which was carried on one of three flights inaugurating the first regularly scheduled U.S. airmail service -- between Washington, D.C., and New York City via Philadelphia. The envelope was specially created for the flight, and six post office officials initialed the margin of the stamp.
57. MMARKS_140706_171.JPG: Amelia Earhart solo transatlantic flight, May 20, 1932: On her historic solo slight across the Atlantic, Earhart carried 50 pieces of unofficial mail -- each postmarked before and after landing, cacheted, numbered, and autographed to document the record-setting event.
58. MMARKS_140706_177.JPG: China Clipper Hawaii transpacific flight, December 5, 1935: This cover flew from Honolulu to San Francisco on the final return leg of the world's first scheduled transpacific flight. A 25-cent airmail stamp with a head-on view of the Pan American Airways seaplane China Clipper was issued for mail carried on the new San Francisco-Manila route.
59. MMARKS_140706_183.JPG: Hong Kong Clipper transpacific flight, April 29, 1937: On April 21, 1937, transpacific service was extended to Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Clipper flew this dispatch to Manila. The China Clipper carried it from there to San Francisco.
60. MMARKS_140706_186.JPG: Tuskegee air crew in WWII, December 15, 1943: African-Americans who participated in air crew, ground crew, and operations support training in the Army Air Corps during World War II became known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Their unmatched success led President Truman to desegregate the US military. Sgt. Alexton Squire Boone Jr., of the 99th Fighter Squadron, sent this letter.
61. MMARKS_140706_193.JPG: Johnstown, PA, flood mailbox remnant, 1889: On May 31, 1889, a dam ruptured in Pennsylvania's Conemaugh Valley. The ensuing flood destroyed the town of Johnstown. The front of this iron mail collection box survived.
62. MMARKS_140706_197.JPG: Lever pouch padlock, 1862: Used mainly to secure mail bags, this lock was damaged during a robbery.
63. MMARKS_140706_203.JPG: San Francisco earthquake mailbox remnant, 1906: When the 1906 earthquake struck, it shook this mailbox front installed in San Francisco's main post office. The mailbox survived and remained in use until 1972.
64. MMARKS_140706_209.JPG: Sent to quarantined ship, September 18, 1926: Before ships arriving in New York could dock and unload passengers and cargo, they had to undergo a health clearance. The addressee of this cover was awaiting clearances about RMS Franconia, which had sailed from Liverpool. A mail boat carried the piece to the ocean liner.
65. MMARKS_140706_214.JPG: Cover inspected for anthrax addressed to Vice President Richard B. Cheney, July 18, 2002: This registered cover from Nigeria passed White House Security clearance, as indicated by the hand-stamped check mark and number 120. The number identifies the examiner who processed the piece.
66. MMARKS_140706_222.JPG: Siberia postal agency, October 18, 1918: In 1918, during Russian's civil war, President Wilson sent troops to join an allied force in Northern Russia and Siberia. An officer, was allowed to self-censor this piece of mail, postmarked by the U.S. Postal Agency/Siberia on the first day of use for this cancel.
67. MMARKS_140706_230.JPG: Siberia postal agency, November 1, 1918: This piece of self-censored officer's mail features the handmade cachet of the U.S. Army Expeditionary Forces Siberia shoulder patch.
68. MMARKS_140706_233.JPG: North Russia Siberia Expedition, June 17, 1919: A U.S. sailor sent this piece of uncensored mail, which bears the postmark of Navy flagship USS Des Moines at Archangel, Russia.
69. MMARKS_140706_236.JPG: Members of the American Expeditionary Force Siberia arrive in 1918. Providing mail service to U.S. forces in such distant places posed a difficult challenge.
70. MMARKS_140706_239.JPG: Auschwitz concentration camp, May 13, 1942: An inmate at Auschwitz posted this card, which includes the rules governing inmate mail. The front includes the inmate's identification, a Hitler stamp, and the censor's mark -- a red rubber stamp. The reverse features the inmate's message.
71. MMARKS_140706_248.JPG: Japanese-American internment mail, April 12, 1943: Following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. military relocated thousands of citizens who had emigrated from countries with which the U.S. was now at war. An internee in the Rohwer War Relocation Center, one of the smallest, posted this cover.
72. MMARKS_140706_252.JPG: American WWII internee, August 23, 1943: Markings show this cover was delivered to an American civilian woman interned by the Japanese after they conquered the Philippines. It traveled to Manila via New York and Tokyo.
73. MMARKS_140706_259.JPG: Inmates at Auschwitz, the largest and most notorious of six concentration camps set up by Nazi Germany, passed through this gate. Albeit Macht Frei means "Work Makes One Free."
