# Q11 - 1913 75c Parcel Post Stamp - Harvesting
City: Washington, DC
Printing Method: Engraved
Perforations: 12
Color: Carmine rose
Parcel Post Service Begins
Before 1912, private companies controlled package deliveries throughout the United States. Because delivering packages in larger cities could make more money, these companies often overlooked small towns.
That changed when Congress passed a law on August 24, 1912 creating a parcel post service for fourth-class mail. Instead of private companies, the Postal Department would now deliver packages to all parts of the country. Rural Americans would now have access to goods and merchandise they could not have gotten before. This gave rise to mail order giants like Sears, Roebuck and Co., and Montgomery Ward and Co.
Parcel Post service could be used for sending items weighing 16 ounces or more through the mail. The mail is divided into four classes, with Parcel Post making up the fourth class. Almost any type of merchandise can be mailed parcel post, including day-old chicks, baby alligators, and honeybees. Only items that could be dangerous to handle cannot be sent through Parcel Post.
The Parcel Post service began on January 1, 1913. The special Parcel Post stamp were required on all fourth class packages. The stamps were an instant success. During the first five days, post offices reported that they handled over four million packages. However, despite this early surge in popularity, the stamps would quickly lose favor. Philatelic author Henry M. Gobie later dubbed these stamps the “Fourth Class Follies of 1913.”
As a result, the use of Parcel Post stamps for this designated purpose ended in June 1913. But the rural delivery of parcels by the US Postal Service continued. The only difference was that regular stamps could be used on parcels, and Parcel Post stamps could be used on regular mail. The stock of Parcel Post stamps was allowed to run out. In use for just six months, the Parcel Post stamps were one of the shortest-lived US series.
City: Washington, DC
Printing Method: Engraved
Perforations: 12
Color: Carmine rose
Parcel Post Service Begins
Before 1912, private companies controlled package deliveries throughout the United States. Because delivering packages in larger cities could make more money, these companies often overlooked small towns.
That changed when Congress passed a law on August 24, 1912 creating a parcel post service for fourth-class mail. Instead of private companies, the Postal Department would now deliver packages to all parts of the country. Rural Americans would now have access to goods and merchandise they could not have gotten before. This gave rise to mail order giants like Sears, Roebuck and Co., and Montgomery Ward and Co.
Parcel Post service could be used for sending items weighing 16 ounces or more through the mail. The mail is divided into four classes, with Parcel Post making up the fourth class. Almost any type of merchandise can be mailed parcel post, including day-old chicks, baby alligators, and honeybees. Only items that could be dangerous to handle cannot be sent through Parcel Post.
The Parcel Post service began on January 1, 1913. The special Parcel Post stamp were required on all fourth class packages. The stamps were an instant success. During the first five days, post offices reported that they handled over four million packages. However, despite this early surge in popularity, the stamps would quickly lose favor. Philatelic author Henry M. Gobie later dubbed these stamps the “Fourth Class Follies of 1913.”
As a result, the use of Parcel Post stamps for this designated purpose ended in June 1913. But the rural delivery of parcels by the US Postal Service continued. The only difference was that regular stamps could be used on parcels, and Parcel Post stamps could be used on regular mail. The stock of Parcel Post stamps was allowed to run out. In use for just six months, the Parcel Post stamps were one of the shortest-lived US series.