In 1860, a man named Ben Holladay purchased 500 fast horses, set up 200 or so stations at 25-mile intervals along the 1900 mile route between St. Joseph MO and Sacramento CA, and the Pony Express was born. The 80 young and daring riders started carrying the mail beginning April 30th. Each rider was expected to ride 75 miles a day, picking up a fresh horse at each station along the way, and riding day and night, rain or shine, through sickness and Indian attack. The entire 1900 mile trip was designed to take eight days, but the record run was completed in just under seven days. The initial cost was $5 for ½ ounce, but the rate was later reduced to only $1. The invention and widespread use of the telegraph soon led to the extinction of Pony Express riders, however. The first telegraph line to California was placed in service in 1861.
As with all U.S. issues of the period, FDR was intimately involved in the selection of the Pony Express topic as well as the specific design of the stamp. The issue, Scott #894, was selected to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Pone Express. On April 30th, 1940, first day of issue ceremonies were held simultaneously at both ends of the original route. The nation's press immediately took notice of the stamp because some people familiar with horses said a horse could not run in the way it was depicted on the stamp. Even without the Internet (Al Gore didn't invent it for another 40 or so years!) a rumor that the Post Office Department was going to recall the stamp caused a nationwide rush of speculators that resulted in a complete sell-out of the issue. The short life of the stamp, coupled with its speculative "rareness" caused the price to skyrocket for some time. As with other issues that were hyped like this, the price soon fell to a more realistic level however. Nearly 46.5 million copies were printed and sold.
Posted 05/09/2009 12:39 am
