Classic Mail Transportation

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25 SHINGTON NOV 19 1989 20066 20th Universal Postal Congress U.S.MAIL TICESBURB PILOT'S CERTIFICATE. Chus talle DC

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CLASSIC MAIL TRANSPORTATION First Day of Issue: November 19, 1989 First Issue Location: Washington, D.C. Beginning in 1813, Congress gave the go-ahead for the Postal Service to use steamboats for carrying mail. By 1847, five domestic steamboat lines commanded by expert pilots operated under contract with the U.S. Postal Service. Furthermore, as the American oceangoing steamship industry grew in importance and girdled the globe, the Postal Service soon had four steamships run- ning from New York City to Germany and France. On the cachet for this Maximum Card, an old timer fondly remembers tales of the days of steamboats like the Vicksburg, and riverboat pilots like Mark Twain, pictured in the lower right-hand corner. It was a romantic age on a grand scale, but even as the steamboat era hit its peak, Civil War broke out in the United States. Steamships were pulled from the Atlantic, and the government subsidies that supported domestic steamboat companies were not renewed. This proved a fatal blow for America's domestic steamboats. After the war, the postal administration switched to trains to carry the mail. No. 89-36 ©1989 The Maximum Card Collection A Division of Unicover Corporation • Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 Original painting by Chris Calle