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The List: 5 postal-themed stamp releases

Postal-themed stamp releases have included, clockwise from top left, U.S. Postal Service Bicentennial (1975), Postal Service Employees (1973), Stamp Collecting (1986), First Automated Post Office in the United States (1960) and Post Rider and Horse (1869).

The new Post Office Murals stamps aren’t the first to feature postal themes. Here are five others.

1. Post Rider and Horse. This 2-cent stamp, issued in 1869, is an early example of a release depicting a postal theme.

2. First Automated Post Office in the United States. Issued in 1960, this 4-cent stamp showcased the new Providence, RI, Post Office, which was celebrated as the first fully mechanized U.S. Post Office, with culling machines, high-speed facing and canceling machines, sorting machines and nearly three miles of conveyor systems. The stamp proved more popular than expected — more than 833,000 copies were sold on the day it was released — paving the way for more postal-themed stamps.

3. Postal Service Employees.This 1973 release consisted of 10 8-cent stamps that depicted services performed by postal workers, including the selling of stamps inside Post Offices and the processing and delivery of mail.

4. U.S. Postal Service Bicentennial. To mark the 200th anniversary of American postal services in 1975, USPS released four 10-cent stamps that depicted old and new methods of delivering mail — including a plane, a jet, a stagecoach and even satellites used for “mailgrams.”

5. Stamp Collecting. This 1986 booklet of four 22-cent designs included a hand-stamped cover, a boy examining a stamp collection, a magnifying glass examining a 1938 stamp, and the 1986 Presidents miniature sheet first day cover. Stamps about stamps — how meta!

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