The general public may read and access these items in the Slusser reading room during business hours. Local members in good standing may check out most materials.

Tucson’s post office was established in 1857 when the area we know as Arizona was part of a much larger New Mexico Territory. During the Civil War, the southern U.S. mail route was discontinued as the Confederate Army expanded westward, taking control of southern New Mexico Territory and attempting to reach California. In 1863, the U.S. Congress reacted by using a north-south boundary to create the familiar shapes of Arizona and New Mexico that we know today. Tucson’s post office was re-established after the Civil War and received its first Arizona Territory canceling device on July 13, 1865. The 1867 cover, now in the Postal History Foundation’s holdings, marks an important milestone in Tucson’s postal history.

Jack Mount purchased the cover in order to donate it to the Postal History Foundation. “It’s an important piece of Tucson history,” Jack said. “It belongs in a museum, where everybody can have access to it.”

Jack is an avid collector of postcards and postmarks from National Parks and Arizona. He volunteers at the Postal History Foundation once a week, usually sorting donated postcards and envelopes. Jack is also president of the Tucson Post Card Exchange Club, which meets once a month at the Foundation’s Slusser Library.

The envelope is not currently on display, but may be viewed by appointment. Other exhibits and activities are available for free, Monday through Friday, 8-3.

The Postal History Foundation celebrates the 50^th anniversary of Apollo 11 and the first lunar landing with the exhibit, Small Steps, Giant Leaps, and Lasting Memories: Celebrating the 1969 Moon Landing. People all over the globe huddled around television sets July 20, 1969, in awe and anticipation as Neil Armstrong bounced out of the Lunar Module and, for the first time, stepped foot on lunar soil. For a few brief moments, geopolitics disappeared; citizens around the world came together and shared the experience of witnessing an event of enormous significance.

The lunar landing was celebrated contemporaneously by postal services around the world. Over 50 stamps commemorating the Apollo 11 mission were issued by various countries from nearly every continent. Several of these stamps are represented in the exhibit.

The United States issued its own 1969 stamp, designed by Paul Calle. The stamp showed what the world had been anticipating: a human’s first step on the moon. A die of the stamp’s image was taken into space by the astronauts; this die was later used in the printing process to manufacturing the stamps. A “moon letter” was also sent with the astronauts. The United States Post Office Department had hoped that the letter would be postmarked July 20 on the moon’s surface. Unfortunately for astrophilatelists, the moon letter never made it to the surface of the moon and was postmarked on July 22 (backdated to July 20) aboard the Columbia on the flight home. A facsimile of the moon letter and images of the die are on display in the exhibit.

The United States has returned to the lunar landing many times as inspiration for postage stamps. Despite U.S. regulations restricting anniversary commemorations on stamps to every 50 years, the U.S. issued a 20^th anniversary stamp in 1989, a 25^th anniversary stamp in 1994, and a commemoration in 1999 as part of the Celebrate the Century (1960s) series. The exhibit shows stamps and covers of all these events and more, as well as from stamp commemorations from other countries.

The United States Postal Service’s 50^th anniversary stamps will be issued on July 19. There are two designs. The first is a photograph taken by Neil Armstrong of Buzz Aldrin, unrecognizable in his space suit. The second is a photograph of the moon taken by Gregory H. Revera.  A USPS pictorial postmark for the stamp issuance has also been created. The Postal History Foundation will create special cachets to celebrate this significant event that will include the new stamps and the pictorial postmark. The cachets will be on display in the exhibit as well as for sale (sold out!).

Small Steps, Giant Leaps, and Lasting Memories: Celebrating the 1969 Moon Landing will run through mid-October 2019 in the Slusser Library at the Postal History Foundation. Please check our calendar or call 520-623-6652 to ensure the library is open during the time you’d like to visit.

Everything’s a story. You are a story– I am a story

Revisit some of the most important books you’ve ever read at the Slusser Library’s display of children’s literature on postage stamps.

Our stories are born with us and shaped by what we see, hear, do, and read. Some of our most memorable experiences and valuable lessons came from our childhood books.

Postal authorities around the world recognize the importance of children’s books to us and have celebrated some of the most beloved stories on postage stamps.

For video (no sound) that accompanies the physical exhibit, click on the Winnie-the-Pooh stamp below: 

“Everything’s a Story” runs January-March 2019.

Select stamps from the exhibit:

Children's Favorite Book Animals (US, 2006)

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Our pop-up exhibit, “Tiny Windows to a Great, big World” at the Nanini branch of the Pima County Public Library celebrates the world of stamps during the month of October, stamp collecting month. The exhibit features the most popular and accessible way to collect stamps: by topic. If you like cats, you can collect cat stamps from all over the world. It could be your goal to find the stamps you like the best, or maybe you’d like to own every cat stamp there is, turning you into a detective as well as a stamp collector!

You can collect stamps not only by topic, but by country. You can also collect stamps and envelopes (“covers”) that have been delivered in a particular or unusual manner– for example, on a Zeppelin, a Navy ship, a mule, or even a tin can!

Some collections can be centered around certain time periods, such as wars. Stamps and covers show the progression, values, and culture of a country or region.

We hope you’ll take time to visit our exhibit at Nanini, and visit us at our location as well. If you’d like to get into, or back into, stamp collecting, we’re one of the best resources around, locally, or long-distance. We help people explore the world through stamps and encourage life-long-learning.