National Postal Museum...

I'll be posting more later (I know, I know, I keep promising this but I really will!)...but I spent a couple of hours at the National Postal Museum today. It was one of the best museums I have been to in Washington D.C. i haven't downloaded the pictures yet, but I did get some neat "fact cards". I got one of these everytime I printed a postcard (those of you on my list should be getting one soon!) Anyways, here are some interesting facts.

Did you know that...

--Some postmasters made and used their own stampts, called "Postmaster Provisionals," severeal years before the introduction of adhesive postage stamps by the United States Government in 1847?

-On July 20, 1969, Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong cancelled the first piece of mail carried to the moon with a postmark which read "Moon Landing, USA"?

--A sled dog was used to carry mail in Alaska until 1963 when it was replaced by an airplane?

--It was a mail coach which brought into existence the old Boston-New York-Philedelphia-Baltimore turnpike, the first great American highway?

--Horse drawn carriages were used to deliver mail in Philadelphia as late as January 31, 1955?

--Over the years, postmasters in larger offices have had cats on their payrolls to protect the mail by keeping their offices free of mice and rodents, compensating the felines with food and shelter?

That's all for now....stayed tuned. I am trying to make the most of my last two weeks in Washington D.C. which means not much time at the apartment or on the computer!

Steph