Postal History Journal

United State Stamp Society Funded Postal History Journal Digitization

The United States Stamp Society (USSS) provided $3,550 to fund the digitization of the Postal History Journal (PHJ) of the Postal History Society (PHS), which is now a part of the American Philatelic Congress (APC). The USSS Board of Governors believed that funding the PHJ digitization would be an important contribution towards philatelic research. The total number of pages digitized was estimated at 11,680. The scanning was performed by American Philatelic Research Library (APRL) staff using the library’s book scanning equipment. Pages were scanned in color, even if the issue was entirely black and white, for the best image quality. The scans were delivered in PDF format, with optical character recognition so they would be fully searchable. Issues 1–143 appear on the Web site of the APRL, which requires a login.

The APRL will retain the right to make available to American Philatelic Society (APS) members the scanned issues, presented as whole issues, except for the most recent five years. USSS members, via the USSS website, will also have similar access. The complete digitized journal will be available to APC members.

In return for the USSS funding, the PHS acknowledged USSS support on its website, created a link on their site to the United States Stamp Society, and published, fee-free, a USSS membership advertisement in all three of their journal annual issues for a period of two years, and thereafter at the discretion of the journal’s editor.

Archive

Images of covers of the Postal History Journal along with links to downloadable *.pdf files appear in the following list.

• “Number 5 Union Pacific Meets Gas Tanker, 1952,” Nancy B. Clark
• “Evolution of the Postal Coding System in Germany,” Jerry H. Miller
• “Letters from Home: Southern African Pioneers Enlisted in the British Pioneer Corps During WW2,” Peter Thy
• “Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic: The Predicament of the German Business Firms,” William Velvel Moskoff
• “James L. Grimwood-Taylor, International Postal Reform,” Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris

• “The Postal Station at Polemonos Meris, Egypt in 253 BC,” Richard Frajola
• “A 1721 New Jersey Letter,” Vernon R. Morris, Jr., MD
• “1722 Letter to Philadelphia,” Tim O’Connor, FRPSL
• “Advertising Typewriters in Latin America,” Peter Martin
• “Sentimentality and Optimisn: American Propaganda Postcards During World War I,” William Velvet Moskoff
• “Forms and Faces: Stories about Alternative U.S. Post Office Services,” David M. Frye

• “Were American Mails Delayed During World War I?” Sarah Badertscher and Frank W. Garmon, Jr.
• “Abiding by the Neutrality Act of 1939: ‘AFFIDAVIT FILED’ and a Story of Emigration,” David M. Frye
• “The Great Pomeroy Trunk Robbery,” Clifford J. Alexander
• “Pushing the Prison Doors Open: Snail Mail and the Resistance of the Postal System,” Matthew Yajuoka, Therese Quinn, and Erica R. Meiners
• “Postal Archaeology: The Origin of Writing,” Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris

• “Krimmel’s Downingtown Tavern Post Office,” Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris
• “Foreign Powers in China: A Comparative Analysis of Their Postage Stamps,” William Velvet Moskoff
• “3rd Class, 3 Cents, 3 Cities: Using Auxiliary Markings to Manage a Forwarded Letter in 1937,” David M. Frye
• “Postal Capitalism,” Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris
• “The Pen-Cancel Debate: Marker Monkeys or Careful Clerks?” David M. Frye
• “Celebrating the Penny Black in 1940”

• “The Choctaw Transplanted,” Joe Crosby
• “St. Louis and the Express Mail of 1836–1839,” James W. Milgram, M.D.
• “The British Mail Service in Jane Austen’s Novels,” William Velvet Moskoff
• “Tanzanian Slogan Cancels, Part II: Promoters of Actions and Events,” David M. Frye

• “Tanzanian Slogan Cancel, Part I: Promoters of Postal Services,” David M. Frye
• “Reciprocal and Unidirectional Flow of Mail,” Richard Maisel
• “Returning to Natchez,” Ed Siskin, Diane DeBlois, and Robert Dalton Harris
• “Postal Demography,” Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris
• “The Price of Bread,” Rob Faux
• “Former Meetings in Omaha: Philatelic Ephemera,” Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris

• “Natchez Trace Revisited—David Bradford: From Whiskey Rebellion to the Louisiana Purchase,” James S. Leonardo
• “Flying the Flag: U.S. Hand-Applied Cancellations,” Larry Haller
• Taking It to the Bank: European Letter Mail to Amsterdam Prior to the General Postal Union,” Rob Faux

