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Employee Work Anniversaries Spring New Hires - Welcome to the Team!

JULY AUGUST
Tammy Holliman-Nevith - 35 Years Marianne Reynolds - 37 Years
Kathleen Rushton - 33 Years Matthew Ruszala - 23 Years
Christopher Peo - 14 Years Pamela Guido - 17 Years
Justin Matthews - 13 Years Shawn Sorce - 16 Years
Christine Perini - 12 Years Ryan Leroux - 9 Years
Max Handzel – 1 Year Sean Troy – 1 Year Mark Choma Abbey Notar
Kevin Barton – 1 Year
Outside Sales Executive (Rochester) Promotional Products Assistant

Birthdays

JULY AUGUST
Lisa Yerina Max Handzel
Tammy Holliman-Nevith
Kerry Gradel
Kathleen Rushton
Aleksey Selyuzhitskiy
Jeanette Fischer
Michael Notar & Katherine Attilio Michaela Macrina

Life of the Postage Stamp

Before Stamps: How Mail Was Sent was sent and laying the foundation for the modern postal
Before the United States Post Office Department introduced its first system we use today!
postage stamps in 1847, mailing a letter was a bit more complicated! The Evolution of Stamps in the U.S.
Instead of using stamps, people would take their letters to the local Before official U.S. postage stamps,
post office, where the postmaster would manually write the postage private mail carriers handled their
cost in the upper right corner. own postage systems. On February
The price wasn’t one-size-fits-all – it depended on the number 1, 1842, Alexander M. Greig’s
of sheets in the letter and how far it had to travel. Payment was City Despatch Post, a New York
flexible: the sender could prepay, the recipient could pay upon City-based private mail service,
delivery, or they could even split the cost! If the sender prepaid, issued the first adhesive postage
postmasters would stamp the letter with a “PAID” mark – proof stamps in the United States. The
that it was good to go. Post Office Department purchased

Imagine waiting for a letter only to find out you had to pay to read it! Greig’s business later that year and
continued using stamps for carrier
The Birth of the Postage Stamp service within the city.
In 1837, Sir Rowland Hill of Great Britain As postage rates were simplified in 1845, postmasters – such as
proposed a radical new idea – a uniform New York City Postmaster Robert Morris – began issuing their
postage rate for letters, no matter how far they own stamps or markings to show prepaid postage. These rare, early
traveled within the British Isles. His plan also stamps are now known as Postmasters’ Provisionals.
introduced the concept of prepaid postage, The game changed in 1847 when Congress officially authorized
using either envelopes with printed stamps or the first United States postage stamps. On July 1, 1847, the first
adhesive labels that could be affixed to letters. general-issue stamps went on sale in New York City. The five-cent
Just three years later, in May 1840, the first stamp honored Benjamin Franklin, the first Postmaster General,
official postage stamps were released. The now-iconic Penny Black while the ten-cent stamp featured George Washington. Unlike
covered the one-penny fee for letters weighing up to half an ounce, today’s easy-to-peel stamps, clerks had to cut these early stamps
while the Two Penny Blue handled one-ounce letters for two pence. from pregummed, nonperforated sheets using scissors!
These stamps featured a portrait of Queen Victoria, a design that
remained on British stamps for over 60 years. By 1855, the prepayment of postage became mandatory, and by
January 1, 1856, all mail had to carry official U.S. postage stamps,
Because it was issued first, the Penny Black is recognized as marking the beginning of the modern postal system we know today!
the world’s first postage stamp, revolutionizing the way mail