74. MMARKS_140706_263.JPG: WWII suspension of service, February 10, 1942: Mailed from California to the Netherlands, this letter was marked "Returned to Sender Service Suspended" because Germany occupied the Netherlands. An affixed sticker says "Returned to Sender by Censor."
75. MMARKS_140706_270.JPG: WWII civil mail censorship, August 17, 1943: British censors opened and resealed this letter for Margaret Woodrow Wilson, who was living in India at the time, and stamped it "passed." The daughter of President Woodrow Wilson, Ms. Wilson served as White House hostess from 1914-1915.
76. MMARKS_140706_275.JPG: WWII censor check for secret ink, July 25, 1944: German censors opened and resealed this French Red Cross cover with a Tunisian 90-cent stamp. It shows evidence of a chemical wipe to detect secret ink.
77. MMARKS_140706_293.JPG: One of the greatest natural disasters in U.S. history, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake toppled buildings and opened gaping cracks in the street.
78. MMARKS_140706_308.JPG: Pilot Henri Pequet sits in the biplane on which he completed the world's first official airmail flight by airplane in India in 1911.
79. MMARKS_140706_311.JPG: NIXIE mail, September 5, 1926: NIXIE refers to mail that cannot be delivered because it is misaddressed or unreadable. This example of NIXIE mail was returned because it was mailed to a nonexistent post office.
80. MMARKS_140706_315.JPG: Advertised dead letter mail, April 2, 1866: In 1825, the Post Office Department opened a dead letter office in Washington, D.C. Periodically, in an attempt to locate senders or intended recipients, the office placed an advertisement listing names found on mail. One advertisement included the names on this cover.
81. MMARKS_140706_320.JPG: Post office employees attempt to decipher addresses and locate senders or recipients in the Washington, D.C. dead letter office in 1916.
82. MMARKS_140706_342.JPG: Vin Fiz Flyer transcontinental flight, November 1, 1911: Pilot Calbraith Rodgers became the first aviator to cross North America by air. During his adventurous 49-day tour, his wife issued the Vin Fiz stamp. Only seven are known on flown mail. This one represents the only known example that reached California on a postal card addressed to a foreign destination.
83. MMARKS_140706_349.JPG: Vin Fiz Flyer "Greetings from the Sky," 1911: The Vin Fiz Flyer flew coast to coast with many stops, dropping leaflets to promote its sponsor -- the maker of Vin Fiz soda.
84. MMARKS_140706_361.JPG: Several officials watched the takeoff of the first regularly scheduled airmail service, including (from left to right) Washington D.C.'s Postmaster Merritt O. Chance, Postmaster General Albert Burleson, and President and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson.
85. MMARKS_140706_364.JPG: Lt. George Boyle prepared to take off from Washington, D.C. on May 15, 1918, with an envelope displayed here on board. Following the wrong railroad tracks in the wrong direction, he crash landed in a field near Waldorf, Maryland, breaking the plane's propeller.
86. MMARKS_140706_385.JPG: Charles Lindbergh poses with the Spirit of St. Louis on May 31, 1927, after his historic flight. Earlier in his career, Lindbergh had flown as an airmail pilot on the Chicago-St. Louis route.
87. MMARKS_140706_388.JPG: Army Air Corps stratosphere balloon, July 27, 1934: On its first high-altitude flight, Explorer I climbed to 60,613 feet. Then its balloon ripped. The crew parachuted to safety, and the mail was postmarked in Omaha after recovery.
88. MMARKS_140706_399.JPG: Adams pick-up system, October 31, 1934: Inventor Lytle S. Adams developed a nonstop, airmail delivery and pick-up system to serve isolated communities. At the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair, he demonstrated how he dropped and hooked mailbags from the air.
89. MMARKS_140706_406.JPG: Graf Zeppelin world flight, August 7, 1929: The first passenger-carrying flight around the world covered 21,250 miles in five legs from Lakehurst, New Jersey, back to Lakehurst, and returning to Friedrichshafen, Germany. Posted from Montreal, this cover was put on board Graf Zeppelin in Lakehurst and flown to Germany. U.S. postage of $1.05 for this first leg appears on the reverse.
90. MMARKS_140706_418.JPG: Voyager world flight, December 14, 1986: Built by its two pilots and crew chief in just 18 months, this unique aircraft made the first nonstop, non-refueled flight around the world. The record-breaking flight took nine days.
91. MMARKS_140706_432.JPG: Bell X-1 supersonic flight commemoration, October 14, 1972: In 1947, Capt. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager became the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound. His Bell X-1 reached 700 miles per hour at 43,000 feet. The reverse of this cover commemorating the anniversary notes that the plane flew this mail "at supersonic speed at Edwards Air Force Base."
