The first stamps in the United States were used by Alexander M. Greig who was a private postal carrier in 1842. The Post Office Department went on to buy his business and used these stamps in New York City. After being used in New York City, Congress later approved the use of United States stamps in 1847. The first stamps showed Benjamin Franklin and George Washington and in 1856 buying stamps became mandatory for mailing anything. Because of the importance of stamps,commemorative stamps began to be produced with the first being in 1893 which showed the World Columbian Exposition which was in Chicago that year.
Although there were many cities that had already adopted postal services, many rural areas did not have delivery services. John Wanamaker, who was the postmaster General between 1889 and 1893 and began to come up with the idea that people who lived in these rural areas should also have these services. He states that, "I think the growth of the Farmers’ Alliance movement and the other farmers’ movements in the past few years has been due to this hunger for something social as much as to anything else.(“Postal History-Rural Free Delivery” 2013)" Rural free delivery began as an idea and then later turned into an experiment under Postmaster General William L. Wilson. Rural free delivery started in towns, then moved to entire counties in West Virginia. Because of this rural free delivery became permanent on July 1st, 1902.
“Postal History- Stamps and Postcards.” n.d. United States Postal Service. Accessed October 12, 2023. https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/stamps-postcards.htm
“Postal History-Rural Free Delivery.” 2013. United States Postal Service. August 2013. Accessed October 12, 2023. https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/rural-free-delivery.htm.
“Rural Free Delivery | National Postal Museum.” n.d. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/behind-the-badge-postal-inspection-service-duties-and-history-history/rural-free-delivery.
The stamp on this letter is also known as the Washington "Shield" Stamp, which was issued on November 12th, 1903. This stamp replaced what was known as the Washington "Flag" Stamp, which had been previously issued on January 17th, 1903. This is due to many criticizing Washington’s appearance, due to the carmine color used on the stamp causing his face to appear very red.
“Second Bureau Issues (1902-1908) | National Postal Museum.” n.d. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/about-us-stamps-bureau-period-1894-1939-definitive-issues/second-bureau-issues-1902-1908.
The following object description information includes basic elements from the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI). An additional notes field is included to list dates from the actual letter, envelope postmark locations, and any other identifying details.
Although their first successful flight was in 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright were not granted their patent for their flying machine until 1906. Their patent is also known as No. 821,393 goes into detail the schematics of their flying machine, which goes into great detail about how because of gravity while also maintaining the equilibrium of the machine is what causes it not only to be able to fly, but makes it so it can be guided in different directions such as up and down.
“1901 to 1910 | The Wilbur and Orville Wright Timeline, 1846 to 1948 | Articles and Essays | Wilbur and Orville Wright Papers at the Library of Congress | Digital Collections | Library of Congress.” n.d. The Library of Congress. Accessed October 12, 2023. https://www.loc.gov/collections/wilbur-and-orville-wright-papers/articles-and-essays/the-wilbur-and-orville-wright-timeline-1846-to-1948/1901-to-1910/.
“1906 Wright US Patent #821,393.” n.d. https://invention.psychology.msstate.edu/i/Wrights/WrightUSPatent/WrightPatent.html.