Museum Shop

A Selection of Items Available in the Museum Shop:

Cover of the Between Home and the Front book

Between Home and the Front: Civil War Letters of the Walters Family

Between Home and the Front: Civil War Letters of the Walters Family (Indiana University Press, 2022), edited by Smithsonian curatorial staff Lynn Heidelbaugh and Thomas Paone, presents previously unpublished letters from the Walters family's collection held by the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum. This collection includes writings from both a woman on the Indiana home front and soldiers on the Union frontlines with conversational exchange of perspectives not often seen in historical records. The letters transcribed in Between Home and the Front provide a glimpse into the emotions and news that Private David Walters of the 5th Indiana Cavalry and his wife Rachel shared through the mail. Rachel became the hub of communication for the family, often receiving missives from David's brothers, Isaac of the 20th Indiana Infantry and John Wesley of the 46th Indiana Infantry, and relaying the information to friends and family.

More information

The paperback book (9 in. h x 6 in. w x 0.5 in. d.) has 230 pages, 27 black and white illustrations, 3 maps, 2 family tree charts.

$20.00 plus shipping & handling

To order, please contact the Museum Shop at the below telephone number.

A fluffy stuffed animal version of Owney the dog.

Toy Owney the Dog

Size: approximately 12 x 6 x 6 inches

$25.00 plus shipping & handling

To order, please contact the Museum Shop at the below telephone number.

Known at first as the mascot of the Albany post office, Owney the dog soon became the faithful companion of the nation’s railway mail clerks. Knowing that his trips were taking him across the country, Albany mail clerks fastened a note to Owney's collar asking others to record Owney's journey by attaching leather and metal baggage tags to this collar. He soon collected so many tags that Postmaster General John Wanamaker gave Owney a special harness to lighten his load. Owney collected 1,017 tags, tokens, trinkets and medals during his travels.

Cove of the The Great American Mail Race board game showing a horse rider, an airplane, a train engine and a mail truck

USPS: The Great American Mail Race Board Game

Video about the game (YouTube)

$35.00 plus shipping & handling

To order, please contact the Museum Shop at the below telephone number.

a toy mail truck

Toy U.S. Postal Service Mail Truck

Size: 5 3/4" x 2 1/8” x 2 1/2” high

Made of metal and plastic.

$10.00 plus shipping & handling

To order, please contact the Museum Shop at the below telephone number.

Hoilday tree ornament with a photo of a Snowbirt mail truck and a mailbox in a snowy landscape

Snowbird Ornament

Size: Size: 2 inches in diameter
Made of porcelain and brass

$28.00 plus shipping & handling

To order, please contact the Museum Shop at the below telephone number.

Suited to a T for Snow
Long before there was all-wheel drive, there was an ingenious way for Rural Free Delivery mail carriers in the 1920s to equip their own automobiles during snowy weather. Called the “mailman’s special,” the kit contained skis that replaced the front tires and caterpillar treads that looped around the back tires for traction. The Postal Museum owns one such equipped 1921 Model T, called Snowbird. It weighs 1800 pounds and announces in shiny gold lettering on its gleaming black surface, “R.F.D Route 2.” Rural mail carrier Harold Crabtree of Central Square, N.Y., owned this Snowbird. He needed it: Central Square averages nearly 9 feet of snow a year.

A glass ornament made to look like a USPS mailbox.

Glass Mail Box Ornament

Size: approximately 1¾ x 1¾ x 3½ inches
Made of glass

$20.00 plus shipping & handling

To order, please contact the Museum Shop at the below telephone number.

Beautifully detailed, this red, white, and blue blown glass USPS Mail Box Ornament is a great way to celebrate the holiday tradition of sending and receiving Christmas cards.

We have much more merchandise available for sale in our shop. Please feel free to contact us and we will gladly discuss our merchandise.

a display of merchandise in the Museum Shop

We are open 7 days a week 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Eastern Time).

Closed December 25.

The National Postal Museum Shop is located at:

Street Address:

Museum Shop
National Postal Museum
2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20002

Mailing Address:

Museum Shop
Smithsonian National Postal Museum 
P.O. Box 37012 MRC 570
Washington, DC 20013-7012

Phone: (202) 633-7027
Fax: (202) 633-9393

a displays of merchandise for sale in the Museum Shop