Does Anyone Collect Postal Service Memorabilia?

Hello, everyone. I have been a reader here for a little while, but this is my first post on the forums. I hope it is in the correct category.

I addition to stamps, I've lately become interested in collecting other postal service related ephemera and memorabilia. For example, I came across this vintage uniform patch for a US Post Office Department postal clerk in a thrift store today. I'd never seen something like it before and thought it would make a great supplement to my collection.



Does anyone else collect similar memorabilia from their postal services? Patches, uniforms, etc? I'd love to see it!

Lovely piece!
Reminds me of having Mum sew on a new Scout badge,
and the stiff feeling on the shirt sleeve.

Conundrum.."Collect" of "Don't throw away"

I am in the latter, I have Aussie, window Posters, Key rings etc & etc
all under "Ephemera"
1 image scan, then into a shoe box in the attic.

I have had the chance to buy mail delivery bags on different occasions. I never have because I probably wouldn't look at them too often. Hand cancels can be fun to collect if you can find them.

What is the legal status of selling/owning official USPS gear such as mail delivery bags? Searching the bay, I see only a couple of such bags for sale. They look they would be nice practical bag to use (especially when schlepping loads of mail from the PO Box to home)--I also wonder who makes them.

Yes! I was in Boy Scouts when I was young, and for me the patches and badges were the best part of the whole experience. I still collect patches from places I visit. I sew most of them onto a denim jacket or onto hats. This new patch was a fun intersection between two of my interests.




I'm not sure about this. I know the large plastic mail bins the USPS uses to store held mail are very clearly marked "Property of USPS." Those have a tendency to wander off when people pick up large quantities of mail being held at the post office. (I know my parents have a couple lying around their house--they're great storage totes!) Maybe it's not illegal to have them in your possession, but you might get in trouble for trying to sell them.

I suppose that the most widely acquired piece of post office kit is the telephone kiosk. After management of the telephone system was removed from the post office in the 1980s, the new British Telecom entity removed and sold off thousands of them.

https://business.bt.com/insights/ip...phone-boxes/

I still use the Tardis,
(I repainted it red)

Pricey but cool stuff:

https://www.flyingtigerantiques.com...ctibles.html

Very pricey!

Here is a small tray I prepared to loan to a local museum:

Readily available on eBay, and not costly if one is patient and shops around.

My grandfather was a postal inspector (mostly investigating fraud of various kinds) in the Midwest from the 40s to early 70s, always wished we had some of his memorabilia. He was not the stamp collecting grandfather from whom I inherited much of my initial collection - guess he had his fill of stamps during his day job, and focused his collecting efforts on records and books.

I saw a collection of 10 early 20th century Postal Inspector Badges in the early 1990s that a dealer bought from a collector that also collected law enforcement badges as well as stamps. They were in leather wallets with ID cards for an inspector from Brooklyn. Unfortunately no pics as they were sold as a lot quickly afterward in a private deal.

These Postal Inspector credentials show up regularly on eBay. Here is a recent group which is by far the longest and most most complete run of these I have ever encountered.

Postal Inspector Credentials

I realize this link is only going to be good for a few months.

There are 35 five credentials, too many to download and post here, but I have included one to illustrate what they look like. This series goes up to 1955 (!!!) with only one credential missing. The only significant different in each is the signature of the Postmaster General changes as new men are appointed to the office.

Outside


Inside




Virtually all of these were purchased by one of three collectors who bid and competed on all of them.

Mike

These are all great! Thank you for sharing your stories and images so far!

Several years ago, there was a very interesting exhibit in the youth section at WESTPEX on the history of the Stamp Collecting merit badge, showing how the requirements got easier and easier over time.

Stamp Collecting was the first merit badge I earned as a Boy Scout back in the 1980s. I had fulfilled practically all the requirements before I even started.

What a beautiful patch! Congratulations! I do not collect postal service items, but I have some advertisements that came with a collection I acquired. You can see an image of one of the ads in one of my earlier posts. I was advised to keep it because someone might want it. Hoping you're that someone, because I need the space!

I'm interested in collecting postal service items but the closest thing I have is a little toy mail truck.