The U. S. Post Office First Issues The Postage Stamp

On July 1, 1847, the United States Post Office issued its first general issue postage stamp, a five-cent stamp honoring Benjamin Franklin, the first postmaster general under the Continental Congress, and a ten-cent stamp honoring George Washington. The first U.S. postal cards were issued in 1873, the first commemorative stamps in 1893, and the first airmail stamps in 1918.

Stamp collecting became a popular hobby. View an 1889 album designed for collecting postage stamps, The Duke's Postage Stamp Album, available through The Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920.

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