ISSUE 185 - May 1, 2026 - Stamp News Online Magazine
The Best of Mekeel’s:
The U.S. Postage Stamp, 1870-1900, Parts 9 - 13
by Lowell S. Newman & Peter T. Rohrbach
Another of Postmaster General John Creswell’s ideas for the Post Office was prompted by the economic terrors of the Panic of 1873. Immediately after the collapse of a number of eastern banks and a tenday holiday for the New York Stock Exchange he wrote to Congress: “The events of the past few weeks have awakened a lively interest in a plan heretofore submitted for securing the savings of the great body of the people by a pledge of the credit and faith of the United States.”
What Creswell was proposing was a postal savings system for ordinary people, since the post office was the most widely spread and visible arm of the . . .
Continue reading The U.S. Postage Stamp, 1870-1900, Parts 9 - 13 [PDF Document]
