National U.S. Postage Stamp & Postal Worker Day Date in the current year: July 1, 2024

The USPS is an independent agency of the U.S. government tasked with providing postal services in the United States, including the country’s territories and associated states. Its history dates back to 1775, when the Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin as the first postmaster general. In 1792, President George Washington signed the Postal Service Act establishing the U.S. Post Office Department. Following the U.S. postal strike of 1970, the Post Office Department was replaced with the United States Postal Service. The USPS was officially formed on July 1, 1971.

Postage stamps are an important part of the postal history of the United States. The first letters delivered in the American colonies and the United States were stampless; it was the recipient who paid the cost of postage directly to the postman on delivery. The first postage stamps that allowed to send pre-paid letters were introduced by a private mail carrier service in 1842.

The first national adhesive postage stamps in the United States were issued on July 1, 1847. There were two of them: a 5-cent stamp depicting Benjamin Franklin and a 10-cent stamp depicting George Washington. The anniversary of their issuance is observed as National U.S. Postage Stamp Day, although it is unclear who and when came up with the idea of such a holiday.

The origins of another postal holiday celebrated on the same day are much clearer. National Postal Worker Day was founded in 1977 by Richard E. Baker, a USPS employee from Seattle who wanted to highlight the crucial role of postal workers and make sure they got the recognition they deserve. It coincides not just with the anniversary of the first national postage stamps, but also with the USPS formation anniversary.

As of 2021, the USPS had 516,636 career personnel and 136,531 non-career employees (temporary workers). That’s more than half a million people working to make sure your mail arrives on time. Even though communication through letters has become less common since the advent of electronic communication, people still rely on the USPS to deliver bills, checks, documents, voting ballots and packages, and postal workers – mail carriers, service clerks, mail sorters, vehicle operators – play a crucial role in delivering mail to millions of Americans.

You can celebrate National U.S. Postage Stamp Day and National Postal Worker Day by learning more about the history of postal service and postage stamps in the United States, thanking your mail carrier in person or sending an appreciation email to your local post office, sending postcards to your friends (there are so many stamp designs to choose from!), starting a stamp collection, and spreading the word on social media with the hashtags #NationalUSPostageStampDay, #PostageStampDay, #NationalPostalWorkerDay and #PostalWorkerDay.