The Winton M. Blount Postal History Symposia - Smithsonian ...

n u m b e r 5 5 • 1 3 9The End of the U.S. City Despatch PostThe U.S. City Despatch Post had functioned well untilmid- 1845. The postmaster general discontinued the U.S.City Despatch Post on November 28, 1846. The governmentcould not compete with the better service and lowerprices offered by the local posts operating in New YorkCity. The failure to expand collection and provide properservice could not be tolerated by the public. The governmentservice itself was succeeded by a private post. Thisprivate post was “Mead’s Post Office City Despatch.”Abraham Mead had been a letter carrier for the U.S. CityDespatch Post. An example of the Mead’s adhesive andhandstamp is shown in Figure 9.After November 1846, outstanding U.S. City DespatchPost stamps were redeemable at the New York Post Office orremained valid for use locally on letters which were deliveredby Mead’s Private Local Post. Government carrier service inNew York had been forced to stop its operations and wouldnot appear again in New York City until February 1849. TheU.S. mail adhesive, 6LB9, was issued at that time.Summary of Postal ReformsThe U.S. City Despatch Post originated from thepurchase of Greig’s City Despatch Post and used Greig’sstamps with a different cancel. The U.S. City DespatchPost issued the second U.S. carrier adhesive (6LB3) in aslightly new design on unsurfaced colored paper on September1, 1842. In 1843 the U.S. City Despatch Postbegan using glazed surface paper adhesives. This wouldbe the first government use of a glazed paper adhesive.The Postal Act of March 1845, effective July 1, 1845, putthe independent mail companies out of the intercity mailbusiness. In early 1846 the U.S. City Despatch Post issuedthe first government overprinted stamp. This was necessitatedby the increase in the post office “drop rate” fromone cent to two cents. The U.S. City Despatch was unableto compete with the local posts due to the rise in the droprate and the poor service it offered and was forced to stopits operations. The first attempt at the use of United Statescarrier adhesives was forced to end. It was put out of businessby free enterprise.Figure 9. Mead’s Post Office City Despatch replaced the U.S. City Despatch Post when it was discontinuedin late November 1846. The outstanding U.S. City Despatch stamps were valid for use throughMead’s. The Mead’s datestamp was similar to the U.S. City Despatch datestamp but with “P. O.” at thebottom. The Mead’s stamp has “TWO CENTS” at the bottom. Siegel Auction Galleries, Nov. 15–16,2006, Lot 1227.