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

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

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

Recognize anyone? If you recognize specific folks (or other stuff) and I haven't labeled them, please identify them for the world. Click the little pencil icon

underneath the file name (just above the picture). Spammers need not apply.

Slide Show: Want to see the pictures as a slide show? [Slideshow]

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 including AI scrapers 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.

Help? The Medium (Email) links are for screen viewing and emailing. You'll want bigger sizes for printing. [Click here for additional help]

Share: Facebook Twitter Digg
[1] MMARKS_140706_001.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[2] MMARKS_140706_005.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[3] MMARKS_140706_013.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[4] MMARKS_140706_017.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[5] MMARKS_140706_023.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[6] MMARKS_140706_030.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[7] MMARKS_140706_037.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[8] MMARKS_140706_049.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[9] MMARKS_140706_054.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[10] MMARKS_140706_062.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[11] MMARKS_140706_065.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[12] MMARKS_140706_069.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[13] MMARKS_140706_074.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[14] MMARKS_140706_083.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[15] MMARKS_140706_093.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[16] MMARKS_140706_103.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[17] MMARKS_140706_110.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[18] MMARKS_140706_122.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[19] MMARKS_140706_125.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[20] MMARKS_140706_132.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[21] MMARKS_140706_135.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[22] MMARKS_140706_139.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[23] MMARKS_140706_144.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[24] MMARKS_140706_149.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[25] MMARKS_140706_158.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[26] MMARKS_140706_164.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[27] MMARKS_140706_171.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[28] MMARKS_140706_177.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[29] MMARKS_140706_183.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[30] MMARKS_140706_186.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[31] MMARKS_140706_193.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[32] MMARKS_140706_197.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[33] MMARKS_140706_203.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[34] MMARKS_140706_209.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[35] MMARKS_140706_214.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[36] MMARKS_140706_222.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[37] MMARKS_140706_230.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[38] MMARKS_140706_233.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[39] MMARKS_140706_236.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[40] MMARKS_140706_239.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[41] MMARKS_140706_248.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[42] MMARKS_140706_252.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[43] MMARKS_140706_259.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[44] MMARKS_140706_263.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[45] MMARKS_140706_270.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[46] MMARKS_140706_275.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[47] MMARKS_140706_293.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[48] MMARKS_140706_308.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[49] MMARKS_140706_311.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[50] MMARKS_140706_315.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[51] MMARKS_140706_320.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[52] MMARKS_140706_333.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[53] MMARKS_140706_342.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[54] MMARKS_140706_349.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[55] MMARKS_140706_353.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[56] MMARKS_140706_361.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[57] MMARKS_140706_364.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[58] MMARKS_140706_385.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[59] MMARKS_140706_388.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[60] MMARKS_140706_399.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[61] MMARKS_140706_406.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[62] MMARKS_140706_418.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[63] MMARKS_140706_432.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[64] MMARKS_140706_440.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[65] MMARKS_140706_451.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[66] MMARKS_140706_461.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[67] MMARKS_140706_466.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[68] MMARKS_140706_469.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[69] MMARKS_140706_475.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[70] MMARKS_140706_479.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[71] MMARKS_140706_484.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[72] MMARKS_140706_487.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[73] MMARKS_140706_493.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[74] MMARKS_140706_497.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[75] MMARKS_140706_503.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[76] MMARKS_140706_507.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[77] MMARKS_140706_511.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[78] MMARKS_140706_515.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[79] MMARKS_140706_518.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[80] MMARKS_140706_522.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[81] MMARKS_140706_524.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[82] MMARKS_140706_526.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[83] MMARKS_140706_528.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[84] MMARKS_140706_535.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[85] MMARKS_140706_538.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[86] MMARKS_140706_544.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[87] MMARKS_140706_548.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[88] MMARKS_140706_551.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[89] MMARKS_140706_555.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. MMARKS_140706_001.JPG: 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.
2. 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
3. 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.
4. 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."
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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."
