|
Permanent Exhibits
|
|
|
|
|
|
Binding the Nation
This gallery is devoted to the early history of mail service from pre-Revolutionary America through the end of the 19th century.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Customers and Communities
In this gallery, a series of exhibits examines the evolution of mail delivery to vastly expanding urban and rural populations in the 20th century.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Moving the Mail
The Museum's central exhibit traces the advances in postal transportation technology.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Art of Cards and Letters
This gallery spotlights the important role mail has held as a medium for personal communications, including letters to and from soldiers during wartime.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Philatelic Gallery
A series of rotating exhibits in this gallery will highlight some of the best philatelic collections in the world.
|
|
|
Online Exhibits
The exhibits listed below are virtual exhibits and not available for view in the museum.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mail by Missile
Fifty years ago, the US Navy and Post Office Department placed 3,000 letters in a missile on board the USS Barbero submarine and aimed it at the Naval Auxiliary Air Station at Mayport, Florida. In this slideshow presentation, curator Nancy A. Pope reveals more about this Cold War era mail delivery experiment. |
| |
|
|
|
|
Trailblazers & Trendsetters: Art of the Stamp
This exhibit presents works of art commissioned by the US Postal Service over the last 40 years. These paintings and drawings represent the work of 42 different artists and showcase an array of techniques and styles.
|
|
|
|
|
|
John Lennon: The Lost Album
Before Lennon traveled the globe playing music with The Beatles, this boy from Liverpool, England saw the world in a whole different way−through stamps. Lennon's older cousin, Stanley Parkes, inspired the future Beatle's interest in stamp collecting and gave him this album. |
|
|
|
|
|
In the Line of Duty: Dangers, Disasters and Good Deeds
"In the Line of Duty" is an exhibition dedicated to America's postal workers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Artistic License
The artistic history of Migratory Hunting stamps, also known as "duck stamps," is colorfully illustrated in this exhibit.
|
|
|
|
|
|
War Letters: Lost and Found
"War Letters: Lost and Found" features original letters from the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam that were lost or abandoned and then rediscovered by strangers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Queen's Own: Stamps That Changed the World
The National Postal Museum is pleased to present a selection of extraordinary materials from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's personal philatelic holdings. The Royal Philatelic Collection includes the world's finest and most comprehensive collection of British and Commonwealth stamps.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fad to Fundamental: Airmail in America
Learn how the U.S. Post Office Department created the framework for America's commercial aviation industry. From 1918-1926, a few daredevil pilots and some aging aircraft made history and bound the country together by air.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Pichs Collection
Explore Cuba's postal and aviation history in an ongoing research and exhibition effort to study and bring to the public an important research resource for the cultural history of Cuba, the Roberto Pichs collection of Cuban postage stamps.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Art of the Stamp
Compelling works of art that serve, in the words of W.B. Yeats, as “the silent ambassadors on national taste.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stamps Take Flight
This exhibit reveals highlights from the wide-ranging Postmaster General's Collection spanning more than 150 years of US stamp-making, including not only stamps, but "behind-the-scenes" materials such as rejected designs, test printings, and more. The exhibit uses stamps with air and space themes to entertainingly explore every major form of printing used for US stamps, from engraving to holography. |
|
|
|
|
|
Out of the Mails
This exhibit illustrates Hugh Finlay’s 1773 journey, shows how Ben Franklin sent his mail for free, and explores mail service on the Loyalist and Revolutionary sides of the war and the challenges of the postwar system. |
|
|
|
|
|
The Kristen Ollies Collection
Kristen started her collection in 1999, when she was in fifth grade. Her collection has grown to an award-winning private collection of 48 album pages. |
|
|
|
|
|
Posted Aboard R.M.S. Titanic
The tragic sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic has captivated our imaginations for decades. Among those who lost their lives when the ship sank were the ship's five postal clerks.
|
|
|
|
|
|
As Precious as Gold
As Precious as Gold, continues in an online format. The exhibit examines the great Klondike Gold Rush and the unforgettable role of the mail carrier in providing contact between those so far from home and the families they left behind.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mail to the Chief
President Franklin D. Roosevelt enjoyed a lifelong interest in collecting stamps. FDR sketched the original designs for several United States stamps issued during his time in office.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Roberto Clemente Exhibit
Learn about baseball legend Roberto Clemente, who has been commemorated twice on U.S. stamps.
Roberto Clemente en español
|
|
|
Other Smithsonian Institution Online Exhibits
|
|
|
|
|
Parcel Post: Delivery of Dreams
Parcel post service began on January 1, 1913 and was an instant success. During the first five days of service, 1,594 post offices reported handling over 4 million parcel post packages. The effect on the national economy was electric.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Grinnell Missionary Stamps
In the early days of philately, rumors circulated about a cache of very rare and valuable Hawaiian missionary stamps secreted away in New England. Were the Grinnell stamps this legendary hoard? Or were they expensive fakes?
|
|
|
The Collection
Because of the collection's enormous size, only a fraction of it can be displayed at any one time. Click here to track down a specific object.
The Collection
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Temporary Exhibits
 |
Delivering Hope:
FDR & Stamps of the Great Depression
June 9, 2009 to
June 6, 2010
Franklin D. Roosevelt, president during the Great Depression, used stamps to communicate with the American people. A stamp collector himself, he understood the power of visual imagery, and he changed the look of stamps to convey messages of hope, optimism, and the solidity of the federal government. This exhibt offers novel insights into FDR’s personality, his relationship with Postmaster General James A. Farley, and his concern for the welfare of the American people.
|
|
 |
Art of the Stamp: Lincoln’s Bicentennial
February 12, 2009 to October 26, 2009
With the issuance of four stamps in 2009 the U.S. Postal Service recognizes the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), who rose from humble, frontier origins to become a prominent lawyer and politician and ultimately President of the United States. The original stamp art, created by Mark Summers, will be on exhibit at the National Postal Museum. Each stamp features a different aspect of Lincoln’s life including Lincoln the “rail-splitter,” Lincoln the lawyer, Lincoln the politician and Lincoln the President. |
|
|
Alphabetilately
September 26, 2008 – October 29, 2010
To celebrate our 15th anniversary, the museum is showing an exhibition rich in philatelic fascination and designerly detail called, Alphabetilately!
|
|
|
Victory Mail
March 6, 2008 –
March 10, 2010
The Victory Mail exhibit showcases the Museum’s collection of World War II V-Mail correspondence. V for Victory, a popular symbol of the Second World War, was the inspiration for the name of this new fangled correspondence style.
|
|
|
 |
Postal Inspectors:
The Silent Service
February 7, 2007 - February 28, 2010
Today about 2,000 postal inspectors are at work across the United States investigating crimes against the mail. Learn more about the inspectors and their job in this exhibit.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
