A brief introduction to Fred Wiseman's 1911 airmail flight from Petaluma to Santa Rosa, California. Read more at: http://npm.si.edu/exhibits/2c2b1_wcooke.html

95 views

A brief introduction to the workhorse of the early airmail service, the de Havilland DH-4B airplane. Read more at: http://npm.si.edu/museum/1d_de_Havilland_DH-4.html

247 views

A brief introduction to the hook and wire airmail pick up service of the 1930s. Read about the Stinson Reliant at: http://npm.si.edu/exhibits/2c2b4_stinson.html

304 views

A look at the beginning of the use of aviation beacons in the U.S. Read more: http://npm.si.edu/museum/1d_Airmail_Beacon.html

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Filmed in 1993, Mail By Rail is the story of the Railway Post Office clerks, as told by four ex RPO clerks, Tom Clifton, Harold Coffman, Winston Lark and Don Shenefelt. Read more at: http://npm.si.edu/exhibits/2c1_railwaymail.html

2,089 views

A short video about Owney, Mascot of the Railway Mail Service. Read more at: http://npm.si.edu/Owney

6,704 views

Highway Post Office service was initiated in response to declining railroad traffic in the early 1940s. As the American population grew, use of the highway system grew as well, meaning fewer passengers traveled by rail. This, in turn, meant fewer ...

544 views

Short, silent film demonstrating how "mail-on-the-fly" worked. The original film is in the collection of the Library of Congress. Read more at: http://npm.si.edu/exhibits/2c1_railwaymail.html

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Concord-style mail coaches remained in use in the United States well into the early 1900s. Elegantly painted in bright colors and decorated with oil paintings on the doors, the fancy wagons were also built to stand up to the demands of the nation'...

416 views

The main philatelic gallery is used to display world class collections loaned by philatelists as well as material from the Museum's collection. The rarities vault has featured changing exhibits of special objects from both the Museum and private c...

98 views

Rotating U.S. and international stamp displays are housed in pullout frames, featuring extraordinary materials sure to excite all museum visitors from those with a general interest in postage stamps to serious philatelists. Read more at: http://n...

105 views

Russell L. Hawes invented the first commercially successful envelope producing machine in the United States. The machine was also ahead of its time as an ergonomic design. Read more: http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=2&cmd=1&id=17026&pg=1&mode=1&...

127 views

Dated "Dec. 6 1941," this handstamp was recovered from the USS Oklahoma after it sank during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Read more at: http://npm.si.edu/exhibits/2d2_military.html

63 views

A short, 1944 newsreel describing V-Mail produced by the Office of War Information. Read more at: http://npm.si.edu/victorymail

335 views

A look at a mail ship that sank in the 19th century and made news again in the 20th -- the SS Central America. Read more at: http://npm.si.edu/exhibits/2a3c_americas.html

3,511 views

A brief introduction to the use of stagecoaches to carry mail in the American frontier. Read about stagecoaches and mud wagons at: http://npm.si.edu/exhibits/2a4c_wagons.html

250 views

Before mail boxes were common place in American homes, carriers used whistles and wooden door knockers (that fit over their knuckles) to let people know their mail had arrived. Read more at: http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=2&cmd=1&id=17042&pg=...

508 views

Networks of pneumatic tubes speeded mail along under city streets beginning in the 1890s. Mail was enclosed in pneumatic tube canisters that could hold up to 600 letters. The canisters traveled at an average of 35 miles per hour. The first pneumat...

1,807 views

Short 1903 film of screen wagons being loaded with mail at a post office. The original film is in the collection of the Library of Congress. Read more at: http://npm.si.edu/exhibits/2b1c2_screenwagon.html

214 views

As mail volumes (and parcel sizes) grew, the Post Office Department looked to bigger mailboxes to handle it all. Read more: http://npm.si.edu/exhibits/2b1d_mailboxes.html

112 views