• “Censorship on Printed Matter in Finland,” Roger P. Quimby
• “Ireland: Rebel on the Run—’Rely upon my heart, mind, & soul in this sacred cause,'” W.J. Duffney
• “The Southern Pacific and Utah & Northern Railroads: Terminus Mail Car Markings,” Hugh Feldman
• “‘Gathering News Around the Throne’—The Postal System’s Role in the Formation of Territory, Markets, and Statehood in 19th Century Brazil,” Pérola Maria Goldfeder Borges de Castro

• “Revisiting the Natchez Trace: Development of a Postal Route Paradigm for the United States,” Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris
• “The Los Alamos, New Mexico, Post Office and World War II,” Wayne Youngblood
• “A Remington in Paris,” Peter Martin
• “First-Day Tributes to George Eastman,” William Velvet Moskoff
• “1881 Contract Tycoon,” Bob Bramwell
• “Stanley’s African Relief Expedition,” Diane DeBlois

• “Mediterranean Mail—Claude Clerc: Shipping Agent or Operator?”, Steve Ellis
• “The Mohawk & Hudson Railroad Carries the Mail,” Bob Bramwell
• “New York and the Express Mail of 1836–1839,” James W. Milgram, M.D.
• “UPU Monument Iconography,” Diane DeBlois

• “D-Day: Decimal Postage in the U.K.,” Lawrence Haber
• “The Collinsville Axe Cancellations,” James W. Milgram, M.D.
• “U.S. Railroad Contract Mail Routes in Context: An Expanded Review,” Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris
• Roessler’s First Day Cachets of 1932: Refused & Censored,” Barry Newton

• “Fascinating Journeys of Letters: Summary of the Postal History of the Ionian Islands to 1864,” Gerasimos M. Vlachos, FRPSL
• “‘Where Have All the Gallatins Gone?’—Use of Fractional Value U.S. Postage,” Richard D. Martorelli
• “From the PHS (GB): Salt Lake City, Utah to Birmingham, England 1857,
  Julian H. Jones
• “‘Each Passing Tread Was a Reverberation’—A Collector’s Quest,” David M. Frye

• “Earliest Letters from Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia,” Tim O’Connor
• “The Boston ‘List of Letters’ Circulation Wars,” Robert Bramwell
• “At the Fault Line of Grief: The Gold Star Mothers Movement,” William Velvet Moskoff
• “Honoring U.S. National Parks,” Michael Zwelling
• “Post Offices and the Mormon Diaspora into Southern Alberta, Canada, Part 2: Cardston and Points West,” Dale Speirs

• “1961–1973 Air Mail from Tanganyika and Tanzania to Europe: Inferring Rates from a Census of Postal Covers,” David M. Frye
• “Zone Improvement Plan: The Story of Mr. Zip,” Alex Gill
• “The Oregon Statehood Centennial Celebration,” Ralph H. Nafziger
• “The U.S. Army Postal Service in Casablanca from 1942,” David Stotter
• “Post Offices and the Mormon Diaspora into Southern Alberta, Canada, Part 1: Glenwood & Hill Spring District,” Dale Speirs
• “World Stamp Show—1893 Style,” Stephen Sheppard with Diane DeBlois

• “The Traveling Post Offices of Bolivia: The Antofagasta & Bolivia Railway, Inception & Consolidation 1873–1907,” Barry Hobbs
• “Post Offices and Ranches: A Case Study of the Southeastern Porcupine Hills, Alberta, Canada,” Dale Speirs
• “1792 Report of Letters Sent—Chesapeake Area, but Where?”, Diane DeBlois
• “May 1, 1838—Carried by the SS Sirius?”, Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris
• “Illustrated Letter Stationery of New York City,” James W. Milgram, M.D.
• “Advertising Letters in a Small Town,” Bob Bramwell

• “Flathead War Party: The Story Behind the Hamilton, Montana, Post Office Mural,” Thomas Lera and Sandra Starr
• “Private Illustrated Wrappers,” John K. Courtis
• “Testing a London Combined Obliterator,” Paul J. Phillips
• “An Earlier ‘Overland Mail,'” Joseph J. Geraci
• “Cover Narratives: Citizen-Soldier, Brevet Brigadier General John William Hofmann,” Jesse I. Spector

• “War Rebels & Mail Robbery 1745–1899,” Dr. Steven J. Berlin
• “The Pacific Steam Navigation Company, Redux,” Jim Baird
• 1850s Oregon Territory P.O.D. Special Agent,” Diane DeBlois
• “Post Offices and Competition: A Case Study of the Olds-Sundre District, Alberta, Canada,” Dale Speirs

