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The
first gummed stamp made in America went out of circulation on this
day in 1847. It was the invention of Brattleboro postmaster Frederick
N. Palmer, a music teacher from Maine.
He
was Brattleboro’s postmaster from 1845 through 49, and he
commissioned engraver Thomas Chubbuck to make plates for a Brattleboro
stamp.
The
US Post Office Department converted postage to five and ten cent
denominations two years prior, but were just getting around to issuing
appropriate stamps. Palmer printed 500 five-cent stamps with gummed
backs, to use until the federal stamps were ready.
Photo
courtesy the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, Inc.
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This shows one of Frederick N. Palmer's
gummed stamps. It says Brattleboro, Vt.
at the top. His initials are
in the center of the stamp,
with P.O. on the sides. The bottom
identifies it as a five cent stamp.
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