92. MMARKS_140706_440.JPG: Endeavor Space Shuttle, September 30, 1994: The Endeavor's cargo bay held 500,000 postage stamps honoring the 25th anniversary of Apollo 11. The stamps traveled 4.7 million miles during the 11-day mission and were later enclosed in commemorative covers.
93. MMARKS_140706_451.JPG: Apollo 11 moon mail cancelled die proof, July 22, 1969: Neil Armstrong and the Eagle crew made the first manned lunar landing on July 20, 1969. They carried this one example of official mail for the USPS, franked with this die proof of the First Man on the Moon stamp. Probably struck on July 22, the postmark is backdated to the 20th.
94. MMARKS_140706_461.JPG: Thurn und Taxis mail schedule for Cheb, Bohemia, c. 1750: Calculated to the hour, this broadside mail schedule illustrates the sophistication of Europe's postal system under the princely hour of Thurn and Taxis. The moderately sized city of Cheb (referred to here by its German name, Eger) had daily direct mail connections to all of Europe and even Beirut.
95. MMARKS_140706_466.JPG: London Penny Post, c. 1706: In 1682, London's General Post Office took over merchant William Dockwra's "penny post," which delivered mail to homes and businesses in London and Westminster for a penny. Philatelists consider the triangle-shaped marking a forerunner of the adhesive postage stamp. The "B" indicates the letter was mailed from Bishopsgate post office.
96. MMARKS_140706_469.JPG: "Cito Cito Cito" letter, 1516: Cito means "quickly" in Latin, and subito is the Italian word for "immediately." The senders of these two letters repeated the words to stress the need for speed. On some old letters the words appear five times or more -- emphatically reminding couriers not to dawdle. On other letters images of stirrups or gallows make the point.
97. MMARKS_140706_479.JPG: Mail Marks History: On Land and Sea: Modern postal systems originated in the 13th century with private couriers hired to carry dispatches for governments, churches, universities, and other institutions. Since then, postal systems have used a variety of transportation technologies -- including horses, railroads, streetcars, bicycles, trucks, and ships -- to move mail over land and sea.
98. MMARKS_140706_484.JPG: Waghorn's Overland Mail, January 11, 1838: Thomas Waghorn's overland mail route in Egypt dramatically shortened delivery times between Great Britain and India. The octagonal marking shows postage from Calcutta to Suez. The oval marking records Waghorn's fee from Suez to Alexandria. The handwritten "49" indicates the fee collected upon delivery in France -- 70 days later.
99. MMARKS_140706_487.JPG: Vanderbilt's Accessory Transit via Nicaragua, c. 1852: During the California Gold Rush, Cornelius Vanderbilt pioneered a fast, cheap route form New York to California across Nicaragua. The marking "Via Nicaragua/Ahead of the Mails" paid the company's fee and boasted of its speed. The 12-cent George Washington stamp was bisected to pay the 6-cent government postage rate for over 3,000 miles.
100. MMARKS_140706_493.JPG: Pony Express, June 12, 1861: Dispatched from San Francisco when Wells, Fargo managed the Pony Express, this envelope bears the $2 red stamp used on eastbound mail. It reached St. Joseph, Missouri, on June 24. The 10-cent green indicium shows U.S. postage was paid. The patriotic cachet reminds us that the Civil War had begun.
101. MMARKS_140706_497.JPG: Hope Diamond wrapper, November 8, 1958: Jewelry Harry Winston mailed the world-famous Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in this wrapper, registered first class mail. It traveled by Railway May Service from New York to Union Station. The total cost was $145.29, of which $2.44 was postage. The rest paid for postal insurance of $1 million.
102. MMARKS_140706_503.JPG: On April 10, 1886, a diver prepared to recover mail and valuables from the wreck of SS Oregon, whose forward mast still protrudes above the water.
103. MMARKS_140706_507.JPG: Recovered from wreck of SS Oregon, July 6, 1886: A label applied by New York postal workers reveals that this letter was recovered four months after the Cunard liner Oregon collided with Charles H. Morse on March 14, 1886.
104. MMARKS_140706_511.JPG: World War I wreck mail, February 26, 1917: The manuscript marking "accident en mer" likely refers to the sinking of a vessel by a German submarine, or U-boat. February and March marked some of the worst months of the war in terms of ships and lives lost to Germany's U-boat campaign.
105. MMARKS_140706_518.JPG: RMS Titanic postal clerk's sailor orders, April 1, 1912: These orders directed American sea post clerk Oscar Scott Woody to travel to Europe and return "in the sea post office on the SS Titanic, sailing from Southampton, on April 10th." Clerks like Woody earned about $1,000 a year, considered a small fortune by the standards of the time.