• “How the Postal Network Shaped Western Canada,” Gustavo Velasco
• “Postage Due—Not Just for Insufficient Postage,” Richard D. Martorelli
• “Post Offices and Survival: A Case Study of the Pincher Creek District, Alberta, Canada,” Dale Speirs

• “The 250th Anniversary of the Spanish Maritime Mail Service,” Yamil H. Kouri, Jr.
• “Native Mail Carriers in Early America,” Marshall Joseph Becker
• “Post Offices & Depopulation, Part 3: A Case Study of the Livingston Valley, Alberta, Canada,” Dale Speirs

• “Keeping Up with Your Customers: Changing Mail Service Areas Indicated by Lists of Letters Remaining for Post Offices on the New York Frontier, 1790–1820,” Robert B. Bramwell
• “The Persistence of Post Offices: A Case Study of Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, Canada,” Dale Speirs
• “1843 Letter from El Callao,” Giorgio Magnani

• “Posts on Skis,” E. John B. Allen
• “Post Offices and Depopulation, Part 2: A Case Study of the Porcupine Hills, Alberta, Canada,” Dale Speirs
• “Development of the Transatlantic Airmail Services 1928–1945, Part 2a: Pn American Airways Operations,” David Crotty

• “Where Are the Confederate Route Agents?”, Douglas N. Clark
• “Post Offices and Depopulation, Part 1: A Case Study of Extreme Southeastern Alberta, Canada,” Dale Speirs
• “‘The Boycott is the Moral Substitute for War’: The American Anti-Nazi Boycott 1933–1941,” William Velvet Moskoff
• “Russian Influence in Finland 1870–1917,” Jorma Keturi
• “Transatlantic Airmail Services 1928–1945, Part 2: Catapult, Zeppelin, and British Airways,” David Crotty

• “King George V Coronation Day Mail,” Paul J. Phillips
• “Quack Electro-Magnetic Medicine,” Steve Prigozy
• “Freedom of the Press Burning Mail (1835) Debating Senate,” Kevin Klemper
• “Newspapers and the Postal Business of the Confederacy,” Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris

• “A Commemorative in Conflict: The Fort Sumter Issue of 1961,” David M. Frye
• “Post Offices and Planned Settlements: A Case Study of Serviceberry Creek, Alberta, Canada,” Dale Speirs
• “The Buy American Movement of 1932–1933,” William Velvet Moskoff
• “A Phantom Rate No More!”, Paul J. Phillips

• “Interrupted Mail During the Spanish–American War,” Yamil Kouri
• “‘A Perfect Chain of Receipts’—The Initial Failure of Registered Mail in the United States, Part II,” David L. Straight
• “Timothy Bigelow: Revolutionary War Correspondent,” Richard Sheaff

• “‘Holding a Light for the Depredator’—The Initial Failure of Registered Mail in the United States, Part 1,” David L. Straight
• “Undeliverable Mail: Advertised Postmarks on U.S. Covers 1890–1931,” James W. Milgram, M.D.
• “Cover Narratives: The Nazi ‘Eternal Jew’ Exhibit of 1937, William Moskoff

• “Earliest U.S. Advertised Covers,” James W. Milgram, M.D.
• “Good Roads and Dead Post Offices: A Case Study of the Western Irrigation District, Alberta, Canada,” Dale Speirs
• “Acoustic Telephones Revisited,” Stephen Prigozy
• “Pan American South Atlantic Operations,” David Crotty

• “Advertised Postmarks on U.S. Stampless Covers,” James W. Milgram, M.D.
• “New Haven, Vermont: A Well Read Town,” David L. Straight
• “American Communists and the Soviet Famine of 1921,” William Moskoff
• “The American Commission to Negotiate Peace,” Jesse I. Spector, M.D., and Robert L. Markowits
• Antigua to Maine 1774,” Nancy B. Clark
• “Bomber Mail and Newsgathering,” Richard D. Martorelli
• “South Pacific Story,” John Scott
• “Ticonderoga P.O Mural,” Linda Osborne and Robin Nowe

• “Returned Registered Letter Bills 1856–1859,” James W. Milgram, M.D.
• “Addressee an ‘American Dreyfus,'” Jesse I. Spector and Robert L. Markovits
• “Sender an American Traitor,” David Handelman
• “Addressed to John Brown in Prison 1859,” Diane DeBlois
• “The American Relief Administration in Soviet Russia,” William Moskoff and Raymond J. Pietruszka
• “Traces of Transitions: 1961 Postage Stamps,” David M. Frye