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. MMARKS_140706_065.JPG: A view from the post office building shows the damage wrought by the 1906 earthquake.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. MMARKS_140706_125.JPG: First transatlantic solo flight piloted by a woman, 1932
19. MMARKS_140706_132.JPG: First solo flight from Honolulu to Oakland, 1935
20. MMARKS_140706_135.JPG: First first solo nonstop flight from Mexico City to Newark (destination New York City), 1935.
21. MMARKS_140706_139.JPG: Autographed envelope prepared for Earhart's ill-fated world flight, 1937
22. MMARKS_140706_144.JPG: 20c "Muestra" Specimen overprint, Mexico, 1935 20c Earhart overprint, Mexico, 1935
23. 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.
24. 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.
25. 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.
26. 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.
27. 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.
28. 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.
29. 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.
30. 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.
31. MMARKS_140706_197.JPG: Lever pouch padlock, 1862: Used mainly to secure mail bags, this lock was damaged during a robbery.
32. 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.
33. 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.
34. 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.
35. 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.
36. 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.
37. 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.
38. 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.
39. 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.
40. 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.
41. 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.
42. 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."
43. 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."
44. 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.
45. 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.
46. 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.
47. 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.
48. 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.
49. 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.
50. 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.
51. 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.
52. 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.
53. 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.
54. 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.
55. 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.
56. 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.
57. 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.
58. 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.
59. 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.
60. 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."
61. 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.
62. 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.
63. 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.
64. 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.
65. 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.
66. 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.
67. 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.
68. 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.
69. 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.
70. 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.
71. 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.
72. 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.
73. 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.
74. 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.
75. 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.
76. 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.
77. MMARKS_140706_535.JPG: U.S. Sea Post Clerk Oscar Scott Woody (April 15, 1868 - April 15, 1912)
78. 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.
79. MMARKS_140706_544.JPG: German catapult flight, SS Europa to Southampton
80. MMARKS_140706_548.JPG: A crane lifts a Heinkel seaplane on the catapult of SS Europa in August 1930.
81. MMARKS_140706_551.JPG: Passengers gather on the deck of the SS Bremen to watch a seaplane mail launch, October, 1931.
82. MMARKS_140706_555.JPG: The U.S. government spent four million dollars looking for Earhart and her plane.
Multi Column: Number of columns of thumbnails to appear per page (normally defaults to 3): [1 col] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
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.
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.) I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 3): Mail Marks History) directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos on one page]:
- 2021_DC_SIPM_Mail_Marks: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 3): Mail Marks History (1 photo from 2021)
- 2018_DC_SIPM_Mail_Marks: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 3): Mail Marks History (30 photos from 2018)
- 2013_DC_SIPM_Mail_Marks: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 3): Mail Marks History (84 photos from 2013)
Generally-Related Pages: Other pages with content (DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (location): ) somewhat related to this one: [Display ALL photos on one page]:
- 2012_DC_SIPM_Systems: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (MIA Galleries 4): Systems at Work (48 photos from 2012)
- 2015_DC_SIPM_Stamp_Salon: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 5): National Stamp Salon (72 photos from 2015)
- 2013_DC_SIPM_Stamp_Salon: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 5): National Stamp Salon (18 photos from 2013)
- 2014_DC_SIPM_Stamp_Salon: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 5): National Stamp Salon (1 photo from 2014)
- 2013_DC_SIPM_Stamps_World: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 1): World of Stamps (27 photos from 2013)
- 2018_DC_SIPM_Stamps_World: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 1): World of Stamps (33 photos from 2018)
- 2014_DC_SIPM_Stamps_Globe: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 6): Stamps Around the Globe (34 photos from 2014)
- 2015_DC_SIPM_Stamps_Globe: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 6): Stamps Around the Globe (135 photos from 2015)
- 2013_DC_SIPM_Stamps_Globe: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 6): Stamps Around the Globe (23 photos from 2013)
- 2021_DC_SIPM_Stamps_Connect: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 4): Connect with U.S. Stamps (1 photo from 2021)
- ...More (List all 61 pages)...
Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [(Smithsonian) Postal Museum] [Display ALL (Smithsonian) Postal Museum photos] [Museums (History)] [Museums (Other)]
2014 photos: Trips this year: three Civil War Trust conferences (Winchester, VA, Nashville, TN, and Atlanta, GA), Michigan to visit mom in the hospice before she died and then a return trip after she died, and my 9th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including Las Vegas, Reno, Carson City, Sacramento, Oakland, and Los Angeles). Ego strokes: Paul Dickson used one of my photos as the author photo in his book "Aphorisms: Words Wrought by Writers". Equipment this year: I mostly used my Fuji XS-1 camera but, depending on the event, I also used a Nikon D7000. Number of photos taken this year: just over 470,000.
Connection Not Secure messages? Those warnings you get from your browser about this site not having secure connections worry some people. This means this site does not have SSL installed (the link is http:, not https:). That's bad if you're entering credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. But this site doesn't collect any personal information so SSL is not necessary. Life's good!
Limiting Text: You can turn off all of this text by clicking this link: [Thumbnails Only]
Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].