106. MMARKS_140706_524.JPG: Captain and crew pose with the recovery ship Mackay-Bennett, charted by the White Star Line to recover bodies of Titanic's victims floating in the water.
107. MMARKS_140706_526.JPG: RMS Titanic facing slip, April 10, 1912: Woody perished along with more than 1,500 passengers and crew when Titanic sank on April 15, 1912. This facing slip was found in his pocket when a morgue ship recovered his body nine days later. Clerks placed facing slips on bundles of mail to indicate their destination.
108. MMARKS_140706_535.JPG: U.S. Sea Post Clerk Oscar Scott Woody (April 15, 1868 - April 15, 1912)
109. MMARKS_140706_538.JPG: First German catapult flight, SS Bremen to New York, July 22, 1929: In 1929, Lufthansa began catapulting mail from ocean liners. When ships were about a day from port, seaplanes loaded with mail were catapulted off the deck -- enabling some mail to arrive before the ships Catapulted mail was franked at the airmail rate. By the end of the 20th century, airmail replaced seamail.
110. MMARKS_140706_544.JPG: German catapult flight, SS Europa to Southampton
111. MMARKS_140706_548.JPG: A crane lifts a Heinkel seaplane on the catapult of SS Europa in August 1930.
112. MMARKS_140706_551.JPG: Passengers gather on the deck of the SS Bremen to watch a seaplane mail launch, October, 1931.
113. MMARKS_140706_555.JPG: The U.S. government spent four million dollars looking for Earhart and her plane.
114. MMARKS_131026_004.JPG: The following pictures are from the page 2013_DC_SIPM_Mail_Marks DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 3): Mail Marks History (84 photos from 2013)
115. MMARKS_131026_010.JPG: Mail Marks History: Stamps and markings on mail reveal transportation and challenges encountered. The effort to move mail ever farther and faster contributed to major advances in transportation technology -- from bicycles to trains, canoes to submarines, balloons to spacecraft. Times of difficulty sparked other innovations in mail delivery. The clues are on the mail.
116. MMARKS_131026_017.JPG: America's Most Famous Stamp Error: In 1918, an error made on a spider press similar to this one produced the inverted Jenny -- the most famous US stamp. No one today knows for sure how the inverted Jenny error occurred. During the second pass, an employee either reversed the plate with the central design -- or reversed the sheet of stamps. The result was an upside-down airplane. To avoid future errors, "TOP" was added to the appropriate side of each plate.
117. MMARKS_131026_031.JPG: Touch an Engraved Image: Feel the design carved into the metal of this die plate. A printer inked the plate, placed a sheet of paper on top, and fed the plate into a spider press. This printing method, called intaglio, is used to print some stamps. Find out how most stamps are printed today in the Connect with US Stamps section of this gallery. After printing on a spider press, the engraved image on the die plate looks like this.
118. MMARKS_131026_054.JPG: History Revealed: Waghorn Cover: British naval lieutenant and entrepreneur Thomas Fletcher Waghorn pioneered an overland mail route between the Egyptian cities of Alexandria and Suez in order to speed up mail delivery between Great Britain and its empire in India. About 200 covers are known to survive with the endorsement "Care of Mr. Waghorn."
119. MMARKS_131026_057.JPG: Clues to a Letter's Journey: How did this mail travel? What route did it take to reach its final destination? How long did it take? What obstacles did the mail encounter along the way? Find answers to these and other questions -- and uncover some fascinating pieces of postal history -- by exploring different kinds of markings on mail. The Clues: * Postage Rates show what services were requested. * Postmarks record where and when mail entered and traveled through the system. * Auxiliary markings give routing directions or indicate special service. * Addresses and handwriting provide information about both sender and recipient. * The envelope's condition delivers clues to handling
120. MMARKS_131026_059.JPG: On Land & Sea: Mail has been delivered in a surprising variety of ways on both land and sea. The origins of modern postal systems date to the 13th century, when printed couriers carried dispatches for governments, churches, universities, and other institutions. Over time, these private systems opened to the public. As populations grew, people tried moving the mail through a range of transportation technologies. Sail and Steam Conquer the Atlantic: Ocean-going ships have transported mail from one continent to another since at least the 1300s. Steamships, introduced in the 1830s, shortened Atlantic Ocean crossings to a little more than two weeks. Over time, more and more steamship companies secured contracts to carry government mail. By the mid-1860s, government mail contracts heavily subsidized the construction and operation of transatlantic passenger liners.
121. MMARKS_131026_067.JPG: April 10, 1912 Letter mailed aboard RMS Titanic: First-class Titanic passenger George E. Graham, a Canadian returning from a European buying trip for Eaton's department store, addressed this folded letter on ship's stationery. Destined for Berlin, it received Titanic's onboard postmark ("Transatlantic Post Office 7") and was sent ashore with the mail, probably at Cherbourg, France. Mail is one of the rarest artifacts from Titanic.