• “Postal Newsgathering after Morse and the Telegraph, Part II,” David L. Straight
• “Development of Transatlantic Airmail Services 1928–1945, Part I: The South Atlantic,” David Crotty
• “Politics and Mourning,” Richard D. Martorelli

• “Secret Postal Censoring During the First Decades of Finland’s Autonomy,” Jorma Keturi
• “By Bearer: Lawful Private Express Mail,” Robert Dalton Harris
• “Pan-Am Spans the Pacific,” David Crotty
• “Postal Newsgathering after Morse and the Telegraph,” David L. Straight

• “Transporting the News: Newspapers Drive the U.S. Mail,” Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris
• “American Relief Administration and the Mails,” Arthur H. Groten, M.D.
• “Salsa or Prickly Pear with Your Stamps,” Karen Eggmann
• “1833 Letter to America,” John Scott
• “A Harrison Inauguration Letter,” Henry Scheuer

• “Missent Markings on Stampless Covers,” James W. Milgram, M.D.
• “The Quipu of the Incas: Its Place in the History of Communication,” Leo J. Harris
• “Acoustic (Mechanical) Telephones: How the Postal System Helped to Advertise Them,” Stephen Proigozy
• “Across the Oceans,” Robert Dalton Harris

• “Forwarded Markings on Stampless Covers,” James W. Milgram, M.D.
• “Telegraphic Communication with Overseas U.S. Military Personnel in WWII,” Stephen Prigozy
• “Using the Official Registers: Local Sources of Postal Revenue,” Robert Dalton Harris and Diane DeBlois
• “The European Mail: Globalization at Mid 19th Century,” Seija-Riitta Laakso
• “Letters to Solve an 1832 Rhode Island Murder,” Donald Zaldin with Diane DeBlois

• “Libranzas in Colonial Latin America,” Leo J. Harris
• “Postage Subsidies for Periodicals: Recent Developments,” Kevin R. Kosar
• “Gathering Postal History: The Story of Vietnamese Refugees,” Bruce A. Beardsley
• “Bi-Sects from Sabetha, Kansas,” Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris

• “The Hoy See and WWII Communications,” Gregorio Pirozzi
• “Hazards of Communications in Revolutionary America,” Konstantin Dierks
• “General Delivery,” George McGowan

• “The Correo Mayor Service in Nueva España,” Leo J. Harris
• “The Correo Mayor in Cuba,” Yamil H. Kouri, Jr.
• “Poison Pen Letters,” Dale Speirs
• “Rural Free Delivery Steamboat Service,” George McGowan
• “Geographic Distribution of the Postal Economy: U.S. in 1900,” Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris

• “The Fourth Amendment & Postal History,” Richard D. Martorelli
• “Journey of Ingenuity,” Paul Zatulove
• “U.S. Personalized Postage 2004 to 2008,” Joann Lenz
• “The Highway Post Office,” Robert G. Cullen

• “QSL Cards,” Dale Speirs
• “MS Gripsholm and the 1942–1943 Diplomatic Exchange Voyages with Japan,” Louis Fiset
• “Patent Models for Postage and Revenue Stamp Defacing,” Deborah Friedman
• “FDR and Post Office Designs: A Postcard Exhibit,” Anthony P. Musso
• “Rural Vermont Money Orders in the Great Depression,” Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris

• “Round-the-World Covers,” Dale Speirs
• “Experimental Airmail and the Leviathan,” Roger A. Baldwin
• “Panama—Two Mysteries,” Theron J. Weirenga
• “Rural Postal Service in Germany, 1880s,” Jan-Otmar Hesse
• “Pittsfield, N.H. RFD Routes 1898,” Terence Hines

• “Registered Mail Stony Hill, Missouri, 1883: The Cultivation of Rural Commerce,” David L. Straight
• “Telegraph Similitudes as Early Junk Mail,” Stephen Progozy
• “Canadian Mail to the Maritimes and Newfoundland, 1850s,” George B. Arfken and Charles G. Firby
• “Second Supplement to Vessel-Named Markings on United States Inland and Ocean Waterways 1784–1899,” James W. Milgram, M.D. [This is Part 3; Parts 1 and 2 appear in PHJ 136 and 137, respectively.]

Other Issues

Issues 1 through 143 are digitized and archived in the American Philatelic Research Library Robert A. Mason Digital Library.