National Postal Museum

2 Massachusetts Avenue NE
Washington, D.C.
202.633.5555
www.postalmuseum.si.edu

This national collection illustrates and invites research into U.S. philatelic and postal history. It contains prestigious U.S. and international postal issues, three-dimensional objects that trace the evolution of the U.S. postal system and archival postal documents. The majority of the Photographic Archives is independent of the museum's registered Object Collection. These "non-objects" are original images or photo-reproductions that illustrate postal history and the hobby of stamp collecting. The images reside with either the Smithsonian Institution Libraries' National Postal Museum Library or with the museum's curatorial office.

More than 300 photographs chart the history of the U.S. Airmail Service, operated by the U.S. Post Office Department from 1918 to 1926. This collection includes photographs from the collection of Benjamin B. Lipsner, who served as the first superintendent of the Airmail Service. The collection includes photographs of early aircraft and airmail pilots.

U.S. RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE COLLECTION
This collection's approximately 400 photographs, most dating from 1880 to 1940, document the work of the U.S. Railway Mail Service, which operated from 1865 to 1977 and processed most U.S. mail through the 1940s. One small section of the collection depicts railway mail cars from the Pullman Company, and another features city trolley mail cars.

U.S. MAIL VEHICLES COLLECTION
More than 500 photographs chart the progression of U.S. mail vehicles from horse-drawn carriages to motorized trucks and automobiles. These images include a large number of Rural Free Delivery and city delivery vehicles and drivers. Smaller sections of the collection include images of motorcycles, vehicle advertisements, stagecoaches, and dogsleds.