122. MMARKS_131026_071.JPG: Silk Road Letter, 1390: The oldest paper letter in the National Philatelic Collection lies under this panel. It discusses prices of luxury fabrics and spices such as cinnamon and pepper. Mailed by a Venetian merchant in Damascus on November 24, 1390, it was carried by courier to Beirut, where it boarded a Venetian galley. It arrived in Venice on December 26, having traveled 1,650 miles in one month.
123. MMARKS_131026_080.JPG: Britannia Icebound in Boston, 1844: When the Cunard liner Britannia became trapped by ice in Boston harbor, the city's merchants paid for a channel to be cut so their mail would not be further delayed.
124. MMARKS_131026_090.JPG: Spider Press Up until the early 1900s, many stamps were printed on small hand presses like this one. The length and shape of the spindly arms led to the name spider press. Making a multicolored stamp on this press required several impressions. After the printer made one impression, he removed the plates, re-inked them, returned them to the press for the next impression, and re-inserted paper. This process resulted in considerable variations among stamps as well as some major -- even historic -- errors.
125. MMARKS_131026_096.JPG: Delivering Mail in Cities: As cities expanded in size, so did new methods of mail transport. Trains and buses carried mail over long distances. At the turn of the 20th century, horse-drawn wagons and electric streetcars transported mail within most cities. By the 1920s, motorized postal trucks became the dominant form of urban mail transportation. In the United States, as railroads declined, the post office used buses and the new Interstate Highway System to move mail between cities and serve communities in-between. Bridging Distances Over Land: By the 16th century, the princely family of Thurn and Taxis had united most of continental Europe through a private postal system. In colonial America, similar attempts were made to build post roads along the eastern seaboard. None were successful until the 1750s. Water routes remained dominant until the 19th century, when stagecoaches and then railroads enabled large-scale delivery of mail on land.
126. MMARKS_131026_101.JPG: Sea Post Clerk's chest badge, 1891-1940: The badge worn by railway mail clerks served as the model for this badge belonging to a US Post Office Department Sea Post Office clerk. Railway Mail Service clerk's chest badge, 1899
127. MMARKS_131026_109.JPG: Royal Train RPO cancellation die hub, 1939: In 1939, with World War II looming, Great Britain's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth made a goodwill tour of Canada and the United States. This die hub cancelled souvenir mail on board their train.
128. MMARKS_131026_113.JPG: Sea Post Clerk John Starr March's pocket watch, 1912: This watch probably stopped when RMS Titanic sank in the Atlantic. Recovery ship crew members found it on the body of John Starr March, an American sea post clerk.
129. MMARKS_131026_120.JPG: Sea Post Clerk Oscar S. Woody's set of keys, 1912: American Sea Post Clerk Oscar S. Woody perished when RMS Titanic sank on April 15, 1912. Recovery ship crew members found this chain of postal keys on his body.
130. MMARKS_131026_133.JPG: 9/11 New York, NY, postmark handstamp, September 11, 2001: This handstamp was recovered from New York's Church Street Station Post Office, which served the World Trade Center. Clerks used it to mark receipts, parcels, and letters.
131. MMARKS_131026_136.JPG: Fire hose nozzle, September 11, 2001: New York City firefighters used this nozzle to battle the fire at the World Trade Center from the windows of the Church Street Station Post Office.
132. MMARKS_131026_145.JPG: 9/11 Return to Sender UNKNOWN handstamp, September 11, 2001: The Church Street Station postal employee used this 'Pointing Hand' stamp to return a mail piece to its sender, when the addressee was not at the address indicated.
133. MMARKS_131026_148.JPG: Mail Marks History In Times of Trouble: Disaster covers provide physical evidence of mail service that was disrupted by natural or human-caused events -- including earthquakes, fires, floods, tornadoes, tsunamis, epidemics, bombings, wars, and robberies. Although the postal service makes great efforts to continue delivery, such disasters interfere with part or all of postal operations. Surviving mail is often rare.
134. MMARKS_131026_153.JPG: Undelivered 9/11 cover, September 11, 2001: On September 11, US Postal Inspectors, aided by the National Guard and local police, retrieved mail at Church Street Station, which served the World Trade Center, and took it to the main post office for processing.
135. MMARKS_131026_155.JPG: Undeliverable 9/11 cover, September 11, 2001: The postal service held World Trade Center mail for three months before returning unclaimed mail -- the first time in the service's history that mail was allowed to remain unclaimed for so long.
136. MMARKS_131026_159.JPG: Cholera fumigated mail, 1831: During the war for Greek independence, when this cover was mailed, cholera moved from Asia to Europe. The hand-stamped cachet refers to the French General Headquarters Army of Morea, the name of Greece's Peloponnese Peninsula at that time.
