Free U.S. Postal History Booklet

Want to learn more about the postal history of the United States?

A free copy of The United States Postal Service - An American History, 1775 to 2006 is available for download by clicking here.

20 Interesting Facts About The U.S. Post Office

Ariane Lange posted on the BuzzFeed website 20 Facts That Will Shatter Your Perception Of The U.S. Postal Service.

Among these are...

- Although mail was delivered directly to individual houses starting in 1863, mailboxes or slots weren’t required everywhere until 1923. Mail carriers just had to wait at your door until you answered it!
  
- Mail took so long to travel west in the mid-19th century that Los Angeles didn’t find out California had become a state of the Union until six weeks after the fact.

[Editor's Note: California always has been and always will be a 'state of mind.']

For more interesting facts, click here

Jimi Hendrix To Be Honored on U.S. Postage Stamp

A stamp featuring music icon Jimi Hendrix will be issued March 13 in Austin, Texas according to an article  by Jay Bigalke that appeared in Linn's Stamp News.

 Jay pens, "The pane of 16 stamps will look like previous Music Icons issues, but the arrangement of the individual stamps is different. A block of four of the Hendrix stamp, cropped from a full pane, is shown here to display the unusual “kaleidoscope” layout. Four such blocks comprise the pane, with pane selvage and backing that resembles a 45rpm record."

For more on this story, click here.

USPS Modifies Stamp Selection Criteria

Bill McAllister, Linn's Stamp News' Washington correspondent, reports, the 12 stamp subject selection criteria used by the United States Postal Service's Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee has been reduced to 11.

"The newest version of the criteria drops the reference that stamp subjects will not be considered for 50 years after a subject has been honored," According to McAllister.

Bill goes on to say, "The newest version also avoids any mention of living people being placed on U.S. stamps or how long an individual must be dead before they can be placed on a U.S. stamp."

To read the entire article and for a list of the new criteria, click here.

Lunar New Year Stamp Artist Interview

USPS Lunar New Year stamp artist Kam Mak discusses what went into creating the design for the Lunar New Year stamps for the U.S. Postal Service. He speaks to Pimm Fox on Bloomberg Television’s “Taking Stock.”