On January 1, 1913, after decades of petitions, pleadings (both public and private) from rural Americans and postal officials, the Post Office Department instituted Parcel Post Service.  The fight against the service had pitted the nation’s largest private delivery companies against rural organizations such as the National Grange. Although the Grange and postal officials had finally been able to wrest away money to begin nation-wide Rural Free Delivery service their fight for parcel post would take almost two more decades. Among those who kept parcel post legislation bottled up in Congress were U.S. Senators Thomas Platt, Chauncey Depew, and Nelson Aldrich, who had financial interests in the private delivery companies.

After the legislation finally triumphed, postal officials celebrated in a very geeky, but postal way. The Postmaster of New York City raced the Postmaster General of the U.S. to be the first to mail something by Parcel Post Service. Each gentleman mailed a trophy cup with an inscription bragging that their piece was the first parcel mailed under the new service. Because neither group thought to include independent observers with synchronized watches, true bragging rights were never settled.

The trophies were exchanged between the postmaster of the nation’s largest post office, Edward Morgan, of New York City, and Frank Hitchcock, the Postmaster General. Morgan’s trophy was mailed to Hitchcock from New York City just after midnight on January 1, 1913. The trophy was inscribed:

To
The Honorable Frank H. Hitchcock
Postmaster General
of the United States
during whose administration the
American Parcel Post
was established.
This being the first parcel mailed at
the moment of its inauguration
12 o'clock midnight January First
Nineteen Thirteen
at the city of New York
by
EDWARD M. MORGAN POSTMASTER
from
John Wanamaker
Postmaster General of the United States
1889 to 1893

Morgan’s trophy cup included a reference to its origin, provided to Morgan by John Wanamaker, Postmaster General from 1889 to 1893. Wanamaker had long been a long-time proponent of a government parcels post. Unfortunately for him, his motives for the service were questioned. Wanamaker’s family owned a large department store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Detractors warned that Wanamaker wanted the service so he could extend his family’s business empire.

At the same time Postmaster General Frank H. Hitchcock was mailing engraved trophy cup from Washington, D.C., to Morgan. Hitchcock’s trophy was inscribed:

This Cup
Was the first article sent by
Parcel Post
in the
United States
It was forwarded to Postmaster Edward M. Morgan
of New York City by Postmaster Frank H.
Hitchcock whom mailed it in person at the Washington / City Post Office immediately after midnight
on the morning of January 1, 1913.
Presented to the National Museum
By
Postmaster Morgan