137. MMARKS_131026_164.JPG: Cholera fumigated mail, December 1, 1774: Inspectors cut slits so sulphur fumes could penetrate inside when they disinfected this cover at a quarantine and fumigation facility in Malta before sending it on to Marseille, France. The treatment caused discoloration.
138. MMARKS_131026_166.JPG: Cholera fumigated mail, November 19, 1848: Venice and Bologna were located in separate countries when this letter was sent. Postmarked in Venice, it was disinfected at the border and marked "disinfettata" in Bologna.
139. MMARKS_131026_170.JPG: Cover inspected for anthrax addressed to Vice President Richard B. Cheney, July 18, 2002: This registered cover from Nigeria passed White House Security clearance, as indicated by the hand-stamped check mark and number 120. The number identifies the examiner who processed the piece.
140. MMARKS_131026_173.JPG: Cover inspected for anthrax addressed to the Office of the Vice President, October 18, 2001: Even mail between government agencies was subjected to inspection. The Federal Aviation Administration sent this letter to one of Vice President Richard B. Cheney's special assistants.
141. MMARKS_131026_179.JPG: Cover inspected for anthrax addressed to Vice President Richard B. Cheney, October 22, 2001: The red check mark and "Cleared" security marking show that the Secret Service approved this cover postmarked Charlotte, North Carolina, for delivery to the Office of the Vice President. In September 2001, letters faced with anthrax began appearing in the mail.
142. MMARKS_131026_185.JPG: Sent to quarantined ship, September 18, 1926: Before ships arriving in New York could dock and unload passengers and cargo, they had to undergo a health clearance. The addressee of this cover was awaiting clearances about RMS Franconia, which had sailed from Liverpool. A mail boat carried the piece to the ocean liner.
143. MMARKS_131026_188.JPG: Zinc ball mail, January 1, 1871: During Germany's 1870-1871 Siege of Paris, the French tried to deliver mail to Paris by placing letters inside zinc balls and floating them down the Seine River. The experiment was not successful, but some balls -- and the letters inside -- were retrieved after the siege.
144. MMARKS_131026_191.JPG: Pigeon mail, November, 1870: During the Siege of Paris, balloons moved mail and carrier pigeons out of the city. The pigeons carried an early form of microphotography that enabled 16 pages of text to be placed on a 1-1/4" by 2" piece of film. Of about 400 pigeons released, only one in eight returned.
145. MMARKS_131026_194.JPG: San Francisco earthquake, April 24, 1906: Postmarked six days after the devastating 1906 earthquake, this cover arrived in Washington, DC on April 30 with 4 cents postage due. Makeshift post offices in San Francisco accepted mail without postage and sent it to the receiving post office, where postage due was assessed and collected from the request.
146. MMARKS_131026_198.JPG: Hurricane Katrina resumption of mail service, April 3, 2006: Katrina struck New Orleans on August 29, 2005. This letter was postmarked on the first day normal first class mail service resulted. For seven months, New Orleans mail was processed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, causing delays of up to a week for mail addressed just across town.
147. MMARKS_131026_211.JPG: Ministry of War, Japan, to Wright Cycle Company, July 18, 1906: In an effort to sell their airplane and patent rights, the Wright brothers negotiated with the war officers of several countries. This envelope may have contained correspondence related to patent rights.
148. MMARKS_131026_217.JPG: T.C. Lowe, Chief of Aeronauts in Union Army of the Potomac, February 16, 1862: During the Civil War, balloonists performed reconnaissance observations to count troops and locate positions. This envelope from Union Gen. Daniel Butterfield contained orders to send up signal balloons.
149. MMARKS_131026_221.JPG: Balloon Jupiter first officer airmail, August 17, 1859: On August 17, 1859, John Wise carried 123 letters and 23 circulars from Lafayette to Crawfordsville, Indiana, in his balloon Jupiter -- the first official flown mail in the United States.
150. MMARKS_131026_228.JPG: Siege of Paris balloon Ville de Paris, December 15, 1870: During Germany's Siege of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War, balloons carried people and mail out of the city and over enemy lines. The aeronauts on this flight were arrested after landing and held as prisoners of war.
151. MMARKS_131026_232.JPG: Graf Zeppelin and catapult combination flights, September 19, 1934: This is the only known example of zeppelin cover franked by a revenue duck stamp, which was not valid for postage. Markings show that it traveled over 10,000 miles, from New York through England and Germany to Rio de Janeiro, via at least six modes of transportation -- without detection.
