The Post Office at 250: Still Making Connections

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the official start of our country’s postal system, when the great printer/publisher/inventor/statesman Ben Franklin was hired by the Continental Congress as postmaster general.

Growing up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I knew all about his role in creating postal services well before the first shots were fired in the fight for independence. It seems fitting that I thought about that history — and my own — as I drove to Washington D.C. days before the official observation in late July to visit the National Postal Museum for the first time.

Long before I scrutinized mail campaigns on the daily for their marketing and print inspiration and insights, the post office has been a part of my life and, well, all of ours, really.

As a kid, I collected stamps and got to know the nice folks at my local post office and the hobby shop across the street, who educated me on the printing processes behind the mail.

As a college intern, I often stood in line, check in hand, at the gigantic post office across from Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station to have a clerk add postage to my company’s Pitney Bowes meter.

And as a young taxpayer, I ran back to that building’s beautiful marble lobby on the evening of Tax Day more than once to make sure my IRS return was postmarked on time.

That history came back to me even more strongly when I saw a quote on a wall in the postal museum’s Franklin Foyer. It’s from 1889 by then-Postmaster General (and department store pioneer/marketer) John Wanamaker:

"The Post Office is the visible form of the federal government to every community and to every citizen. Its hand is the only one that touches the local life, the social interests, and the business concern of every neighborhood."

The U.S. Postal Service is at the heart of a postal system still dedicated to tying our country together today. Here’s one example: Recently, it issued “250 Years of Delivering,” a pane of 20 stamps by cartoonist Chris Ware that shows a carrier delivering mail across four seasons of the year.

Kind of like the unofficial motto inscribed on New York City’s Farley Building: “Neither snow nor rain nor sleet nor hail shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds.”

According to a study by the Envelope Manufacturers Association, the industry accounts for 7.9 million jobs. Even more than USPS, that’s a lot of jobs in print, packaging, paper, and private delivery! There are a lot of people in workforces and businesses who use ink on paper to bring ideas to life.

We’ve come a long way since the days of Franklin, railway mail, and big gleaming buildings made of limestone, granite, and marble.

But the public service task remains the same. And improvements in printing, marketing, and automation technology make mail more relevant than ever.

Not to get too cute with a clichéd phrase, but in a world where connections are made by algorithms and AI, print has value and meaning because it enables each one of us to communicate to each other. Every ink, paper, embellishment, feel, scent, and texture has the ability to engage our emotions and senses at the same time.

Buy some stamps, and use them on envelopes and actual greeting cards.

Send a postcard when you’re on vacation, or even a staycation.

Sign up for a catalog or two — there are some really cool ones out there.

Thank your local postal worker — and the people who make the mail they deliver.

Make a connection for real.