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Smithsonian National Postal Museum


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The National Postal Museum would like to share research and educational materials through the online articles found below.




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Mr. Zip logo

Flashing Across the Country: Mr. Zip and the ZIP Code Promotional Campaign
In 1963, the United States Post Office Department (POD) launched an advertising campaign on a grand scale. This memorable campaign made Mr. Zip one of the most easily recognized figures in American advertising.
     
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Promotional Post Office Department photograph of a woman trying to decide which mailbox to use.

Machines or Bust: Post Office Department Research and Development, 1945-1970
The nation needed a postal system that could meet its surging need. To answer that challenge the Post Office Department had to integrate new machines and systems into an organization that was second only to the military in scope and numbers. It would not be easy.
     
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post office baseball team uniform

Postal Employees After Hours
Postal workers have had a long history of involvement in group activities outside of work hours. This project endeavored to begin compiling an account of what organizations have, and still do, exist, and why.
     
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RMS Clerk

The Railway Mail Service
The American Railway Mail clerks were the elite of the Post Office Department. This website is in dedication of their work with the Railway Mail Service (RMS), and highlights not only a history of the RMS, but the personal oral histories of some clerks who spent the “best times of their lives” braving the rails.
     
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Woman carrying mail in place of male carrier during World War I.

Women in the U.S. Postal System
This article explores the fascinating history and lives of female postal workers from the American Revolution to the present.  A number of women share their postal stories in the site’s third section, “In Their Own Words.”
     
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A USPS employee selling stamps

The History and Experience of African Americans
in America’s Postal Service

This article explores the unique history and experience of African Americans in America’s Postal Service, illustrating that the United States Postal Service has been both a place where African Americans were discriminated against, and a place where many African Americans found opportunities for advancement.
     
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A damaged photo album

Disaster Recovery of Personal Items
Hurricane Katrina has raised an immediate need for information about recovery of personal documents, photographs and other collectable items. The National Postal Museum would like to share some resources from the Smithsonian Center for Archives Conservation and others below with our website visitors.
     
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Post Office, Pembina, Dakota Territory, 1863

Letter Writing in America
This article explores the place of letter writing in American history, revealing through the words of its citizens the nature of American life and documenting the country’s search for a uniquely American identity.
     
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September 11, 2001

September 11, 2001
Collecting and Exhibiting a National Tragedy

Examination of the decisions made, and work done, to bring items from New York City's Church Street Post Office into the National Collection.
     
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