152. MMARKS_131026_237.JPG: Charles Lindbergh solo transatlantic flight cover, May 20, 1927: Lingbergh autographed this piece of unstamped, unofficial mail -- one of only four known pieces carried on his first solo transatlantic flight from New York to Paris, along with six letters of introduction. Due to concerns about the aircraft's weight, carrying additional mail was out of the question on the risky flight.
153. MMARKS_131026_243.JPG: Charles Lindbergh solo transatlantic flight letter, May 16, 1927: Lindbergh signed this enclosed letter to document that he carried the envelope across the Atlantic Ocean.
154. MMARKS_131026_246.JPG: Amelia Earhart solo transatlantic flight, May 20, 1932: On her historic solo slight across the Atlantic, Earhart carried 50 pieces of unofficial mail -- each postmarked before and after landing, cacheted, numbered, and autographed to document the record-setting event.
155. MMARKS_131026_249.JPG: China Clipper Hawaii transpacific flight, December 5, 1935: This cover flew from Honolulu to San Francisco one the final return leg of the world's first scheduled transpacific flight. A 25-cent airmail stamp with a head-on view of the Pan American Airways seaplane China Clipper was issued for mail carried on the new San Francisco-Manila route.
156. MMARKS_131026_253.JPG: Tuskegee air crew in WWII, December 15, 1943: African-Americans who participated in air crew, ground crew, and operations support training in the Army Air Corps during World War II became known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Their unmatched success led President Truman to desegregate the US military. Sgt. Alexton Squire Boone Jr., of the 99th Fighter Squadron, sent this letter.
157. MMARKS_131026_258.JPG: Howard Hughes world flight, July 10, 1938: Aviator Howard Hughes's world flight began and ended in Brooklyn, New York, in a Lockheed 14 twin-engine passenger plane. The flight took 3 days, 9 hours, and 17 minutes -- shaving more than four days off the previous record. An Aviation Manufacturing Corporation vice-president sent this envelope to Postmaster General James A. Farley.
158. MMARKS_131026_261.JPG: Transpolar world-flight, December 1, 1968: Passengers paid $10,000 for a seat on the first commercial flight to cross both poles and touch down on all continents. The reverse features additional rubber-stamped cachets from various stops.
159. MMARKS_131026_265.JPG: Graf Zeppelin world flight, August 7, 1929: The first passenger-carrying flight around the world covered 21,250 miles in five legs from Lakehurst, New Jersey, back to Lakehurst, and returning to Friedirhcshafen, Germany. Posted from Montreal, this cover was put on board Graf Zeppelin in Lakehurst and flown to Germany. US postage of $1.05 for the first leg appears on the reverse.
160. MMARKS_131026_268.JPG: Challenger Space Shuttle, August 30, 1983: Dated August 14, when the launch was originally scheduled, this cover's cancellation includes NASA's 25th anniversary slogan. The cachet reproduces the patch design for the eighth Space Shuttle. The astronaut crew autographed the envelope for USPS, which had sent a payload of mail.
161. MMARKS_131026_271.JPG: Regulus first official missile mail, June 8, 1959: Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield sent 3,000 letters to President Dwight Eisehower, government officials, postmaster generals worldwide, and former Smithsonian philatelic curator Franklin Bruns, Jr. The letters traveled via a US Navy Regulus I missile fired from the USS Barbero submarine to a naval air station in Florida.
162. MMARKS_131026_277.JPG: Concorde (UK) maiden flight, April 9, 1969: THe world's first supersonic airliner cruised at 1,450 miles per hour. The flight from London to New York on the British-made Concorde 002 took 3 hours and 22 minutes.
163. MMARKS_131026_282.JPG: In Times of Trouble: Wars, natural disasters, epidemics, and other types of adversity have an impact on mail, leaving behind objects that bear testament to history. Pieces of mail that survive challenging circumstances such as these provide evidence of how normal communications were disrupted and how postal authorities coped with formidable obstacles. With the help of innovation ideas, clever inventions, and persistence on the part of postal employees, the mail usually managed to get through -- even during the most difficult times.
164. MMARKS_131026_283.JPG: Epidemics: Authorities have treated the mail in different ways to halt the spread of dreaded diseased they feared would travel with the correspondence. We now know diseases such as yellow fever, plague, cholera, and influenza cannot be transmitted by handling objects such as mail. However, in 2001 the deliberate introduction of anthrax virus to mail killed people, including postal employees.
165. MMARKS_131026_286.JPG: War: Wartime censors have inspected mail to and from military personnel, as well as international civilian mail, to ensure it contained no sensitive information that could fall into enemy hands. Censors also look for evidence of codes and secret inks. Prisoners-of-war mail has been tightly censored -- as has the mail of military staff and civilians during World War II.
