The Mail Must Go Through

Even in the digital age, people around the world send and receive mail. Find out its history and current activities.

CONNECT:

• See the first postage stamp in the world (issued in 1840) and other expensive stamps at http://www.2-clicks-stamps.com/article/rare-postage-stamps.html
• Scented postage stamps? Stamps made from fabric? Glow in the dark stamps? Look at these unusual stamps from around the world: http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2010/05/peculiar-postage-unusual-stamps-from.html
• See the US postal service at work: http://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/united-states-postal-service-systems-at-work
• This site tells the story of Miss Clara Breed, a librarian who used the mail to keep in close contact with the Japanese American students who were taken to the internment camps. Includes transcripts of 17 letters, photos, and information on post offices in the camps: http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/japanese_internment/stamps
• How are stamps designed? Watch the process at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KETwb4MLKVI
• Explore 10 interesting facts about the short-lived pony express mail service that helped transform the American West: http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-pony-express

CREATE:

• Explore these education kits from the US Postal Service: https://about.usps.com/corporate-social-responsibility/education-kits.htm
• Stamp collecting helps instruct the collector in geography, biography, history, culture and art. Stamps are miniature gateways to the world. See that world at http://arago.si.edu/category_2027477.html
• The Postal Service welcomes written suggestions for stamp subjects that help portray the diversity of the American experience for a worldwide audience. Submit your idea following the directions at https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/csac/process.htm

CARE:

• Send free online greetings and gifts that support wildlife and the environment: http://www.e-cards.com/
• In the past, children could be mailed. Read about some of these real-life deliveries: http://postalmuseumblog.si.edu/2013/02/very-special-deliveries.html
• Join the National Postal Museum in creating a comprehensive history of America’s post and people: http://memorybook.si.edu/

CAREERS:

Mail service is an important communications career. Here are some details.

http://www.federaljobs.net/psclerks.htm

http://www.bls.gov/ooh/office-and-administrative-support/postal-service-workers.htm