166. MMARKS_131026_290.JPG: Disaster and Crime: Natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and tornadoes can disrupt the mail -- as can crimes like train robberies. In the aftermath of such challenges, the postal service makes great efforts to deliver the mail, including repairing mail and waiving fees. As inscribed on the General Post Office building in New York City: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."
167. MMARKS_131026_297.JPG: Perforating paddle, 1899: The Montgomery, Alabama, Board of Health used this nail-studded paddle to perforate mail before fumigating it with surfur fumes -- a precaution against yellow fever.
168. MMARKS_131026_302.JPG: San Francisco earthquake mailbox remnant, 1906: When the 1906 earthquake struck, it shook this mailbox front installed in San Francisco's main post office. The mailbox survived and remained in use until 1972.
169. MMARKS_131026_311.JPG: Survivors: The postal objects in this case have endured a war, epidemic, fire, flood, earthquake, and armed robbery. The mailbox remnants weathered two of the worst disasters in the history of the United States -- the 1906 San Francisco earthquake that destroyed much of the city and killed more than 3,000 people; and the 1889 flood that wiped out the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, killing more than 2,000 people.
170. MMARKS_131026_316.JPG: Johnstown, PA, flood mailbox remnant, 1889: On May 31, 1889, a dam ruptured in Pennsylvania's Conemaugh Valley. The ensuing flood destroyed the town of Johnstown. The front of this iron mail collection box survived.
171. MMARKS_131026_322.JPG: By Air & Space: Aviation technology forever changed mail delivery in the United States as well as around the world. From the 1800s on, a wide variety of air and space craft were used to move the mail. Over the years, these craft have increased greatly in speed, size, sophistication, and endurance -- revolutionizing global mail delivery. Markings on mail record the major transitions and milestones that have occurred in airmail service worldwide over the last two centuries.
172. MMARKS_131026_325.JPG: Balloons to Zeppelins: Balloons and gliders carried the first airmail. By the 1920s, zeppelins had established postal routes over long distances. The May 6, 1937, Hindenburg disaster ended this golden era of airships. While attempting to land at Lakehurst, New Jersey, the airship burst into flames. Within 30 seconds, it was destroyed. Two-thirds of the passengers and crew survived -- but most mail burned.
173. MMARKS_131026_329.JPG: Biplanes to Jets: On December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright Flyer became the first powered, heavier-than-air machine to achieve controlled, sustained flight with a pilot aboard. As the 20th century progressed, the speed and reliability of airplanes improved considerably and transformed communication, moving the mail further and faster than ever.
174. MMARKS_131026_331.JPG: May 6, 1937: Hindenburg disaster card: Under this panel is a piece of mail salvaged from the wreckage of the airship Hindenburg. The burnt card reached its address in a glassine with an official seal. At least 360 letters and cards of the more than 17,000 pieces of mail on board the airship survived the disastrous fire.
175. MMARKS_131026_344.JPG: May 8-27, 1919: NC-4 Transcontinental Flight cover: The envelope under this panel is the only piece of mail carried by the NC-4, the first airplane to fly across the Atlantic Ocean from the United States to Portugal. An aviation machinist wrote the letter to his brother in the American Expeditionary Forces in France.
176. MMARKS_131026_347.JPG: Pilot Eddie Gardner's aviation goggles, 1921: One of the first pilots hired by the Post Office Department, Eddie Gardner set a record by flying from Chicago to New York in a single day (September 10, 1918). He was wearing these borrowed goggled when his airplane crashed during an aviation tournament in 1921. He died from injuries.
177. MMARKS_131026_353.JPG: Regulus missile mail container, June 8, 1959: In 1959 the US Navy fired a Regulus 1 missile from a submarine, directing it to land 100 miles away in Florida. Inside were this and another container holding 3,000 letters -- the first and only time a US missile carried mail.
178. MMARKS_131026_360.JPG: Regulus 1 missile fired from USS Barbero
179. MMARKS_131026_363.JPG: Rockets to Spacecraft: In the 1900s, scientists used balloons and rockets to explore the stratosphere and space for the first time. Only a few of these space missions carried mail, either privately by astronauts or as payload. Markings on this mail document these early space explorations as well as later space flights and missions.
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Description of Subject Matter: Mail Marks History
September 22, 2013 – Permanent
The markings on mail provide valuable clues to the surprising ways mail has been transported over time, revealing challenges and even disasters encountered along the way. Learn to analyze and decipher these marking by tracing the journeys of three historic letters and investigate markings on mail transported on land, across seas, by air, and in space. Among the many historic artifacts on view are a 1390 Silk Road letter; a letter mailed aboard the Titanic during its first and only voyage; Amelia Earhart’s brown leather flight suit; a mailbox remnant from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake; and a mailbox from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
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